eBay Atheist Auction Sends SSA Chair to Church
CHICAGO - Hemant Mehta, a 23-year-old Atheist from Chicago, asked eBay bidders last month to send him to church.The winning bid of $504 came from Off-the-Map, a Christian organization with the mission of "normalizing evangelism for ordinary Christians." Off The Map's slogan is "Helping Christians be normal."
"We spent our entire marketing budget for 2006 in an attempt to win Hemant's atheistic attention. When it comes to getting better reality about how our customers feel about our 'products and services' who better to ask than an atheist?" said Jim Henderson, co-founder and executive director of Off The Map.
For the past several weeks, Henderson's team has sent Mehta to a variety of churches in the Chicagoland area, including a Catholic church, a Christian mega-church, and a predominantly-African-American church, among others. Several more visits are scheduled.
Mehta writes about his experiences at www.off-the-map.org. A concurrent philosophical discussion on religious issues is also found on Mehta's personal blog at www.ebayatheist.blogspot.com.
"The response has been unbelievable. Atheists and religious people alike are having civil, positive discussions about their beliefs. And both sides are able to help the other understand where they are coming from -- it's a win-win situation," said Mehta.
During the past month, Mehta has been the topic of discussion on both Atheist podcasts and Christian radio. On Feb. 3, Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains, Left Behind) "witnessed" to Hemant on his evangelical radio show Way of the Master.
Mehta became an Atheist at 14, and currently serves as the chair of the Board of Directors for the Secular Student Alliance (www.secularstudents.org), an Ohio-based nonprofit organization that supports high school and college Atheist/Agnostic student groups across the nation. Mehta donated the proceeds of his auction to the Secular Student Alliance.
Mehta attended college at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he and a friend formed a secular student group of their own, SWORD: Students WithOut Religious Dogma (www.uicsword.com).
August E. Brunsman IV, executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, says religious and secular people are often standoffish when they confront each other. "I hope Mehta's auction will encourage more atheists and religious believers to try walking a mile in each other's shoes," Brunsman said. "That's a good way to start an informed dialogue."
To contact Hemant Mehta, write to hemant@friendlyatheist.com. For information, visit www.secularstudents.org
Submitted by august on Wed, 03/08/2006 - 02:47
