Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1756

Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 47: Wendy Thomas Russell, Author of Relax, It’s Just God

Our latest podcast guest is Wendy Thomas Russell, author of a new book called Relax, It’s Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You’re Not Religious.

Wendy began her career as a journalist who spent years covering criminal justice. In 2008, she began writing books for and about children, including three books for the Girl Scouts. In 2011, her focus shifted to secular parenting. She now blogs on Patheos at Natural Wonderers and her new book, Relax, It’s Just God, will b...

Listen to This Creationist Complain About Another Creationist’s Plan of Salvation for Not Being Jesus-y Enough

You probably know that Creationist Kent Hovind (who was already in prison for tax evasion) was recently found guilty of contempt of court.

Guess who’s coming to his defense?

Pastor Steven Anderson, who thinks Hovind is just a victim of “a government that is abusive.” Immediately, he writes off the tax fraud:

[Hovind is] in prison just because of a bunch of financial, stupid tax things. It’s not like it had anything to do with him breaking any of God’s laws or anything. It’s not like he did anyth...

Mistake in Reciting Qur’an Leads to Caning and Hospital Visit for 10-Year-Old Boy

To Train Up a Child, special Islamic version:

An imam in Uttar Pradesh punished a 10-year-old boy with 170 push ups and then caned him, after he failed to recite a chapter from Quran correctly. The boy had to be treated in hospital after the beating. … The cleric beat the boy with a cane and sat on him, when he was unable to complete the press-ups due to exhaustion, the Times of India reported. The boy was admitted to hospital afterward.

The boy’s parents are understandably angry.

“We are appall...

Creationist Megan Fox Thinks Our Library Fundraiser Backfired

If you need to catch up on this story, I suggest reading this post.

Creationist Megan Fox posted this on her Facebook page yesterday:

A few thoughts:

1) The difference in the fundraised amount and the check is the amount GoFundMe took for their fees. I’m not sure why that’s relevant.

2) The money wasn’t raised to “hurt Megan Fox.” It was raised to help the library.

3) The money went to the library’s general funds. In other words, if we didn’t give them that money, the $55,000 would’ve come entirel...

Pickens County School Board Will Vote Tonight to Bring Prayer Back to Their Meetings

I thought this issue had been put to rest already… but I guess not.

Last September, the Pickens County Board of Trustees in South Carolina decided to allow sectarian invocations at their meetings. They figured they were above the law on this one despite the advice of their attorney:

The policy doesn’t run afoul of the First Amendment’s restriction against governmental endorsement of religion because it gives the same opportunity to all religions and is in line with a recent U.S. Supreme Court r...

Why We Won’t See an Openly Atheist President Anytime Soon

The Washington Post‘s new “Acts of Faith” section has the rundown of whether we’ll see an (openly) atheist President anytime soon. (Spoiler: HA!)

It appears that an overt atheist would have more difficulty being elected than Barack Obama did in becoming the nation’s first black chief executive or a woman or gay candidate would have in winning the White House. In numerous surveys, at least half of Americans state that they would not vote for an atheist. While the numbers of those who declare th...

Meth-Dealing Priest and Money Launderer Kevin Wallin Would Like a Light Sentence, Please

IfFather Kevin Wallin had peed in the baptismal font,smoked kush in the confessional, and humped a life-size crucifix, his bosses and parishioners would probably only be half as shockedas they areby what Wallin really did do.

Wallin, now 63 years old, was formerly the priest at St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but was suspended in May of 2013after church authorities say they learnedthat the pastor was engaging in gay sex in the church rectory. He also had a habit of dressing in...

“Godless? Good” Ads Will Appear on Edmonton (Alberta) Buses for the Next Month

A new ad promoting atheism will run on ten buses in Edmonton over the next month:

The Society of Edmonton Atheists funded the campaign in order to draw more attention to the growing non-religious demographic in Canada:

The ad will hopefully raise awareness of the Society to existing atheists in the Edmonton area and encourage them to join our community.

People with no religious affiliation are one of the fastest-growing segments of Canadian demographics, with 25% of people identifying as nonreli...

Ted Cruz Announces Presidential Campaign at School Founded by Guy Who Blamed Gay People for 9/11

You know it’s a bad sign when a Presidential hopeful officially announces his candidacy at a school known for its fundamentalist Christianity, but Sen. Ted Cruz (below) will be making that announcement today at Liberty University, the school founded by Jerry Falwell. (He announced his candidacy on Twitter late last night.)

Cruz will launch a presidential bid outright rather than form an exploratory committee, said senior advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of an...

The Protagonist in This New Graphic Novel is Trying to Evade His Religious Siblings

Eric Adams has written a lengthy graphic novel that might interest readers of this site. It’s called Lackluster World and he’s raising money for it on Kickstarter:

Fahrenheit Monahan is an albino man trying to change his world through a combination of journalism and street art all the while fighting off his brother and sister, Kelvin and Celsius, and their extreme attempts to convert him to Christianity.

The artwork looks fantastic and the storyline is unique. Check it out and support the proje...