Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1865

Todd Starnes Claims a Library Banned His Book, Completely Ignoring All Their Other Books Written by Conservatives

Todd Starnes is furious that a small library in Alaska won’t accept a donation of his book. Shelf space is limited so they have to be selective and Starnes’ book didn’t receive many professional reviews (the usual bar for a book’s inclusion in many libraries).

Also, you know, no one wants to read Todd Starnes’ book.

But Starnes knows this is really oppression!

I’m just glad the Cordova Public Library has ample room on their shelves for the works of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and President Obama. No wonder they don’t have room for the bad boy of the literary world.

See?! A liberal conspiracy!

I wonder why Starnes left out the part about how the same library has books written by Laura Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Ronald Reagan, and Newt Gingrich.

Sorry. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. It’s a liberal conspiracy!!!

Starnes is taking the news of his “rejection” well:

I can’t say I’m all that surprised that the public library refused to accept my book. A few years ago Amazon banned my second book, “Dispatches From Bitter America.” They said it contained offensive material.

You mean the book that Amazon has right here…?

Starnes has to know his audience is so dumb, they would never bother fact-checking his articles. And he’s right, given the nature of the comments on his site.

It doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t do it for him.

If the library does end up accepting his book, full of stories of Christian persecution like the kind he just experienced, let’s hope they file it in the fiction section where it belongs.

Texas Pastor Allegedly Refuses to Bury Church Member of 50 Years — Because She Hadn’t Tithed in a Decade

What would Jesus do? Probably not this:

The daughter of 93-year-old Olivia Blair couldn’t believe it when Fourth Missionary Baptist Church pastor Walter Houston refused to bury her mother. “It was like the last insult in the world,” Barbara Day told KRIV in Houston. Day said her only wish was for her mother to be buried “in the church that she loved and worshiped all of her life, even as a little girl.” Day explained her mother was a church member for 50 years but had been sick for nearly a decade, and in a coma for the last 24 months.

The pastor matter-of-factly explained that he no longer considers Ms. Blair a member of the church,

… “because she had not supported it financially in the last 10 years.”

Day shook her head while saying, “all they care about is getting money money money money money!”

Pastor Houston turned down a third-party offer to reimburse the church for the funeral. He is claimed to have quipped in response that “membership has its privileges.”

Humanist Service Corps Looking for People to Join Them on a Secular Mission Trip in Africa

Nearly a year ago, I announced the formation of the Pathfinders Project, a “yearlong international service trip with clean water, education, sustainability, and advocacy projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.” Director Conor Robinson was looking for four people to join him on the secular mission trip.

He found his team and they accomplished some incredible things in Uganda, Cambodia, Ghana, Haiti, Ecuador, Colombia, and Guatemala.

Now, Conor (below, center) wants to do it again. He’s looking for more people to join him in the Humanist Service Corps:

Beginning in the summer of 2015, the Humanist Service Corps will work with Songtaba and other Ghanaian human rights organizations to address the causes and the consequences of witchcraft accusations in the Northern Region. Humanist Service Corps volunteers will collaborate with local leaders in the design and implementation of 6-12 month clean water, housing, healthcare, poverty abatement, infrastructure-building, and community education projects that contribute to the short-term goal of improving the standard of living in the witch camps and the long-term goal of eliminating the dynamics which lead to death or forcible and violent exile of women from their communities.

HSC will cover volunteer travel, transportation, and housing costs. Additionally, HSC will provide a living stipend to all volunteers.

If you’re looking for a way to make the world a better place and you have the ability and willingness to travel abroad for a year, this is a great way to do it. You can learn more about the project here and apply online. The deadline is December 15,

I’m thrilled that Foundation Beyond Belief, an organization I work with, is once again playing a key role in supporting this project.

(Image via Wendy Webber)

Sought For Murder, Indian Guru Was “Using His Devotees as a Human Shield” During Massive Siege on Ashram

One measure of Indian god-man Sant Rampal‘s specialness is that he liked bathing in milk during his meditations, after which the same milk was used to make kheer,

… which was served to the followers saying this will bring happiness in their lives.

No disciples dared breathe an unkind word about this disgusting practice, as Rampal had long told them not to criticize him, and to consider any critic a liar.

Non-followers go quite a bit farther than merely “criticizing” him, however; Rampal faces charges including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, and hoarding illegal weapons.

It’s difficult to shoot to fame in the crowded field of self-styled gurus; as the Independent reminds us,

Gurus and Hindu holy men are immensely popular in India, with millions of followers. People often consult gurus before taking important personal decisions.

But thanks to his serial lawbreaking, Rampal played the reluctant starring role in wall-to-wall news coverage in India last week. Since 2006, when he was first accused of complicity in the murder of a member of a rival sect, he had been ordered to appear in court time after time. The baba declined, choosing to stay holed up in his ashram, surrounded by faithful who pledged him their lives.

Fed up, police and prosecutors finally decided to extricate him.

There were considerable risks. According to India’s First Post,

… wheelbarrows full of stones were strategically placed at points [within the walled compound] in case they had to be hurled. Police also found acid inside the ashram and water guns filled with petrol.

