Harold Henderson of the Chicago Reader wrote a terrific article about the book in this week’s issue (pick up your copy on newsstands in Chicago today!).
Remember how I said in the previous posting that, judging by her picture, Carol could beat me up?
I just saw my picture in this article…
I rescind my remarks. *Hemant rolls up sleeves* Bring it on.
Some excerpts from the article:
Hemant Mehta hasn’t believed in God since he was 14. Richard Dawkins, best-selling author of The God Delusion, is one of his heroes. He chairs the board of the Secular Student Alliance, a national umbrella group for nonbelieving high school and college students.
He’s disturbed by the biblical verse “Every knee shall bow” and flabbergasted by Christians who maintain silence while extreme fundamentalists say God visits disasters upon unbelievers.
But Mehta, a 24-year-old high school math teacher, uses a beatitudes bookmark. He blogs as the “Friendly Atheist” at friendlyatheist.com, and the Christian blog awaitingrain.com includes him on its blogroll. When he met prosperity-gospel preacher Joel Osteen (Your Best Life Now) at a book signing he gushed, “Joel, I’m an atheist, and my mom, well, she’s not a Christian, but we’re huge fans!” His own first book, I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing Faith through an Atheist’s Eyes, is being published by Waterbrook, an evangelical Christian division of Random House.
…
He wasn’t sure how to start being an atheist—“there was no induction ceremony”—so one night he simply went to bed without saying his prayers. The next morning “nothing had changed except my thoughts,” he writes. It was some years before he “came out” to his family. They didn’t shun him, though his parents encourage him to tell his friends at atheist gatherings that Jainism is the best religion.
The entire article can be read here. And if you want to write a letter-to-the-editor about the feature, an email address is provided at the end.
Also, notice the plug for the reading/signing at Barbara’s Bookstore! I’ll write more about that shortly, but keep this Tuesday night open if you’re in the Chicago area!
[tags]atheist, atheism, Harold Henderson, Chicago Reader, Hemant Mehta, God, Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, Secular Student Alliance, Christian, Friendly Atheist, Awaiting Rain, Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now, I Sold My Soul on eBay, Waterbrook Press, Random House, Jainism, Barbara’s Bookstore[/tags]