Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1663

The Non-Religious Side of PewDiePie

I don’t watch the videos of PewDiePie, the most popular YouTuber in the world, because, well, I graduated from middle school. But there’s no doubt about his reach and influence (and wealth).

Matt Cerami, writing for the Humanist, explores the Humanistic side of the star (real name Felix Kjellberg):

Kjellberg — like many of his Swedish countryfolk — is an atheist and has openly declared as much to his fans. In a video posted on June 27, 2014, he stated: “I’m an agnostic atheist. It basically mea...

After Adopting New Restrictive Invocation Policy, Pompano Beach (FL) Receives Warning from FFRF

I posted the other day about how the Pompano Beach City Commission in Florida created a policy specifically designed to prevent Satanists, atheists, Wiccans, and other less-represented community members from delivering invocations at their meetings. They did it by requiring all potential speakers to be part of a religious organization that’s listed in the Yellow Pages or a legal non-profit.

I’m gonna bet there are no atheists or Satanists in here…

Yesterday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation...

Former Jehovah’s Witness Servant Explains How the Organization Fired Him Without Warning

Marcus Vaughn (below) used to be a “Bethelite” — kind of like the Jehovah’s Witness version of a Catholic priest. He lived in a JW compound in Wallkill, New York and was a faithful full-time servant for the Watchtower Society.

Here’s how serious his commitment was:

Bethelites, as volunteers working at Jehovah’s Witness headquarters are called, have to sign a “Vow of Obedience and Poverty” to this order. In this vow, aspiring members pledge to serve “without any expectation of being paid, as one...

The Other Kids Who Visit Heaven Always Forget This Detail…

Finally, a believable story about a child visiting Heaven and then coming back to tell us all about it!

“Jesus was sitting at the right hand of God and my grandfather was right there, and they looked at me and smiled at each other and said I should ask for an $80,000 advance with 10 percent of back-end profits.” Miller added that he felt a profound sense of peace and well-being when Jesus told him to go forth and seek a blockbuster deal for the movie rights.

He forgot to mention that Jesus also...

Indian Lovers Attempt Suicide at Taj Mahal After Their Families’ Religious Differences Kept Them Apart

It’s a tragic love story that echoes Romeo & Juliet, but instead of warring families, the couple had to overcome the obstacle of faith.

Rajveer Singh (a 25-year-old Hindu) and Shabnam Ali (an 18-year-old Muslim) decided that if her family wouldn’t let her be with him, they’d rather end their lives than move forward without each other. On Wednesday, they put their plan into action at the Taj Mahal, a monument that the creator built out of love for his deceased wife:

Rajveer and Shabnam had arran...

Indiana Reporters Can’t Understand Why Local Groups Are on Christian Right’s “Bigotry Map”

By now, you’re all familiar with the American Family Association’s “Bigotry Map” — which is supposed to be a visual reminder of groups that are anti-Christian, but is really a collection of groups that simply aren’t Christians. Same thing, to them.

There have been a couple of instances of reporters trying to understand why local groups were included on the map, and they always come up empty.

It’s not like the AFA has put forth any reasons for why these groups are included. I guess they just ass...

Creationist Ken Ham Explains Why Childbirth is Painful, Ignoring All Scientific Evidence in the Process

About a month ago, Professor Scott Simpson from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine’s Department of Anatomy gave a lecture about childbirth that sounded fascinating:

The lecture was titled “Ouch! Why is it so hard to have a baby? An Evolutionary Perspective.”

…

He said one thing to bear in mind when studying why childbirth is so difficult for humans is that all mammals have a natural drive to procreate, to make more of their own kind.

“Then why would it be so easy for our close relatives like...

Well, This Was a Pleasant Surprise

You know, after panning Ray Comfort‘s anti-gay movie Audacity, and pointing out that his stars are actually supportive of LGBT rights, and describing the movie in painstaking detail during our podcast… you’d think Comfort would be unhappy with us.

And then, yesterday, my podcast co-host Jessica received a lovely gift basket from him:

Dammit, Ray, you make it very hard for us to criticize you when you do nice things like this!

(In case you’re wondering, there are no bananas in there.)

Cool Experiment: Where Does a Basketball with Backspin End Up When You Drop It from 415 Feet in the Air?

And you thought jocks and nerds couldn’t get along? Check out what happens when you drop a basketball from the 415-foot-high Gordon Dam in Tasmania… and give it some backspin:

This is *so* not good for my vertigo…

Obviously, the basketball moves that way because of Jesus.

You can read more about the Magnus effect here. Very cool science and the video is such a neat way of showing it in action!

(via Veritasium)

A Glimpse Into the Life of a Child Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness

In a short film called Dios por el Cuello (God by the Neck), director José Trigueiros shows you what it’s like to grow up as a Jehovah’s Witness, unable to attend birthday parties and being used as a pawn to advance the Church’s agenda.

It’s in Spanish but includes English subtitles:

Well, that was depressing… and fairly accurate, too, according to Jehovah’s Witness watchdog Lloyd Evans. He told me in an email:

The film is so close to the actual experience of being dragged on the doors as a Witn...