Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1835
December 30, 2014
“In God We Trust” Signs Now Adorn Kentucky State Capitol Rooms
When Kentucky legislators begin meeting again next week, each subcommittee will gather in one of 11 rooms with new symbols hanging on the walls: The state seal adorned with the phrase “In God We Trust”:
[Sen. Albert] Robinson’s amendment said the motto would be displayed “behind each chairman or chairwoman in each committee room used by members of the General Assembly in the Capitol and Capitol Annex.”
Asked Monday why the signs are needed, Robinson said, “This is America. I feel like this nation was and is established by God.
“We need to show the same respect in the committee rooms that we show in the Senate and House chambers.”
Robinson has been involved in other issues involving religion. He has been active in posting the Ten Commandments as part of historical exhibits in public buildings. He is working on a “religious freedom” bill he plans to present in the 2015 legislative session.
Because the Christian phrase doubles as the National Motto, there’s very little chance for church/state separation groups to argue this is an endorsement of religion no matter what people like Robinson say.
“We just believe that government is supposed to represent everyone — the religious and non-religious,” said Rob Boston, communications director for the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
…
“It has been difficult to get these signs removed in court challenges,” he said. “There seems to be a generality about all this with saying, ‘God,’ and providing a historic symbol with the motto.
“It would be easier to remove them if the signs were more specific, if they said ‘In Jesus Christ We Trust’ or ‘In Allah We Trust.’”
The biggest irony is all of this is that, if you look at the seal carefully, you’ll see Kentucky’s state motto on it: “United we stand, divided we fall.” And right above that now is a phrase that divides residents of Kentucky: There are the ones who believe in God — the ones who apparently matter to legislators — and the ones who don’t. Robinson and everyone else who voted for the godly addition don’t seem to notice the inherent contradiction there, or what that may foretell about the future of the state.
Sioux Medicine Man and Spiritual Leader Accused of Serial Rape of Young Girls During Sweat-Lodge Ceremonies
Here’s a well-known recipe for disaster: Imbue a man with so-called spiritual powers, put him on a pedestal, and disregard what people say about him, even if he is rumored to be a serial child rapist.
The Washington Post sheds a good deal of light on the alleged crimes of Charles Chipps Sr. (below), an Oglala Sioux medicine man who long lived on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota, where he is thought to have raped at least six underage girls, including several of his own daughters and granddaughters. The victims were as young as five years old.
Now 67, Chipps, a “highly regarded spiritual leader” for decades, has pleaded not guilty. The professional bullshit peddler
… inherited his spiritual position in the tribe and became a renowned medicine man on Pine Ridge and beyond, even releasing a CD of ceremonial songs. …
It was in a little blue house and a log cabin in [his] compound that Chipps abused girls and young women who came to him for spiritual guidance, according to the indictment against him and other court documents. He also allegedly sexually assaulted them on his nearby sacred ceremonial grounds, forcing them to disrobe and engage in sexual acts in the darkness of the sweat lodge. …
A girl from Colorado whose aunt brought her to meet Chipps for spiritual guidance committed suicide after revealing the abuse she allegedly suffered.
According to reporter Sari Horwitz,
Many studies tie sexual abuse to the intergenerational trauma that began in the secular and church-run boarding schools that Indian children were required to attend. Court documents and lawsuit settlements reveal how the boarding schools, especially in places like South Dakota, were centers of widespread sexual, emotional and physical abuse. …
His sister-in-law Lena recounts how Chipps would take children into the sweat lodge and allegedly have sex with two or three victims at the same time.
“And he would tell them it’s the spirits.”
His lawyer claims he can’t stand trial because of infirmity and, wouldn’t you know it, chronic forgetfulness:
“He would not be able to take the stand because he has no recollection of events.”
Chipps, if tried and convicted, faces life behind bars.
(Screenshot via Washington Post video; thanks to Joe for the tip)
There’s No Reason to Thank God After the AirAsia Flight Disappearance
We see it after every tragedy and the missing AirAsia flight is no different. Those who avoided what appears to be a grim situation are looking for any explanation, rational or not, for their stroke of luck:
Another family said 10 of them were supposed to fly to Singapore for New Year’s Eve, but they all arrived late at the airport and missed the flight. “My mother can’t stop crying,” Anggi Mahesti said in a text message to ABC News. “This is a special Christmas gift from God that we missed the flight.
