Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1846

ISIS Reported to Have Killed and Mass-Buried 150 Female Captives For Refusing Jihadi Marriage

The depravity intensifies, if that’s even possible.

Via the Independent:

Isis has executed at least 150 women for refusing to marry militants in Iraq, Turkish media has reported. A statement released by Iraq’s Ministry of Human Rights on Tuesday said the militants had attacked women in the western Iraqi province of Al-Anbar before burying them in mass graves in Fallujah. Some of the women killed were pregnant at the time, according to the Anadolu Agency.

“At least 150 females, including pregnant women, were executed in Fallujah by a militant named Abu Anas Al-Libi after they refused to accept jihad marriage,” the statement said.

The news comes days after an internal ISIS pamphlet surfaced with advice on how to treat female prisoners of war. In it, rape is enthusiastically sanctioned. Among other things, the document gives ISIS fighters permission

“… to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn’t reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse; however if she is not fit for intercourse, then it is enough to enjoy her without intercourse.”

That interpretation of Islam in in keeping with the example of its prophet, who married Aisha when she was six and consummated the relationship when she was nine.

(Image via Shutterstock)

Pastafarian Driver’s License Issued in Tennessee

When Joy Camacho went to the DMV in Knoxville to renew her driver’s license, she was expecting more of a fight when it came to her right to wear a colander, the official garb of Pastafarians everywhere.

There was no battle whatsoever.

I asked Joy how difficult the process was — especially in Tennessee — and she explained how she didn’t expect it to be so straightforward:

It was all surprisingly easy. I walked in wearing my colander. One lady had to walk away to keep from laughing. The other two ladies were able to maintain their composure and were very professional. Nothing was said until it was time to take the picture and they asked me to remove my “hat.”

I told them it was a part of my religion and it was my understanding that Tennessee had an exception for religious headgear. I brought in printouts from the Church’s website.

One lady had a lot of questions while the other went off to call a supervisor. When she returned, I asked if there was a problem. She said no and told the lady handling my reinstatement to write on the application that there is a religious exception for the headgear.

I didn’t even get to say, “You are discriminating against my religion!”

Before I left, I told them they could keep the printouts so they could learn more about FSM.

So there you have it. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is alive and well in the South!

(Thanks to Amber for the link)

1858 Scandal of Jewish Boy Kidnapped Under Pope Pius IX Will Become a Spielberg Film

A new movie project by producer Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner will thrust the story of a 19th-century religious kidnapping back into the limelight. The bizarre 1858 event first garnered the attention of an international audience in the months and years after it happened. The scandal has since been the subject of a book, a painting, several plays, and an opera.

It’s easy to see why. The story involves Pope Pius IX — who was, according to some, the de facto kidnapper — as well as Napoleon III of France and Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who advocated on behalf of the stolen boy’s family.

Here are the facts of the case.

In 1852, an infant named Edgardo Levi Mortara, born the previous year into a Jewish family in Bologna in the Papal States, fell seriously ill. The Mortaras’ Catholic servant girl, fearing for his life and his immortal soul, took it upon herself to secretly administer an emergency baptism. Edgardo got better, and continued to be raised as a Jew until he was six years old.

Then someone high up in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church got wind of the boy’s baptism, and decided that, since Edgardo was to be regarded as a Catholic under canon law, he could not be allowed to grow up in a Jewish household.

And so the fateful order was issued that Edgardo Mortaro be removed from the care of his family. On June 23, 1858, police officers of the Papal States took him, despite the pleas of his parents and siblings, and brought him to Rome where he would become a ward of the state. Materially, he was well taken care of. A 1997 book by David Kertzer, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, says that Pius IX not only took a personal interest in the case; the pope helped raise Edgardo.

Through it all, the emotional protestations of the boy’s parents went nowhere. Church authorities told them that their son would only be returned if they converted to Catholicism, an offer they refused.

Moritz Oppenheim‘s painting The Kidnapping of the Mortara Child

The Mortaras – especially the boy’s mother, Marianna – were in life-long pain over the cruel kidnapping. It couldn’t have helped their state of mind that Edgardo, later in life, fully rejected his erstwhile Jewish faith, becoming an ordained priest in 1873. He then made a religious career out of trying to convert Jews.

