Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1984

Two High School Students Investigate How a Pro-Creationism Cartoon Ended Up in a Biology Teacher’s Lesson

Here’s an illustration that literally comes out of Creationist Ken Ham‘s playbook:

It shows how accepting evolution — or “reject[ing] God’s Word,” as Ham puts it — leads to homosexuality, abortion, racism, divorce, pornography, and euthanasia. (I’m pretty sure Ham is the guy atop the Creation Castle, grinning while shooting the wrong way because he has no idea what the hell is going on.)

Anyway, I bring this up because a version of that slide appeared in a PowerPoint presentation during Anquinette Jones‘ freshman biology class at Grady High School in Atlanta:

We know this thanks to a wonderful article published back in May in the school newspaper by two then-seniors Josh Weinstock and Archie Kinnane. (The story picked up steam this weekend after Maureen Downey of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on it.)

Jones, the teacher, said she got the PowerPoint from the district’s file-sharing database, where it was uploaded by project manager Mary E. King. (King wouldn’t respond to the students’ request for comment.) As a teacher myself, I wondered how Jones didn’t catch this slide herself until I heard about some of the other things she had said in the classroom (which Weinstock and Kinnane brought to light):

Freshman Lily Soto, who switched from Jones’ biology class after the first semester, said Jones had refused to teach evolution when the class approached the portion of the [curriculum].

“She always had random comments about [creationism],” Soto said. “If someone would ask if we were going to learn evolution, she was like, ‘No, I don’t teach that.’”

…

Sophomore Isabel Olson, who took biology from Jones last year, said that this cartoon was not the first instance of creationism being discussed in class. She said that one time, a classmate asked how cells were created.

“Ms. Jones’ answer was [something like], ‘It’s divine, God created us.’” Olson said.

…

Olson said she went to talk to administrators about the religious aspect of Jones’ teaching, but they didn’t take any action.

The student journalists also reported that Jones had students debate the merits of evolution and Creationism, as if there’s a debate to be had.

Maureen Downey attempted to get in touch with all the people involved in this controversy — since they weren’t getting back to the student journalists — and finally heard back from Atlanta Public Schools spokeswoman Jill Strickland Luse:

“It appears that this science lesson plan was not properly vetted prior to being uploaded to the district’s SharePoint website last summer. When the district learned of the PowerPoint presentation and worksheet that is in question, the lesson and supporting documents were reviewed, and they were immediately removed… The district is currently reviewing the vetting process for all lesson plans prior to uploading them for instruction. In addition, the curriculum coordinators will review lesson plans with teachers as part of their pre-planning session later this month.”

That’s a step in the right direction. But we still don’t know if the district is investigating Jones’ supposed promotion of Creationism in the classroom or King’s reasons for included the slide in the presentation. Those, to me, are much bigger issues right now. I know this is the South, but how pervasive is this problem of Creation being offered as an alternative to evolution? And what are district officials doing to prevent that sort of evidence-free bullshit from being taught in district classrooms?

(Downey also points out that the PowerPoint includes “grammatical errors and odd illustrations including a photo of Octomom.” While I share her frustration with the grammar mistakes, I could rationalize the Octomom picture being thrown in there as an attempt to inject humor into an otherwise dry presentation. It doesn’t bother me that much.)

I tried to contact Josh Weinstock last night to find out more background about this story and what the aftermath has been like for him, but I haven’t heard back from him yet.

Weinstock and Kinnane deserve a lot of credit, though, for bringing this story to light. How a teacher and district staffers were able to get away with this — and for how long? — is just unbelievable. Also, hats off to all those students who gave permission to be quoted in their article. That couldn’t have been an easy decision.

(via Raw Story)

Vatican Tells Australian Commission That It Won’t Provide All Documents in Child Sexual Abuse Investigations

Here’s the right way for the Vatican to handle accusations of sexual abuse against Australian priests: They’re accused of doing WHAT?! We’ll give local authorities anything they need to assist with their case. We don’t condone child sexual abuse in any way, and if the accused priests really are guilty, then the children and their families affected by this deserve no less than our full cooperation.

And here’s what the Vatican actually did:

… the Vatican says the Holy See maintains the confidentiality of internal deliberations, adding that it would be inappropriate to provide such documents.

Leonie Sheedy, founder and chief executive of Care Leavers Australia Network, a support group for victims of child sexual abuse says the Catholic Church is treating the Australian public with contempt.

“I’m not surprised … I feel like the Catholic Church believes it is above the laws of Australia and probably the world,” she said.