“We are so thankful to our God,” she added.
Chandra Susanto was also supposed to be on the plane. He posted prayers of gratitude on Facebook, saying he was supposed to fly with his wife and their three kids, but they canceled when his father fell ill.
“Thank you, Jesus,” Susanto posted. “Your plan is so beautiful. Our family avoided … awful danger.”
Of course, the same God who put them out of harm’s way apparently didn’t give a shit about the approximately 162 who were onboard the plane. Not that the survivors will ever admit that.
JT Eberhard says it well:
Saying thank you to god in a circumstance like this is like sending a note of gratitude to a serial killer for killing the family the next door instead.
Sam Harris once wrote about how disturbing it is to thank God in the event of a tragedy not long after Hurricane Katrina hit:
Only the atheist recognizes the boundless narcissism and self-deceit of the saved. Only the atheist realizes how morally objectionable it is for survivors of a catastrophe to believe themselves spared by a loving God, while this same God drowned infants in their cribs. Because he refuses to cloak the reality of the world’s suffering in a cloying fantasy of eternal life, the atheist feels in his bones just how precious life is — and, indeed, how unfortunate it is that millions of human beings suffer the most harrowing abridgements of their happiness for no good reason at all.
I always wonder if the survivors who say stuff like this have any idea how callous their words might sound to the families of those who died.
There’s every reason to believe many of the people aboard Flight QZ8501 were devout themselves. There’s no rhyme or reason as to why some were spared while some were not. Sometimes, it really is just good luck. As much as we want to find an explanation for it, there isn’t one. Consider yourself fortunate for having dodged the bullet and — if there’s anything good that can come from this — find a way to make the most of the rest of your life, perhaps even dedicating it to the memories of those who may have perished. That’s good advice in general, but especially if you know you escaped a close call.
(Image via Kushch Dmitry / Shutterstock.com)
Transgender Teen Killed in Traffic After Writing Suicide Letter Describing Her Christian Parents’ Opposition
[Word of caution #1: Extremely depressing content ahead.]
[Word of caution #2: I believe that the public suicide note quoted below is genuine, but have not yet been able to confirm it beyond a shadow of a doubt. The personal details do match up. I'll update this post as I learn more.]
This past weekend, in the middle of the night, Leelah Alcorn, born Josh, stepped into southbound traffic on I-71 in Ohio, where she lived, and was killed by a Freightliner semi.
This appears to be, in part, the digital suicide letter she left behind:
When I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness. After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong. If you are reading this, parents, please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me.
My mom started taking me to a therapist, but would only take me to christian therapists, (who were all very biased) so I never actually got the therapy I needed to cure me of my depression. I only got more christians telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help.
When I was 16 I realized that my parents would never come around, and that I would have to wait until I was 18 to start any sort of transitioning treatment, which absolutely broke my heart. The longer you wait, the harder it is to transition. I felt hopeless, that I was just going to look like a man in drag for the rest of my life.
After she announced more or less publicly that she was gay (keeping the revelation of being transgender for a later date), Leelah says that her school friends offered their support, but that her parents punished her.
They took me out of public school, took away my laptop and phone, and forbid me of getting on any sort of social media, completely isolating me from my friends. This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I’m surprised I didn’t kill myself. I was completely alone for 5 months. No friends, no support, no love. Just my parent’s disappointment and the cruelty of loneliness. …
I have decided I’ve had enough. I’m never going to transition successfully, even when I move out. I’m never going to be happy with the way I look or sound. I’m never going to have enough friends to satisfy me. I’m never going to have enough love to satisfy me. I’m never going to find a man who loves me. I’m never going to be happy. Either I live the rest of my life as a lonely man who wishes he were a woman or I live my life as a lonelier woman who hates herself. There’s no winning. There’s no way out.
In a second note, she wrote:
[A]nyone who says something like “I wish I got to know him better” or “I wish I treated him better” gets a punch in the nose.
