Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1816

Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 38: David Niose, Author of Fighting Back the Right

Our latest podcast guest is David Niose, author of the new book Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason.

David has been the president of two major organizations, the American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America. He currently serves as the AHA’s legal director. He’s also a lawyer who has argued in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court about why the Pledge of Allegiance shouldn’t be recited in public school classrooms. And he’s the...

Arrests Made After Heroin-Laced Bible Sent to Prison Inmate

Well, I think we’ve found another example of Christian persecution in this country (you listening, Todd Starnes?): a prisoner’s Bible has been seized by Hamilton County (Ohio) prison officials. And — it gets worse — both the prisoner and the woman who sent it to him are facing charges.

Did I mention, that Bible was laced with a dose of heroin sufficient to kill someone? Okay, so maybe not persecution after all. (Don’t worry, Starnes. I’m sure one of these stories will pan out, someday).

Cincinn...

Newly-Named “Lebanon High School” Upsets Texas Parents Who Say It Isn’t Very Patriotic

Parents in Frisco, Texas have discovered something rather mortifying about the new high school being built: its name.

The district has picked (for now, at least) the name of “Lebanon High School,” but some local parents

Some parents in the Frisco Independent School District want a name change for the new Lebanon High School, saying the school set to open next year shouldn’t share its name with the Middle East nation and that the community should get a say in naming it....

Mitt Romney’s New White House Bid, If Any, Will Be Heavy on His Mormon Faith

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is either channelinghis inner Latter-Day-Saint or listening to political adviserswho are betting thata heavierdose of Mormonismwillwow the American electoratein 2016.

In a speech …Friday night,Mitt Romneyreminded the world that he’s a Mormon — and made clear that it would be a key part of his presidential campaign if he does decide to run for a third time.

What an excellent strategyto overcome the accusation that Romney, as a politician on the national stage, is...

Despite Impassioned Warning from Board Member, Florida School District Votes to Allow Sectarian Prayers at Meetings

The school board for the School District of Indian River County in Vero Beach, Florida has been considering a resolution that would allow for an invocation at the beginning of its meetings. in the wake of Greece v. Galloway, keep in mind that school boards don’t have the flexibility that city councils have when it comes to sectarian prayers at meetings (since impressionable children may be present). The Freedom From Religion Foundation warned them against it for that reason.

At a meeting last...

Pastor Terry Jones Is Beset By Customers of His Furniture-Shipping Company Who Haven’t Received Their Possessions

Florida’s Terry Jones is a manof many talents: pastor, Qur’an-burning simpleton, french-fry-stand owner, and, we learn from the Bradenton Herald, the co-proprietor of a shipping company that specializes in transporting antique furniture from seller to online buyer.

The entrepreneurial pastor is currently strugglingwithmore than his shareof business setbacks. Considering that Jones is almost literally in al Qaeda’s crosshairs, the mall where he sells his fries made him removethree large photos...

How to Spot a Fake Psychic

I think this is my new favorite kind of article: “real” psychics telling you how to spot the “fake” psychics. We covered one example back in November, but another one has come to my attention.

So let’s see what advice “psychic medium” Khi Armand has to offer:

Well, that explains *everything*

Steer clear from:

…

$5 specials – I’ve never met a psychic hawking $5 specials who didn’t give a canned reading. These are meant to lure you in with information applicable to anyone and hook you through charis...

School Board Member in Chino Valley (California) Invokes Terrorist Attacks to Defend Prayers During Meetings

A couple of months ago, I posted about the Chino Valley Unified School District (in California), where Board of Education meetings resembled church services.

That’s not an exaggeration at all. Here’s just a snippet of what a meeting looked like:

… CVUSD Board of Education President James Na said [at a meeting] “our lives begin in the hospital and end in the church, and urged everyone who does not know Jesus Christ to go and find Him.” Mr. [Andrew] Cruz “closed by reading Psalm 143.”

In fact, the...

“Peeping Don” Pastor Who Resigned From Church Over Digital Voyeurism Now Faces Burglary Charges, Too

Maybe ex-pastor Donald Courtney Biggs, freshly accused of sneakily videotaping a nudeor partially nude woman,can trade war stories with ex-rabbi Barry Freundel, who made a habit of that kind of thing.

A former pastor at a church in Medford [Oregon] stands accused of secretly videotaping an adult female “in a state of undress” without her consent, Medford police said. …

The Medford Police Department in November launched an investigation into “inappropriate texting” between Biggs and a 14-year-ol...

Jehovah’s Witness Publication Cites Professor Who Doubts Evolution… but Professor Says He Was Unfairly Misquoted

If you’re like me, you read every issue of the Jehovah’s Witness publication Awake! And in the latest issue (January, 2015), which is dedicated to undercutting the science of evolution, you get a perfect look at how these faith-based writers are liars.

Check out the very first section, questioning how life began:

Some might assume that a scientifically-minded person would pick “evolution” and that a religious person would pick “creation.”

But not always.

Rama Singh, professor of biology at Canada...