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.
American Atheists’ President Dave Silverman recently appeared (sans goatee) on Fox & Friends to discuss Texas Governor Rick Perry’s upcoming Pray-a-thon. He handled himself beautifully: This clip should be mandatory viewing for classes on How to Handle the Media. It’s not just that Dave got off a lot of important points in a hurry, which is not as easy as it sounds. It’s not just that Dave said the line, “This is a political attempt to cover his incompetent butt”…… Read more
Haven’t we learned anything from The God Delusion? Weren’t we all supposed to have our consciousness raised? Don’t we know that TV shows shouldn’t be given a religious (or non-religious) label before it’s ready to make that decision on its own?! We have to stop mentally abusing these TV shows… So get this right: Ricky Gervais’ new show Afterlife is not an “Atheist Comedy.” It’s a comedy that features an atheist character. Memo to publications with a religious bent: Don’t… Read more
Earlier this morning, President Obama did a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland and when it came time for the Q&A session, guess who was first up? Amanda Knief, the Government Relations Manager for the Secular Coalition for America! How perfect is that?! She asked an important question, too. The segment starts at the 19:55 mark of the video here. (***Edit***: Here’s just the clip of Amanda’s segment.) Here’s the transcript: Knief: I’m an atheist, and in Zanesville,… Read more
What’s scarier: A stranger offering your child candy or a stranger offering your child candy and a Bible verse? Kathleen Crowe says her nine-year-old daughter Angeline was playing in MacEwan park last week when she was approached by a couple from the Victory Christian Center who gave her candy and a Bible verse. Angeline was also promised more candy if she memorized the verse. “What if the next person who offers her candy doesn’t have the same good intentions as… Read more
I can cross this off my Bucket List now. Last week, I had a chance to sit down with Neil deGrasse Tyson at The Amazing Meeting 9 in Las Vegas. We discussed the future of the space program and science education, among other things. Excerpts from that conversation are below. The remarks are entirely those of Dr. Tyson, except for my own, which are [marked off in brackets]. I’ve edited our remarks for the sake of clarity without affecting the… Read more