Many Catholics were unsympathetic to the family’s plight:

To defenders of the Church, the Mortaras were partially to blame for their predicament because they had violated a law forbidding Christian servants to work in Jewish homes. Though these apologists disapproved of baptism without parental consent, once it was performed there was no undoing its sacramental powers.

Broad swaths of the non-Catholic public, however, were moved by what the boy and his family had endured. The case was so heartbreaking — and so outrageous on its face — that the Mortaras received volumes of popular and political support. Napoleon III, Emperor Franz Joseph I, and even the editorial board of the New York Times took up their cause.

The Catholic Church ignored the international brouhaha as best it could. Pius IX vacillated between sourness and defiant glee:

When a delegation of prominent Jews saw the Pope in 1859, he told them, “I couldn’t care less what the world thinks.”… In a speech in 1871 defending his decision against his detractors, Pius said: “Of these dogs, there are too many of them at present in Rome, and we hear them howling in the streets, and they are disturbing us in all places.”

A century later, the Jesuit Giacomo Martina, a prominent biographer of Pius IX, criticized “the profound zeal of Pius IX [and] his firmness in carrying out what he perceived to be his duty at the cost of losing personal popularity.” Martina added that the pope viewed his critics as “unbelievers… [operating] a war machine against the church.”

To make the Mortara kidnapping even more disturbing, some sources have charged that there was, to put it mildly, improper contact between the pontiff and the young boy. They said that

… Pius IX had allegedly “abused” Mortara, based on accounts of Edgardo hiding under the cassock of Pius IX.

Presumably, the truth of this accusation will never be known. It may have just been a nasty smear for political gain; but it neatly foreshadowed the child-sex-abuse scandal that would engulf the Catholic Church late in the twentieth century.

What happened to the two men who are central to this story?

In 1881, three years after Pius IX’s death, his body was solemnly transported to its final resting place. The procession didn’t pass without incident.

A group of anti-Catholic nationalists, screaming “Long live Italy! Death to the pope! Death to the priests!,” tried to steal the body of the pope and throw it into the Tiber River.

I like to imagine that Edgardo Mortara’s parents were with the protesters at least in spirit.

Mortara himself — who, in honor of the pope, went by “Pio,” having rejected “Levi” — died in 1940 in an abbey near Liège, Belgium. The Times of Israel notes that he slipped his earthly bonds

… only a few weeks before his life would have been put in danger by the invasion of the Nazis, who did not consider conversion to Christianity a sufficient reason to spare a Jew.

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(This is another installment of “That Old Time Religion,” an infrequent Friendly Atheist series that looks at history’s God-besotted wackjobs, zealots, and mountebanks. If you have a topic you’d like me to cover, please leave your suggestion in the comments, preceded by #TOTR.)

Thanks to a College Atheist Group, There Are Now Displays Honoring Game of Thrones in the Wisconsin Capitol Building

The Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered something incredible when it came to putting up a display in the State Capitol: “Practically anyone can put anything they want in the Capitol.” All you had to do was fill out an application.

So they did. For three fictional groups, including two honoring gods from Game of Thrones:

The intention of these displays is to advocate for the separation of Church and State, and to draw attention to the ridiculous public forum system in the Wisconsin State Capitol which allows nativity scenes and other religious displays to enter the halls of government. We would prefer that our Capitol remain secular and free from divisive religious intrusion, but when the State creates an open forum, everything is permitted. Hopefully the the silly nature of these displays will make people think about whether the Capitol is an appropriate place for promoting personal religious views.

The atheists added that six of their other display requests were denied, including one honoring the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Which makes you wonder how open this “public forum” really is.

Still, you have to appreciate that sign right next to the Nativity…

(via AHA)

Detroit Priest Scammed Six-Figure Sum From Charity for the Poor

A quasi-godly thief bites the dust:

A Metro Detroit Catholic priest was sentenced Monday to 12 months in jail — to be served over five years — for stealing money from a charity for the poor.

The Rev. Timothy Kane was convicted in October on embezzlement, conspiracy and other related charges for stealing about $131,000 from a charity fund through a scam using “straw” applicants to request $1,500 grants for the needy and then receiving kickbacks on some of the money paid out.

