Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 5h

Colorado's universal preschool program has a simple rule: Bigots can't participate.

The Catholic Church sued to overturn that rule—and lost.

This is what real religious neutrality looks like. 👇

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/anti-lgbtq...

Anti-LGBTQ Catholic schools lose bid to discriminate in Colorado's universal preschool program

A federal appeals court said that if Catholic preschools want taxpayer dollars, they have to play by the state's rules

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

Larry Mathys @larrymathys.bsky.social · 1d

From @friendlyatheist.com:

WHAT. THE. FUCK! You NEVER, EVER point your firearm at something you are not prepared to destroy.

This Christian pastor preached a sermon while pointing an AR-15 at the congregation

YouTube video by Friendly Atheist

www.youtube.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 1d

Ryan Walters used his job to push Christian Nationalism, punish teachers, and turn public schools into culture war battlegrounds.

Now he’s gone—and Oklahoma is racing to undo his damage.

The reckoning has begun. 👇

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/oklahoma-h...

Oklahoma has already started erasing Ryan Walters’ disastrous legacy

The Christian Nationalist superintendent’s resignation has sparked a statewide effort to undo his damage

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 1d

My earlier article about the Fifth Circuit's decision:

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/appeals-co...

Appeals Court blocks Louisiana law forcing Ten Commandments displays in classrooms

Shoving Christianity in kids' faces through their public schools is still, for now, illegal

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 1d

🚨BREAKING: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had previously upheld a decision saying Louisiana's Ten Commandments-in-schools law was unconstitutional.

That decision has now been VACATED and will be heard by the FULL Fifth Circuit later this year.

www.au.org/wp-content/u...

www.au.org

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 1d

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Keep it going, Oklahoma. It can only get better from here.

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 1d

THE CHICKENS ARE FINALLY COMING HOME TO ROOST

Ryan Walters is out & the investigation floodgates just opened. The Oklahoma AG launched a full audit of Walters’ entire tenure as Superintendent, and it’s about damn time.

Also the education dept website’s being scrubbed of his culture-war nonsense.
🧵

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 1d

A useful summary of why Bari Weiss overseeing CBS News is bad news, courtesy of @rusty.todayintabs.com.

Things are bad. Bari Weiss—a minor opinion editor at the Wall St. Journal, then a minor opinion editor at the New York Times who canceled herself because no one else thought she was important enough to cancel, then the founder of a fake college and a fake media company—has just been handed the job of editor in chief at CBS News. According to an obsequious New York Times tongue bath by Jessica Testa, Weiss “ascended the mountain of journalism on a slingshot” which I guess is one way to describe failing upward for a decade by charming a series of influential conservative men at cocktail parties while never producing a single worthwhile piece of work. Peter Shamshiri wrote the short version of why this is a black joke on all of American media:

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 2d

A Christian "apostle" built a $50 million empire on forced labor and sexual coercion—all in the name of Jesus.

The full story of David E. Taylor and Michelle Brannon is even darker than you think.

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/faith-fear...

Faith, fear, and forced labor: The Kingdom of God Global Church scandal

Federal indictments reveal how "apostle" David E. Taylor and Michelle Brannon turned the KOGGC into a machine of abuse, coercion, and greed

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 3d

Today's @slate.com crossword is mine!

Lots of long entries, misleading clues, and another plea for someone to finally watch my audition tape.

Do it at once!

slate.com/life/2025/10...

Slate Crossword: Word Hidden Backward in “Portrait” (Three Letters)

Ready for some wordplay? Sharpen your skills with Slate’s puzzle for Oct. 5, 2025.

slate.com

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

Enmodo @enmodo.bsky.social · 3d

More on NSPM-7 from @friendlyatheist.com Hemant Mehta including the specter of non-profit groups being targeted and losing tax exempt status youtu.be/cA4GrL4yfVQ

But some good news in that there's a coalition of non-profit orgs who are ready to take legal action should any of them be targeted.

Trump's NSPM-7 memo casts critics of Christianity as enemies of the state

YouTube video by Friendly Atheist

youtu.be

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 5d

Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in Texas, says trans people are a threat to children.

He helped Trump get elected.

He prayed over Trump in the White House.

And he just pleaded guilty to five counts of “lewd or indecent acts to a child.”

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/megachurch...

Megachurch founder and Trump ally Robert Morris pleads guilty to child sex abuse

After a plea deal, the evangelical preacher will spend six months in jail and register as a sex offender

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

Enmodo @enmodo.bsky.social · 5d

The @friendlyatheist.com lays out the details of the recent State of Hawaii Supreme Court decision on the case Hilo Bay Marina, LLC v. State of Hawaiʻi. It's a blistering rebuked of Robert's SCOTUS pandering to religion by ignoring or basterdizing the First Amendment.

youtu.be/mxY7fh7J31c

Hawai’i Supreme Court defends secularism in blistering rebuke of John Roberts' SCOTUS

YouTube video by Friendly Atheist

youtu.be

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 5d

I'll be going live in a bit to talk about the past week in church/state separation!

