Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1791

Campaigner Against 50 Shades Movie Claims That S&M Games Are “Brutality” — “No Woman Wants That”

It always amazes me that busybodieslike Ohio activistLynn Stevens don’t simply say “Thanks, that’s not for me.” Instead, their goody-goodyviewseems to be, “I don’t like it, and other people shouldn’t either.”

Lynn Stevens has been watching in horror as her friends make plans to see Fifty Shades of Grey, a film that tells the story of a recent college graduate involved with a man who introduces her to sadomasochism. “My stance is empowering women, not overpowering women,” said Stevens, who dire...

A Physicist Rebuts the Fine-Tuning Argument Christian Apologists Love to Use

Last year, I posted about a debate between Christian apologist William Lane Craig and theoretical physicist Sean Carroll on the topic of “God and Cosmology.”

There’s a clip from that debate that you might want to watch even if you don’t have time to see the full two-hour video. It’s Carroll explaining the problems with the fine-tuning argument that Craig and other Christian apologists rely on so much:

If any moments stand out to you, please leave the timestamp/summary in the comments!

(Thanks to...

How About Some Godless Pickup Lines for Valentine’s Day?

Jaclyn Glenn offers some atheistic pick-up lines that are guaranteed to impress that special someone… or keep you single forever. I can’t remember which one.

BREAKING: A Second Gunfire Incident in Copenhagen Today; Attacker Injured Cops Near Synagogue

Viathe BBC, news of a secondgun attack in the Danish capital:

Several people have been injured after shots were fired near a synagogue in Copenhagen, Danish police say.

One person was reportedly hit in the head, and two police officers had arm and leg injuries. The attacker is believed to have fled.

It is not clear whether the shooting is connected to an earlier attack on a cafe in the city. There, a gunman killed one person and injured three at a free speech debate attended by a Swedish cartoon...

Are You Going to Attend Church Today? Click Wisely…

Clickhole, true to its name, has a Choose Your Own Adventure game that involves your eternal soul, and it’s very addictive.

It begins by choosing whether or not you want to go to church. And it ends with… well, why don’t you go find out?

I’m just saying I probably shouldn’t have gone for the sandwich on the first screen.

Darwin Day Proclamation Issued in Omaha, Nebraska

You’ll be happy to know that the mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, Jean Stothert, signed a proclamation honoring Charles Darwin‘s birthday:

Somewhere, a Creationist is shedding a single tear.

The Problems with the National Prayer Breakfast

Christian blogger Fred Clark explains the problems with the National Prayer Breakfast:

This is an event at which people display their patriotism by showing their disdain for the Constitution. It’s an event at which people display their piety by contradicting the words of Jesus in the Gospels. That makes the National Prayer Breakfast bad for the nation and bad for prayer.

At more than $400 a ticket, it’s probably also bad for breakfast.

Well put.

There’s no good reason for the President to continu...

I Cried When I Saw a Christian Woman Destroy All of Paleontology in This Shocking Three-Minute Video

At least, that’s the headline you’d get if Upworthy andKen HamCollegehad a love child.

Under the title “Dinosaur Hoax,” this unnamed young debunker ofevolution triumphantly proves in a three-minute video that so-called dinosaur fossilsare no more significant than random pieces of smashed-up plaster. You can spacklethe bitsback together any way you choose, she says; therefore, dinosaurs are a fabrication.Checkmate, Darwin!

The whole thing isso comically feeble-mindedthat I’m not even sure if any...

Attack During Free Speech Debate in Copenhagen Targets Lars Vilks, Controversial Muhammad Cartoonist

Lars Vilks is the Swedish artist at the center of controversy in 2007 because he drew the Islamic prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body. (This was more than a year after other Muhammad cartoons were published in Jyllands-Posten.)

In 2010, there was still a bounty on his head and his home was fire-bombed. Despite all the threats, he somehow escaped harm.

Earlier today, during a free speech debate in Copenhagen, Vilks was under fire yet again:

Reports say up to 40 shots were fired during the attack a...

Check Out This Trailer for a Fascinating Documentary About How Evangelical Christians Deal with Sex

If I asked you to describe evangelical Christianity, “sex-negative” would undoubtedly be near the top of the list. The culture that embraces purity rings, and abstinence-only sex education, and compares women who have fooled around to a glass of spit-up food that no one would want to drink has warped a lot of people’s minds about what constitutes healthy, safe sex.

A few years ago, I posted about a Kickstarter campaign for a movie all about the relationship between Christianity and sex.

That mo...