Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1781

Michigan City’s Mission Statement Includes Phrase “Strive to Serve God”

Remember the controversy at Hager Park in Jenison, Michigan? For most of the past 50 years, you would’ve seen this sign near the picnic shelter:

It’s an Old Testament verse, Psalm 19:1:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.”

After an atheist group pointed out the illegality of it to Ottawa County officials, they took down the sign… only to reconsider that decision after their legal counsel told them it would be fine. (The final status of the sign is stil...

After Going Back and Forth, Clark County (Washington) Officials Approve “In God We Trust” Display

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how Clark County (Washington) officials had tabled a discussion to put up an “In God We Trust” sign after the proposal saw a lot of resistance:

After hearing about two hours of public testimony — during which about two-thirds of the speakers opposed the controversial proposal — [Councilor Tom] Mielke moved to display the national motto in the meeting room.

Councilor Jeanne Stewart, however, said while she would not be offended by the display, it was clear from...

The “World’s First Atheist Orphanage” is Seeking Funding… but I Don’t Feel Comfortable Giving Them Any Money

We’ve posted several articles on this site about the impact atheists have had in Kasese, Uganda, especially with the local Kasese Humanist Primary School.

Now, local atheists are trying to build an orphanage that will be connected to the school — and they need funding.

Zoltan Istvan — one of the orphanage’s founders — writes for Vice:

The crowdsourcing campaign is seeking start-up funds of approximately $4,500 — that amount will fund the construction of a home for 15-20 orphans, provide it with...

Kootenai County Republicans Propose Resolution Declaring Idaho a “Christian State”

Because Republicans have nothing better to do and have little regard for the Constitution, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee considered passing a resolution to declare Idaho a Christian state.

The resolution, which you can read here, states:

Resolved, That the State of Idaho is formally and specifically declared a Christian state. The State of Idaho and all its institutions will render full recognition to the Christian basis thereof, not permitting any diminution or rejection of...

An Inside Look at a German Pastafarian Congregation

A few months ago, I posted about how a group of German Pastafarians were able to get the city of Templin to put up signs alerting people to their meetings:

Church sign in Templin (via Rüdiger Weida)

Now, Rüdiger Weida, the 63-year-old who founded the local “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster,” has given PRI an inside look at how his church operates:

In Weida’s church, wine and bread are replaced by beer and, you guessed it, cooked strands of spaghetti. “Amen” is replaced by “Ramen,” and at t...

University of Scranton President Wants to Eliminate Abortion Coverage for Life-Threatening Pregnancies

Scranton, Pennsylvania doesn’t always come off well in the public eye. It was the hometown of the fictional Dunder Mifflin and Michael Scott; it’s where chronically-embarrassed Vice-President Joe Biden is from. It’s also the location of the aptly-named University of Scranton, whose president, Father Kevin P. Quinn (below), is so opposed to abortion that he wants to cut insurance coverage even for women whose lives are depending on that access.

Reuters reports,

University of Scranton employee in...

American Thinker Doubles Down On Its Claim That President Obama Made a “Muslim Gang Sign” to African Leaders

Last August, an AP photographer tooka seemingly unremarkable pictureat theU.S.-African Leaders Summit in Washington. It showsPresident Obama getting ready for a photo op with dozens of foreign dignitaries. In the image, the prezcan be seen making a fleeting hand gesturewith a raised index finger.

It wasn’t until last week that we learned, fromthe slow-reacting but sharp-eyed F.W. Burleigh at American Thinker, what this means:

It shows Barack Hussein Obama flashing the one-finger affirmation of...

Beset by Allegations of Rape, “Hot Yoga” Guru Bikram Choudhury is Headed to Court

Bikram Choudhury, the 69-year-old guru and promoter of “hot yoga” whoclaims “I can totally cure you, whatever the problem you have,” probably has years of legal trouble ahead of him, considering that he is now being slapped with civil suits by half a dozenformer clients.

He has a stable of luxury cars and a Beverly Hills mansion. During trainings for hopeful yoga teachers, he paces a stage in a black Speedo and holds forth on life, sex and the transformative power of his brand of hot yoga. … B...

Larry King: “I Think the Only Reason for Religion is Death. If You Didn’t Die, There’d Be No Religion”

We’ve known for a while that former CNN host Larry King was an atheist, but he opened up about it more than usual during an interview on New York City’s Power 105.1 morning radio show “The Breakfast Club.”

The conversation begins around the 8:20 mark in the video below during a discussion about how he’d like to have his body frozen after he dies:

… I don’t believe that I’m going anywhere. I’m not religious, so I believe that when you die, you die, and that’s it. So I’m so curious, and I like li...

Saudi Court Imposes Death Penalty on Apostate Who Ripped Up Qur’an

From the land of Raif Badawicomes more evidence — as if we needed it — of the dangers of renouncing/denouncing religion.

An Islamic court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to death for renouncing his Muslim faith, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette reported on Tuesday.The man, in his 20s, posted an online video ripping up a copy of Islam’s holy book, the Koran, and hitting it with a shoe, the newspaper reported.

In Arab culture, the shoe is seen asdirty because it touchesthe ground and...