The arrest of the god-man finally occurred

… amid a mist of tear gas, flaming vehicles. and violence that left at least six people dead.

It seems we may have found another religion of peace!

The 63-year-old Sant Rampal was detained after thousands of devotees streamed out of the ashram (a spiritual hermitage) in Hisar, about 110 miles from Delhi, following clashes between his supporters and police in which nearly 200 people were injured.

The authorities want to speak to the guru about the death of one person during fighting between his supporters and another group in 2006. Rampal and 38 others were charged with murder and other offences over the incident, but he was freed on bail. This was cancelled after his followers entered a courtroom and threatened lawyers in July.

Rampal had ignored dozens of orders to appear in court and took refuge inside the compound along with up to 15,000 people, according to local media reports.

Many were in the ashram by choice, but scores of ostensible followers say they had been held there in captivity.

Despite the devotion shown by some, many of those that escaped said that they had been held against their will, some of them for days. “They closed and locked the gates inside the compound and would not let us out,” Birender Satya told the Associated Press. …

A senior police officer, Shriniwas Vashist, told Reuters: “The godman was using his devotees as a human shield.”

Just divine, don’t you think?

Religious Fundraiser at a Rutgers Football Game Leads to Threat of Lawsuit

During a recent football game at Rutgers, a portion of the proceeds made at the state university’s concession stands went to the Church of God in Christ for All Saints. Now, the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center has informed the school that sort of fundraiser is illegal:

When the patron, a non-theist, went to the stand to purchase some concessions, she was affronted by this blatant violation of separation of church and state. Because she did not want her money to be used to support a church, she was unable to purchase provisions for the game.

The purpose of this letter is to advise you that such state-sponsored fundraising efforts — the proceeds of which go to an evangelical Christian church – must immediately cease, and that our organization will pursue the matter through litigation in federal court if it does not.

…

None of this is to suggest that the university should not be participating in charitable endeavors. To the contrary, the AHA strongly supports charity giving. Such good intentions, however, can be pursued in innumerable other ways that do not involve religion.

The broader church — known as COGIC — is the same one that played host to the “I’m not gay no more” man.

So far, Rutgers hasn’t issued any response.

Cherokee County (Texas) Officials Reject Humanist Display Outside Courthouse, but Say the Nativity Scene Can Stay

If you walk past the Cherokee County Courthouse in Texas, it might be hard to miss this Nativity scene they have up right now:

If that’s allowed, surely a Humanist display would be allowed, too, right?

That’s what Daniel Ross, a local resident, wanted to find out, so he sent county officials an email making that request. Last week, he got his response from Commissioner Katherine Pinotti (who claimed she was not speaking as a county official, even though she was using her county email address):

December 23rd is merely a date selected by your orgnaization [sic] to make a political statement of your choice not to celebrate traditional Christian beliefs. Perhaps you should consider choosing another time of the year to demonstrate your secular support instead of attempting to infiltrate the Christmas holiday with a singular purpose to destroy and denegrate [sic] the beliefs of others. Try to live and let live.

Another email, including that conversation, sent by Ross went unreturned.

Yesterday, the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center sent a letter to county officials saying that the existence of the Christian display — without allowing any other displays — amounted to a constitutional violation:

The purpose of this letter is to advise you that the elaborate County courthouse display amounts to a monument to Christianity, and is therefore a clear violation of the Establishment Clause. We hereby demand that the County promptly remove it and provide us with written assurances that no similar display will be erected in the future. Our organization will pursue the matter through litigation in federal court if it does not.

…

… any claim by the government that it established a “public forum” for private speech is belied by the actual facts in this case. However, if it is the County’s claim that this is an “open forum,” then we demand that you allow Mr. Ross to erect a Humanist holiday display adjacent to the crèche.

Maybe the Satanic Temple should send them a letter, too, just to add to the mix. How hard is it for government leaders to understand they can’t promote one belief system over all others? December doesn’t belong to Christians even if they’re celebrating a holiday.

Christkindlmarket in Downtown Chicago Now Includes an Atheist Banner and a Giant Scarlet “A”

If you’re in Chicago and walking through Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, make sure you take some pictures next to the atheist display that just went up yesterday:

The whole thing was put up by the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Metropolitan Chicago chapter. It includes an 8.5-foot-tall Scarlet A and this banner:

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, we celebrate the birth of the Unconquered Sun — the TRUE reason for the season. As Americans, let us also honor the birth of our Bill of Rights, which reminds us there can be no freedom OF religion, without having freedom FROM religion in government.”

Both items will be up through December 24!

This is the second year of the group’s display. Last year, there were a few vocal critics, but it didn’t get any worse than that.

The WW1 Christmas Truce: Rebutting the Notion That “The Power of God is So Great It Can Stop Wars”

Via the Facebook page of the Freedom From Atheism Foundation comes this British Sainsbury’s commercial. The FFAF’s comment:

The power of God is so great it can stop wars. Can’t say that about atheism.

