The Young Atheist's Survival Guide by Hemant Mehta

The Young Atheist's Survival Guide: Helping Secular Students Thrive, Hemant Mehta. Denver: Patheos Press, 2012. ebook, 134 pps.


     High school is a time of change for adolescents. Some are on the way to defining themselves along the atheist spectrum and others have been there for several years. The majority of students in the United States profess some sort of faith. For those who don't, they may find an inner strength in standing up for the Constitution.

     Hemant Mehta recounts some of their stories in The Young Atheist's Survival Guide. Especially poignant for me was the student athlete in Oklahoma who refused to mouth a prayer after a basketball game. Unfortunately, this happened in 2004. She was unable to obtain the support that is so readily available to students who are defining their non-belief today.

     The coach told her to go to the lockers. But that wasn't enough. A conversation was held the next day with someone higher up. She was kicked from the basketball team. No adult even had the courtesy to tell her. Instead, false accusations were made. The student athlete became a home-schooled teen. 

     When high school kids are allowed to "vote" on including a prayer at their graduation or told that their speeches will not be read first by an authority, they figure they can run rampant over the rights of minority students. One such minority student was a non-theist valedictorian. The speeches of other kids were wildly applauded. His speech-- not so much.

     The humiliation of having to sit in the hallway during "Bible story time" in a public school is not quickly forgotten. Also not forgotten is what a second grader went through when she admitted that the story of Cain and Abel made no sense to her. Having an entire auditorium of kids scream "god bless you" at a student who does not share the predominant faith is not something a high school teen should have to go through. Having kids shout out the words "under god" during the pledge at another teen who also has no faith is also mean-spirited.

sapphoq reviews says: From a Sunday school class told to draw a christian and then draw a non-christian to bullying principals, teachers, and administrators who really ought to know better, there is plenty to get angry about in this book. Perhaps the anger will drive you into action. For those who don't really understand what the big deal is about secular students in the public school system, The Young Atheist's Survival Guide is a must read. For the rest of us who do get it, this book might propel some of us into action. Highly recommended. And yes, for the record, I am an atheist.

Thoughts on the Role of Religion in Politics and Media by Hemant Mehta

Thoughts on the Role of Religion in Politics and Media, Hemant Mehta.  https://www.hyperlink.com: Hyperlink Atheism and Religion Books, 2011. e-book, 285 pps.

https://twitter.com/hemantmehta

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAtheistVoice


     Thoughts on the Role of Religion in Politics and Media is a series of blog posts in book form from Hemant Mehta. Some conservatives have found him "not to be friendly," especially when he is opposing issues that project the importance of christian faith over the rights of an individual-- such as when the Senate voted in an anti-abortion bill. One of the speakers called to testify was a Jewish woman who dared to say the word "vagina." She carefully explained that her religion is in favor of medical abortion when the life and or well-being of the woman is in danger, regardless of how far along the fetus was. She was kicked out for saying "vagina." 

     I am acquainted with Hemant Mehta via his Twitter(tm) feed. I have found him to be quite friendly. Because people don't agree, it does not logically follow that one side of the disagreement is mean, bad, evil, or unfriendly. That is part of the risk that we entertain when we use our freedom of speech. There is bound to be at least one human being who disagrees with what we say.

     Religion in the public schools is not a democracy thing. The majority does not get to monopolize any religious expression. Students-- contrary to what is popularly supposed-- are allowed to pray and to read their sacred religious texts during school time when not engaged in instructional time. Teachers must be careful not to take sides. Calling a student worthless because he opposes a graduation prayer is not okay. Principals who allow a prayer at a school graduation to continue even after it has been legally disallowed are subject to certain legal penalties. The christian nursery school which rejects a three-year old applicant because he is living with his dad and another man yet accepts a large chunk of federal monies is in gross error. 

     Hey, if you eat the whole cake, there won't be any left.

     In this country at this time, adults have the freedom to choose their own religion and to not choose a religion. When religious feeling enters into law-making, people not of the same religious persuasion are bound to lose out. The pregnant jewish woman whose religion teaches her that she ought to abort when she learns that her fetus is dead loses out because she is legally over the limit when this is found out. A teacher or school administrator who tells students that they are going to hell, ought not to move to San Francisco because that place is full of sinful and godless queers, or refers to a student who wants to uphold the separation between religion and public schools as "an evil little thing" is morally and legally in the wrong.

     Now we have a tradition that tells us it's okay to insert "In God We Trust" on our dollar bills although the nation's motto was changed in the fifties. We have a tradition of reciting the added words "under god" when we recite the pledge. Tradition tells us that we are stuck with the stuff that we didn't effectively protest years ago. Those atheists and particularly high school atheists who are endeavoring to keep the message of the Constitution clear in these days often wind up doing so at great personal cost to themselves and their families.

sapphoq reviews says: The Friendly Atheist(tm) is someone whose work is worth getting to know, regardless of one's religious or political outlook on modern world issues. His writing is clear. His message is succinct. Highly recommended.