Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1874

Freethink Faceoff for Camp Quest

Camp Quest, the summer camp for children of atheist parents, is raising some much-needed funds by creating a deck of cards featuring famous freethinkers. But they don’t know which ones will appear on the face cards. That’s where you come in.

It begins with the single head-to-head match-ups:

Freethinkers who win this round will go on to compete to be the King or the Ace, while the losers will be the Jacks and Queens. The first round closes on December 1, 2014, but a Freethinker can win by getting to $2,500 first, so don’t wait until the deadline and find your favorite freethinker has already lost! The second round of the contest will run from December 2nd through December 8th, and determines the four Famous Freethinker aces!

Even if you don’t care about the cards, it’s a great cause. So pick someone you like — I’m going with Ayaan Hirsi Ali — and make a donation!

Help the Pennsylvania Nonbelievers Feed the Hungry

The Pennsylvania Nonbelievers are working with a non-profit called End Hunger NE to pack food for the hungry, something they’ll do at their upcoming PAStAHCon conference.

Each meal costs 25 cents. That’s it. For every 25 cents you donate, you can feed one person one meal. We will then, at the conference, package those meals we raise money for to deliver at local food banks, providing food for those who need it. Please help however you can, and show everyone that atheists, humanists, agnostics, skeptics and other nonbelievers DO care!

Anything you can chip in would be helpful!

Richard Dawkins to Visit Georgia’s Kennesaw State University on November 21

Atheists of the South, rejoice! It’s not often we’re able to coax icons of the atheist movement to the thick strap of the Bible Belt. Fortunately for us, a group at Kennesaw State University, KSU Atheists United (who have had their campus flyers vandalized in the past), were able to get the funding to host An Evening With Richard Dawkins.

Only 600 tickets were made available, which seems like a relatively cozy audience with good odds of getting a word in with the Horseman during Q&A.

The event will take place this coming Friday, November 21, at 7:00p, at Georgia’s KSU Bailey Performance Center. Tickets are $55 and available here.

That’s short notice, right? Unfortunately for KSU Atheists United they secured the date only a few weeks ago and have had little time and money for marketing. If you’re unable to make the drive to Georgia you can still help promote atheism in the South by reposting this link for others to see.

I’ll be there, and I hope you will too!

Why Are Atheists So Obsessed with God?

The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: Why are atheists so obsessed with God?.

A rough transcript of the video can be found on the YouTube page in the “About” section.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the project — more videos will be posted soon — and we’d also appreciate your suggestions as to which questions we ought to tackle next!

And if you like what you’re seeing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon.

A Survivor of the Faith Assembly Cult Talks About Growing Up Under the Gaze of Crazed Preacher Hobart Freeman

In the mid-1970s, the faith-healing cult of a charismatic preacher by the name of Hobart Freeman came to the attention of health authorities in Indiana. One health official observed that at Faith Assembly’s quarters,

Diabetics were not taking their insulin and pregnant women were receiving no prenatal or postnatal care… They are laying dead babies and live babies next to each other on the altars and praying over them to get the live babies to bring life back to the dead ones. There was one woman… praying over a baby for four days before the funeral home got hold of it.

The group was socially impenetrable except for those who fully embraced its claims of

… prophesy, miraculous healings, testimonies, speaking in tongues, and believers being slain in the Spirit…

A sense of community care, cohesion, exclusiveness, superiority and persecution grew with the breadth, authority, and enthusiasm of [Freeman's] teaching. Those with divergent doctrines, beliefs or practices either conformed or were excluded. Outside interactions grew less and were sometimes severed over these issues.

And that’s what survivor Josh Wilson recalls too, in this brand new video..

Surrounded by old cassette tapes of Freeman’s sermons, listening to which is both “reward” and “punishment” to Wilson, he explains that

“You have deeply ingrained in you to not trust anyone else. You have this sense that we’re the only ones and we can’t trust the rest of the world. I think that is one of the legacies of Faith Assembly.”

At 2:22 he talks movingly of the baby brother he never saw alive; the boy died at birth (“Joseph Michael went to be with Jesus,” he was told) because his parents decided to forego standard medical care, unsuccessfully relying on God’s benevolence instead.

County health authorities estimated that women from Faith Assembly who gave birth at home were at least 60 times more likely to die than women who opted for the advice and help of bona fide doctors or midwives. Investigations by ABC TV and the Chicago Tribune revealed the plausibility of at least 90 Faith Assembly members (including newborns) having died needlessly during Freeman’s ministry, which ended with his death in 1984.

The cult leader expired two weeks before he was to have defended himself in court against a charge of negligent homicide. Still, he received a measure of justice:

Freeman died at his Shoe Lake home of bronchial pneumonia and congestive heart failure complicated by an ulcerated gangrenous leg, which in the weeks preceding had forced him to preach sitting down. He had refused all medical help, even the removal of the bandages so his leg could be cleaned.

