Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1890

Ebola Coverage: The U.S. is Doing It Wrong

Even with Ebola, a lot of skepticism is warranted.

Take a look at how the UK news channels portray the disease… compared to those (*sigh*) in the U.S.

I’m so embarrassed for my people…

(Thanks to David for the link)

Veterans Rally to Defend City’s Hydraulic Cross, Claiming They’re in the Majority Faith and That’s All That Matters

Last month, I posted about a giant hydraulic cross that goes up several times a year atop Dewey Hill in Grand Haven, Michigan:

You can read the history of that cross here but the question is whether this constitutes government promotion of religion.

Earlier this month, atheist activists Mitch Kahle and Holly Huber,began challenging the Hydraulic Cross. With residents Brian and Kathy Plescher and attorneys from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, they requested that the Cross be used to promote their own views… including, for example, decorating it to celebrate LGBT pride, the winter solstice, reproductive rights, and atheism.

Hilarious. And a perfect response to anyone who claimed the Cross wasn’t really about promoting religion. (No word yet on the city’s response to that letter.)

On Saturday, there was a rally in defense of keeping the Cross Christian — which I thought was exactly the connection city officials were trying to avoid — and the people who attended showed that they don’t understand the law at all:

“We are the majority. We are here to stay. So is the cross,” said Rick Phillips, a local realtor and Vietnam veteran.

A veteran who doesn’t give a damn about the rights of religious minorities. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn’t it…?

Rally organizers asked for the Hydraulic Cross to be raised for their event, but city officials, to their credit, said no.

Here’s a real picture from the event, by the way:

That would be (fake) machine guns protecting the Christian symbol… not creepy at all.

Before you get the idea that all Christians feel this way, Rev. Jared Cramer, a local pastor, wrote an essay for the local newspaper urging other Christians to let this issue go:

After all, the most important message I, as a Christian, want anyone who disagrees with the cross to get is this: God loves you. I love you. And if your background, if your journey, makes this symbol difficult to see on public land, then I absolutely support taking it down. Because what matters to me is that non-Christians see followers of Christ as people of grace and mercy, people who value relationships over symbols on public land.

…

True, it may hurt to see a symbol of our faith removed from public land. But fundamental to the Christian ethic is not that we display the cross on public land for all to see. Instead, Christian discipleship is, at its core, a willingness daily to take up the cross in our own lives, to be willing to die to self, believing that the “other” has deep value to God.

That’s what I’d like to see, I think. Let’s take the cross on public land down and let’s encourage believers instead to take up the cross in their own lives, to be people of love and generosity, who value others more than their selves.

I don’t think Cramer understands: If everyone can’t see public displays of Christianity, the Culture Wars will be over and Baby Jesus will cry!

(Portions of this article were published earlier)

Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 26: Steve Wells, Author of the Skeptics Annotated Bible and Strange Flesh

Our latest podcast guest is Steve Wells, creator of the Skeptics Annotated Bible (online and in print).

Wells’ Skeptics Annotated Bible website is one of the most useful I have ever come across. The print version of the book is a must-have. Wells is also the author of Drunk with Blood, which documents all of God’s killings in the Bible. His newest book is called Strange Flesh, and it’s about how the Bible is used to justify anti-gay bigotry or, depending on who you talk to, support LGBT rights.

We spoke with Steve about his time in seminary, how one documents the number of deaths during an imaginary flood, and how Christian LGBT-rights advocate Matthew Vines gets it wrong.

This episode is sponsored by Be Secular. Readers of this site can get a 10% discount on products by using the promo code “Friendly”!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we should chat with, please leave them in the comments, too.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, get the MP3 directly, check it out on Stitcher, or just listen to the whole thing below.

And if you like what you’re hearing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon and leaving us a positive rating!

Atheist Groups Are Not Distributing “X-Rated” Pamphlets to Students, No Matter What Breitbart Tells You

I’ve seen a number of articles on conservative websites over the past few days claiming, in the case of Breitbart, “Atheist Group To Distribute Pamphlets in Schools of Cartoon Bible Sexually Assaulting Woman.” It stems from an article on CNSNews.com.

Since those sites won’t bother to do any research, since none of this is news, let me help you out.

The story is old. Really old.

Here’s the backstory: In 2013, World Changers of Florida, Inc. held Bible distributions at a number of public high schools in Orange County, Florida. No student would be forced to take one, but there would be a table set up where interested students could take a copy if they wanted.

This alone could have been illegal, but the Orange County School Board agreed that non-Christian groups could also run a distribution if they wanted. The Central Florida Freethought Community (CFFC) called their bluff and planned their own giveaways.

