Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1888

New “Research” by UFO Cult Shows Consecrated Communion Wafers Contain No Amounts of Jesus

In a study that could’ve been done by fifth graders with a science kit, or all of us with our eyes, the Raelian cult performed DNA analysis on consecrated Communion wafers to show that the body of Christ is nowhere to be found:

Results showed unequivocally that the rituals performed by the priests during the Eucharist sacrament have no detectable effect on the substance of altar bread at the DNA level. We wish to encourage others to engage in similar studies and help religious organizations rid themselves of superstition and irrational beliefs, thus contributing to elevate fellow human beings.

I don’t know whether to say “Thank you” or “No shit; you wasted our time on this?!”

It’s also strange that the Raelians intend to free religious groups of irrational beliefs when they themselves are known as a “UFO religion” that believes extraterrestrials (Elohim) created life on Earth.

Here’s another interesting aspect of their “research”:

Consecrated hosts were collected during communion in 5 different Catholic churches in the United States and Canada and immediately placed into clean plastic bags to avoid contamination.

In other words, they obtained consecrated wafers from various churches… the last time that happened in a public way, before a Satanist group’s Black Mass in Oklahoma, a Catholic Archbishop filed a lawsuit. They even acknowledge the ethical concerns in their “paper”:

This study could be criticized on ethical grounds for using deception to collect samples. Indeed, the individuals who provided us with the consecrated hosts obtained them during communion, pretending to be believers, and transferred them discretely into plastic bags instead of ingesting them. However, these individuals were all former Catholics who had felt victimized by the Church’s dogmatic teachings and saw this action as contributing to their recovery. The moral dilemma of obtaining samples through deception is to be contrasted with the ethics of enrolling non-consenting newborns into a religious organization, endoctrinating children with unquestionable dogmas and instilling fear, guilt and shame in them with long-lasting consequences for their psychological well-being. Anyway, in agreement with our results, we are confident that no sentient being was physically harmed in the course of this study.

No word yet as to how Catholic groups will respond.

For what it’s worth, the “research” completely ignores Catholic teaching on transubstantiation, which is that, while the wafers supposedly turn into the body of Christ, the substance itself doesn’t change. Or, to put it another way, Catholics believe the wafer comes across unchanged to muggles, but there’s magic going on.

I suppose it’s a good thing anytime someone points out how ridiculous Catholic beliefs are… too bad that criticism is coming from people who also believe in complete rubbish.

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

Child Molesting Priest, Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison, Wants Out After 6 Months Because He’s Learned His Lesson

This past April, Rev. James R. Schook of the Archdiocese of Louisville was convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy several decades ago. Specifically, he was charged with “three counts of sodomy and one count of indecent and immoral behavior with an individual.” It led to a 15-year prison sentence.

Now, only six months into that sentence, Schook says he’ll totally never do it again, so can the judge pretty please let him out of jail?

An attorney for the Rev. James Schook has given notice that he will ask a judge Monday to release Schook on shock probation, saying he “now realizes the importance of obeying and conforming to the community’s rules.”

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Schook suffers from terminal cancer. Shock probation allows inmates to be released after serving one to six months of their sentence, under the belief they have been so “shocked” by their experience that they would be deterred from future crimes.

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… Jeff Koenig, with SNAP — the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests – said releasing Schook so soon “will not do justice to the crimes he was convicted of.”

I’m sure damn near every criminal feels some measure of repentance after being in jail for a little while, but that doesn’t mean they should be set free. They did the crime; they can do the time. If Schook has a problem with prison, he should’ve thought about that when he was abusing a child all those years ago.

For 40 years, in fact, Schook was “spared the consequences” of his actions, according to the judge who sentenced him. There’s simply no reason to let him off the hook just because prison isn’t a fun place to be.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

Navy Approves First-of-Its-Kind Atheist Lay Leader

There are currently no Humanist chaplains in the military (despite there being plenty of atheists in foxholes). The lack of someone in that position also means that non-religious soldiers who want someone to talk to during stressful times have to meet with someone who doesn’t share their worldview — or, if they meet with a military psychiatrist, risk their personal information coming back to haunt them in the future, in a way that a confidential conversation with a chaplain would not.

For that reason (and so many others), groups like the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers have been trying to get the military to approve a non-theistic chaplain… to no avail. Most recently, this past summer, Jason Heap‘s candidacy was rejected by the Navy.

