Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1660

Vote to Remove “Jesus Welcomes You to Hawkins” Sign in Texas Delayed Following Mayor’s Concerns

Remember the 18-foot-wide sign welcoming visitors to the city of Hawkins, Texas?

Mayor Will Rogers had defended the Jesus-tastic sign even after receiving a letter of complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. At one point, he said it wasn’t religious at all. He later said the sign should stay because Jesus was like Superman — and if the FFRF didn’t want a fictional being (in their opinion) welcoming people to Hawkins, then they would oppose Superman, too. So there.

In any case, the c...

Contradicting His Colleague, Muslim Theologian Says Blowjobs Are Not Forbidden in the Faith

Remember when Muslim theologian Ali Riza Demircan told a talk show host which kinds of sex acts were forbidden (“haram”) in the faith? There was anal sex and sodomy… and “oral sex in advanced dimensions,” whatever that meant.

Another Muslim theologian, Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, has now gone on record as saying his colleague was wrong and that oral sex is fine.

But the way he explained it was all sorts of cringe-worthy:

Contradicting Demircan, Ünlü said the Quran does not stipulate such a ban. “Brothers...

Mount Soledad Cross Transferred to Private Land, Ending a Battle That Began Over 25 Years Ago

Yes, we are still talking about the Mount Soledad cross.

Here’s a quick recap in case you’re unfamiliar with the story: The controversy, which began more than 25 years ago, is the longest-running Establishment Clause case in American history.

It involves the Mount Soledad cross in San Diego — a huge cross on public land erected in 1954. While it’s marketed as a veteran’s memorial, it’s very clearly intended to promote Christianity and honor only Christian soldiers.

After the now-deceased Philip...

How a Former Chaplain Ditched Her Faith and Helped Others Get Away from God

A decade ago, Catherine Dunphy was on her way to becoming a religious leader, having already been a Roman Catholic student chaplain… but that changed when she began to have doubts about God. Her journey out of religion led her to start (and lead) the Clergy Project to help others pastors out of the pulpit — she was one of the original members and its eventual Executive Director.

She tells her story in a new book called From Apostle to Apostate: The Story of the Clergy Project (Pitchstone Publi...

Secular Invocation in DeLand, Florida Includes Charlie Chaplin Line: “In This World There is Room for Everyone”

Last night, during a meeting of the DeLand City Commission in Florida, Jake Lee Smith delivered that city’s first-ever secular invocation:

Hello and good evening, Mayor and City Commissioners. My name is Jake Lee Smith and I am a student at Stetson University and I would first like to thank you for the opportunity to allow me to open this DeLand City Commission meeting, offering a different perspective to the community and its legislators.

As a council whose mission statement advocates the impo...

New United Arab Emirates Anti-Discrimination Law Will Punish Vocal Atheists Who Criticize Religion

You’ll be happy to know that President Sheikh Khalifa of Abu Dhabi just enacted a new law making it a crime to discriminate on the basis of “religion, caste, creed, doctrine, race, colour or ethnic origin.”

Just one problem with that. They’re not kidding about protecting people on the basis of religion:

The law prohibits any act that would be considered as insulting God, his prophets or apostles or holy books or houses of worship or graveyards…

…

[State news agency] Wam reported: “Strict action w...

Black Skeptics LA Announce Winners of “First in the Family” College Scholarships

I mentioned back in April that the group Black Skeptics Los Angeles was giving out “First in the Family” scholarships, aimed at helping students who were the first in their family to go to college. This year, the Freedom From Religion Foundation gave the group a $10,000 grant to expand the program:

They just announced the winners, and when you read excepts from their essays, you can tell the scholarships are helping a lot of promising individuals:

I live in between Koreatown and East Hollywood,...

On Friday, An Atheist Officiated the First-Ever Gay Wedding in Puerto Rico

On Friday, writers Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro and Zulma Oliveras Vega joined together in the first-ever gay wedding in Puerto Rico.

And Luis R. Ramos (below), a Humanist celebrant, officiated the historic event.

Ramos, the Vice President of the Humanistas Seculares de Puerto Rico (HuSe), told me that his group had been prepared just in case the Supreme Court made marriage equality legal everywhere:

Early last year, HuSe recognized that we would need to offer our LGBT friends and other atheists and n...

Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 64: Dr. Paul Offit, Vaccine Expert

Our latest podcast guest is Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert.

Dr. Offit is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of Vaccinology and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He’s written tons of published peer-reviewed papers and received countless awards for his work. His latest book, Bad Faith, is all about how religious belief can undermine modern medicine.

On the day of taping, California had j...

In Defense of the $100 Million Donation Toward the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

After all those pictures of Pluto came back last week, plenty of people oohed and aahed over the details in the images. It’s really incredible that we landed on the moon 46 years ago and we’re already exploring the edge of our solar system.

But for all the jaw-dropping pictures, there are still people who wonder why we spent money on the journey at all… even though the $720 million New Horizons satellite cost less money than a football stadium. For that cash, we now have a slightly better unde...