But the books they chose to distribute, including An X-Rated Book (above), were heavily censored. The book that’s the source of the current controversy was one of the books prohibited from being given away (perhaps for obvious reasons):

The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit against the district because, they claimed, the censorship went too far. But before a judgment could be reached, the district said the FFRF’s materials could be distributed. (FFRF maintains that they would rather all distributions be stopped altogether.)

Even the Satanic Temple joined in the fun after the door was opened, saying they wanted to distribute a coloring book to students.

The point of the whole story is this: The “X-rated” pamphlet was initially included in the mix of books precisely because atheists wanted to provoke school officials. After all the legal back-and-forth, they were given the opportunity to include it in their distribution. But they haven’t take advantage of that. Not yet. (And my guess is they probably won’t.)

There’s another question we should ask: Is the cover of this pamphlet disturbing? Absolutely. And we can have a separate conversation about whether the image does more harm to FFRF or people’s perceptions of the Bible.

Though I would add if you think the cover image is more of a problem than what the Bible says about women (and how that plays out in real life), you should probably reevaluate your priorities.

In any case, no atheist group has distributed that pamphlet to students. At the moment, there are no plans to do it, either. The right wing websites are just trying to stir up resentment against groups that dare challenge Christian superiority.

(Portions of this article were published earlier)

Malaysian Muslims Wring Hands Over Day of Touching Furry Friends, Wondering If It’s an Insult to Islam

When a Malaysian man, Syed Azmi Alhabshi, was repeatedly asked why he insisted on organizing a touch-a-dog day in his predominantly Muslim country, where Islam is the state religion, he made no bones about it: To dispel negative stigma surrounding canines, he said.

But as dogs are the second-most-reviled animal in Islam, right after pigs, lots of his fellow citizens took the initiative as an intolerable provocation. Zurairi AR, a fearless humanist and skeptic, wrote an entertaining piece about the flap in the Malay Mail Online, under the Dawkins-referencing headline “The Dog Delusion.”

[C]onservatives have since accused Syed Azmi and the organisers of deliberately provoking the Malay-Muslim community with the event, which they say has no place in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Facebook page “Rakyat Malaysia Tolak Konsert Liar” (Malaysians Against Wild Concerts) — recently in the spotlight for sparking the campaign against the annual Oktoberfest — for example, lamented that there have been too many “weird occurrences” happening lately, singling out “beer festival, nude festival, and dog festival.”

What happened next would delight lecturers teaching logic who are looking for examples of “slippery slope” arguments: Some Muslim leaders freaked out over what will come next. Pork-eating festivals? Sex festivals promoting safe sex?

Such things make Allah mad, was the fear among some critics (who have more than a few things in common with good old Pat Robertson):

[B]y the logic of the Selangor chapter of Malay rights group Perkasa, all these vices were to blame for the recent spate of tornadoes in the country.

Of course, responses to the doggie-touching plan were varied.

While the English-medium press praised the event for a rare show promoting kindness to animals, Malay-medium newspapers have demonized it instead for reasons ranging from “inviting slander towards Muslims” to “insulting Islam.”… [T]wo days after the event, Malay daily Sinar Harian even carried a front page boldly urging participants to “repent”, before dedicating four pages of stories against the event.

A friend of mine likes to say “Dogs are among the finest creatures on earth. When an entire religion despises them, what does that say about the religion, and the people who follow it?”

I kinda like pigs too, actually.

(Image via Shutterstock)

After Alaska City Assembly Creates Controversy with Invocation Policy, They Vote 5-2 Against Government Prayers

Earlier this month, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly in Alaska decided to approve an ordinance allowing invocation prayers at their meetings (though it still needed to survive a final vote). While that’s happened all over the country, what made this ordinance stand out was that the prayers would be coordinated by the Ketchikan Ministerial Association (a Christian group) and they would be asked to reach out to local clergy, shutting out most non-Christian groups and almost certainly excluding non-religious ones.

Assembly member Glen Thompson (below) said most of those other groups would be welcome. Most.

“I don’t have a problem with having an inclusive denominations, be they Hindu, Islam, Bahai faith, Christian, what have you. I will draw the line on Satanists or atheists.”

He later retracted that statement.

In any case, it all caused a big uproar, and I’m happy to say the Borough rejected the ordinance altogether, maybe because so many of you wrote to Assembly members to complain:

Becky King said that just because prayer is traditional, or that other legislative bodies are praying or have prayed in the past, doesn’t mean the Ketchikan Assembly should make it part of the agenda.