About 131 Angel Fund grants are suspected to have been fraudulently obtained in the scheme from August 2008 to July 2012. … The Angel Fund is supported by an anonymous donor family and operated by the Archdiocese of Detroit. Since 2005, it has provided more than $17 million in grants to needy individuals and families in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, according to the archdiocese.

The judge went easy on the priest, giving him a jail term well below guidelines. Local media are even calling the sentence “unique.”

Kane’s jail sentence is to be served over a five-year period in June and December each year, with two extra months to be determined. Kane also must pay $131,400 in restitution and will be on probation for five years.

The prosecutor’s office, unhappy with the relatively light sentence, is considering an appeal. Kane believes that he shouldn’t serve time at all, saying he is guilty only of inattention and lack of “due diligence.”

Egyptian Officials Crack Down on “Satanic Café” Where Atheists Supposedly Gathered

On Sunday, Egyptian officials stormed the Passiles café in Cairo to crack down on what they perceived was a hub for atheists. Or Satanists. One of them (even though atheists don’t worship Satan). It didn’t seem to matter, actually…

The cafe was popular with customers who could step away from the bustling Cairo stress to sip tea and while the hours away. But many in the police didn’t believe it was entirely innocent. In an interview with the Mada Masr news site, local police chief Gamal Mohie, said, “There was no sign reading ‘atheists’ cafe’ outside, as nobody would put up such a public announcement. However, it was popularly known as a place for Satan worship, rituals and dances. There were also Satanic drawings at the entrance.”

Even if that were true… so what? That would be the reasonable thing to ask. But, in Egypt, where they can supposedly count atheists individually, anything that will cause non-Muslims to fear going public with their beliefs is justified.

BuzzFeed News said the whole idea of the café being a meeting spot for ne’er-do-wells was farcical:

BuzzFeed News visited the site, and saw a small swastika spray-painted outside the front door, but no other indication of “satanic drawings.” No one, said locals, ever knew it as a place for atheists, devil worshippers, or any other group.

You can see pictures of the place post-raid right here.

No one was arrested except the café’s owner, and even that was for unrelated reasons (like not having a shop license and possessing illegal drugs).

But at least it scared off all those atheists and Satanists, right? No more than usual. They’re already well aware that voicing their opinions makes them targets so they know better than gathering in one spot regularly:

“It’s a popular downtown spot, but there is really nothing special about it. That’s the thing about Egypt today, you don’t know why one place gets raided and another place doesn’t, everyone is on edge, everyone feels like they are in danger from authorities,” said Mohamed Walid, a Cairo University student who frequented Passiles. He, like others, said they were now avoiding the area.

…

“It’s crazy. People who are atheists in Egypt almost never talk about it, it is just something they quietly believe,” said Walid. “If you are atheist and you heard this announcement, it was like the State saying we are coming for you next.”

There’s modern Egypt for you: A place where dissent must be stifled at all costs, even when it amounts to sipping drinks and talking at a local coffee shop.

(via Sean McGuire. Image via Shutterstock)

11 Incredible Atheist Billboards Just Went Up in Chicago

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Chicago chapter just put up 11 billboards throughout the city urging other atheists to come out of the closet (and I’m on one of them):

“Research shows that atheists and other nonbelievers remain at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to social acceptance. One reason for that is that even though at least 20% of the population today is nonreligious in the United States, many Americans have never knowingly met an atheist,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “We’re trying to change that.”

I’ve said it before, but I can’t stress how much I love this campaign. Putting real, local atheists on the billboards with their own positive messages and smiling faces is powerful — and a complete stereotype-buster.

You can get a full list of their locations here.

Taliban Kill At Least 132 Children in Pakistan School Siege, Reportedly Burn Female Teacher Alive

In an act of terror reminiscent of the 2004 Beslan massacre and the handiwork of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, Taliban fighters attacked a school in Peshawar, Pakistan today, killing at least 132 pupils and nine teachers, including a female instructor who was alive when the attackers doused her in gasoline and set her alight in front of her class.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban) has claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in revenge for an anti-terrorist military offensive. Spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said it was “just the trailer” to further attacks.