If chaplaincy isn’t an option, though, there is an alternative. It’s called a “lay leader,” someone who helps chaplains as they work with troops. Consider it a stepping stone to the chaplaincy, minus the official title, salary, and additional responsibilities. A few years ago, Capt. Ryan Jean tried to become a Humanist lay leader, but the Army said no.

Over and over, every attempt to get non-religious chaplains or lay leaders has been rejected or blocked (even by Congress).

Until now.

I’m thrilled to learn that the Navy has finally said yes to an atheist lay leader:

In a great leap forward for diversity of belief, commanders on the USS Makin Island have approved an Atheist Lay Leader. Chief Petty Officer Martin Healey completed lay leader training, got assistance and an endorsement by way of Paul Loebe of American Atheists, and was approved.

This is a big freaking deal. If the appointment goes well, it could hopefully lead to more non-theistic lay leaders in other branches of the military — and maybe even a chaplain in the not-too-distant future.

Major Jean, speaking only from his personal experience and not on behalf of any government agency, had this to say: “Recognition of CTTC Healey as a lay leader, whether under the banner of atheism or humanism, represents a positive step forward for the Navy. It remains to be seen whether that respect and inclusiveness will be honored by the other services… Every service has values that they hold dear; it’s well past time they started living up to them when it comes to the equal and unbiased treatment of non-religious service members.”

Jason Torpy, President of MAAF, hopes this is just the first of many more steps forward:

It’s time to set aside semantic barriers and recognize that many military personnel are good without a god and that they’ll be better with equal accommodation. That means chaplain services, lay leaders, and Humanist chaplains, not just the right to sit in a corner alone while others pray.

Healey has already met with a handful of atheists on the ship to discuss their values and background. Next week, they plan to watch an episode of Cosmos together.

(Image via Shutterstock)

Turns Out the Christian Trolls at the “Freedom From Atheism Foundation” Are Lying About Even More Than We Thought

We’ve posted a couple of times about the “Freedom From Atheism Foundation” on this site. It’s a group that rips off FFRF’s name and is basically a couple of Christian trolls.

Philip Rose looked into some of the claims on their website, including calling up the groups that supposedly endorse FFAF, and found that — surprise! — it’s all bullshit.

It’s a terrific bit of activism… that I suspect won’t stop FFAF from continuing to peddle nonsense.

Door-Holding Christian Throws a Hissy Fit in Fast Food Restaurant After Employees Don’t Thank Him

I’m pretty sure that if you’re a Christian trying to do something nice for people… and it leads to you screaming in a restaurant (full of children) that you’re a “fucking Christian [who has to] stand up for fucking Christians,” you’ve defeated the purpose of whatever it is you were trying to do.

Like this guy at an In-N-Out Burger in Redding, California:

The Bible-toting man was angry because employees didn’t thank him for holding the door for customers, something no one asked him to do in the first place. To paraphrase a commenter at Raw Story, it’s a good thing he was carrying the Bible, or we might have mistaken him for just being an asshole…

Ironically, In-N-Out Burger is a Christian-owned restaurant that prints Bible verses on burger wrappers and underneath cups.

(via Christian Nightmares)

Alabama County Commission Gives $3,000 Grant to Support Baptist Ministry for Men

The Covington Baptist Association in Alabama has a simple strategy for success: “Get more men to church.” Because if they can get the men, they figure, the rest of the family will follow suit. That’s why they’re bringing in manly speakers like former wrestler Ted “The Million Dollar Man” DiBiase and Bow Hunter (it’s a thing) Scott Vernon.

Oh, they’ll also throw in a free steak if you attend.

While all of that is… um… great, there’s a bigger problem at hand. The Covington County Commission (below) is giving the group $3,000 in taxpayer money to support the ministry.

Supposedly, the money is being spent to renovate the building the Baptists are meeting in, but that’s irrelevant — it’s county money being used to promote Christianity.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent Commission Chair Bill Godwin (I swear I didn’t make that up) a letter warning him about the illegality of these actions and demanding they get the money back:

Regardless of whether these funds are to be spent on building renovations or on the ministry program itself, the Commission’s “donation” of public money to the CBA is unconstitutional because it will directly benefit a Christian ministry.

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Funding a Baptist ministry violates this principle of neutrality, especially when the program is explicitly Christian and clearly meant to influence people to convert to Christianity.

