Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1674

Maajid Nawaz Discusses His Journey Out of Islamic Extremism

Okay, one more video from the recent Aspen Ideas Festival!

This one features Maajid Nawaz talking about his “journey out of Islamist extremism“:

Nawaz and Sam Harris will be releasing a book this October called Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue.

If any parts of the video stand out to you, please leave the timestamp/summary in the comments!

Why is a Mormon Flag Flying Over a Utah State Park?

While we’re all having conversations about flags that shouldn’t be on government property, historian John Gary Maxwell is wondering why the Deseret flag — a Mormon symbol — flies above the Ensign Peak Nature Park in Utah:

“It’s certainly confusing to me,” he said regarding the LDS flag. “Up until Brigham Young’s death, Utah was a theocracy. There was no separation between church and state.”

…

The State of Deseret flag could be at odds with the separation of church and state outlined in the U.S....

We Finally Know the Plot of God’s Not Dead 2

God’s Not Dead featured actor Kevin Sorbo as a college professor who demanded that his students admit God doesn’t exist. (Something that never actually happens in real life.)

The sequel is currently being filmed in Little Rock, Arkansas, and it looks like the producers are following the same playbook as before.

This time, Melissa Joan Hart (best known for playing the title characters in Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clarissa Explains It All) stars as a high school teacher who quotes the Bible i...

There’s Now an Evangelical Christian Version of Facebook in Brazil

Readers of this site know that there are Christian versions of everything that’s secular and popular. For every YouTube, there’s a GodTube waiting to convert you. For every Facebook, there’s Faithbook. And for every “Thrift Shop,” there’s… whatever the hell this is.

But Faithbook just isn’t growing fast enough, I guess, so some folks in Brazil created a new Christian version of the social networking site. It’s called Faceglória and, well, you heathens are never going to appreciate it:

… Faceglo...

Richard Dawkins Discusses What Leads to a Meaningful Life

At the recent Aspen Ideas Festival, Richard Dawkins spoke with Jane Shaw of Stanford University about what constitutes a “meaningful life.” A lot of it is a preview of his next book, Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science (the second half of his autobiography).

If any parts stand out to you, please leave the timestamp/summary in the comments!

Attack Survivor Rafida Ahmed Bonya Talks About the Problems with Religious Freedom in Bangladesh

Back in February, author Dr. Avijit Roy and his wife Rafida Bonya Ahmed were returning home from a book fair in Dhaka (Bangladesh) where they were promoting Roy’s latest work when two assailants came after them with cleavers and “hacked them mercilessly.”

Roy died shortly afterwards. Ahmed, who’s getting better, has been criticizing the government response ever since.

She said in a public statement that “the local police stood close by and did not act” while they were being attacked. In another...

Turkish Gay Pride Parade Broken Up By Police

This is a guest post by Sarah Rasher.

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The Istanbul police’s violent response to the local gay pride parade last Sunday is a chilling reminder that the victory for marriage equality in the United States does not necessarily improve the lives of LGBT people around the world. In the short term, it might even make it worse for some.

Marchers and onlookers at the parade, which began in historic Taksim Square, dodged rubber bullets and water cannons shooting streams laced with tear gas. When reveler...

The Cover of Richard Dawkins’ Next Book, Brief Candle in the Dark

In 2013, Richard Dawkins released the first half of his autobiography: An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist.

We now have more details on the sequel, the part that will likely focus on his career as a public atheist and communicator of science:

Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science, a reference to the Carl Sagan phrase, will be out on September 29. You can pre-order it online now.

(Portions of this article were posted earlier)

Christians Can Benefit from Social Media by “Capturing Miracles,” Says Ordained Minister

The site World Religion News posted a pretty generic article about how social media can help religious people spread their message to a younger generation. For the most part, it’s what you’d expect: Share sermons on YouTube! Use prayer apps! Quote the Bible on Twitter!

And then there’s this:

2. CAPTURE MIRACLES IN REAL TIME

With the advent of social media, there is an instant connection with the world that allows for miracles to be captured, recorded and shared in real time. This instant connect...

After Girl Scouts Reject $100,000 Anti-Transgender Donation, They Raise Far More Online

The Girl Scouts of the USA have this great habit of doing everything right while the Boy Scouts of America still think gay adults deserve to be banned from leadership positions.

A few months ago, a donor made a $100,000 contribution to the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, but it came with a caveat:

… the donor asked us to return their gift unless we guaranteed that the money would not be used to help transgender girls.

That’s not the sort of bigotry they want any part of, so the group gave bac...