Inexplicably, an all-night prayer vigil failed to revive his putrid flesh, causing the attendees to quietly admit defeat by morning-time. Freeman’s wife, however, kept the faith, long leaving his suit out by the end of the bed, “expecting him to one day walk in and have need of it.”

Why Christians Should — Or Maybe Shouldn’t — Go To Same-Sex Weddings

Should a person of strong conservative faith attend a friend’s same-sex wedding? A curious mind asked this question in a column recently published in Charisma News, and you know the answer will be complicated:

“I am a follower of God wanting to walk in His truth,” this person wrote. “I have been invited to a same-sex celebration of marriage by two, longtime Christian friends.

“I could attend because I love both of them and could celebrate their happiness, but I could not celebrate their union as a marriage. If I go I feel like a hypocrite, and if I don’t go I feel like a hypocrite. I am seeking counsel.”

If the letter-writer wants to be a good and kind person, then yes, they should probably quiet their homophobia for a few hours and just be happy for their friends. But everyone’s favorite loudmouth, Bob Russell, says the answer is a clear “no.”

I told this individual it was easy to understand his dilemma. He doesn’t want to alienate those he loves, but he doesn’t want to leave the impression he is endorsing immoral behavior. Most importantly, he doesn’t want to displease his Heavenly Father.

However, I told the letter writer this would not pose a difficult decision for me: I would not attend. He is being invited to participate in a ceremony that mocks God’s intent for marriage.

For one thing, it’s deeply troubling to me that this friendship would even exist if one party found the other so guilty of “immoral behavior,” simply for existing. I don’t know whose responsibility it is to bring this up – the Christian who plays along believing his friends are heathens, or the couple who tolerate homophobia for the sake of the friendship – but it seems like this is something that should be addressed sooner than later. Of course, the story may be entirely different when it comes to family, but in this case, I think an explanation is warranted.

I also still have trouble understanding “God’s intent for marriage.” Is it procreation? Because some different-sex couples can’t do that, or choose not to. Is it love? Because I can show you plenty of same-sex couples who have that part down pat, sometimes better than some different-sex couples. Russell writes that “Marriage was not man’s idea,” and paraphrasing the Bible, “What God joins together, man is not to separate.” But two men or two women don’t choose to love one another any more than a man and a woman do; isn’t swooping in to attack same-sex partnerships breaking that whole “man is not to separate” rule?

In Russell’s opinion, God’s word (whatever it may be) always outshines compassion for your friends. Always.

While one can rationalize, “I’m not endorsing their behavior, I’m just being a friend,” his presence says to his children and others that gay marriage is OK. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this kind of behavior. And, Hebrews 13:8 states that Christ “is the same yesterday and today and forever.” James 1:17 teaches that God “does not change like shifting shadows” (NIV).

Imagine, for a moment, that you are this letter-writer. This is tough to wrap your head around, particularly when you put yourself in the shoes of the couple who invited you. Chances are, they know about your faith and anticipated your hesitation. They made the choice to invite you even though your beliefs clash with theirs (perhaps your religious beliefs even violate theirs, as you’d say), because they love you that much and want you to partake in their big day. Is it so hard to return that kindness? WWJD?

What about keeping your bigotry to yourself and celebrating your friends’ happiness? Not an option, Russell says.

“There’s one other factor,” I said. “Your attendance not only puts you in an uncomfortable position, but an untenable one. You will be expected to respond to favorable comments like, ‘Isn’t this exciting?’ or ‘I’m happy for them, aren’t you?’ That setting would not be an appropriate environment for you to voice your convictions.

“That’s probably why you state that you would feel like a hypocrite if you went. Unless you are prepared to create a scene or get into arguments, it doesn’t seem wise to attend. You speak more eloquently by your absence than you could by your presence.”

You read that right. By attending this wedding, you will be morally obligated — at the very least, tempted — to get on your soapbox and say that, no, you aren’t “happy for them.” At this point, we are having an entirely different conversation than what the letter-writer initially asked. To me, this comes across as, “If I go to my gay friend’s wedding, I’m inevitably going to make a scene, steal the spotlight, and tell everyone that I don’t really want to be there. Should I still go?”

If that’s how this person truly feels, I’m inclined to agree with Russell and tell them to stay home. And perhaps send a generous gift.

Here’s how Russell suggests a religious person decline an invitation to a same-sex wedding:

The same is true for all church leaders reading these words. When you talk to members fretting over alienating their friends, tell them to remember their friends’ decision to have a public ceremony has deliberately put them on the defensive. They could choose to continue their relationship without flaunting it or requesting their Christian friends’ approval. They are asking the member to violate his or her conscience.

