Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1706

Georgia Science Teacher Reportedly Proselytized to Atheist Student and Showed Class Preaching Videos

In the several years I taught at a high school, I ran into a number of religious students. Some of them wanted to talk about religion with me but I did what I could to change the subject. Even if I strongly disagreed with their beliefs, it wasn’t my place to challenge them — certainly not in the classroom.

I suspect most teachers would agree with everything I just wrote. But not James Tillman of Douglas County High School in Georgia. A letter sent to the District by the Freedom From Religion F...

Caught on Camera: Maine Church Gets Struck by Lightning

When your church gets struck by lightning, I think God’s trying to tell you something…:

Firefighter Carl Bouley filmed that moment featuring the St Gerard-Mount Carmel Parish in Grand Isle, Maine. Nobody was hurt, thankfully.

But someone in that church should really check in with God to find out what they’re doing wrong.

(Thanks to Helen for the link)

An Atheist, Two Pastors, and Sean Hannity Discussed Religious Freedom and It Went Exactly As You’d Expect

Last night, American Atheists President Dave Silverman appeared on Sean Hannity‘s Fox News show to talk about religious freedom… alongside two pastors known for their conservative Christian faith.

So you know that was entertaining.

Actually it turned into a shouting match — surprise! — with Silverman trying his best to point out that no one is ever going to force Christian pastors to marry gay couples in their churches. They’re free to be bigots in their religious sanctuaries. It’s only when th...

Edwina Rogers Sues Atheist Lobbying Group, Alleging Defamation and Wrongful Termination

***Update***: The Secular Coalition for America’s interim Executive Director Kelly Damerow gave me this statement:

The SCA is disappointed that Ms. Rogers chose to file this complaint. The SCA denies Ms. Rogers’ allegations that it has taken any unlawful actions against her. SCA has retained legal counsel and intends to vigorously contest this lawsuit.

…

According to a lawsuit obtained by this site, Edwina Rogers (below) is suing the Secular Coalition for America (her former employer).

Last year,...

Fox News Spent Less Than Two Minutes Discussing the Josh Duggar Child Molestation Scandal

I’m sure this is just a coincidence:

But while MSNBC and CNN have reported heavily on the Duggar scandal, Fox News has largely ignored the story. According to a Media Matters analysis, Fox News spent less than two minutes covering the story between May 21 and May 25, compared to almost an hour of coverage from the other cable news networks.

Because why talk about a Christian committing actual crimes when they can focus on fake persecution stories instead?

Phoenix Atheist Will Host “Draw Muhammad” Event Tonight Just Outside Local Mosque

I’ve said before that I don’t mind people who draw images of Muhammad if it’s done for good reason. Standing in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo? Doing it as a symbol of free speech? I could understand and defend those reasons.

Doing it to piss off Muslims or to draw attention to yourself? Now, you’re just being a dick.

Jon Ritzheimer (below) falls in that latter group.

He’s an atheist and former marine who’s taking a cue from Pamela Geller — never a good idea — and hosting a Draw Muhammad cartoon...

God is Not a Fan of Your Sports Team Unless…

In a scene from An Act of God — opening tonight on Broadway — actor Jim Parsons channels God to explain how He works when it comes to sports:

He’s a clever one, that God…

Jesus Explains Why, When Times Were Tough, There Was Just One Set of Footprints…

That “Footprints” poem finally makes sense!

I don’t know why Christian pastors can’t just admit this to their congregations.

(via Explosm)

Ohio Public School District Includes “Higher Power Exists” as a Core Value for Students

A few weeks ago, a student sent me a page from the Rossford Exempted Village Schools handbook. The Ohio public school district listed its “core values” in the book and one of them was acknowledging that a “Higher power exists”:

That was out of place and illegal… (not to mention really grammatically awkward).

Yesterday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Superintendent Dan Creps asking him to remove that item from the list:

Listing “Higher power exists” as a core value violates...

Clemson’s Head Football Coach Will No Longer Accept Award from Anti-Gay Christian Group

I posted yesterday about how Clemson University head football coach Dabo Swinney planned to attend a fundraiser to receive an award from the Palmetto Family Council, an anti-gay Christian group.

Among the many problems was that he would be appearing not as a private citizen but as the Clemson coach. It would also suggest that he shares the bigoted views of the Christian organization.

Looks like the pressure finally got to him. Swinney has decided to skip the fundraiser after all:

Swinney said in...