Writer, YouTube star, and “Friendly Atheist” Hemant Mehta sits down with The Good Men Project to discuss the conversation that more of us are—and should be—having these days.
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Hemant Mehta—writer, video blogger, and famous for selling his soul on eBay—is the friendliest atheist you’ll ever meet, which makes him perfect for a profile on The Good Men Project.
We caught up with him between his shifts at Patheos Atheist and Atheist Voice on YouTube to talk about the Man-Box, the shift in our current cultural thinking, and the why Obama hasn’t called him yet for that Secular Advisor Cabinet position.
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Photo courtesy of Hemant Mehta
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I was looking forward to reading this article because I thought “Awesome, a ‘friendly atheist’, I bet there are some good conversations to be had where we can mutually respect each other’s opinion yet discuss important topics. But after reading the interview, I am having trouble reconciling the term ‘friendly atheist” with Hemant linking a belief in God as being ‘irrational thinking’. Yes, I completely get not believing in God and having reasons for that. But when you begin labeling other people’s choices as ‘irrational’ and yours as ‘rational’, I wouldn’t consider that ‘friendly’ or even ‘rational’ for that matter.… Read more »
Weird! I have to oppose your view, while not appearing to defend Mr. Mehta! Speaking truth and being friendly are not supposed to be exclusive of each other. And fortunately they aren’t. But you’re falling for a kind of political correctness: agree with me, or you’re not being very nice. Um, think harder? “Irrational” isn’t an insult, it’s an adjective meaning “not rational”. Religion isn’t rational whether YOU are religious or not. Whether your friends are or aren’t, too. Do you feel the same way about horoscopes? Do you believe in horoscopes and organize your life around what they say?… Read more »
Rob – perhaps you miss the part where Hemant is described as a ‘friendly’ atheist. So yes, in this case speaking *your* truth is linked to being ‘friendly’ because that’s exactly how Hemant is being represented. No, I’m not ‘falling for a kind of political correctness”. This has nothing to do with having to agree with me. It’s one thing to not believe in God. It’s another to attack the God one says they don’t believe in by going as far to say that He is abusive boyfriend and that you know this concept of God better then the people… Read more »
It’s a logical fallacy to ask atheists to prove the non-existence of a god. Given the lack of evidence for his/her existence, the only rational position is to side with the atheists. Religious people tend to use the concept of ‘faith’ to help them explain their irrational point of view. Erin, it is actually irrational to believe in the existence of God just as it is to believe in magic or many of the other beliefs humans hold onto in the face of plenty of logical arguments to the contrary. That doesn’t mean that people can’t have a happy, fulfilling… Read more »
Luke, can you really say that *you* fundamentally know all the truths of the universe, so much to the extent that *you* get to make claims about what exists in the world and what doesn’t? Wouldn’t it be irrational to claim that you infact do know all the truths of the universe? So much so that you believe by simply saying God isn’t real, that you think people should believe you? Can you claim that you know *all* the truths of the universe? Yes or no? Further, you will never, ever meet a scientist that will lay claim to a… Read more »