Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1725

As Sen. Bernie Sanders Prepares to Announce His Candidacy for President, a Reminder About His Faith

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders plans to announce tomorrow that he’ll run for the Democratic presidential nomination. I’m glad he is; he has virtually no chance of winning, but his opinions being in the debate could move Hillary Clinton a little more to the left.

It also raised another question: When you have an Independent senator from deep-blue Vermont, a self-described “democratic socialist,” how religious could he really be?

So let’s just settle this now before everyone gets their hopes up:

H...

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) Introduces First-of-Its-Kind Resolution Celebrating “National Day of Reason”

Last year, Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) issued a public statement in support of the National Day of Reason:

Each day, scientists and engineers in my Silicon Valley district are developing innovative new technologies through the use of the scientific method and the application of reason. Such advances throughout history have offered hope for human survival on Earth, improved the conditions within which we live, and cultivated intelligent, moral and ethical behaviors and interactions among people.

…

The...

“Reason Station” Opens Up in Warren (Michigan) City Hall

If you’re unfamiliar with the Reason Station saga, I urge you to read this.

To summarize, the Warren (Michigan) city hall has been home to a Prayer Station (a kiosk of sorts with pamphlets about God, manned by Christians eager to proselytize) since 2009.

Resident Douglas Marshall filled out an application to set up a personal “Reason Station” to promote freethought and logic… but he was blocked by Mayor Jim Fouts. This led to a year-long legal battle that ended this past February. The judge gav...

North Carolina County Will Consider Adding “In Reason We Trust” Sign to Courthouse

Last month, the Stokes County Board of Commissioners (in North Carolina) voted unanimously to put the words “In God We Trust” in the County Courthouse. While this is obviously a promotion of religion, legal arguments against it across the country have failed because advocates always argue “But it’s our motto!” and get away with it.

But resident Steven Hewett (below) is now trying to use the same script to advance his own slogan:

The Stokes County Board of Commissioners decided Monday night to c...

Charlie Hebdo Cartoonist Says He’ll Stop Drawing Muhammad

Rénald Luzier (below), better known as Luz, is one of the (remaining) cartoonists for Charlie Hebdo.

According to news reports, he avoided the same fate as his colleagues because he overslept and was late to work the day they were massacred. It’s fitting, then, that he illustrated the cover of the first issue following the attacks:

But in an interview published today in Les Inrockuptibles, Luz says he’ll never draw Muhammad again: “It does not interest me.”

It’s a little hard to believe that he...

The Death of Doonesbury

Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau recently expressed his warm understandingof Islamist rioters and mass murderers who were “provoked” into violence by insufficiently sensitive cartoonists.

Now his colleague Ruben Bolling weighs in with aDoonesbury-spoofingepisode of Tom the Dancing Bug. The first two panels are a worthy punch to the gut… and the strip just gets better from there.

To see where Bolling takes this, clickhere.

Ghosts Aren’t Hanging Around Disneyland

Captain Disillusion explains why the “Ghost hangs around Disneyland” video really doesn’t offer proof of the supernatural:

Poor Mickey.

A Tribute to Christopher Hitchens

This is a lovely tribute to Christopher Hitchens by many of his like-minded colleagues.

He would’ve been 66 this month.

(via Agatan Fnd)

University of Florida Atheists Denounce Building Inscription Urging Students to “Walk Humbly with Your God”

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how the University of Florida (in Gaineville) had opened up a new building — Heavener Hall — for business education that greeted students with a Bible verse (click image to enlarge):

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

Far from just inspiration words derived from the Bible, that verse specifically promotes the Christian faith and has no busines...

Daniel Dennett on the Future of Faith: “Religion Recedes Whenever Human Security and Well-Being Rises”

Daniel Dennett, writing in the Wall Street Journal, notes that religion is on the decline in the West, and the demographic trends will continue (with certain exceptions) unless something awful happens:

Could anything turn this decline around? Yes, unfortunately. A global plague, a world war fought over water or oil, the collapse of the Internet (and thereby almost all electronic communication) or some as-yet unimagined catastrophe could throw the remaining population into misery and fear, the...