Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1718

Texas Teacher Suspended for Making a Snide Comment About Christianity is Reinstated After Inquiry

Last week, Ryan Stagemeyer (below), a teacher at Flower Mound High School in Texas, was apparently suspended for making derogatory statements about Christianity in the classroom.

Or so the story goes.

Carter Henderson, a student who started an online petition to reinstate Stagemeyer, said classmates told him that the teacher said he thinks Christians who don’t give as much to the poor as they can are hypocritical. One of Stagemeyer’s students wrote on Twitter that “the bible says to give as muc...

Daniel Dennett Withdraws from World Science Festival Due to Templeton Foundation Sponsorship

The World Science Festival takes place in New York City later this month and philosopher Daniel Dennett (below) will not be attending as scheduled.

His reason? The event (and specifically one of the sessions in which he was slated to participate) is sponsored in part by the John Templeton Foundation, an organization that frequently blurs the line between science and religion.

If you’re someone who doesn’t accept the idea that the two can go hand-in-hand — a position held by many well-known athe...

On Real Time with Bill Maher, the Panelists Debated the Free Speech Aspect of Drawing Muhammad Cartoons

It was refreshing to hear Bill Maher and a couple of his Real Time panelists speak in defense of the Muhammad-drawing cartoonists last night:

Maher made a point we don’t often hear in the media when he challenged Garry Trudeau‘s position:

Can I read what Garry Trudeau said? Because he’s on the side of the writers who are protesting giving Charlie Hebdo a courage award. He said this a couple of weeks ago. He said Charlie Hebdo was “punching downward, by attacking a powerless, disenfranchised min...

A Closeted Atheist Pastor Is Finally Telling People His Secret and Sharing the Exchanges Online

There’s this pastor whose name I don’t know. He goes by “John.” I don’t know where he lives, either. All I know is that he’s an atheist now and he’s been writing about that secret on this website.

This week, he finally started coming out to some people close to him. Like his wife:

Her: [sheepishly] “What? What are you looking at?”

Me: “You, I want to look at you.”

Her: “Why?”

Me: “Because… (tears)… because… I don’t want you to hate me. I don’t want you to resent me. I need you to like me. I NEED y...

Kids Stop Bully by Being Nice to Him. Somehow, God Gets All the Credit

How do you stop a grade-school bully?

Sure, you could just tell an adult about the problem, but if you realize the bully’s being “tough” as some sort of defense mechanism, you might just reach out to him. Show him that he matters to you. Extend a hand of friendship.

That’s basically what Phoenix and Kingston Walwyn did with the bully on their bus in Pasadena, Texas. They gave him a book one day… and he stopped calling them names. Success!

But because the book was a Bible, you know exactly how th...

North Carolina Official Rejects Non-Christian Prayers at Meetings. “If They Don’t Like It, Stay the Hell Away”

After years of reciting only Christian prayers at meetings, a judge ruled earlier this week that the Rowan County Board of Commissioners (in North Carolina) had violated the Constitution.

Carrol Mitchem (below), the chairman of the neighboring Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, saw this whole controversy play out over the past few years and he’s determined to… um… repeat history:

… Mitchem said that not only will invocations remain in Lincoln County, but that he would see to it that no non-...

Missouri Satanist, Forced to Wait 72 Hours Before Abortion, Says in Lawsuit Her Religious Freedom is Being Violated

Last week, I wrote about “Mary,” a Missouri native who wants an abortion but has to navigate an unnecessary obstacle.

… Planned Parenthood of St. Louis is currently the only abortion provider in the state. Not only does Mary live hundreds of miles away, but there is also a dehumanizing 72 hour waiting period between her initial appointment and the procedure itself. This means that Mary must either find lodging or make the trip twice. She doesn’t have the means to do this.

As it turns out, thoug...

In Praise of Life (Let’s Ditch the Cult of Longevity)

This is a guest post written by Glen Olives Thompson. He is a Professor of North American Law at La Salle University in Chihuahua, Mexico.

…

You are going to die.

If this troubles you, it shouldn’t; you should get over it and get on with living.

Here’s why.

My wife’s cousin recently died of a heart attack. On an idle Sunday afternoon while enjoying lunch with his family he felt odd heart palpitations and laughed them off. When the arrhythmia returned, he reluctantly agreed to go to a nearby clinic...

Faith-Healer Adam Miller Sues YouTuber for Calling Him Out on His Claims

This is faith-healer Adam Miller:

His currently-unavailable website is full of the sort of language that only Deepak Chopra would appreciate:

We are never separated from our core self. One’s pure self. We know it well. And innately we truly know where to go to discover the changes we need. The discovery is in the connection. And holiness is our birthright. The Universe runs all existence and the same energy of life-source streams and animates all. It is in the return to this knowing, in learnin...

Christian Right Leader: LGBT Rights Supporters Are Just Like ISIS

Joseph Backholm, the Executive Director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, would like to explain to everyone how those of us who support LGBT rights and equal protection under the law are *totally* like ISIS:

Standard headgear for evangelical Christian business owners, I assume

If ISIS took over the town you live in, they might move door to door and give you three options: “convert to Islam, pay the jizya, or die.”

The jizya is a tax for not being Muslim.

…

… there are parallels between...