Australia can’t force the Vatican to hand over documents related to how it guided Church leaders in the country to respond to the abuse charges, and that means the inquiry won’t be as thorough as it could be. So the Vatican is indirectly making it that much more difficult for children who may have been raped by priests to get justice.

As one lawyer said, the Vatican’s response is “disappointing but unsurprising.” Which pretty much encapsulates critics’ attitudes toward the Catholic Church, even with Pope Francis at the helm. This is a PR-disaster and the Church is doing everything it can to keep it going. It’s just beyond me how anyone could continue to support an organization like this when it consistently sends the message to rape victims that they don’t matter as much as their potential rapists.

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

Foundation Beyond Belief Announces Q3 2014 Slate of Charities

The Foundation Beyond Belief has just announced its five beneficiaries for the new quarter — each charity will likely receive several thousands of dollars, courtesy of atheist donors:

POVERTY & HEALTH: SOIL

HUMAN RIGHTS: Footsteps

CHALLENGE THE GAP: The Night Ministry

EDUCATION: Washington Women’s Employment and Education

THE NATURAL WORLD: Rainforest Foundation US

…

If you’re not already a member of the Foundation, please consider joining!

Where are you giving your donations this month?

Judge Rejects Claim That Anti-Christian Comedy Clips Played at Gay Bar Created a Hostile Work Environment

If you ever visit Boystown, a part of Chicago where a lot of LGBT people live, you’ll undoubted pass by a bar called Sidetrack. It’s a video bar that features events like Show Tunes nights and 60s/70s music nights.

They also have a Comedy Video night where they play clips that would be entertaining for a predominantly gay male crowd. Like the pre-South Park film The Spirit of Christmas which features Jesus fighting Santa Claus:

Really, any comedy routine that involves going after homophobia or organized religion would work.

And that’s part of the reason the bar was sued by a former employee, Joseph Parker, who claimed that he suffered “religious harassment on purportedly anti-Christian video clips Sidetrack played during comedy nights, offensive performances ridiculing Christians at special events, and degrading comments Sidetrack employees… made to Plaintiff because of his religion and his relationship with [conservative Christian blogger Kevin] DuJan.”

How that’s for overreach? I was harassed because they played George Carlin routines on the big-screens!

Just because you don’t agree with what’s being said doesn’t mean anyone is harassing you for your beliefs. There’s also a major difference between going after people and going after their bad ideas. (And, obviously, several Christian denominations are very supportive of the LGBT community.)

There’s far more to the lawsuit than just the religious harassment issue, but the good news is that a district judge rejected that particular claim last week. Regarding the video clips, Judge Amy J. St. Eve wrote this:

In making this determination, the Court notes that the allegedly offensive anti-Christian video clips … do not contribute to the alleged hostility of his work environment. Sidetrack played the video clips during “Comedy Nights,” and it obtained all or at least a vast majority of the clips from mainstream broadcasts. None of the allegedly offensive material was directed at Plaintiff. Sidetrack, moreover, is known for playing comedic and other video clips on screens around the bar. The Court must evaluate the “totality of the circumstances” …, but it need not — and must not — abandon common sense and sensitivity to social context in evaluating the alleged hostility. Just as a reasonable professional football player would not consider his working environment to be severely or pervasively hostile “if the coach smacks him on the buttocks as he heads onto the field,”…, a reasonable person in Plaintiff’s position would not view mainstream video clips played as part of Sidetrack’s Comedy Night events to create or even contribute to an allegedly hostile work environment.

Eugene Volokh, who teaches free speech law at the UCLA School of Law, defended the judge’s decision, adding that it should’ve gone even further:

… I think that imposing liability even in part based on the anti-Christian speech in videos, stand-up routines, signs at the bar and the like would violate the First Amendment. I’m glad, therefore, that the court rejected those claims, though I fear that the court’s rationale is too narrow. Even if such speech wasn’t “mainstream videos,” or consisted of overheard conversations in a company lunchroom or some such, it shouldn’t lead to legal liability.

As I mentioned, there are other (more serious) aspects of the lawsuit that have not yet been decided, but at least this ridiculous notion has been put to rest.

(via Religion Clause)

This is What a Christian Revival Looks Like When People Don’t Know How to Play Along

You’ve seen those clips of preacher/scam artist Benny Hinn touching gullible people on the forehead, sometimes forcefully, so they fall over backwards. This, apparently, heals their wounds and releases the demons within:

It’s even better when he uses a magical jacket to heal many at once:

The whole time, these adults go along with it like it’s the most normal thing in the world. What’s worse is how many of them really believe that it works! (No before/after medical records are ever released. Meanwhile, Benny has a jet.)

But at least they’re adults.

