Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1809

Atheist Activist Cleared of Wrongdoing After Putting Stickers on Ohio Courthouse’s Church Directory

Back in November, I posted about a message board encased in glass outside the Athens County Courthouse (in Ohio) that listed the addresses of all the houses of worship in the area.

Eliot Kalman, a resident who used to head up the local branch of the ACLU, believed the presence of that sign was unconstitutional… he complained about it to local officials but they responded by saying they were simply providing information to the public, not promoting any of the religious groups — and that he coul...

Why I Don’t Believe an Indiana Teacher Was Fired for Being an Atheist

Note: There have been a lot of articles this week about an Indiana teacher who filed a lawsuit against his former district saying he was fired because he was an atheist.

Last June, this story surfaced after he filed an initial complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Since the details have not changed, I’m reprinting my post about his case below, with a few updates.

…

In 2013, Kevin Pack was hired to teach German classes at Northridge High School in Middlebury, Indiana....

Just Because You’re Not a Fan of Like-Minded Communities, You Don’t Have to Reject Atheist Groups

In a weird piece for the Guardian, Jaya Saxena writes about how she’s an atheist, but how she absolutely, positively doesn’t want to be part of any organized atheist group:

But as defensive as I’ve gotten with believers, I’ve never actually been tempted to join an atheist group. Partly, that’s because it’s hard to avoid the white men ruining it for the rest of us by using atheism as just another platform for a macho power struggle. Atheism offers no guarantee of other shared ideas or philosoph...

Delaware Governor Issues Proclamation in Honor of Darwin Day

It has no legal weight, but Delaware Governor Jack Markell issued a proclamation in advance of Darwin Day (on Charles Darwin‘s birthday) recognizing his accomplishments:

Whereas, Charles Darwin is recognized for the development of the Theory of Evolution; and

Whereas, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is the foundation of modern biology, an essential tool in understanding the development of life on earth; and

Whereas, the anniversary of Darwin’s birthday is a time to reflect and celebrate the importa...

With Worrisome New Rules For Students, French Government Suggests It Now Wavers on Issue of Liberté

What do you do with pupils like these?

Éric Bettancourt, a schoolteacher in Clichy-sous-Bois, a heavily immigrant suburb, told the France 2 television channel that three quarters of his students had refused to observe the moment of silence [after the Charlie Hebdo massacre]. “The first shocking words I heard were that the murders were justified,” Mr. Bettancourt said. “They considered that it was forbidden to make blasphemies or insult the prophet through drawings or speech.”

Question: Werethe...

Defining “the True Message of Islam”: How ISIS Recruiters Use Religious Texts To Encourage and Justify Slaughter

After every Islamist bloodbath, we hear from Muslims and the Mother Jones/Daily Kos crowd thatreligion had norole in the slaughter. The Charlie Hebdo massacre again brought out some well-intentionedprotesters whoinsisted on severing the criminals from their Islamicinspiration, despite the fact that the killers shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “We have avenged the prophet!”

Said aFrench Muslim namedDiallo,

This is not a question of religion. It’s a personal problem, and in fact it doesn’t have to do w...

Jehovah’s Witness Leader Rants Against Higher Education, Saying It’ll Lead to “Spiritual Disaster”

Jehovah’s Witnesses Governing Body member Tony Morris is the host of the January video on the new JW online television network and what he says is a terrifying tirade against higher education.

You can see the full episode here since it’s not embeddable, but in short, they show us that what JWs fear the most is being challenged on their beliefs — and places where your beliefs are scrutinized are to be avoided at all costs.

Here are some of the highlights:

At the 4:30 mark:

… all too often, our you...

Pastor Creates a Fake “World-Renowned” Atheist To Rail Against, and Imagines Him Abandoning His Godless “Faith”

For the lazy and the dishonest, creating a straw man is a greatshortcut to winning an argument. You can ascribe to your opponent whatever twisted view you have of hisbeliefs, without bothering to make sure thatitaccords with reality.

Thecraftiest practitioners of the genremaysubsequentlyclaim that theywere only engaging in satire, which may makecriticism ofthe fudged-together fantasy less potent, asviolators find easy refuge in saying “What’s the matter, can’t you take a joke?”

Which brings me...

Make Your Own Beard for Darwin Day

This is just cute.

Veronica Gilmore‘s family is hosting a Darwin Day celebration in a couple of weeks that involves a scavenger hunt at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. (I’m very jealous that I can’t be a part of this.)

But no celebration of Darwin’s life is complete without some long white beards for everyone, so they went ahead and created their own. Even the dog got in on the action:

I know there are people out there who will claim this is evidence that atheism is like a religion wh...

Michigan Towns Are Riled Up by an Atheist Activist Trying to Get Christians to Play Fair

Mitch Kahle is the atheist activist responsible for getting a hydraulic cross taken down in Grand Haven (Michigan), having a sign with an Old Testament verse on it removed from a public park, and getting Hawaiian churches to pay up for their illegally-cheap rental prices at public schools.

Mitch Kahle

The Detroit News has a profile of Kahle and his activism that you can read here:

“I’ve been called every name in the book,” said Kahle.

He has received hate mail and death threats, and been cursed a...