Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1662

ABC’s What Would You Do? Features Angry Atheist Yelling at Praying Family in a Restaurant

If you haven’t seen ABC’s show What Would You Do? — and you won’t want to after this — the premise is pretty self-explanatory. As the show’s website states, it “establishes everyday scenarios and then captures people’s reactions.” So you might see a segment in which an actor clearly steals an item from a store… and the cameras zoom in on the other customers to see how they react: Do they tell someone or do they ignore it? You get the idea.

On Friday night, the show started out just fine. A mil...

Enough is Enough: We Can’t Ignore All the Accusations and Cover-Ups and Payouts and Crimes

Did you hear about all those people who were raped? One after another, so many came forward to tell their stories.

They were young. They thought this would be good for their future. They had no reason to doubt their decision.

But they ended up scarred for life.

The victims lived with their secrets for years, in some cases believing they did something to cause it.

It had been going on for decades but the public ignored the stories. It didn’t matter how many accusations popped up, too many people l...

Rev. Franklin Graham: “We Should Stop All Immigration of Muslims to the U.S.”

Liberals love to throw around the word “Islamophobic” to describe atheists who criticize Muslim theology or who point out what the Qur’an says. Those atheists (like Sam Harris and Bill Maher) wrongly get accused of hating Muslims, when that’s not the case at all.

If you want to see what actual hatred of Muslims looks like, just ask Rev. Franklin Graham:

Four innocent Marines (United States Marine Corps) killed and three others wounded in #Chattanooga yesterday including a policeman and another...

Atheist Who Appeared in Anti-Gay Film Will Donate Salary to LGBT Community Center

We know that the lead actors in Ray Comfort‘s anti-gay film Audacity are pro-LGBT rights. We’re not done yet…

I got an interesting email the other day from an extra in the film, who also happens to be an atheist. Mike Martin is a paramedic in the movie. You can see him on the right in the screenshot below:

He met Comfort a few years ago when the evangelist was preaching at the Huntington Beach Pier in California. Martin explained it like this:

We debated for 20 minutes until he finally admitted...

After Charleston, Atheist Stands Guard Outside AME Church in Colorado So Members Can Worship in Peace

Following the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, there’s understandable tension at black churches across the country as people wonder whether there will be any copycat incidents.

In Colorado, where the First A.M.E. Church in Pueblo (below) will celebrate its 140th anniversary tomorrow, one atheist is making sure the congregation can worship without worry (article is behind a paywall):

After a June 20 vigil, Rev. Margaret Redmond received a call from a man who, distressed by the mass murder...

I Don’t Know How This Christian Cross in La Crescent (MN) Got There, but It Needs to Go

The city of La Crescent, Minnesota has this dual cross/star structure sitting on government property. On Christmas, they light up the star. On Easter, they light up the cross. How do they get away with that promotion of Christianity?

Simple. No one ever called them out on it… until now.

… “A cross cannot be displayed on city property to celebrate Easter,” [Freedom From Religion Foundation] Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert informed the city in a recent letter. “The religious significance of the La...

We’re Ignoring the Most Important Questions in a Controversial Circumcision Schism

When Heather Hironimus and Dennis Nebus split up, there was a looming question about whether or not they would circumcise their four-year-old son Chase. They both signed papers saying they would (Nebus would handle the scheduling and payments), but Hironimus had a change of heart afterwards… and ran away with the boy.

… Hironimus has been arguing that there is no medical reason for her son to be circumcised and that the procedure could harm or even kill the boy. The practice is even more scrut...

Did You Enjoy the Pluto Flyover? Wait Till You Hear Dr. Carolyn Porco Talk About the Mission to Saturn

If you’ve been mesmerized over the past week with the Pluto flyover, take an hour of your time and listen to Dr. Carolyn Porco talk about the Cassini mission around Saturn. Porco is the leader of the Imaging Team for that mission.

She gave the talk at Imagine No Religion 5 conference in Vancouver last month:

If nothing else, just watch the moment starting at the 58:00 mark. Just astonishing.

I Don’t Think That’s Your Target Audience…

Of all the places for Liberty University to advertise, I’m pretty sure this is the least useful:

Grindr is probably a notch above Teletubbies in the list of things that anger Jerry Falwell.

(via @downesphoto)

A Song About Letting Go of Your Imaginary Friends

Peter D’Angelo, a composer who normally creates music for TV and film, put together another nifty atheist-friendly rock song. This one’s called “Imaginary Friends”:

You’ve got substance; you’ve got some brains
Why do you want to be all locked up in those chains?
Please reconsider, you oughta know
Relax your grip and breathe, it’s cool, be less devote.
Creation? Intelligent design?
Only vintners can turn water into wine
Think about it, you know you want to
Once you start, your closed-mind will...