According to the New York Times,

The militants’ assault started at about 10 a.m., when nine gunmen disguised as paramilitary soldiers climbed the rear wall of the Army Public School and Degree College, a school of about 2,500 pupils, including boys and girls, a senior security official said. …

As Pakistani security forces responded, some of the attackers blew themselves up while others were killed by members of the army’s Special Service Group commando unit.

Desperate parents, meanwhile, rushed to local hospitals or gathered outside the school gates seeking news of their children. One of them, Muhammad Arshad, described his relief after his son Ehsan was rescued army commandos. “I am thankful to God for giving him a second life,” he said.

But at the Combined Military Hospital, the bodies of schoolchildren were lined up on the floor, most of them with single gunshot wounds to the head.

Also,

“They burned a teacher in front of the students in a classroom,” [an] unnamed military source told the US TV network. “They literally set the teacher on fire with gasoline and made the kids watch.”

And:

According to a tweet by Omar R. Quraishi, an editor at The Express Tribune who has over 154,000 Twitter followers, “Some of the bodies brought to hospital during the Peshawar school attack have been headless: source.”

One expert on Islamist terror, Ahmed Rashid, said that

… the insurgents had various reasons to attack the school, one of which was to send a message to the supporters of Malala [Yousafzai], who advocates education for women and children. … Rashid also believes the Taliban targeted the school to demoralize the military.

The school, though founded to educate the children of army officers, has many pupils who come from civilian backgrounds.

(Image via Shutterstock)

Once Again, Florida’s Capitol Building Will Be Home to a Festivus Pole

Once again, Florida’s Capitol Building (already home to a Nativity scene, an FFRF banner, and a display from The Satanic Temple) will be home to a Festivus Pole, courtesy of atheist activist Chaz Stevens:

Stevens sees his pole as a protest against the nativity scene, intended to make a point about the need for a separation between church and state.

“My game plan was very simple, make a circus out of it, make it a fiasco, make it ridiculous,” Stevens said. “I hope next year that some Haitian fellows with the slaying of chickens want to come up, or some other crazy what not, because we need to take all of this out of here.”

It’s the second year of his display (though this year’s display is two feet smaller than last year’s).

Based on news reports, the Christian who put up the nearby Nativity scene is already airing her grievances:

Pam Olsen, president of the Florida Prayer Network, told the Sentinel she was disappointed by the anti-religion displays.

“They’re here to protest Christ and Christmas,” she told the newspaper. “While I don’t like some of the displays, and I think it’s inappropriate, I’m sad because I think we should look for the hope and the message of love and joy and peace that the holiday does bring.”

They’re not protesting Christ or Christmas. They’re protesting the government’s open door policy when it comes to religious and non-religious displays. It’s supposed to be a loophole to get Christianity in the Capitol, but everyone else might as well take advantage of the opportunity and show why the policy is such a bad idea.

Some Christians Love To Stuff Used Books With Godly Propaganda

Redditor Ilyushin bought a copy of Christopher Hitchens‘ God Is Not Great and found the following Bible-based bookmark inside, apparently placed there by the seller:

That exactly mirrored my experience when, last week, through Amazon Marketplace, I bought a “new” used copy of Salman Rushdie‘s The Satanic Verses (the first one had gotten lost in a translatlantic move more than two decades ago). When my book arrived, I found a “million-dollar” bill inside, with the text on the reverse stating that the “million-dollar question” was if I’d go to heaven, or whether God saw me as a “lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart.” (Ah, He knows me so well.)

It’s interesting that these extracurricular texts were inserted into books that believers often paint as blasphemous – although, for all I know, the tracts are also stuffed into The Joy of Cooking. That’s what my seller told me when I politely inquired:

We put pamphlets, DVD’s and coins in all of our book purchases. We mean no offense in putting gospel tracts in our orders. A portion of our sales goes into churches all over the world. We are a Christian-run business that promotes spreading the gospel to everyone we can. Whether our customers choose to read it, trash it, or share it is totally up to them.

It seems to me that the only reason sellers get away with this nonsense is because their religion happens to be in the majority. If the owner of a bookstore stuffed his wares with pamphlets about atheism or Islam, he’d lose a lot of business; I don’t think Christan customers would tolerate it.

Why should we?