Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1838

Muslim Families in India Say They Were Tricked Into Becoming Hindus With Promises of Food and Schooling

Earlier this month, says the Washington Post,

[M]ore than 50 impoverished Muslim families in a slum in the northern Indian city of Agra attended a simple but controversial ceremony at which they were asked by a Hindu priest to chant and throw offerings into the holy fire in front of some Hindu idols. The priest then welcomed the Muslims into the Hindu fold.

Some Muslims in the neighborhood of trash collectors told local reporters that it was all a fraud. They said that a Hindu activist had assured them that by attending the ceremony, they will get the government’s coveted “below-poverty-line” identity card and access to state welfare assistance in health and education.

Bajrang Dal, the organizers of the ceremony and a radical Hindu group associated with Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s party, said that the ceremony was held in the open and the religious conversion was voluntary.

Initially, factions within Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party were so stoked by the contested conversion of the Muslim families in Agra that

[One] lawmaker subsequently announced plans for an even bigger Hindu conversion event of Christians and Muslims on Christmas Day in the northern town of Aligarh. It was later called off by Hindu groups. Critics say Hindu hardline groups have become more emboldened since the BJP was elected, stoking religious tensions.

An editorial in the Daily Times puts it starkly:

Extremism it seems has not afflicted Muslims only. In fact it has come to influence nearly every religious group. The strains of religious fundamentalism have been growing across the world. Even a religion like Buddhism adopted ruthless means to promote and maintain its religious identity in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. In Mali, fundamentalists destroyed the ancient desert city of Timbuktu, much as the Taliban did to the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. India too is passing through a similar phase where the dominant discourse revolves around establishing a Hindu narrative.

A pox on all their houses.

(Image via Shutterstock)

Right-Winger: Gay Kids Are Recruiting Vulnerable Christian Kids to LGBT Clubs and Ruining Their Lives

You know how LGBT people try to *recruit* others to join them in spreading the gay agenda?

*crickets chirp*

Apparently, “gay clubs” in public schools do the same thing. And word on the street is they target Christian kids.

You remember infamous pastor/politician Gordon Klingenschmitt, who claims that LGBT people want to execute Christians and that Obamacare causes cancer. He recently welcomed Brian Camenker, of the anti-gay group MassResistance, onto his program “Pray In Jesus Name” to discuss how gay kids are ruining education as we know it.

Here’s their conversation, from a video collected by Right Wing Watch:

Klingenschmitt: Do you think there’s an effort to recruit the children of Christians or Catholics in Massachusetts using taxpayer-funded education? What are the teachers’ unions trying to teach in the classroom?

Camenker: Well, I have seen over the years, a movement of, in general, where you have kids who are very vulnerable, maybe having troubles at home, maybe having their own issues and the gay clubs will say ‘the reason that you’re not fitting in is because you’re really gay.’ And they will take them under their wing and they will persuade them to come out because ‘this is who you really are.’ And pretty soon these kids are getting involved in these really horrible behaviors, horrible things at these meetings. We’ve seen it up close and we’ve seen the anxiety that the parents go through when their kids are suddenly taken over by this. And, yes they love getting kids from Christian backgrounds. That seems to be something that they particularly enjoy to do.

It’s unclear what “horrible things” are happening at these meetings. Talking about acceptance and diversity? Discussing personal experiences of discrimination and bullying? Holding bake sales to buy rainbow-colored T-shirts? None of this sounds traumatizing for any student of any identity. I’m not sure what “horrible behaviors” Camenker has heard of, but it doesn’t sound like an accurate representation of what really happens in student clubs.

LGBT student clubs like gay-straight alliances are safe spaces for everybody, and persuading a person to do something they’re not comfortable with or be someone they’re not is the complete opposite of what these clubs seek to do. A GSA is the last place anybody would try to do any “recruiting.” If Christian kids happen to seek these clubs out because they’ve experienced anti-LGBT sentiment at home… well, go figure.

This Guy Had a Meltdown and Got Booted from a Flight Because He Couldn’t Handle Being Told “Merry Christmas”

In a story that looks like fodder for Todd Starnes, an unidentified man was kicked off of an American Airlines flight earlier this week after he caused a ruckus. The reason? The flight attendants wished him “Merry Christmas.”

The grumpy passenger, who appeared to be traveling alone, barked at the woman, “You shouldn’t say that because not everyone celebrates Christmas.”

The agent replied, “Well, what should I say then?”

“Don’t say, ‘Merry Christmas!’ ” the man shouted before brushing past her.

Once on the plane, he was warmly greeted by a flight attendant who also wished him a “merry Christmas.” That was the last straw.

The man got more belligerent after that and was quickly booted from the plane, to the delight of the other passengers.

