Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1783

Church of England Pays Some Workers Less Than the Living Wage It Tells Other Employers To Offer

Do as I say, not as I do:

The Church of England pays some staff less than the living wage — despite calling on employers to pay at least that amount –it has been revealed.

The living wage, calculated from the basic cost of UK life, is currently £7.85 an hour outside London. Butthe Sun newspaper reportsa Church job advertised at £6.50 an hour — something an MP called “astonishing”.

The Church said each parish, diocese and cathedral was a separate legal entity which made its own decisions.

Accordin...

Was It Right for Skeptics to Try and Expose This Self-Proclaimed Psychic?

Earlier this month, Susan Gerbic, an activist who frequently works to expose paranormal nonsense, wrote about two operations she conceived to try and catch a “psychic” in the act.

In one case, her target was Chip Coffey, one of those guys like John Edward who claims to be able to talk to your deceased loved ones. A lot of gullible people are impressed by these readings, but there are generally two ways to pull off the trick:

In a cold reading, psychics use information you’re giving them to make...

No Women Allowed at This Church Event… Unless They’re Serving the Men

New Harmony Church in Salem, Missouri has a big “Sportsmen’s Banquet” this Saturday night. (Because Jesus loved “wild game meat.”)

But their promotional poster could use a little tweaking…

What bothers me is that I don’t think that’s just an awful attempt at humor. I think they mean it.

Here’s why I don’t think it’s a joke: Look at the Edit History of the Facebook post promoting the event:

They literally changed a line that said “We are still needing some cooks” to one that said they needed women...

If Your County Seal Includes a Giant Christian Cross, Then It’s Time for a Redesign

This is the official seal for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania:

You have a farm on the left and some factories on the right… and a giant Christian cross right in the middle.

In November, at the behest of a local resident, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent County Executive Tom Muller a letter about the illegal promotion of religion… but they never heard back.

County officials say they never received it. But they did get a follow-up letter last month and have discussed what to do about it:

Commi...

This Indiana School District Just Admitted Illegally Promoting Christianity Many Times Over in a Local Newspaper

The Kokomo Tribune, based in Indiana, just ran an unbelievable story about a school district that infuses Christianity into damn near everything they do.

They claim they’re just living out their Christian values — which is legal — and not indoctrinating the students at all… but their actions say something very different.

Here’s a look at reporter Lauren Slagter‘s story about Eastern Howard School Corporation:

In an image posted on the district’s Facebook page, students are shown in front of a tr...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Takes Aim at the Notion That Muslims Turn to Terrorism Because of Poverty and Bad Governance

In Time, Ayaan Hirsi Aliadvises that, from the White House on down, U.S. policy makerscome to grips with the reality that Muslimswho become jihadis don’t necessarily do so because they’re victims of poverty, bad education, or bad governance.

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have argued in recent days that economic grievances, a lack of opportunities, and countries with “bad governance” are to blame for the success of groups such as ISIS in recruiting Muslims to their cause.

But...

Atheist Billboards Go Up in Puerto Rico to Promote Upcoming Conference

Billboards sponsored by American Atheists are now up in San Juan and Ponce, Puerto Rico, to mark the upcoming conference there this August:

Translated, that reads: “We’re Puerto Ricans and we’re Christians — We’re ex-Christians — We’re atheists!”

“A significant part of our mission at American Atheists is building up and empowering communities of atheists everywhere, nationwide,” said American Atheists President David Silverman. “Separation of religion and government is a major problem in Puerto...

Rapper Common May Have Thanked God After Winning an Oscar, but John Legend Has Religious Doubts

If you’re watching the Oscars, you just saw rapper Common and John Legend (or, rather, Lonnie Lynn and John Stephens) win an Academy Award for their song “Glory” from Selma.

When they accepted the award, Common immediately thanked God, making him only the fifth person (and fourth black person) to do so over the past 12 years.

You might be interested to know, though, that John Legend has doubts about his faith.

Or had them, anyway. In 2008, he told Big Think:

… I have my issues with faith nowadays...

Don’t Let “God’s Plan” Circumvent Your Own Abilities

J. D. Brucker has written a short-but-powerful e-book called God Needs To Go: Why Christian Beliefs Fail (Atheist Republic, 2015):

In the excerpt below, Brucker explains how God isn’t going to fix your problems; it’s up to you:

It was a cold, January night. I remember sitting in my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting a number of years ago feeling miserable, sick, and alone. The room was lively; snacks were passed around, coffee was drank, and laughs were shared. I sat alone, wishing my depressio...

In 1830, One Pious American Railed Against Trains and Their Breakneck 20-MPH Speeds

Maybe you can’t stop progress, but by golly you can try:

[I]t is a pestilential, topsy-turvy, harum-scarum whirligig. Give me the old, solemn, straightforward, regular Dutch canal — three miles an hour for expresses, and two for jog-and-tyrot journeys — with a yoke of oxen for a heavy load! I go for beasts of burthen; it is more primitive and scriptural, and suits a moral and religious people better. None of your hop-skip-and-jump whimsies for me.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

(This is another installme...