Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1697

Deadly Malaysian Earthquake Was Caused by Naked Tourists, Says Government Official

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia on Friday. The death toll is already at 16 and it may go higher in the coming days. It’s a devastating tragedy so officials are trying to figure out if this is a natural disaster or something they could’ve prevented. And the answer they’ve stumbled upon is what happens when irrational thinking mixes with a desperate need for an explanation:

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed the tragedy on a group of 10 foreigners...

Christian Girl Recites Slam Poetry All About Why We Need More Jesus in America

In the freakiest spoken word poetry you’ll ever hear, listen to a student talk about the need for God inAmerica at the 2015 Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) International Convention in New Mexico:

While I have no desire to mock her — she’s a kid, after all — look at what she’s been taught to believe:

She blames the removal of forced Christian prayers in public school for drug use, violence, illiteracy, divorce, and abortion.

She argues: “If you want to see kids live right, stop handing out...

Why Heaven Wouldn’t Be That Great

The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, explains why Heaven wouldn’t be that great.

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 soon — and we’d also appreciate your suggestions as to which questions we ought to tackle next!

And if you like what you’re seeing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon.

Woman Asks Psychics to Connect With a Dead Sister Who Never Existed… and (Surprise!) They All Do

Vice‘s Jackie Hong performed a simple experiment to test the claims of several psychics in Toronto: She conjured up a fake sister (“Emily”) who died of a car crash and asked the psychics to connect with her.

Of course, they all managed to do it. (Amazing, right?)

But that’s not nearly as interesting to me as what Hong did next. She followed up with the psychics to find out what they had to say upon finding out “Emily” never existed.

Kind of shocked that I had successfully bullshitted my way thro...

Israeli Army Punishes Soldier for Bringing Ham Sandwiches Onto the Base, Then Apologizes After Backlash

When a Boston-born soldier moved overseas to join the Israeli army, I’m pretty sure sharing his grandmother’s sandwiches was the last thing he thought he’d ever get punished for.

But because those sandwiches had ham in them, the soldier was sentenced to 11 days in military prison.

The soldier says he just wasn’t aware of the strict dietary restrictions.

It was only after an outcry that the Israel Defense Forces lessened his punishment:

After an Israel Radio reporter asked the IDF Spokespeson’s Un...

As You’d Expect, God Was Promoted on Century-Old Chalkboards Found in Oklahoma School

Over the weekend, workers at Emerson High School in Oklahoma discovered slate blackboards that still had writing on it from nearlya century ago.

It seems that Oklahoma circa 1917 isn’t very different from Oklahoma today, still promoting God:

I give my head, my he[art,] and my life to my God and One nation indivisible with justice for all.

Looks like a warped version of the Pledge (though it’s not one of the older versions of the “official” Pledge of Allegiance).

School officials plan to preserve...

Ex-Muslim Student’s Op-Ed About Leaving Islam Removed Due to “Personal Safety Concerns”

Last week, the Daily Californian, an independent student-run newspaper serving the UC Berkeley campus, published a really terrific op-ed by a former Muslim:

Until I was 14, I simply accepted everything I’d been told about Islam. I was taught that being born into a Muslim family is a blessing and is the greatest gift that Allah can bestow upon someone. I initially thought the Sunni path I followed was the one true path, just like my Shia, Bori and Ismaili friends adhered to the teachings of the...

Saudi Court Upholds Raif Badawi’s Sentence of 1,000 Lashes and 10 Years in Jail for “Insulting Islam”

30-year-old Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi was punished in 2013 for starting a progressive website that called for, among other things, religious tolerance and women’s rights. That was insulting to Islam, his critics said, and earlier this year, he received the first 50 of his 1,000 lashes punishment. That was in addition to 10 years in jail and a 1,000,000 Saudi riyal fine (about $266,000).

There was a large crowd gathered to watch his first set of lashes:

You can catch a glimpse of what he...

Going to Church? Hope You Were Prepared for It…

In a great clip from his special Freaked Out, comedian Tom Papa talks about taking his daughter to church for the first time:

(via Reddit)

A Brief Stop in San Francisco Next Week

This is short notice, but I’ll be giving a talk for the Atheist Advocates of San Francisco next Saturday (June 13).

I know what you’re thinking: Atheists? In San Francisco?! Surely that’s not possible. But it’s true!

So if you’re one of the rare atheists who lives in the Bay Area, please consider stopping by!

(Actually, if you’re religious, you’ll enjoy the talk, too. Come!)