I don’t know what this guy’s religious background was (am I allowed to pray that he wasn’t an atheist?), but I’ll go ahead and state the obvious: He’s an asshole. We rightfully criticize those Christians who get offended when someone says “Happy Holidays” to them in a retail store. For the same reason, this guy deserved his punishment for taking a sweet gesture and blowing it way out of proportion.

It’s not like the airline staff said “If you don’t believe in Jesus, there’s something wrong with you.” They said something that most sensible people would understand is just a pleasantry, not too different from saying “Have a nice day.” You accept it, return the gesture if you want, and move on — not cause a scene because you chose to interpret it in the worst possible way.

(Image via Tupungato / Shutterstock.com. Thanks to Jaynee for the link)

Newsweek Cover Story Tackles How Christians Often Misinterpret the Bible to Suit Their Own Needs

In a cover story for Newsweek, Kurt Eichenwald tells us something we’ve known for a long time: many Christians will distort the Bible to say whatever they want it to say. They project their personal beliefs onto the Bible, not draw those beliefs from it. They’re happy to take passages out of context when it suits their needs and ignore them when it doesn’t.

This is no longer a matter of personal or private faith. With politicians, social leaders and even some clergy invoking a book they seem to have never read and whose phrases they don’t understand, America is being besieged by Biblical illiteracy. Climate change is said to be impossible because of promises God made to Noah; Mosaic law from the Old Testament directs American government; creationism should be taught in schools; helping Syrians resist chemical weapons attacks is a sign of the end times — all of these arguments have been advanced by modern evangelical politicians and their brethren, yet none of them are supported in the Scriptures as they were originally written.

There may be an argument to be made that the fundamentalists whom Eichenwald believes are twisting the Bible are actually the ones taking it most seriously. But I think the larger point to remember is that for every Christian who claims to know the Bible, there’s another Christian who knows that person is wrong. For that reason, it’s hardly a book from which we should be deriving our morals or laws or policy ideas.

There are many of you reading this who are much more knowledgeable about biblical history than I am, and you can offer more insight regarding whether or not Eichenwald’s examples of “misunderstandings” are accurate. Please enlighten us in the comments.

These Televangelists Were Called Out on Their Duplicity, but They’re Still Making Lots of Money Today

Slate just published a video about three televangelists — Peter Popoff, W.V. Grant, and Jim Bakker — who, despite being caught in their cons, are still making money from gullible Christians:

The worst part about these hucksters isn’t just that they’re taking people’s money; it’s that they’re giving their victims false hope that might actually damage their health in the process. They tell them, in some cases, to throw their canes on the stage or throw their medicine away because Jesus has cured them. It’s the sort of bullshit that becomes very believable to some when it’s tied to the Bible.

But they don’t care because their greed has long overtaken their goodness.

Christian Pastor Releases Anti-Gay “Documentary” Called AIDS: the Judgment of God

This week, a controversial new movie was released online… and it’s not The Interview.

Pastor Steven Anderson unleashed his “documentary” AIDS: the Judgment of God, and it’s 45 minutes of gay-bashing, bigotry, a man screaming at you between sermon clips, and “proof” that homosexuality is harmful:

A still from the credits, showing that Anderson has no remorse for his recent statement about how gay people should be executed

I watched some clips of it last night and had to stop. I couldn’t handle that much bullshit at once. but I hope any of you who decide to watch the whole thing leave the most important timestamps and summaries in the comments.

Gallup: Religious “Nones” Represents 16% of the U.S.

According to the latest survey results from Gallup, 75% of Americans consider themselves some form of Christian — no significant change from last year — while the percent of Nones/Atheists/Agnostics is pretty steady at 16%:

You’ll notice a very tiny change from last year and it follows the general trend of people shedding their faith:

The slight erosion of Americans’ identification as Protestant and concomitantly slight increase in the percentage with no religious preference exemplifies general trends in religious identity over the past decades.

Keep in mind, of course, that “Nones” is quite the catchall term since many of them believe in a higher power even if they don’t use a religious label. So it’s not like 16% of Americans are atheists. Not even close.

Indiana State Senator Wants to Pass Useless Bill to Protect Christmas from… Well… No One

While we’re having a discussion about Nativity scenes on government property in Indiana, it seems like a good time to talk about State Senator Jim Smith (R):

Last year, Smith tried passing a “Merry Christmas” bill that would allow people to celebrate Christmas. Because, you know, we’re in the middle of a war:

Sen. Jim Smith, R-Charlestown, proposed a similar bill during the 2014 legislative session that would have provided legal protection to public schools and teachers who want to celebrate Christmas in their classrooms. The measure would have let teachers honor Christmas traditions, such as putting up a Christmas tree, as long as they also recognize at least one other holiday celebration, such as Kwanzaa or Hanukkah. The measure passed the Senate but stalled in the House.

