Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1689

Southern Baptist Leader Says He Won’t Officiate Gay Weddings (Not That Anyone Was Asking Him To)

At the Southern Baptist Convention gathering over the weekend, President Ronnie Floyd (below) told the audience that if same-sex marriage is legalized, he will refuse — refuse! — to perform any gay ceremonies:

“I declare to everyone today as a minister of the Gospel — I will not officiate over any same-sex unions or same-sex marriage ceremonies,” he said. “I completely refuse.”

To which those of us who support LGBT rights say…

Yeah. That’s fine. We don’t care. We were never going to force you to...

Confidence in Organized Religion at an All-Time Low… Again

How much confidence do you have in the church/organized religion?

That’s the question Gallup recently asked people. Then they grouped together those who had a “Great Deal” or “Quite a Lot” of confidence in religion. Even combined, the resulting trend has a beautiful downward slope that just hit a new all-time low:

Confidence in religion began faltering in the 1980s, while the sharpest decline occurred between 2001 and 2002 as the Roman Catholic Church grappled with a major sexual abuse scandal....

Molesting Preacher Walks Free After Sheriff Says He Already Suffered a “Spectacular Fall from Grace”

Over the past few years, Walter Masocha (below), a former lecturer at Scotland’s Stirling University, became leader of the Agape for All Nations Church, a religion of his own creation.

And he used his authority to molest a young girl and assault another woman:

During the trial the schoolgirl now 16, said she regarded Masocha as her “spiritual father”, and like many people in the church called him “Dad”.

She said in late 2013 she was with other girls in an upstairs games room when Masocha came in...

Southern Baptist Seminary President Questioned for His Participation in “Openly Secular” Campaign

Last month, Danny Akin, the President of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, recorded a video explaining why he supports the “Openly Secular” campaign:

Though we do disagree on some very important issues, we also agree on some important things as well. For example, we do believe together that no one should be coerced when it comes to their particular religious beliefs, whether they are religious or not religious, they should have the freedom to express what they believe and they sho...

I Love My Christian Parents… but I Have to Lie to Them

Seen on Humans of New York:

Amazing, isn’t it, that Christians who frown upon lying can put pressure on others to do it in their presence?

As one commenter puts it, there’s an alternative: You don’t have to lie to them; you just have to adjust to living without their approval.

An Atheist Rock Song for Those on the Fence About Their Faith

Peter D’Angelo, a composer who normally creates music for TV and film, put together this nifty atheist-friendly rock anthem. Sounds amazing and the lyrics are unlike anything you’ll ever hear on the radio:

They call me damaged, broken, and wrong,
how can I be good?
One big difference is if I could save this planet, I would.
You question my moral code,
but to carry that burden of proof is quite a load.
Be careful with those tales, legends, and lore,
They’re just made up by men who couldn’t thin...

Christian Couple’s Plan to Divorce if Australia Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage Isn’t Going So Well

Last week, Australians Nick and Sarah Jensen made international headlines when they said that if gay marriage was legalized in their country, they would get a divorce after ten years together. I guess that would show that legalizing gay marriage clearly affects straight ones.

If you read the fine print to the story, then you also knew they were still going to live together, still planning on having more children, and still going to call each other “husband” and “wife.”

Since then, we’ve learned...

Texas Mayor Defends “Jesus Welcomes You to Hawkins” Sign, Saying That Critics Would Also Oppose Superman

Last week, I posted about an 18-foot-wide sign that greets visitors to the city of Hawkins, Texas:

Mayor Will Rogers was defending the sign despite a letter of complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and his arguments are just getting more and more ridiculous.

His latest one was offered at last night’s city council meeting. Rogers argued that the sign should stay because Jesus is like Superman:

“What violation is it for someone to welcome you into a town? If you don’t believe that J...

Pope Urges Bishops to Fight “Dangerous Secularism” and Same-Sex Marriage by Evangelizing Children

That is not the headline about Pope Francis that you’ll find everywhere else in the media today. No, they’re in a fawning frenzyat the momentover his new encyclical supporting climate change action.Though I strongly believe climate change is the greatest threat of our time,I’m not donning my party hat.Catholic leaders have been sayingthe same thing for at least fifteen years, without successfully finding an approach that actually shifts the views of Catholics, at least not in America. And lik...

The Trailer for Ray Comfort’s New Anti-Gay Movie is Now Online

Following his 2011 anti-abortion movie and his 2013 anti-evolution movie, Christian apologist Ray Comfort raised $332,000 for his new anti-homosexuality film project. (Which makes sense, I guess, for a guy best known for his banana video.)

The trailer for that movie, Audacity, is now online:

As far as I can tell, the film is all about how exposure to lesbians will cause you to be killed in a robbery shootout. #ChristianLogic

(Also, isn’t Kirk Cameron Comfort’s BFF? How is he not in this movie?)

T...