Leelah was 17 years old when she died.
Bill Nye’s Book Currently Tops the Creationism Bestsellers List on Amazon
Occasionally, you see books written by Christian apologists on Amazon’s atheism section. It’s not a glitch. The category isn’t for books promoting atheism; it’s for books about atheism.
But I’ll admit I get annoyed when I see a book by Dinesh D’Souza or Ravi Zacharias in the same place I expect to find biting criticism of religion.
That’s why it puts a smile on my face to see what’s at the top of the Creationism section’s list of bestsellers:
Bill Nye‘s Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, a book that thoroughly debunks everything you’d find in Ken Ham‘s museum.
I guess that makes up for it 
Teens Will Totes Relate to a Bible Written Like This
Mallory Ortberg at The Toast replaced the words “Thou Shalt Not” in the Bible with “can u not”… and the whole book instantly became more relatable:
Exodus 20:14
“Adultery: can u not.”…
2 Kings 6:22
“And he answered, can u not smite them?”…
Matthew 7:1
“can u not judge, lest ye be judged.”
I hope she does a follow-up in which she replaces all the “begats” with “jizzed into existence.”
(Image via Shutterstock)
December 29, 2014
Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 35: Max Temkin, Co-Creator of Cards Against Humanity
Our latest podcast guest is Max Temkin, co-creator of Cards Against Humanity, the “party game for horrible people.”
A self-portrait of Max
What began as a game Max played with his friends soon became a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2011, and it has turned into one of the most popular and entertaining (and sometimes controversial) card games today.
We spoke with Max about how he and the writers determine when a card has crossed the line, what the process is like for coming up with new cards, his involvement with Barack Obama‘s U.S. Senate campaign, and the glitch that took place during the Ten Days or Whatever of Kwanzaa.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we should chat with, please leave them in the comments, too.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, stream all the episodes on SoundCloud or Stitcher, or just listen to the whole thing below.
And if you like what you’re hearing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon and leaving us a positive rating!
Ohio Resident Plans to Make Next Year’s Zombie Nativity Scene Even More of a Spectacle
Last week, we learned that Ohio resident Jasen Dixon had put up a Zombie-themed Nativity scene at his home, only to have to take it down because it violated local ordinances about size and location of such displays. (I’m sure the city cracked down on traditional Christian displays, too…)
Well, with everything he’s learned this year, Dixon wants to make next year’s Nativity scene bigger and bigger — and perfectly compliant with the law. To that end, he’s started an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the project:
“I want to make a better zombie nativity scene for everyone to see next year and [raise] funds to pay the township citations for having the structure,” he says…
He’s hoping to bring in $5,000 for bigger and better fake corpses and accessories. (Perhaps undead barn animals are in the works?)
This can only end well. And we’ll be able to see the best photos ever. Chip in if this is up your alley.
(Thanks to Jaynee for the link)
Winston Churchill’s Family Feared That He Would Convert To Islam
A century ago, was Sir Winston Churchill itching to commit his life to Allah? The great British leader has always seemed like a grounded, even skeptical man, but recently-unearthed correspondence suggests that he flirted with Orientalism and Islam to such a degree that some family members feared he would become a Muslim.
The family of Sir Winston Churchill urged him to “fight against” the desire to convert to Islam, a newly discovered letter has revealed. …
In a letter dated August 1907 Churchill’s soon to be sister-in-law wrote to him: “Please don’t become converted to Islam … If you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed, call of the blood, don’t you know what I mean, do fight against it.”
The letter, discovered by a history research fellow at Cambridge University, Warren Dockter, was written by Lady Gwendoline Bertie who married Churchill’s brother Jack.
She needn’t have worried, apparently.
“Churchill never seriously considered converting,” Dr Dockter told The Independent. “He was more or less an atheist by this time anyway. He did however have a fascination with Islamic culture which was common among Victorians.” …
[W]hile he was vocal in his admiration for Islam, Churchill was not uncritical. “The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men,” he wrote in his 1899 account of Sudan, The River War.
“Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralizes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.”
(Image via Wikipedia)
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