FFRF also filed an open records request with the Commission to find out what discussions were had about this group and the donation.

The only way this would’ve been a more flagrant church/state violation is if Godwin handed the ministry a giant check with the County Seal stamped right onto it. It’s hard to believe the Commissioners had no idea this was wrong. I’m not sure who tipped FFRF off about what was going on, but that person deserves a lot of gratitude.

I Threw a Bible-Based Halloween Party and Here’s How It Went

I was gearing up for Halloween when I came across The UN-Halloween Book at a used bookstore. It assured me I could still enjoy this time of year without “honoring the evil in the world.”

This alternative to Halloween wanted to replace “witch craft, demons, and trick-or-treating” — which I always considered harmless cultural rituals — for safe, clean, Bible-based fun. Feeling concerned about my past glorification of the dark side, I decided to renounce my typical Reese’s Cup sacrifice for a night of faith-based lessons, purity, and plagues!

(Yes, plagues. Just wait and see.)

Sadly, all of my friends suddenly came down with various illnesses the night of the party and were unable to attend. Or so they told me.

Here’s what they missed:

I ditched my ghoulish costume and browsed the book’s suggestions: a slice of bread, a candle, a generic “Bible character,” and a plagued Pharaoh. I was leaning toward being bread… although I was slightly disappointed there wasn’t a “sexy bread” option for the ladies.

Then it was time to make some Savior Snacks. The book suggested I sell them to the attendants, but like I said, nobody showed up to buy. (I dialed a prayer to the Big Man upstairs, apologized for the lack of a financial offering, and requested he help me recoup the $23 I spent.)

That money was first spent doubling up on Jesus’ “Shining Candle” endowment to keep my spirit extra warm on this lonely night:

Ironically, it was nearly impossible to get the cheesy Wall of Jericho to stay standing.

Finished with the food, it was time for the games!

First up: Pin the bandage on the Good Samaritan — which I suggest not doing blindfolded if you really want to repair that jugular injury…

Next: Stoning Goliath! Though, after giving medical attention to the last guy, I was feeling conflicted about joyfully handing the next fellow a brutal, agonizing death:

Next: Throwing plagues at the Egyptians! Smiting folks with God’s backing is exhilarating if you’re a master level sociopath. And the book came equipped with patterns I could cut out and use, including diseased livestock, boils, lice, and a dead baby.

All I really learned from playing this game is how dated the Bible is based on the Bronze Age fears. They could stay relevant by swapping out the frogs and locusts for Ebola and GMOs:

After becoming a “Ten Plagues” scholar, I aced the crossword on the same topic. The recommended age for this activity is 8-12 years old, which is really the perfect age for children to be learning about blood, boils, and dead babies. Also, 1 Across was very tricky.

By the end of my UN-Halloween celebration, I felt like my own appreciation for horror and spooks was far surpassed by the dark fetishes of Christian children.

I tried to block the imagery of festering boils and the Good Samaritan’s spurting neck wounds out of my mind long enough to devour $23 worth of cheese bricks, rainbow crackers, and Jesus bananas. What can I say? I wanted to get my money’s worth. And God wasn’t responding to my requests for a refund.

Next year, you’ll all join me, won’t you?

Houston Mayor, Under Pressure from Christians, Rescinds Subpoenas of Pastors

Weeks after attorneys for the city of Houston subpoenaed five local pastors to find out if they had said anything to their congregations that might have violated the law, Mayor Annise Parker is rescinding that request.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker (via Wikipedia)

Part of it is due to false outrage stemming from ignorant Christians who assumed this was some sort of coordinated attack on their religious rights. While subpoenas of this sort are par for the course in the early stages of a legal battle, Christian leaders were quick to play the victim card, saying the government (including the lesbian mayor) was trying to silence pastors from speaking out against homosexuality. Which is completely not true, but it’s not like the facts matter to people hell-bent on promoting an agenda.

As I said before, I felt the subpoenas, and what they were asking for, went a little too far, but I knew this wasn’t some attack on the church. Progressives support church/state separation, and that also means not getting in the way of church leaders promoting their religious beliefs, even if it means condemning homosexuality and spreading misinformation. The Mayor’s office took sermons off the list of things requested from the pastors, to ease the paranoia, but it was an irrelevant change by that point.

