Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1797

The Distribution of Megachurches Throughout the United States

There are more than 1,600 megachurches in the United States (usually defined as having more than 2,000 attendees each week) and datajournalist Jishai Evers shows you their distribution in the following image:

The numbers in each box represent the number of megachurches in the state while the color reflects the pervasiveness of each. The darker the shade of purple, the more churches there are per capita.

California has the most megachurches, while Tennessee and Washington D.C. lead the way in te...

A Public Radio Station Aired an Awful Story About the Supposed Power of Psychic Detectives

The Faith Middleton Show, which airs on Connecticut’s WNPR among other places, recently aired an episode about psychic detectives.

If this were a ten-second piece that said “It’s all bullshit,” no problem.

If it were a piece exploring why people take them seriously, I’d understand that, too.

Turns out it was basically an hour-long infomercial for a group called Find Me, which uses “talented psychics” to help discover missing persons.

This guy thinks he’s a detective now.

Bo Gardiner explains just...

Christian Director To Release Light Wins, a Documentary Showing That Gay Activists Are Criminalizing Christianity

In 2010, radio host and activistJanet Porter, who heads Faith2Action, lost her regular spot onVCY America, a conservativeChristian broadcasting network. VCY management decided that Porter, who had been drifting toward Dominionism (the ideathat“Christians alone are Biblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns”) was getting a little too extreme in her beliefs. In other words, Porter was seenas a growingembarrassment by a broadcaster whose own website touts, on its...

The Problem with Christianity is That Too Many People Think Pastors Like This Guy Are Speaking the Truth

It’s not really newsworthy anymore when a Christian pastor goes on an anti-gay rant.

But when Pastor Jim Veitch of the Bible Truth Baptist Church in Georgia bashes homosexuality, San Francisco, public schools, Hollywood, the media, and the Boy Scouts — all in under two minutes — it’s hard to take your eyes off of it…

You may want to turn down the volume for this one:

Respect his authoritay!

(via Christian Nightmares)

Christian Athletes Perform Acrobatic Dunk Show for Public School Students, but Did They Also “Share the Gospel” with Them?

For some reason, Forest Elementary School (in Bedford County, Virginia) invited a group of college athletes to put on a basketball dunking show for the students.

The group was from Liberty University.

How do you think that played out?

Liberty University’s “SOAR” Dunk Team showed off its basketball moves for kids at Forest Elementary Friday afternoon.

SOAR stands for “Sold Out and Ready” The group travels all over the country with a few basketballs and three trampolines.

The team usually performs a...

New Bill In Virginia Says Believers Who Apply For a Child-Care License Are Exempt From Fingerprinting Requirement

Religious privilege is more important than the livesof children, some Virginia legislators think.

A House committee is supporting omnibus legislation for greater oversight of home day care businesses in the aftermath of child fatalities in the homes of unlicensed providers, including the death of a 1-year-old Chesterfield County boy in a fire last fall. …

In addition to the licensing threshold [which lowers the number of children that home day care providers may take under their wing without ob...

A Fiery Sermon… in Honor of Charles Darwin

Out of context, this looks like a near-parody of a Sunday morning church service… for the religion of Darwinism.

In context, it’s former pastor Jerry Dewitt having a little fun a few days ago in advance of Charles Darwin‘s birthday, honoring the beauty of science the same way he once used to speak of the glory of God. (The event was sponsored by the Stockton Area Atheists and Freethinkers and the Stanislaus Humanists.)

When you look into the night sky, and you seem to be mesmerized, as if there...

Tonight’s Episode of Vanity Fair Confidential is All About the Murdered Founder of American Atheists

If you’re addicted to crime drama, tonight’s new episode of Vanity Fair Confidential on the Investigation Discovery network is all about the murder of American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair.

The description doesn’t even include the word “atheist” so that aspect of her life may be tangential to the focus of the show.

O’Hair played a major role in the removal of mandatory Bible readings in public school (which her critics wrongly say banned prayer in school). We wrote more here about her...

I Wonder How He’d Feel If the Three Dots Suddenly Vanished…

(via New Yorker)

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Orders Probate Judges Not to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Isn’t it incredible that Christian conservatives never get upset about actual activist judges like Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore?

Late tonight, Moore ordered all probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses tomorrow, the first day gay marriage is legal throughout the state. What happens now is still up for debate, but it could very well be the second time Moore loses his job over his Constitution-be-damned philosophy that places the Bible above our laws.

Recently, Alab...