Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1667

Muslim Writer, Unaware of How Theocracies Work, Says We Must All Accept God to Find Peace

In a remarkably ignorant piece for On Faith, Qasim Rashid explains why a secular society is a bad idea, basically borrowing his talking points from the worst of the Religious Right:

Secular laws alone cannot bring about peace and justice on earth. While secular governance is important, without personal Godliness it is incomplete. Morality cannot be legislated. Secular laws cannot limit the wandering eye of a would-be rapist as he scopes his next victim — instead the burden is placed on women t...

Creationist Ken Ham: “Homosexual Behavior” Led to 9/11

One of the many problems with Christian theology is this notion that sinning against God — starting with Adam and continuing through today — is the cause for anything bad that happens.

Natural disasters? God’s just punishing us for rebelling against Him.

School shootings? What else did you expect after we removed mandatory Christian prayer from schools?!

And 9/11? The terrorists had nothing to do with it. It’s totally our fault.

That last one is what Creationist Ken Ham says in the video below:

Yo...

TV Host Can’t Stop Laughing As Islamic Theologian Tells Her About the Sin of “Oral Sex In Advanced Dimensions”

Here’s a great way to make a news clip go viral:

Invite a Muslim theologian on your show to explain what kind of sex is forbidden (“haram”) in the faith.

Listen carefully as he rattles off his list: Anal sex. Sodomy. And finally: “Oral sex in advanced dimensions.”

Laugh your ass off.

(You don’t have to understand the language to make sense of the clip. Just watch host Pelin Çift‘s reactions.)

Pelin Cift, presenting her show late Friday on state-run television’s main channel TRT 1, kept a straight...

Mississippi School District Forced to Pay Up After Violating Court Order and Repeatedly Promoting Christianity

I swear I’ve written more articles about the Rankin County School District in Mississippi than anywhere other school district in the country — never for good reasons.

The most pressing story is the one that started in April of 2013, when students at Northwest Rankin High School attended a mandatory assembly featuring representatives from nearby Pinelake Baptist Church who told the students that they needed to accept Jesus in their lives. They even showed a video:

In the video, two young men wer...

5 Reasons Atheist Parents Shouldn’t Teach Religion to Their Kids

The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, discusses 5 reasons atheist parents shouldn’t teach religion to their children.

(To be clear, I’m fine with parents teaching them about religion. I’m focusing here on the atheist parents who do things like take their kids to church because they think it’s the best way to raise them.)

A rough transcript of the video can be found on the YouTube page in the “About” section.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the project — more videos will be posted...

Proposed Irish Law Would Extend Anti-Discrimination Protections to LGBT Teachers, but Not Atheist Ones

Ireland’s Employment Equality Act basically says employers cannot discriminate on the basis of things like gender, marital status, age, race, etc. All good ideas. But as with all laws, there are exemptions. And those are covered in Section 37.

That part says that religious institutions (like churches, schools, and hospitals) — even though most are state-funded — are allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion if it’s reasonable to do so for that tradition. So if your faith says priests ha...

Married Christian Soccer Player Shuts Down Homophobic Trolls on Instagram

More people than ever are paying attention to women’s soccer, and with that comes the realization that a solid numbers of players are openly gay. Surprise! — teammates are cool with it, it’s not a “distraction,” and it’s totally possible to be gay and be great at your sport! (Take note, NFLcoaches!)

Anyway, Erin McLeod and Ella Masar, teammates on the Houston Dash, got married last week and shared photos of the ceremony online.

And hateful messages started rolling in, as they do.

Unfazed, Masar...

Jesus Ruined My Relationship… Look How Happy I Am Now!

This may be the most depressing thing I’ve read in a long time.

It starts out great, though. A Christian woman fell in love with her best friend (another woman) during college. True love. “Soul mate” love.

… It wasn’t a “butterflies in the stomach” kind of love. It was a ‘You are my person” kind of love. The, “Whatever life throws at us, I want it to be with you,” kind of love. And life threw a lot at us. I would have gladly spent every minute of the rest of my days with her. I loved her certai...

Judge Who Won’t Officiate Gay Weddings Says the Civil Rights Struggle Inspired Him to Pursue Law

This is a guest post by Martin Williams, an Agnostic writer from a small religious town.

…

It’s a simple premise. If you work for the government and accept government money to do your job, then you must follow the rules or go work somewhere else. Yet time and time again, conservatives have shown an inability to understand that concept.

So it’s no surprise to see them rally in support of Toledo (Ohio) Judge C. Allen McConnell (below), who declined to do his duty by refusing to officiate a wedding...

A Third Compilation of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Best Arguments and Comebacks

Here’s a third compilation of Neil deGrasse Tyson‘s best arguments and comebacks. (You can see previous videos here and here.)

(via Agatan Fnd)