We'll be talking about Trump's attack against atheists, the Texas plan to lie to kids about history, and so much more...

youtube.com/live/DRSJXj3...

LIVE: Friendly Atheist News Roundup 10/2/2025

YouTube video by Friendly Atheist

youtube.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 6d

Trump has signed a national security memo that treats dissent as terrorism.

If you’ve ever criticized Christianity, capitalism, or "traditional" views on family, you're now in the crosshairs of federal law enforcement.

It's weaponized authoritarianism.

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/trumps-nsp...

Trump's NSPM-7 memo casts critics of Christianity as enemies of the state

The memo weaponizes federal task forces to go after those who challenge "traditional American views on family, religion, and morality"

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 7d

Happy Ryan Walters Is No Longer Oklahoma's Superintendent of Public Instruction Day to all who celebrate.

npr.brightspotcdn.com/f2/21/67702a...

npr.brightspotcdn.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 7d

A high school student made a video about moon phases and candles that aired during morning announcements.

Liberty Counsel turned that school's minor mistake into a full-blown spectacle.

Because outrage gets more attention than honesty.

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/liberty-co...

Liberty Counsel manufactured panic over "Witchy Wednesday" at a Florida high school

A Florida teen's segment during morning announcements became fodder for the Christian outrage machine

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

bort @crushbort.bsky.social · 7d

i wonder what it’s like to look around every day and see the country being run into the ground by pill-poppers and secret police and anti-vaxxers and book burners and you go into work and sit down at your computer and you’re the guy whose job it is to come up with new oreos flavors

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

JVG 骨 @jasonv.bsky.social · 8d

Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com

"some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily execute civilians" says today's New York Times, continuing their long tradition of whitewashing fascism

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

ffrf.org @ffrf.org · 8d

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 7d

Passing this along to @slate.com because they should see this.

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

K. A. “Kîck Åß” Pillë @keithpille.bsky.social · 11d

If your Klein be Naomi, then listen, homie;
But if your Klein be Ezra, disregard what he sezra

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 8d

Today's @slate.com crossword is mine, with a nod to Trump's biggest nemesis.

Do it!

slate.com/life/2025/09...

Slate Crossword: It Might Contain a Gondolier … or Gravy (Four Letters)

Ready for some wordplay? Sharpen your skills with Slate’s puzzle for Sept. 30, 2025.

slate.com

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 8d

The Texas Board of Ed. just tapped David Barton—whose Thomas Jefferson book was pulled off shelves by a Christian publisher for having too many lies—to shape what millions of kids learn in history class.

It's like hiring a Flat Earther to advise NASA.

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/texas-boar...

Texas Board of Education brings on Christian liar David Barton to rewrite Social Studies standards

The GOP's favorite Christian pseudo-historian will get to sabotage history classes across the state—and beyond

www.friendlyatheist.com

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Reposted by Hemant Mehta

Hare 🍉 @haredurer.bsky.social · 9d

Well put by Coates. Nothing inherently wrong with trying to honestly engage with people you disagree with, but creating content for video owns isn't that.

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 9d

This was the most fascinating exchange to me. Coates asks whether a liberal going to Evangelical churches and selectively editing exchanges to mock Christians would be "doing politics the right way."

Klein says it would if it were done completely differently.

But would you like to see one of us put up a sign outside of, say, some white evangelical church in Alabama: Debate me on abortion? And then use that content to say: Such and such “smashes” church parishioner? Or: Such and such “owns” church parishioner?

Would you like to see a version of that?

I would like to see people on our side, yes, go to evangelical churches. Go to places that feel unfriendly, have conversations.

Look, I put up things on YouTube.

They’re fairly successful — not the best of the business — and I don’t use “destroys” in capital letters in them.

I think you can do it more aligned to, hopefully, our value structure, our political approach, our political aesthetic. At least the one that I believe in. I shouldn’t overuse the term “our” here. But we weren’t doing that, either.

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Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · 9d

West Virginia gave $5 million in water infrastructure funds to a Catholic college in Ohio... in part for anti-abortion advocacy.

They were sued, but a judge just approved the grant after the school *promised* the cash won't advance religion.

Ridiculous.

www.friendlyatheist.com/p/west-virgi...

West Virginia gave $5 million to a Catholic school in Ohio. A judge just blessed the deal.

A judge approved the $5 million taxpayer-funded grant to a Catholic trade school after officials promised not to spend it on their religious mission

www.friendlyatheist.com

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