Hemant Mehta
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Mehta was born a Jain, a largely Indian religion that’s not evangelical. Jains believe that the universe has always existed, as have all souls, and that reincarnations are largely based on karma accumulated in previous lives. Good karma comes from following the five vows of nonviolence, truth telling, “nonstealing,” chastity, and nonpossessiveness. Jains are vegetarians, and the most devout wear masks and sweep the street ahead of them as they walk so as not to injure any other life-form.
Mehta’s deconversion from this religion was both intellectual and moral. On the intellectual side, well, science doesn’t square with Jain theology: the widely accepted big bang theory says the universe began about 14 billion years ago, and obviously there are more people (and thus presumably more souls) now than there used to be.
Today he represents the Secular Student Alliance in the lobbying group Secular Coalition for America, which was behind the recent survey that helped California congressman Fortney “Pete” Stark come out as the nation’s highest “nontheistic” elected official. He likes the University of Florida group that offered “free hugs from atheists” to publicize an upcoming event, and he’s on board with secular groups from Los Angeles and Little Rock that plan to observe May 3 as a National Day of Reason (rather than a National Day of Prayer) by organizing blood drives.
The auction and blog posts drew so much attention, including a feature in the Wall Street Journal and a Sun-Times piece headlined “He sold his soul–for just $504,” that Mehta was soon juggling book deals. Although Waterbrook is a Christian publisher, it never asked him to change his atheist tune.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/A. Jackson.
