Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1820

Pastor Steven Anderson Releases Anti-Martin Luther King “Documentary” Called “Marxist Lucifer King”

Pastor Steven Anderson has been releasing a bunch of strange right-wing documentaries lately. There was the one about how AIDS is the “Judgment of God” and the one the horrors of birth control.

And now we have one trashing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called Marxist Lucifer King:

… the truth is that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a wicked false prophet, a sexual pervert, and a Communist tool. This film is not about race!

The gist of the movie seems to be that King was a Baptist preacher… but not And...

Secular Groups Send Money to Charlie Hebdo in a Show of Solidarity

In response to the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the Freedom From Religion Foundation just sent the staff a donation of $20,000:

“FFRF created an Atheists in Foxholes Support Fund in 2012 to provide a show of support for activists who find themselves in the crossfire as ‘atheists in foxholes,’” Gaylor added. “We never imagined atheists would so literally be in the crossfire.”

…

“We’ll leave it to Charlie Hebdo to use this gift where it’s most needed, whether to aid victims’ surviving families, for s...

Mormon Church Excommunicates Podcaster Who Voiced Support for Marriage Equality & Ordination of Women

***Edit***: A version of this post went up earlier this afternoon, but it disappeared from the site. Might have been a tech glitch on our end. Sorry for the confusion.

…

It seems like every time the Mormon Church has the opportunity to take a lead on social or cultural issues, they shoot themselves in the foot. Just last year, when they had the chance to reach out to women, Mormon leaders excommunicated Ordain Women founder Kate Kelly.

And now they’ve done it again with a progressive Mormon podc...

Ellen DeGeneres Responds to Christian Bigot Accusing Her of Promoting a Gay Agenda

Pastor Larry Tomczak wrote a piece for the Christian Post last week in which he accused Ellen DeGeneres — along with the rest of Hollywood — of promoting a gay agenda:

“Ellen DeGeneres” celebrates her lesbianism and “marriage” in between appearances of guests like Taylor Swift to attract young girls.

Sure…

(By the way, I’m used to seeing conservative Christians put “marriage” in quotation marks when referring to gay marriages… but why is Ellen’s name in quotation marks?)

Anyway, DeGeneres respond...

Pope Francis: Free Expression is a Fundamental Right, But “You Cannot Insult the Faith of Others”

You’ll be thrilled to learn thathe Vatican is totally in favor of free speech.

There are, however, two notableexceptions: faith, and the pope’s mom.

Calling freedom of expression a “fundamental” human right, the popeoutlined why he believes there are limits to that right. If someone “says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch,” he joked, according to anAssociated Press translation. “It’s normal. It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot m...

Gay Teacher Fired From Catholic School: I Will Not Give My Time, Talent, or Treasure “to a Bigoted Organization”

Another Catholic school teacher has been fired from a job he loved because he married his same-sex partner. Except this person isn’t afraid to dole out the b-word when talking about the church he grew up in.

Lonnie Billard (below), 68, was an English and drama teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School for 13 years and a follower of the Catholic faith for his entire life. He and his boyfriend, Rich Donham, have been together for over a decade. Billard says he had always introduced Donham to col...

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Paper Digitally Removes Female Leaders From Paris Photo

File under “Jews with Cooties”:

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspaper in Israel appears to have edited out female world leaders from a photograph of Sunday’s anti-terrorism rally in Paris, Israeli media reported. …Presidents, prime ministers and royals from around the world flew in to show their support and posed arm-in-arm for a picture that became a symbol for the sorrow felt across the world in the wake of the attacks.

Readers of at least one Jewish news outlet were shielded from the disgracefu...

Christian Author of The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven Recants Story, Saying “I Thought It Would Get Me Attention”

We’re used to hearing stories about children with Christian parents who, facing some tragedy, “go to Heaven” and then come back to tell us all about it. Colton Burpo, the subject of the late-2010 book Heaven is For Real, is perhaps the most famous example. (Dr. Eben Alexander wrote a similar sort of book, Proof of Heaven, in 2012.)

But before both of those books went viral, there was the story of Alex Malarkey, the subject of the mid-2010 book The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven:

Here’s the descr...

Watch These Christian Men Apologize for Allowing Women They Slept With to Have Abortions

In a video put out by anti-abortion group HeroicMedia, a bunch of male pastors explain how sorry they are for letting women have abortions.

They even say to the camera, “I had an abortion,” because abortions are really all about them. And then they apologize to everyone who’s ever had an abortion, since that’s what you all really wanted from them.

The most damning comment is from Daniel Phillips, the guy who says, “I’m sorry this is available,” since, in his mind, women should always be forced...

According to This Christian Scientist, Your Thoughts Can Alter Your DNA for Generations to Come

When I’m looking for some scientific programming on television, I turn to Believer’s Voice of Victory to see what Kenneth and Gloria Copeland can teach me.

Their recent episode featuring Dr. Caroline Leaf lived up to all my expectations.

Just listen to the 12:16 mark below where Leaf explains how your thoughts can alter your DNA:

… whatever reaction we have changes the DNA and the DNA then expresses and it builds either that which is what our bodies are wired for, so whether you’re Born Again or...