All kinds of things are wrong with that statement, both factually and philosophically. I’ll point out just the most obvious flaws:

1. God didn’t lift one celestial finger to prevent the Great War — and if you believe in his omnipotence, he planned the whole thing. Sixteen million people died violently. Twenty million more were maimed and wounded, many by mustard gas — the devastating, uniquely excruciating effects of which are described here.

2. We should remember that most participants fought the war in the Almighty’s name. That wasn’t just some quaint notion on their part. The German government had great quantities of Bibles printed and distributed among the soldiers. Ditto for the British high command; a Bible was even a part of the soldiers’ standard kit. Facts to the contrary, the warring parties

“…spoke freely of God and Gott as opposing tribal deities,”

recalled the poet Robert Graves.

3. Asserting that God “stopped” the war is a semantic trick. Thanks to the Christmas Truce, hostilities lessened for about 24 hours (in many locations they didn’t actually cease). Note:

It was not ubiquitous; in some regions of the front, fighting continued throughout the day, while in others, little more than an arrangement to recover bodies was made.

After the truce ended, the mutual slaughter started anew. God had evidently ceased caring. Mysterious ways!

4. The Great War lasted four years. Only during the first year was there a Christmas Truce worthy of that name. Subsequent efforts fizzled.

The following year, a few units again arranged ceasefires with their opponents over Christmas, but the truces were not nearly as widespread as in 1914; this was, in part, due to strongly worded orders from the high commands of both sides prohibiting such fraternization. In 1916, after the unprecedentedly bloody battles of the Somme and Verdun, and the beginning of widespread poison gas use, soldiers on both sides increasingly viewed the other side as less than human, and no more Christmas truces were sought.

Again we see that the Almighty’s willingness to create even a brief and fleeting peace had diminished considerably by 1915.

5. World War 1, and the despair and revulsion it sowed, helped make atheism and agnosticism take great flight in Europe; after all, tens of millions had faced up close “the reality of God’s nonexistence in the trenches.” (It now occurs to me that this would be a useful counter-argument to the hoary observation that “there are no atheists in foxholes”; because while there certainly were plenty of Christians in foxholes, their numbers dropped as World War 1 played itself out, and not just through combat attrition.)

If the war, including the so-called miracle of the Christmas Truce, was part of a divine master plan, that master drove vast masses of people to question and reject him. Not so masterful after all, then!

The Christmas Truce was, for sure, a moving event. I’m happy that thousands lived an extra day, and even got to spend it in a spirit of temporary peace and fraternity. Unlike the soldiers who lost life or limb, however, God was conspicuously missing in action.

Chicago Church Gives Members $500 Each, Telling Them to Pay It Forward and Make the World a Better Place

There’s no shame in giving credit where it’s due and a church in Chicago has done something really neat after it came into a lot of money: The pastor gave 10% of it ($160,000) to members of the congregation — $500 each — and told them to pay it forward to those less fortunate:

It was an unorthodox gesture, but [Pastor Laura] Truax notes, LaSalle is “a gutsy little church” with a history of making waves around socially progressive causes it embraces. In 1972, when it stood in the shadow of the now-demolished Cabrini Green housing project, the church established a criminal defense legal aid clinic for the poor.

Decades later, LaSalle remains an activist church, doing everything from feeding homeless families on Wednesday nights to buying an ambulance for a medical clinic in Niger. The non-denominational congregation is racially and economically diverse: More than 60 percent of members have advanced degrees; about a third live paycheck-to-paycheck.

Not surprisingly, many donations from the congregation will reach far-flung places, including a school in the Himalayas, a health clinic in Uganda and an irrigation project in Tanzania. Closer to home, some checks are going to families and friends in financial trouble.

In some cases, the money helped church members pay their own bills, but in most cases, it went to someone else. That’s just fantastic. LaSalle isn’t the first church to do something like this, but it’s always nice to see churches use their power for good, especially when we’re so used to hearing the other side of the story. It also a reminder that all of us can do this. Even if you don’t have the money, volunteering or creating something for someone else is always an option.

Incidentally, this was one of the churches I visited when I wrote I Sold My Soul on eBay. Pastor Truax was kind enough to write a blurb for the book, too.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Brendan for the link)

Atheist Bus Ads Go Up in Rhode Island

The newly-formed Rhode Island Coalition of Reason just announced the purchase of 10 king-size ads on the sides of buses in order to introduce themselves to the locals:

Tony Houston, the group’s coordinator, made clear why these ads are so important (via email):

“Today’s launch of the Rhode IslandCoR is a great day for real religious liberty, not just for Rhode Island, but for all Americans. The founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, was a theistic man who championed “soul liberty” and despised the “monstrous partiality” of sectarian dogma. Religious Rhode Islanders often overlook Roger Williams the secularist, but Williams knew that you couldn’t have freedom of religion without freedom from religion. He knew that heresy assumed that the accuser is the one who got it right.”

The bus ads, which will be up through Christmas, cost $6,200 and were funded by the United Coalition of Reason, a group that has now placed signs in 38 states in addition to the District of Columbia.