Hemant Mehta is the founder and editor of FriendlyAtheist.com, a YouTube creator, and podcast co-host. He is a former National Board Certified math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He has appeared on CNN and FOX News and served on the board of directors for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Student Alliance. He has written multiple books, including I Sold My Soul on eBay and The Young Atheist's Survival Guide. He also edited the book Queer Disbelief.
Starting today, PZ Myers is no longer part of ScienceBlogs, the company that had hosted Pharyngula over the past few years. (***Edit***: My mistake. According to PZ, he’s not leaving ScienceBlogs entirely, but basically, all the fun/interesting posts about religion will be at FreethoughtBlogs: As an outlet for self-expression, this move was necessary. National Geographic will be taking a more active role in hosting the ScienceBlogs stable, which is a good thing, since they’ll be bringing their prestige, better support,… Read more
Usually, when city councils want to pray before a meeting, they’ll get around the legal problem by having an “invocation.” It may be “non-denominational,” but usually, you know it’s the Christian god being referred to. It’s a loophole in the system and some city councils love to exploit it. In Sand Springs, Oklahoma, however, they’re not even bothering with the subtleties. Forget non-denominational prayers. Their invocation prayers are directly to Jesus. Beau McElhattan not only attended a meeting to witness… Read more
God created the world in six days and then blogged about it. Paul Simms at the New Yorker lets us in on the comments people left for God on his day of rest: Going carbon-based for the life-forms seems a tad obvious, no? … Why are the creatures more or less symmetrical on a vertical axis but completely asymmetrical on a horizontal axis? It’s almost like You had a great idea but You didn’t have the balls to go all… Read more
A decade ago, Doug Fields wrote a book for Christian couples called 365 Things Every Couple Should Know. Seanbaby at Cracked has gone through the book and added all sorts of commentary: Ugh. Is there maybe a grosser way you could have put that? Like “After 60, your lover’s eyes will hatch millipedes that crawl into your dick hole.” Or “The liftable folds of your lover hide surprises of soup and keepsakes.” Like with a heartfelt shriek or a friendly… Read more
The Backyard Skeptics have put up ads on 30 different bus shelters in Orange County, California (around Anaheim and Mission Viejo) and they look fantastic: Now, if only they could fix up their website… (I know, I know, who am I to talk. I’m working on it.) The entire campaign cost $8,000 — you can donate to the group here — and it’s already generating controversy: Some passing motorists and people waiting at the bus shelter said they were offended… Read more