Earlier today, bowing down to pressure, Mayor Parker announced that she would rescind the subpoenas her office had called for:

“It was never our intention to interfere with clergy and their congregants,” Parker said. “I don’t want to have a national debate on freedom of religion when my purpose is to defend … a city ordinance.”

According to Parker, the subpoenas — once modified to exclude sermons — are “legal, valid, and appropriate,” but unintentionally pushed the city into a broader religious debate that wasn’t good for the city or its efforts to defend its new ordinance.

“This is not about silencing my critics; this is about doing the right thing,” she said.

I suspect Religious Right groups will claim “victory,” even though what they wanted and what the Mayor wanted include plenty of overlap.

As one commenter at the Houston Chronicle notes,

I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for the mayor to deal with these religious morons. They are the ones who brought the lawsuit and now they are whining about the discovery process. By some ridiculous stretch, they’re trying to claim that discovery in a civil case is a violation of their constitutional rights.

It’s hardly surprising. They’re the same people who assume students who remain seated during the Pledge of Allegiance don’t have respect for soldiers who fought to defend our rights.

Pat Robertson: Brittany Maynard Shouldn’t Kill Herself Because “God Can Heal Anything”

Brittany Maynard (below) is the 29-year-old with brain cancer who has chosen to kill herself in a few days so that she can die with dignity before the disease takes away everything that she believes makes life worth living.

Pat Robertson commented on her story last night — you know you were waiting for his opinion — explaining how she should totally not kill herself because God will heal her… and how her decision is just a symptom of death-loving liberals:

… It’s amazing; the so-called liberals are a culture of death, they want to kill babies, they want to kill the terminally ill, they don’t seem to honor life…

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We should fight for life. It is a slippery slope… She has brain cancer, but brain cancer can get healed, God can heal anything.

If God cared so much, maybe he shouldn’t have given her the brain cancer to begin with…? Just a thought.

To repeat, there is no known cure for what Maynard has and the only options to extend her life would “destroy the time” she has left (her words).

Right Wing Watch points out that a woman once claimed Robertson faith-healed her brain tumor, though doctors made clear it wasn’t cancer. No alternative explanations were offered.

Mayor of Sioux Falls Says He Will Not Paint Over Religious Snow Plow Messages

Earlier this month, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the city held an event where students from local schools and youth groups painted the plows the city will use when the snow hits.

But when two of the plows, painted by Christian schools, had religious messages, the city had to rethink their plan:

Students at Lutheran High School of Sioux Falls spent time and effort designing the plow blade they submitted for the city’s Paint the Plows event, Principal Derek Bult said. Painted red and adorned with the phrase “Jesus Christ” in white, the religious symbolism was hard to miss.

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[Siouxland Freethinkers board member Eric] Novotny contacted the city attorney’s office after seeing Lutheran High School’s “Jesus Christ” plow blade, and another painted with the phrase: “Happy birthday Jesus.” The latter was submitted by elementary and middle school-aged students at Sioux Falls Lutheran School.

The threat of a lawsuit wasn’t even suggested, but the city didn’t want to take any chances. They gave the students who designed those plows the chance to re-paint them… though neither school took the city up on its offer.

Now, the Mayor is backtracking:

Mayor Mike Huether says he will not paint over two snow plow blades that have “Jesus” painted on them, unless he gets a court order. He made those comments on a local radio program on Tuesday morning.

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[City attorney] Pfeifle called this a sensitive issue because it deals with freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the separation of church and government — aka The Establishment Clause. He said city leaders are trying to find some middle ground to make everyone happy.

The smart thing to do would’ve been to set limits on what could be drawn on the plows beforehand… (I mean, who didn’t foresee this problem?)

In any case, the question now is whether the Siouxland Freethinkers plan to pursioux a lawsiouxt. I reached out to Eric and Amanda Novotny from the group last night to find out what their next steps would be and they told me this:

The Mayor had said that he would like to get all involved parties together to have a discussion. We are more than willing to take part in such a discussion, however no invite has been extended as of yet. Our main goal is for there to be some established guidelines for the Paint the Plows program moving forward, so that city equipment isn’t used for proselytizing again in the future. We will be consulting with some national organizations to see what direction they recommend us going in.

Who knows if the Mayor will reach out. I promise you that if nothing happens, though, Christian groups around the country will pressure their local governments to let them paint the plows, too.

(Image via Lutheran High School of Sioux Falls. Portions of this article were published earlier)