“Giving it an official place on the agenda makes me feel that if I don’t pray, and do not participate, you will not give my opinions the same weight as someone who does,” she said. “I will not be voting for anyone who supports this proposal. You are here to unite the community, not needlessly divide it.”

…

The main motion to add prayer to the regular Assembly agenda then failed 2-5. Thompson and Assembly Member Jim Van Horne voted yes.

The vote still leaves open the possibility of religious citizens praying during public comment portions of meetings, an opportunity they’ll inevitably abuse, but it’s a different problem than government officials endorsing prayers at the beginning of each meeting. Satanists and Muslims are free to pray during the public comments, too, if they really want to make the Christians uncomfortable… which could be entertaining in and of itself.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

After FFRF Calls Him Out, Delaware High School Football Coach Remains on the Sideline During Team’s Postgame Prayer

Earlier this month, in a local newspaper’s article about how student-led prayers after football games were absolutely legal, there was a picture that showed — wait for it — Coach Bill Collick of Cape Henlopen High School either leading or joining his team in prayer (both of which are unconstitutional):

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the the district about the prayer and, as you might imagine, people are very upset that anyone is calling them out on their legal violations, including an opposing coach who also prays with his team:

As Brandywine coach Tom Wood said on Friday, “If that’s all people have to complain about me, I’m doing a good job.”

To paraphrase: If the only complaint people have about me is that I’m breaking the law, I must be a damn good coach!

The letter seems to have had some power though. On Friday night, the coaches remained on the sidelines when their teams prayed:

That was the case Friday night, as the Vikings gathered following their home game against Sussex Tech. Collick and his assistants were close to the group, but they weren’t part of the group. And that makes all the difference.

“We’re satisfied with that,” Cavell said. “We’re expecting that staff, including coaches, are not going to be participating in prayers with the students in the future.”

And in another case of a local journalist inadvertently pointing out legal problems at schools, Brad Myers of The News Journal mentioned that he didn’t think this prayer thing was a big deal because everyone’s doing it:

Over the last two weeks, I alerted our photographers to cover the postgame prayers at two football games. On Oct. 11, we photographed Wood participating in a prayer with his Brandywine team following a game at Mount Pleasant. On Oct. 18, we photographed Lake Forest coach Freddie Johnson participating in a prayer with his team following a home win over Laurel.

We didn’t do it to single out Wood or Johnson, or Brandywine or Lake Forest. We won’t be sending this to the FFRF for immediate action, but I’m pretty sure the Internet has reached Wisconsin. Don’t be surprised if these school districts receive letters from Cavell soon.

Well, if they haven’t received those letters already, they will now. (Thanks, Brad!)

Myers actually defends the prayers by saying:

I have never seen any evidence of a player being pressured or required to participate, and I have seen some players choose not to participate.

But he misses the point. He can’t read the minds of these players. Who knows how many of them joined the prayer circle because they felt pressured or because they thought their playing time (and, therefore, potential scholarships) would be affected by not joining in? And how much more coercion would they feel if the coach was part of the prayer circle?

It’s entirely possible for openly Muslim or Jewish players to sit out during the prayers without alienating their Christian teammates.

It’s not nearly that simple for closeted atheists, because questions about why they’re not participating will almost certainly come up.

“Before the first time we do it, I throw it out there that this is strictly voluntary,” Brandywine coach Tom Wood said Friday. “You do not have to participate if it goes against your religious beliefs. I’m not pushing my religion on anybody.”

Yeah… that’s what they say. But students shouldn’t be put in the position of having to figure out if their coach means that or if they’ll be treated differently for not joining in.

A better coach would know that.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

Man Who Crashed Into Oklahoma’s Ten Commandments Monument Was Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Off His Meds

You may have heard by now that, over the weekend, someone drove a car into the Ten Commandments monument on the Oklahoma Capitol lawn.

Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma (via James Nimmo)

Oklahoma police already have a suspect in hand: Michael Tate Reed Jr. Reed is supposedly a Christian who claimed Satan made him drive into the monument. That wasn’t all he said this weekend:

Reed was detained after showing up later at the federal building. He was rambling and making derogatory statements about President Barack Obama.

Authorities believe Reed is mentally unstable. He’s undergoing an evaluation. Investigators say he admitted to damaging and urinating on the monument. Reed said the devil made him do it.

Specifically, Reed said over the weekend that he has been “diagnosed with Bipolar and… was off his medication.”

As I said before, I hope he gets the treatment he needs, and I’m selfishly breathing a sigh of relief that he’s not an atheist hell-bent on some weird sort of revenge.

