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.
During The Amazing Meeting 9, one of the panel discussions (which I happened to be on) was about “Diversity in Skepticism.” I’ll admit I thought we would talk primarily about gender/ethnic/racial diversity — because that’s what we always talk about — and maybe we’d touch on topics like age/class/education diversity (JREF president DJ Grothe even suggested “religious diversity,” which is a completely separate discussion)… but we ended up focusing on something very different. The gist of the conversation was this:… Read more
Of all the atheists in the news over the past year, these may be the most important voices we hear: the high school activists. At the Center For Inquiry’s Student Leadership Conference a month ago, they had a panel featuring Jessica Ahlquist, Harrison Hopkins, Damon Fowler, and Zack Kopplin, all of whom have seen the power of religion in the public school system first-hand and all of whom have done something about it. I haven’t seen this yet, but I’ll… Read more
For anyone in the vicinity of suburban Chicago, I’ll be giving a talk on Thursday night about math (yeah!) and critical thinking (woo!) for the West Suburban Chicago Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It takes place at the Naperville Municipal Center. Doors open at 7:00p and the talk starts around 7:30p. A few more details are here (PDF). Be there! The first 12 people to arrive get a free side hug from me. Read more
David Hayward points out something we’ve all witnessed: I don’t even think you need the word “Hate” in there. Hell, the people who oppose civil rights for gay people are among the first to say they “love” homosexuals… I’m putting you in that box in my mind the moment you start quoting the Bible to justify your shitty behavior. (via nakedpastor) Read more
