The responses to the interview questions may not represent the views of The Echo Boom Bomb's author. These interviews are provided to inform readers of information from experts and provide these experts with a medium where they can answer questions without any content changes. You can also read other interviews at this link.
As I wrote in the earlier post - Generation Y To Church "Bye" - the Millennial generation holds more secular views than its parents. While this may challenge modern churches, this trend has helped the rise of atheism in the United States.
Hemant Mehta, who writes Friendly Atheist, responded to my questions regarding atheism and a few other important topics. Outside of blogging, some more information on him:
Hemant Mehta wrote the book, I Sold My Soul On eBay, which captures how an atheist sees faith (he made $504 from his auction and donated it to the Secular Student Alliance). He works as a mathematics teacher and speaks throughout the country on the topic of atheism, as well as his experience from selling his soul on eBay. His blog, Friendly Atheist, features his voice as well as a list of contributors that address the topic of atheism, religion and politics.
1. I noticed that you teach mathematics. The lack of math skills in our country is beyond disturbing. What can we do to correct this problem?
It starts by getting people who are intelligent, dedicated, and strong speakers in the classroom. We need people who are genuinely excited by math to teach it. Unfortunately, a lot of smart people get lured away from K-12 education because there's more money elsewhere or they don't believe it's arespectable profession. We also need to find better ways to communicate our teaching methods with other teachers and get the students to understand the relevance of what we teach.
2. The Millennial generation is more secular and open to atheism than any former American generation. In your interactions with Millennials and other Americans, what trends have you observed about atheism among these groups?
Young people grow up nowadays surrounded by people from different faith backgrounds (including those without faith). It's very hard to stay inside your own bubble. Kids know that atheists aren't evil, that Muslims aren't terrorists, that gay people deserve equal rights, that women deserve the same opportunities as men; basically, they grow up realizing that their pastors are feeding them lies. They are less drawn to the church than ever before. They may not always leave the faith, but they're growing increasingly disillusioned by church leaders. That's good for all of us.
3. What common misconceptions about atheists exist and how do you address those misconceptions?
That we're evil and immoral. I think the amount of charity done by atheist groups nationwide is growing at a staggering pace and it will continue to do so - and that's a great counterweight to the "evil" claim. I'm working with organizations like Foundation Beyond Belief which were created solely to address the fact that atheists want to give to secular charities but don't always have good ways to do it. Even college groups are donating blood or raising money for good causes.
4. What are the largest challenges for atheism in the United States?
We have to show people that we're kind, decent people, contrary to what they've grown up believing from their pastors or parents. It's a tough obstacle to overcome but you can see the younger generation growing more accepting of us, so the trend is in the right direction, even if there are blips along the way.
5. Since you sold your soul on eBay for $504, how has life been?
It's been great :). I donated the money to Secular Student Alliance and I started friendlyatheist.com. I began teaching high school math since the book came out and I am able to talk about atheism in my private life while (hopefully) helping kids learn the value of math in my public life.