This morning, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol explained the charges against him:

Reed has been charged with a felony count of destruction of state property/improvements, a felony count of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor count of making threatening statements, reckless driving, and operating a vehicle with a revoked license.

Reed was also charged with four counts of felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, which stemmed from incidents that occurred during his initial emergency order of detention on Friday, according to the OHP.

No word yet on how severe a punishment would be (or how long a jail sentence) if he’s convicted.

Faith Healer Played a Major Part in the Spread of Ebola in West Africa

Via Richard Preston‘s fantastic and alarming New Yorker article on the genesis and spread of Ebola, we learn that a major early vector of the current epidemic was an unidentified faith-healing fraudster. Preston tells of a Sierra Leone woman who

… had been at the funeral of a faith healer who had recently been to Guinea and had died after attempting to heal a number of people sick with Ebola. … Teams of epidemiologists and health workers spread out from Kenema and identified twelve more women who were sick with Ebola. All of them had been at the funeral of the faith healer.

From there, the disease spread and claimed thousands more lives, including that of Humarr Khan, an amazing doctor who was Sierra Leone’s foremost expert in filoviruses like Lassa and Ebola, and the country’s best hope for combatting the disease.

Notwithstanding the fact that the first documented Ebola outbreak, in 1976, was due in large part to nuns at a Catholic hospital giving pregnant women vitamin injections with dirty, unsterilized needles, Preston’s story reminds us that there’s a lot of good medical work being done by Christians in the affected areas. Samaritan’s Purse, an organization that has a hospital near Monrovia, Liberia, is singled out for (ha!) praise – and so is the secular-minded Doctors Without Borders treatment center at Kailahun, in eastern Sierra Leone.

For some reason, neither of those places employ faith healers.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

P.S.: Still the local faith-healing lunacy continues. The Los Angeles Times has a portrait of Liberian faith healer Dorothy Sawer. Sawer is sure Ebola is a spiritual disease, she says, not merely a physical sickness. Despite her most powerful prayers, her own pastor died of Ebola, along with most other people upon whom she beseeched God’s intervention.

“I believe maybe it’s God’s will,” says Sawer, puzzling over why so many died and wondering why all that healing prayer didn’t save a good man like Pastor Garpou. “Maybe some people never had the faith that they could make it and some people lose hope.”

Then she fell ill herself. She tells this story:

The first thing she asked for at the treatment center wasn’t water or medicine. She wanted a Bible.

At the treatment center. When it came to her own life, she apparently elected to get expert medical help pronto, instead of relying strictly on the Lord’s awesome powers to make her well.

Then, she recalls,

“One night I felt a hand patting me on my shoulder.” A nurse checking she was still alive? “I don’t know who touched me. I think it was the spirit of God.” The next morning, she left her bed. She recovered, as swiftly as she had gotten ill.

The roll of the dice or the medical treatment she received had nothing to do with that. It was God, wouldn’t you know it, and Sawer believes it despite the miserable, painful Ebola deaths of other hard-praying Christians all around her. And so:

She began religious devotion sessions, morning and night, with prayer and songs. Even the nurses, clad head to toe in protective suits, sometimes joined in, clapping and singing.

As you do, of course, when you’re a medical professional.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Christian Files Open Records Request for Strippers’ Names and Addresses… So He Can Pray for Them

David Van Vleet is one of those Christians who thinks he’s doing society a favor by being all sorts of creepy. He recently filed an open records request to obtain the legal names, addresses, birthdates, photos, and other pieces of biographical information from 70 workers at a local Tacoma (Washington) strip club.

And it’s all for Jesus:

“I would pray for those dancers by name,” David Van Vleet said after the hearing. “I’m a Christian… We have a right to pray for people.”

…

“I was trying to do something for the public good because that’s why we have the record law,” Van Vleet said.

Thankfully, a judge blocked his request while trying to talk some sense into him:

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting disclosure of licenses for about 70 dancers and managers at DreamGirls at Fox’s in Parkland.

…

“I’m not going to harm them,” Van Vleet said.

Leighton countered: “You could leave their files at a coffee shop inadvertently.”

Beyond the legal issues here, I’m trying to understand the logic of Van Vleet’s request.

Does God only help people you pray for if you know their legal names? Because Christians pray for strangers all the time… and I don’t recall prayer requests requiring a copy of someone’s driver’s license.

Can I file a similar open records request to get the names of everyone who goes to the biggest church in Tacoma? And how much they give to it? Or would that be considered none of my damn business?

(Image via Shutterstock)