Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1763

Exercise Those Demons

Oh, you might think this is a Jesus-loving exercise video.

But then it gets even weirder…

(via Christian Nightmares)

Satan Tried To Kill This Pastor’s Truck… With Rust

Dave Zacker, an end-times minister and street preacher from Michigan, is not about to let the devil get the better of him.The wily Lord of the Flies tried to destroy pastor Dave’s pickup truck… with rust. Davehas video evidence, and he’s not afraid to share it:

Yeah, that’s clearly supernatural damage that has nothing to do with the natural process of iron and oxygen reacting with moisture in the air.

It’s weird that God didn’t save that dangerous rustbucket from the demonic aggression, because...

Charisma Writer Claims That the Christian Left is Responsible for Declining Religiosity

Do you ever stop and think, “You know, if only modern Christianity was a little more vocal in the public square, a little more judgmental in general, and a little more obsessed with abortion and gay sex, then maybe I could buy into it… but they’re just too soft and fluffy nowadays for me”?

Me neither. But Christian writer and activist Chelsen Vicari, writing for Charisma, sees this as a significant problem leading to declining church membership.

The church, she believes, has gone soft and aband...

Afghani Feminist in Metal Body Suit Is Driven Off the Streets of Kabul and Forced Into Hiding

This piece of declarative performance art would be brave enough on the streets of any European capital. In Kabul, it’s downright dangerous, as Kubra Khademi found out.

An Afghan artist has been forced into hiding after receiving death threats for dressing in a metal suit featuring exaggerated breasts and buttocks,

… acustom-madeoutfit intended to drive home her assertion that “this is all that men see of women.”

Kubra Khademi wore the unusual armor in a performance on the streets of Kabul to hig...

Naughty Schoolchildren Told to Lie Face Down on the Floor While Teacher Phones God

When Sheila Jones called the Almightyon her mobile phone, she only pretended to speak to him (she probably knew from experience that God neveractually picks up).

The headmistress of a Roman Catholic Primary School in Devizes has been accused of making children lie face down on the floor while she pretends to ring God on her mobile phone to say they have been naughty. Parents say they were outraged that head Sheila Jones humiliated their children, and have written to Ofsted [the government's Of...

A Letter to the Muslim Action Forum Regarding Blasphemy in the U.K.

This is a guest post by Caleb Powell. Caleb blogs for the Karachi based Express Tribune. He co-authored the book/film I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel, published by Knopf and premiering this spring at Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival. He also writes at Arguments Worth Having.

…

The fallout from the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris has led to a debate between free speech and censorship. In the United Kingdom, the Muslim Action Forum, funding “Be careful with Mohammad” billboards...

Comedian Patton Oswalt: I See Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins Like Christians See Fred Phelps

Comedian Patton Oswalt and Salon haven’t had a great relationship over the years, with the website writing several articles critical of his statements, and Oswalt rebutting them for not getting what he was saying, and so on.

Earlier this year, Salon editor-in-chief David Daley sat down with Oswalt to hash out their disagreements, and an edited transcript of that conversation is finally online.

I bring this up here because Oswalt was asked about whether Bill Maher ever gets “a little too aggress...

China, Keen on More Power in Tibet, Tells the Dalai Lama He Has To Reincarnate, and How

The power of Communist apparatchiks should extend to matters of the afterlife.

At least they think so.

Chinese Communist Party leaders are afraid that the Dalai Lama will not have an afterlife. Worried enough that this week, officials repeatedly warned that he must reincarnate, and on their terms.

The 14th Dalai Lama is pushing 80, and the government in Beijing would like to tighten its hold on Tibet whenhe dies.

Officials have amplified their argument that the Communist government is the proper...

“Moderate” Muslim Asim Qureshi Dodges Every Tough Question in British TV Interview: “I Am Not a Theologian”

It’s rare to see a BBC interviewer apply pressure to a seemingly middle-of-the-road Muslim guest. Sure: firebrands like Anjem Choudary are routinelypeppered with critical questions, but Muslims who present themselves as moderates are treated much more deferentially and quickly held up asexemplars of peace(sometimes in violation of the BBC’s own guidelines).

Interlocutor Andrew Neil, in the exchange below with Asim Qureshi, breaks that mold.

Qureshi (pictured below) isthe research director for C...

A New Study, Like So Many Before It, Debunks Homeopathy

Despite the persistent popularity of homeopathic remedies, a new study on the topic reinforces previous findings — homeopathy just doesn’t work.

The Washington Post reports:

Homepathy [sic] has been debunked any number of times — just take a look at this 2002 report in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. But never, perhaps, quite as thoroughly or convincingly as Wednesday morning when Australia’s foremost medical research institute released a report debunking a therapy that nearly 4 m...