(Flaunting it?! We’re still using those words?!)

Instead of attending, leaders can suggest the member write a note saying, “Thanks for inviting me to your ceremony. I really appreciate you thinking of me. However, as a follower of Jesus Christ I cannot endorse same-sex marriage, so I will not be attending. As your friend, I want you to know that I love you and want God’s best for you and your partner in the future. Again, thanks for thinking of me.”

I have my own suggestion as to how to make this polite decline more honest:

“Thanks for inviting me to your ceremony. I really appreciate you thinking of me. However, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have made the conscious decision to alienate and shame you and your partner in the name of my antiquated faith. As your friend, I want you to know that you deserve better than me. Should you choose to cut off communication with me because of my selfish, disrespectful, and dehumanizing actions, I will understand.”

So it turns out the answer isn’t as obvious as you’d think. If you can set your beliefs aside and revel in someone else’s loving celebration? Off you go. If you’re planning on grumbling under your breath the entire time and refusing to clap, pose for photos, or offer best wishes? Don’t you dare.

(Image via Shutterstock)

A “Real” Psychic Tells Us How to Spot a Faker

If anyone asked me how to spot a fake psychic, I’d probably say “Go find me a psychic.”

Easy enough, right?

Well, Daily Mail Australia asked self-described psychic and real-name-user Sharina Star the same question… and she had a somewhat longer answer.

She told the paper that she’s been “open to the spiritual world” since she survived a horrible abduction at the age of 10 that left her beaten and left to die. Sad stuff, and she has my deepest sympathy for what she went through… but it doesn’t mean we can’t criticize the fact that she’s chosen to manipulate and scam who-knows-how-many people.

Star offered some advice to make sure people don’t get *ahem* scammed by *ahem* fake psychics.

Star says to do your homework on the person you are going to see or take recommendations through word of mouth.

“Hey, my friend told me about this great business where you burn money for good luck. She had a great experience!”

‘Beware of someone who is actually out there that you’ve never heard of and they make all of these ridiculous claims,’ Star advises.

Right. We wouldn’t want a psychic who makes ridiculous claims. That would be… ridiculous.

Speaking of which, Star also warns the public to beware of anyone who tells you you’re cursed.

‘I think the worst thing is the spells. I’ve got so many people say they have got these evil curses and they are convinced they have these curses on them.’

To her credit, she does give one decent piece of advice: Keep away from psychics when you’re feeling particularly vulnerable.

‘Be careful when are you are in time of grief because you can really get ripped off.’

‘A good psychic would send someone to a counsellor — but say you’ve got someone who wants to speak to a dead person everyday — there are people trying to milk them for money all of the time.’

Frauds will prey on those who are feeling at their most vulnerable, Star warns.

‘If you see them once and you feel good that’s OK, but if they keep wanting to see you and keep taking your money that’s a bad sign.’

Hotlines can also be a trap for those who feel that they have nowhere else to turn.

‘People just keep ringing the 1800 numbers — they get on the line because they just split up with their boyfriend — they will end up spending a lot of money.’

This is an uncanny moment of self-awareness by Star — these are all pieces of advice I’d give anyone who insists on seeing a psychic — any psychic. If you want to go for a kick to see if you’re going to meet a mysterious tall, handsome stranger sometime in the vague future, fine. Would I prefer people kept their money firmly in their own pocket? Yes. But my blood really boils when frauds (and by that, I certainly mean anyone claiming to have psychic powers) pretend they can speak to a grieving father’s late son or give questionable-at-best financial advice. So, I give credit where it’s due, I suppose.

And with this final tip, Star dips into the pool of common sense where we’ve all been hanging out for sometime:

Don’t believe everything you are told:

Star met a 40-year-old woman who was told when she was just 14-years-old that she would never have children.

‘Nobody should says things like that — if you’re wrong that plants a seed,’ Star says.

And then, just as quickly, she springs back out into the realm of bullshit in which she is undoubtedly more comfortable:

‘I looked at her palm and told her it looked like she would have two children then I went and had my baby — it does make you psychic having your own baby — any woman will tell you that.’

Um, wut? Readers with children, please share stores re: Psychic Pregnancy. I’m working on a book and I’ll totally give you a cut.

‘Then I went back to the job a few months later and the woman was pregnant. I don’t know if she ended up having two but it gives me a lot of joy to see that.’

Listen, it’s beyond sick that whether a woman had children hinged on an encounter with a fraudster when she was a teenager. What bothers me is that she acknowledges that fact and, in the same breath, pats herself on the back for doing basically the same thing.

I’ve had a lot of conversations with a lot of people about the difference between someone who sincerely believes they have psychic abilities and someone who is intentionally deceiving others, and I kind of don’t care anymore. It’s wrong to take money from people under false pretenses. It’s wrong to give people bad advice with absolutely no context. It’s wrong to deceive people, period.

