Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1736

Doonesbury Creator Garry Trudeau Again Attacks Anti-Islam Cartoons, Instead of Those Who Murder Over Them

When, last Friday, Doonesburycreator Garry Trudeaureceived the George Polk Career Award, he took the occasion to assailCharlie Hebdoand its Mohammed cartoons.

It wasn’t new territory for him. Afterthe violence over the 2005 Danish Mohammed cartoons broke out, Trudeau, disappointingly, pronounced his solidarity with, or at least his patientunderstanding of,the rioters. He rejects cartoonsthat are critical of Islam, he explained at the time, because he sees making a statement about freedom of sp...

KosherSwitch: A Loophole for Orthodox Jews Who Think They Can’t Turn Electricity On/Off on the Sabbath

I’ve never understood why people who believe their religion demands they obey certain rules work *really* hard to find loopholes around them (See: Eruvs).

Orthodox Jews who observe the Sabbath, for example, are forbidden from turning lights on and off on that day. But that could change with KosherSwitch — a technology currently being funded via Indiegogo in order to create the perfect workaround:

Our technology is employs complete electro-mechanical isolation, and adds several layers of Halachi...

Comedian Julia Sweeney Urges You to be “Openly Secular”

Following in the footsteps of Rep. Barney Frank, Penn & Teller, Bill Maher and members of the symphonic metal band Nightwish, comedian Julia Sweeney has recorded a video explaining why she’s “openly secular”:

I’m urging you to just say you’re openly secular… You’d probably be surprised how much of an affect it has on other people. I’ve had so many people come up to me and say once I admitted that I wasn’t religious, it gave them the feeling like they could say that [too].

I love how honest she...

Pennsylvania News Station Features Local Humanist on Show About Religion in Society

WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania airs a weekly show called Business Matters and this week they had a panel discussion on the topic “Are we losing religion in today’s society?” To their credit, they included the voice of Darren Smith of the Lehigh Valley Humanists:

video platform video management video solutions video player

Smith does a wonderful job of raising his points during the segment, which isn’t easy when you know you only have a few seconds to get your message across!

Not bad for what I’...

Summer Camp for Children of Atheist Parents is Now Led by Ousted Eagle Scouts

Several years ago, Neil Polzin was kicked out of the Boy Scouts of America — despite being an Eagle Scout — because he was an atheist.

Shawn Jeffers left the BSA in 2002 after coming out as both gay and atheist. He’s an Eagle Scout, too.

These are both guys who would love to give back to the Boy Scouts but are prohibited from doing so due to policies barring gay adults from leading troops and out atheists from having any association whatsoever with the scouts.

Neil Polzin (left) and Shawn Jeffer...

A Teacher Told the Media About the Christian Crosses on Her Classroom Wall… So Now They Have to Come Down

Last week, the Herald Democrat newspaper in Texas published an article about how awesome Christian crosses are. (Because Texas.)

It included this passage:

A wall of crosses grace the wall of Kristen McCoy’s classroom at Dillingham Intermediate School in Sherman. McCoy has been collecting crosses on the wall next to her desk, receiving all but one cross from her students and colleagues over the past 10 years.

“I know the cross is a symbol of what Jesus did for us in dying and offering himself for...

Science as the Ultimate Spoiler Alert

Have you ever been obsessed with a TV show but missed an episode? You go crazy trying to avoid spoilers, refusing to visit certain websites or talk to certain people. You’ll do anything to block out mentions of the show. You’re happy in your ignorance for the time being.

I imagine that’s what life is like for everyone at Answers in Genesis, all the time. Science is the ultimate spoiler alert and they don’t want their show to be ruined.

At least it would explain how this passage got through Crea...

Bill O’Reilly: Christians Are Being Killed in America… Verbally

John Stossel appeared on TV with Bill O’Reilly last night to talk about the non-existent War on Christians…

In a pleasant twist, though, the lack of persecution is exactly the point Stossel made to a host who doesn’t often get challenged on this issue.

Stossel: Your “War on Christianity”… you’re just a 10-foot-tall crybaby.

O’Reilly: I’m crying.

Stossel: It’s not so bad. Christians aren’t being killed.

O’Reilly: No, not yet.

Stossel: And not in America, and they’re not going to be.

O’Reilly: They’ve...

Canadian Supreme Court Unanimously Rules Against Prayer at Government Meetings in Quebec Town

For a while now, we’ve been following the Saguenay prayer case.

To summarize, Alain Simoneau, who lives in Saguenay (Quebec), challenged the opening prayers at his city government’s meetings. The province’s human rights tribunal agreed that religious prayers violated the law, but the Court of Appeal reversed the ruling, putting the matter in the hands of the national Supreme Court.

Canadian Supreme Court

But today, eight years after the initial challenge, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Simo...

Here’s How to Respond to the Anti-Gay “Day of Dialogue”

Tomorrow marks the annual Focus on the Family-sponsored “Day of Dialogue” in which participants can tell their LGBT classmates why they’re going to hell. (It’s a Christian response to the Day of Silence which takes place on Friday.)

This is the card they will be handing out this year:

As I’ve posted before, Zach Moore created a fantastic parody of an older version of the card and I’m thrilled to repost it here:

So cut those out and spread the word tomorrow!

And, as always, if you click on DayOfMo...