Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1671

Ohio Public School District Promotes Bible Camp on Facebook

I know it’s summer and public school districts are probably not getting much interaction on their Facebook pages… but what the hell was the Fairfield City School District in Cincinnati, Ohio thinking when it posted an advertisement for a Vacation Bible School earlier today?

I’ve reached out to the District for comment and information.

I also asked if they would promote ads from any local group, because I’m sure Camp Quest would love to get in there. Hell, I’m sure The Satanic Temple has some ne...

Baylor University Finally Lifts Ban on Gay Sex

Baylor University, a private Baptist school in Texas, isn’t the most progressive campus in the nation. After all, it wasn’t until 1996 that the school finally lifted its ban on dancing.

And until yesterday, a married gay couple on campus would have been punished for sleeping with each other. Not a surprise coming from the school that was ranked last year by Princeton Review as one of those most LGBT-unfriendly colleges in the country.

But that all changed yesterday:

After years of appeals from s...

Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law Could Allow Sex Offenders to Attend Church in Public Schools

This is a guest post by Andrew Seidel. He is an attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

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Last week, we announced that the ACLU is officially opposed to Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, such as the one Indiana recently adopted amid public outcry about the potential for discrimination against gay people. That same week, the ACLU of Indiana filed an interesting lawsuit that both uses and challenges the state’s RFRA.

A new Indiana law that took effect on July 1 prohibits “serious sex...

Kansas Governor’s Executive Order Will Let Taxpayer-Funded Religious Groups Discriminate Against LGBT People

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has, once again, done something to make life worse for people in his state in order to pander to his religious base.

Yesterday, he issued an Executive Order in order to protect religious leaders from the evils of gay marriage. (Something they never had to worry about in the first place.)

Under the order, the state can’t take action against a religious organization, including those providing social services, based on their opposition to same-sex marriage. The order...

Catholic Priest in Hot Water After Lying About Hidden Camera in Church Bathroom

This past April, a 15-year-old boy went into the bathroom at St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood, Oregon, and noticed something weird…

The teenager noticed an electrical outlet affixed to the wall at waist-height next to the toilet, the records say. He thought that was a strange place for an outlet, so he pulled it from the wall and brought it to the priest. The fixture appeared to be a disguised camera.

Whoa! Crazy! The proper thing to do here would be for the priest, Father Ysrael Bien, t...

“By His Grace” Is a Christian Photo Studio That Just Got Outed For Shameless Image Theft

Disclosure: From mid spring through the fall, photography takes up the bulk of my time and ultimately provides 75 to 80 percent of my annual income. I’ve been a professional photographer for ten years now.

Given my métier, I have pretty strongfeelings about people who market themselves as photographers but are so devoid of clients, chops, and originality that they are reduced topassing off the work of others as their own. I know: You wouldn’t think such pitiful miscreantsexist in the age of Go...

Puerto Rican Police Set Up Road Block to Proselytize to Drivers, According to Atheist Group’s Complaint

Have you ever been driving and come across a police road block? Maybe there’s an accident up ahead, or they’re doing surprise sobriety checks on all drivers.

In Puerto Rico last week, drivers in Barceloneta City came across one of those blocks. You won’t believe what happened when they stopped:

During the “faith road-block”, officers stopped people on the road for the purpose of preaching, distributing written religious propaganda and praying for drivers. It was a religious activity in which th...

It’s Meditation Without the New-Age Nonsense

If all meditation was like this, maybe I’d finally give it a try:

(via Sean McGuire)

A Church That Finally Gets It!

If only this disclaimer appeared on all their materials, too…

The sign is from Aylmer Full Gospel, a church in Ontario, Canada.

(via Christian Nightmares)

Comedian Jim Jefferies Tackles the Absurdity of Infant Baptism

Comedian Jim Jefferies explains in a clip from his 2012 special “Fully Functional” how his life changed when he stopped believing in God, why he’s no longer a “bad” atheist, and why the whole notion of infant baptism is just ridiculous.

As with all things Jefferies, the audio is NSFW:

The clip was released in promotion of Jefferies’ “Freedumb Tour.”

You can see another clip of Jefferies talking about religion here. And be sure to watch his take on gun control.