So, to bring this full circle: All psychics are fakes. And Star is no different, no matter how many celebrity clients she has.

Bible Edges Out Darwin in U.K. Poll About “Valuable Books,” but Reason and Science Dominate the Top 10

Which book is most valuable to humanity? Predictably but depressingly, even in the rapidly secularizing British Isles, the most common answer is the Bible.

The Bible has been voted more valuable to humanity than Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by the British public. The Folio Society survey conducted by YouGov asked members of the public to name the books of most significance for the modern world.

A total of 2,044 adult respondents were asked to pick the three most important books from a list of 30. The resulting Top 10 looks like this:

On the Origin of Species was chosen because it “answers fundamental questions of human existence”, while the Bible was cited because it “contains principles / guidelines on how to be a good person.”

You can see for yourself just how good a person you would be if you followed the Bible more or less to the letter. Caution: strong stomach needed.

Per the Guardian,

Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (17%) crept ahead of Einstein’s seminal Relativity (15%) to take third place, with just two novels making the top 10 of the “books voted most valuable to humanity”: Nineteen Eighty-Four (14%) and To Kill a Mockingbird (10%). Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in which Isaac Newton derives the laws of classical mechanics, took 12% of the vote, with the Qur’an (9%), Adam Smith’s foundation of modern economics The Wealth of Nations (7%) and James Watson’s account of the discovery of DNA, The Double Helix (6%), rounding out the top 10. …

Breaking respondents down by sex, men put Darwin [at the] top (37%), followed by the Bible (36%), Hawking and George Orwell, while women went for the Bible (38%), followed by Darwin (33%), Hawking, Einstein and Harper Lee.

Darwin, Hawking, Einstein, and Newton, representing science and critical thinking, have more than double the votes of the Bible; and when we add both Watson’s book and the Qur’an to the canon, science still handily beats religion by a factor of almost two.

Two caveats: I bet there are a lot of aspirational choices here (that’s a nice way of saying that the answers given were, I think, influenced by a desire to seem cultured, which would mean that respondents picked books as a means of highbrow social signaling). Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica landing on number six may be the best indication of that; after all, the book, published in 1687, is fairly inscrutable to most modern readers. Also, it’s doubtful that more than an infinitesimal number of respondents has read all or even most of the 30 books on the list.

Still, even if some degree of poserism is indeed evident, it’s encouraging that the participants at least knew to identify and pick milestones of scientific progress.

I’d love to see the poll duplicated in the United States, but I fear the results will be much, much worse for agnostics and science aficionados.

Penn & Teller Urge You to Be Openly Secular, If You So Choose

The Openly Secular campaign, which encourages non-religious people to say as much publicly, no matter what label they use, just got a nice boost from magicians Penn & Teller:

They (by which I mean Penn) spoke about how they’ve never shied away from their atheism, but they understand if you’d prefer to keep that to yourself:

You can keep it quiet. You can go to church. You can sneak around. It won’t do you any harm. Certainly you’re not going to be punished by the atheist God for not saying you’re atheist, not saying you’re a heathen, not saying you’re an apostate.

But, just wanna tell you, over the years, we’ve noticed — like a lot of things — it’s getting a lot better. We are really not punished very much for saying we’re atheist. As a matter of fact, we’ve done pretty well, and it seems like people are getting more accepting, at least in this country…

If you’re considering coming out, telling people you’re an atheist, we’d like to welcome you on board.

Great message, and you can see some of the other videos from celebrities right here.

Miami-Dade Commissioners May Soon Put Up “In God We Trust” Motto in Their Chambers

Two years ago, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners decided to replace the moment of silence at their meetings with an invocation prayer.

And now the economic development committee has approved a resolution to put up the words “In God We Trust” behind the area where the commissioners sit.

The resolution will now go to the full commission for a final vote.

“We need all the help we can get,” Commissioner Juan C. Zapata said in support of the resolution during the economic development committee’s afternoon meeting. Added the committee’s chairwoman, outgoing Commissioner Lynda Bell: “Amen, brother.”

If you need help, then go to experts. Go educate yourself. Spend more time in the office if you need to. But putting a religious sign behind you isn’t gonna fix any of your problems.

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, issued a statement Thursday evening condemning the vote. “Whatever symbolic victory Commissioners feel they might secure by mandating that ‘In God We Trust’ be emblazoned above the dais may come at the cost of making some members of our community feel alienated and unwelcome by their own county government,” he wrote.

It won’t matter. These commissioners don’t care about anyone but themselves. But if you’d like to send them a polite, respectful email urging them to vote against the proposal, you can find their contact information right here.

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