Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1702

What Has Religion Done for Us This Month? Episode 17

Daniel is back with another montage of some of the awful things done in the name of God over the past month:

(via Religion Hurts Humanity)

See? That Mass Murder Confirmed What I Already Believed!

DarkMatter2525‘s latest video sheds light on a disappointing truth in our society. When a tragedy occurs and people die, so many of us seem to care only about whether the killer’s identity supports our preconceived social/political/religious beliefs.

The lives of the dead — and anything else for that matter — become afterthoughts.

The cycle never ends, does it…?

Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 57: Vyckie Garrison, Founder of No Longer Qivering

Our latest podcast guest is Vyckie Garrison, the founding editor of No Longer Qivering, a website based upon the “quiverfull” lifestyle that she left years ago. (Why that spelling? Because, she says, there’s no “you” in quivering.)

She was also named American Atheists’ 2015 Atheist of the Year.

Jessica spoke with Vyckie about how she left the movement made famous by the Duggar family, whether her children are still religious, and why patriarchal thinking hurts men as well as women.

We’d love to...

Author of Awkward Moments Children’s Bible Cancels Similar Qur’an-Themed Project

Horus Gilgamesh is the author of the Awkward Moments (Not Found In Your Average) Children’s Bible, which documents many of the Bible’s little-known verses.

After writing that book and a sequel, he decided to do something *really* blasphemous: create a similar book focusing on the Qur’an.

Unfortunately, the Awkward Moments (Not Found In Your Average) Kid’s Koran won’t be coming out anytime soon since he’s decided to pull the plug on the project:

A page from the now-canceled book

After a great deal...

Here Are a Bunch of Christians Telling @Caitlyn_Jenner She Needs Jesus in Her Life

Caitlyn Jenner made her debut today on the cover of Vanity Fair:

Some Christians on Twitter have a message for her:

Oh. And we can’t forget Bryan Fischer:

“Those of us that are saying this is not a good thing, those of us that are saying this is bad for Bruce Jenner, bad for his future, we are showing far more compassion to him than the editors of Vanity Fair… They are showing no compassion for him, no genuine care for him because they are celebrating his progress down a pathway that could lead...

Pastor Who Thinks He Raised Man from the Dead Has an Anonymous Doctor’s Note to Back Up His Story

A few days ago, I wrote about Pastor Robby Dawkins (no relation to Richard) and how he thinks he helped raise someone from the dead (with God’s help, of course).

In short, Dawkins said a man started convulsing as he was about to give a sermon. Dawkins ran to the man’s side, rebuked the “spirit of death,” and helped the man recover!

That man’s sister, however, refutes the entire story. She says he was simply having a seizure. While he needed hospitalization, he was never dead. She went on to cla...

The #CharlieCharlieChallenge Was a Giant Marketing Stunt… Say Those Who Believe Anything You Tell Them

Remember that whole “Charlie Charlie Challenge” in which gullible people would try to summon a Mexican demon with an American name? And then even more gullible people told them not to do it because it was tempting Satan?

Some websites are now saying it was a marketing stunt for an upcoming movie, The Gallows:

But wait! If you watch that trailer, it really has nothing to do with the meme. There’s a character named Charlie… and that’s all they have in common. Sure, there’s a brief bit with pencil...

Ken Ham Thinks the Creationist Who Stumbled Upon a Fossil Was Doing Real Science

Last week, Edgar Nernberg made news for finding a fossil as he was excavating ground for a new house:

While that might be enough to generate a few headlines, there was a tremendous amount of press for this story because Hernberg is a Creationist. In other words, a man who believes the Earth is about 6,000 years old found a fossil that’s tens of millions of years old. Hilarious.

To his credit, though, Nernberg knew that he wasn’t capable of doing much with the fossil (and I wouldn’t be either),...

Comedian Tracy Morgan Thanks Everyone but God in First Interview Following Accident

Earlier today, comedian Tracy Morgan gave his first interview since being in an accident that killed one of his friends.

During the segment with Matt Lauer, Morgan thanked lots of people involved in his recovery: The doctor, the nurses, his family, the police, the passers-by on the side of the road who stopped to help him out, his drivers, the people piloting the helicopter that took him to the hospital, etc.

Never once did he mention God.

How refreshing to hear someone give credit where it’s du...

Christian Megachurch Punishes Woman for Seeking Divorce from Her Child-Porn-Watching Husband

Matthew Paul Turner, writing at The Daily Beast, has a disturbing story about a woman who was encouraged by her church elders to stay with her kiddie-porn-watching husband or face disciplinary action.

Karen Hinkley belonged to The Village Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch in Dallas. This is one of those churches that makes you sign a contract for the privilege of being associated with them. Among other things, the contract stipulates that you must be abstinent until marriage, your marriage...