Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1779

A Glimpse Inside a Secret Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony

Mormon temple ceremonies are usually kept secret from the public, but Newnamenoah has once again obtained footage of one:

That’s a glimpse at an endowment ceremony.

You can see a longer, much stranger version of that ceremony here.

Upcoming Talks

For those who don’t know, I spend most of the winter months coaching a competitive public speaking team (a.k.a. “Forensics”) at a local high school. Now that our season is over, I’ll be doing a lot more traveling/speaking myself.

Here’s where I’m heading over the next few months. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there!

Who: Tri-State Freethinkers
Where: Newport on the Levee, Newport, KY
When: Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00p

Who: Reason in the Rock conference
Where: Little Rock, Arkansas
Wh...

Pastor Steven Anderson: “AIDS is the Judgment of God”

I was playing the Pastor Steven Anderson game last night where I go to a random timestamp in his latest sermon, watch for a minute, and see if anything interesting pops up.

And, of course, I heard him talking about filthy sodomites around the 41:18 mark so I had to pay attention…

… because some filthy sodomite — and you say, “Oh, you need to love–” — No! They’re filthy. They’re reprobate. And, by the way, AIDS is the judgment of God.

Keep watching. It gets even crazier around 42:20.

This was anot...

Video: Imposter Monks and Nuns Panhandle Their Way Through San Francisco While Grabbing People’s Arms

In recent years, faux monks have become anannoying staple of city life across the USA and beyond. The most aggressive ones grab hold of your arm and try to roll a supercheap bead bracelet onto your wrist. Some press a gold-coloredgood-luckamulet (made of paper or cardboard) into your hand. Every time, they demand money, and if you don’t cough it up, or if the sum isn’t generousenough to their liking (some wantas much as $20), they’ll grab back their tawdry treasures and go looking for aneasie...

Watch ISIS Fundies Sledgehammer Their Way To Paradise As They Destroy Ancient Museum Treasures

A different kind of heartbreakingviolence:

Ultra-radical Islamist militants in northern Iraq have destroyed a priceless collection of statues and sculptures from the ancient Assyrian era, inflicting what an archaeologist described as incalculable damage to a piece of shared human history.

A video published by Islamic State on Thursday showed men attacking the artifacts, some of them identified as antiquities from the 7th century BC, with sledgehammers and drills, saying they were symbols of ido...

Atheist Jamila Bey at CPAC: “Embrace Me. Let Me Vote for GOP Candidates”

Earlier today, as I posted about earlier, atheist Jamila Bey spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

A proud black female atheist isn’t the norm for the CPAC crowd, so what did she say and what was the response?

Raw Story has the footage (the full speech is at C-SPAN):

… as of the last Census, we have some 68 million Millennial voters — about the ages of 18 to 34. Of these 68 million, nearly 40 percent identify as secular. By the numbers, that’s more than 25 [percent of] vo...

British Parliamentarian David Tredinnick Recommends Astrology To Fix Country’s Healthcare Problems

You know what you should do when you have a national problem involving a complexity of economics, politics, and healthcare?

Look to the stars.

A [British] Conservative Member of Parliamenthas claimed that astrology could have “a role to play in healthcare.”

David Tredinnick said astrology, along with complementary medicine, could take pressure offNHSdoctors, but acknowledged that any attempt to spend taxpayers’ money on consulting the stars would cause “a huge row.”

He criticized the BBC and TV s...

Austria Outlaws Foreign Funding For Mosques, Requires Imams To Be Able To Speak German

More than a hundreds years ago, Islam became an official religion in Austria. The BBC says that the 1912 law

… has been widely held up as a model for Europe in dealing with Islam.

Now the Austrian parliament has issued an update, and it appears to be a mixed bag.

Akey aspect of the new law is that mosques andimams may no longer accept foreigndonations. That’s a problem if you take equality seriously, because no such restrictions have been placed on clergy of the Jewish and Christian faith.

Muslim...

Bangladeshi Freethinker Dr. Avijit Roy Killed, Presumably by Islamic Extremists

Last night, as Bangladeshi author Dr. Avijit Roy (below) and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonna were returning home from a book fair in Dhaka where they were promoting Roy’s latest work, two assailants came after them with cleavers and “hacked them mercilessly.”

Roy died shortly afterwards and Bonna is in critical condition.

The Center For Inquiry, which worked closely with Roy, is in shock:

When seven Bangladeshi atheist bloggers were arrested in blasphemy in 2013, Dr. Roy worked closely with us to co...

Freedom From Religion Foundation Will Receive $82,765.95 from Reddit

Reddit recently announced a program in which it will give away 10% of its advertising revenue to various charities. It amounts to more than $82,000 per group.

There was a mad scramble for organizations to get votes — including a number of atheist-friendly groups — and Reddit just announced the winners. Coming in 9th place and winning $82,765.95?

The Freedom From Religion Foundation!

Alright, so I’m a little bummed that Foundation Beyond Belief didn’t make the cut, but I’m thrilled that a deservi...