It’s really disturbing to watch when we’re talking about children being treated the same way:

In a video clip that only recently came to my attention, check out these adults trying to “save” a group of children during a Christian revival — children who haven’t yet been indoctrinated into the mind game:

So many of the kids have this look on their faces like, “What? You touched my head, so I’m supposed to fall backwards now? Okay, I guess, if that’s what everyone’s doing. I’ll play along.”

The best part — you have to watch it — comes at the 1:22 mark. There’s a little girl who simply refuses to play the game. She ain’t fallin’ backwards for nobody. The preachers spend a good 20 seconds on her before moving along to someone more impressionable.

I’m just appalled by how brainwashed their parents must be to let them participate in this sort of nonsense. You can see the full revival video here.

(Thanks to Bo for the link)

Really, Canada? This is What You Call a Breakdown in Church/State Separation?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper did something a couple of days ago that wouldn’t even generate a raise of an eyebrow in the United States. Celebrating Canada Day on July 1, he tweeted this seemingly innocuous message:

God bless you all, and God keep our true north, strong and free! #cdnpoli #CanadaDay

We’re so used to the requisite political mentions of God that the message hardly seems out of place, but in Canada, where such mentions don’t happen regularly, it actually generated enough pushback that Yahoo published an article about the “outrage” that tweet generated:

The reaction online was pointed, with the feathers of users becoming instantly ruffled by the post. “Which God? Zeus?” one person asked. Another sniffed that there was “clearly no separation of church and state for this PM.”

…

As Harper’s defenders pointed out on Twitter, Canada has no official separation between church and state, as there is in America. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms links God to the “rule of law” in Canada. But there is still a general unease about governing a multicultural nation in the name of a specific deity.

…

Indeed, moments of tragedy and while celebrating the military — a profession that calls for members to face their mortality for a larger purpose — are very natural moments to consider religion and thank one’s god. But the reference on Canada Day seemed to come out of nowhere.

Is it evidence of a larger plot to drag religion into Ottawa’s decision-making process?

No, but some people sure took it that way.

This is the intersection of religion and politics that ticked some people off?!

Canada, you’re adorable.

Wait till I tell you about Hobby Lobby and the U.S. Supreme Court. You’re gonna lose your minds…

(I should point out that this sort of “pushback” occurs when a political figure says *anything* on Twitter. This instance is hardly an anomaly. I’m just amused that anyone would write an article suggesting that this tweet was an example of religion and politics getting a little too close.)

(Thanks to @Axe_Grrl for the link)

A Collection of Jim Jefferies Stand-Up Comedy: Religion Edition

Here’s an entertaining (and highly NSFW) compilation of religion-related humor from comedian Jim Jefferies:

(via Agatan Fnd)

Generation Atheist is Free This Weekend

My friend Dan Riley wrote a book a while back called Generation Atheist. It’s a collection of true stories about people who transitioned from godly to godless.

For the rest of the weekend (through Monday), the book is free on Kindle. I urge you to get your copy now if you haven’t already! And you can read a recent review of the book right here.

Thanks to the Baptists Who Defend Church/State Separation

Back when Baptists were in the minority in the U.S., they were strong supporters of church/state separation. Now, firmly in the majority, we’ve seen them virtually in lockstep with the Christian Right. It’s a shock to many that groups like the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty are actually on our side when it comes to interpreting the First Amendment.

Ken Camp, writing for the Associated Baptist Press, reminds us how tough it is these days for Baptist ministers to speak out against their own congregations:

A bad combination

When they do, it can be a lonely place, said Brad Bull, whose opposition to a Ten Commandments display in Knox County, Tenn., set off a firestorm locally more than a dozen years ago. At the time, Bull served as associate pastor of youth and young adults at Cumberland Baptist Church in Knoxville.

…

“I was motivated by what I learned in seminary and from my reading of Baptist history,” he said. “Beyond that, it’s like I told a county commissioner at the time: ‘I have a neighbor who is Buddhist. Another neighbor is Muslim. They pay taxes in the county just like I do.’ I just saw what I did as an issue of fairness.”

He never anticipated the fallout. After the Knoxville newspaper and a local radio station reported his opposition to the resolution, his wife, Connie, nearly lost her job teaching Spanish and music as part of a cooperative for home-school students.

It’s a simple concept, really, yet so many conservative Christians don’t get it. Separation of church and state doesn’t hinder your own faith in any way. The government not promoting your faith isn’t the same thing as the government being against your faith. Neutrality is the best bet for all of us — because no religious group will be in the majority forever.

Bull and all the other believers who understand that deserve our appreciation.

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

Does It Really Take More Faith to be an Atheist?

The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: Does it really take more faith to be an atheist?:

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.