The bill eventually stalled in the legislature, but to be clear, all of this was already legal. It just pandered to his Christian base, so that was that. (He modeled it after a similar bill that passed in Texas last year.)

This year, Smith is incensed over the controversy in Franklin County, so he plans to file the bill again — and expand it:

This year, Smith wants to expand the bill to permit religious holiday displays on city and town properties, such as city halls, as long as they are coupled with secular displays or recognize multiple faiths.

So the new bill will allow people to do even more of the things… they could already do before. Smith somehow found a way to make his bill even more useless.

“The Christmas season encompasses so many meaningful traditions, but many times these traditions and the people who participate in them are threatened,” Smith said. “Just this week, a town in Indiana is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation for a Nativity scene that has been on display for more than a half-century on its courthouse lawn. This bill is a step toward defending a sacred holiday that is otherwise being stolen from our children and our culture.”

Huh. The only displays that seem to be vandalized are the non-Christian ones. Smith doesn’t care.

But more importantly: Nothing is being “stolen from our children.” Christmas will continue to be celebrated. What Smith wants is for his holiday to be given special treatment.

The town in Indiana could have avoided a lawsuit altogether by simply allowing those other displays. The problem is that the local government is putting up a Christian scene on city property — and nothing else — and it’s about time that came to a stop.

Maybe if Smith spoke with all of his constituents instead of just his Christian ones, he’d understand how good his people already have it.

At least the ACLU knows the “War” is really about protecting everyone’s rights:

Gavin Rose, an attorney with the Indiana ACLU working on the Franklin County case, said their legal action is about safeguarding the U.S. Constitution.

“The Indiana General Assembly can’t protect from a lawsuit under the establishment clause; it’s rudimentary that the U.S. Constitution trumps anything they try to do,” Rose said. “A lot of people really do get into this war on Christmas thing. It’s not a war on Christmas. It’s an attempt to make sure government abides by what the constitution recognizes is governments role actually is.”

Hopefully, the upcoming bill will stall just like last years. It won’t change anything, but it’d at least send the message to Smith that he needs to stop wasting everybody’s time.

A Rare Sight: Puerto Rican Atheists Hold Protest Over Nativity Scenes on Government Property

We often hear about Nativity scenes on government property in the U.S. and the battles that take place over them. But we don’t always hear about similar problems that take place in Puerto Rico.

The U.S. territory follows the same rules of church/state separation and, a couple of days ago, atheists there held a public protest against the Christian-only displays on government property. The Humanistas Seculares de Puerto Rico (HuSe) stood outside the San Juan Judicial Center and said that either all displays must be allowed or none of them can be:

HuSe Board Member Dr. Victor Rivera explained the motivation for the protest in an email (modified for clarity):

In early December of this year, based on complaints from members of the organization that crèche displays have been placed in most of Puerto Rico’s court houses, the group immediately sent a letter to judge/attorney Isabel Llompart-Zeno, who administers all of the court houses, requesting equal space to place a secular message beside each crèche scene all over the island.

As Christmas Day approached, and having received no definite response from the administrative judge on the subject, our group took to the streets on Tuesday and (in a symbolic act) called a press conference in front of the courthouse of Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan.

We were not allowed to go into the lobby of the courthouse (though other protestors in the past have been allowed). So we were told to remain at street level were we displayed our secular message, a short version of the Freedom from Religion Foundation organization’s solstice message.

For an island that’s more than 97% Christian, that’s a big freakin’ deal.

Great job to everyone involved. I can’t wait to see what will happen when HuSe partners with American Atheists for a regional conference on the island in August of next year.

New York Fire Department with “Happy Birthday Jesus” Sign Out Front May Now Have Company: A Festivus Pole

The Utica Fire Department Station 4 (in New York) already has a sign out front saying “Happy Birthday Jesus”…

… but it may finally have some company: A Festivus pole:

About 10 people gathered for a Festivus celebration at the fire station, lending their support for keeping the religious sign posted, while also urging the fire department to accept symbols of other religions as well.

…

“There’s definitely an argument to be had about religious symbols on public property,” said Kevin Nugent, an organizer of the event. “We feel that if they post the Festivus pole, as well as symbols from other faiths, that will put to rest the notion that they’re endorsing a single religion, which is the main argument against this sign, that it’s a tax-funded institution endorsing a single religion.”

Umm… yeah. That’s kind of the whole point. The fire department can’t show preference for Christianity. If they wanted to make their building an open forum, I’m sure atheists and Satanist and Hindu groups would love to offer up displays of their own.

What’s unclear is whether the Festivus Pole was actually accepted by the fire department and if it was placed out front in the same area as the Jesus sign. A picture that accompanied this article said a tiny celebration in honor of the pole took place on a nearby street corner, not on firehouse grounds. If department leaders aren’t allowing other groups to put up displays on their property, we’re right back to where we started.

(Thanks to @CarlieP for the link)