Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1986

Last month, a Gallup poll showed that 75% of Americans think the Bible is the word of God, literally or otherwise.

But when Gallup broke down their numbers, there was a surprising group of people on the list: Non-Christians who said that the Bible was the literal word of God.

That’s nearly two dozen people we’re talking about! If they think the Bible is literally true, why would they not be Christians?!

Ted Olsen and Ruth Moon at Christianity Today tried to get to the bottom of it by looking at the Gallup poll and other surveys to see what they could find out about these “Non-Christian literalists”:

For starters, non-Christian literalists are more likely to have never been married… They’re a little on the younger side… They’re also mostly non-white… They are more likely to have two parents born outside the U.S…

Non-Christian literalists are also significantly less educated than Americans overall…

They may be poorer, but it’s hard to tell from the data.

It’s a lot of speculation and they admit that, concluding that even they don’t know who the hell these people are:

In the end, it’s hard to create a profile of the non-Christian biblical literalist…

The demographics of this small portion of the U.S. population — 2 to 11 percent, depending who you ask — also serve as a reminder that imprecise survey items like the literalism question can introduce confusion.

Even if you put the number at 2.1%, we’re talking about nearly 7,000,000 Americans who aren’t Christian but who believe the Bible is literally true, Genesis and Jesus’ resurrection and all.

That is, as Olsen and Moon mentioned, if they even understand what the question is saying. That may be the biggest challenge here: Getting pollsters to ask precise questions that make sense to everybody. It’s likely that confusion, more than anything else, is why some non-Christians think the Bible is true yet don’t convert. Maybe they would say the Koran is true as well. Because religion always deserves respect.

It’s the same complaint you hear whenever Gallup releases polls about evolution versus Creationism. Do all the people responding to the survey really understand the concepts they’re being asked about?

Probably not. But if anyone seriously falls in that weird demographic, I would love to know why…

A new post on the We Love Mars Hill blog (covered before here) is making waves in the Christian community as Pastor Mark Driscoll‘s former right-hand man, Mike Anderson, explains why he, too, withdrew his membership from the controversial Seattle megachurch.

(via Reddit)

:

Mars Hill was a big part of my life from ages 18-28. In the same way that ex-alcoholics benefit by being completely transparent about their addiction, I want to make public my affiliation and my genuine remorse.

On multiple occasions, Mark would use an analogy of Mars Hill being like a dandelion. He would say something like: ‘When things are going well, it’s going to grow fast, but if I ever go ‘sideways’ or if the leadership goes astray, it will be like when the wind catches a dandelion that’s gone to seed, and the seeds will go everywhere and many more will get planted. The church is so filled with good people that they will plant churches, support existing churches, and be a blessing wherever they go’.

I think he was right. There seems to be genuine consensus among the majority of pastors and many thousands of members who have left that now is the time that the dandelion has gone to seed and the wind is blowing. I know hundreds of people I love and respect who are spread out around the city and the country. My hope is that we’ll all learn the lessons of the wrong we did as a collective at Mars Hill, and not just blame it on a couple of leaders and make the same mess all over again.

Mike writes that his change of perspective happened slowly, but the watershed moment for him that made him decide once and for all to leave the Mars Hill cult[ure] was when his dad gave him a philosophy book on mass movements (one I personally recommend — it’s a good, quick read):

My dad is a wise man whom I respect a lot. I was talking to him about some of this and he said to me “You know Michael, you’re the type of person who is drawn to this exact situation. If you don’t watch out, you’ll just set yourself up for it again. I have a book for you.”

It was called “True Believer.”

Here’s a quote that stopped me in my tracks:

“When a mass movement begins to attract people who are interested in their individual careers, it is a sign that it has passed its vigorous stage; that it is no longer engaged in molding a new world but in preserving the present. It ceases then to be a movement and becomes an enterprise. According to Hitler, the more ‘posts and offices a movement has to hand out, the more inferior stuff it will attract, and in the end these political hangers-on overwhelm a successful party in such number that the honest fighter of former days no longer recognizes the old movement… When this happens, the “mission” of such a movement is done for.’”

I left because the mission had died. Mark’s desire for control had pushed Acts 29 away and turned the Resurgence into a giant advertisement. I no longer recognized the old movement of former days. I also was sick to my stomach after reading and empathizing with a quote from Hitler.

Mars Hill was in the penultimate step of what Jim Collin’s calls “the fall from greatness.”

Anderson stops just shy of calling Mars Hill a cult, but the connection in his mind is clear from everything else he says. As I observed before, this is the beginning of the end of the New Calvinism movement, and as more and more folks tell their stories (like Anderson), the “survivors” groups will hit a point of critical mass and Driscoll and his ilk will not be able to retain their power.

But they don’t need to read True Believer to see this coming — it’s in their own Bible:

What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. — Luke 12:3

Mubarak Bala is the Nigerian atheist who was being held in a mental hospital for the “crime” of being an atheist:

Mubarak Bala, taking a hospital selfie with a smuggled smartphone

You’ll be happy to know that he’s finally been released… but things haven’t gotten any better.

“People are threatening me, I mean life-threatening threats,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He said he was too frightened of drawing attention and wouldn’t allow an AP video journalist or photographer to come to his hiding place.

Bala said that since he renounced Islam and declared himself an atheist, he has not only lost the trust of his father and elder brother, but many friends.

“Most of my friends condemn me and tell me I am bound for hell and that in an Islamic state, I would be killed. Blasphemy is a serious thing here,” said Bala, who describes himself on his Twitter page as an ex-Muslim.

Bala is trying to get out of northern Nigeria, but first, he wants to reconcile with his family — as much as he can, anyway. The report says they at least a bit apologetic. But considering his father works for a group that “enforces Islamic Shariah law,” I’m not very optimistic.

We’ve posted this in the past. If you’ve already responded, there’s no need to do it again. Thanks!

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Over the past couple of years, what began as a personal blog has turned into a hub with several contributors and multiple posts per day. I like to think the quality of posts has gone up significantly along with the increase in quantity and I’d like to expand the reach of this site. That means bringing on additional writers in various niches. In addition to this site, I’ve also started making YouTube videos, a new world for me, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive, but those also take a lot of work to put together.

I’m ready to explore new ideas and additional methods of outreach that I’ve put aside because of other obligations. I don’t plan on stopping what we normally do — I just want to do even more while the opportunity is here. There’s no reason to keep those ideas on a perpetual backburner.

That’s why I’ve created a page at Patreon.

If you’d like to help us out, you can pledge a certain amount every month (with rewards along the way!) from $1 to $100. We’ve already raised enough to bring on a social media manager and begin a podcast. Rest assured that the contributions don’t go in my pockets. They go right back into making this site bigger and better.

And if you have any ideas for what you’d like to see, I’m all ears.

As always, I’m grateful for the kind words and support you all send my way. I don’t usually post about them, but trust me: they never go unnoticed. Many of you have emailed me asking if there’s any way to donate to this page, and I always say no, but I think Patreon offers a really incredible approach to reach out to more people in different ways. Thanks in advance for your help.

You’ll be happy to know that the first peer-reviewed study of Bigfoot has been conducted! (I know you were waiting a long time for this.)

Since 2012, researchers — including Professor Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics University of Oxford — have been accepting DNA samples from unknown sources and (if the DNA was approved) matching it up against known creatures. If there was DNA that didn’t match something already in the database, it might have lent some credibility to those who believe in a Bigfoot or Yeti…

Sorry, but there’s no evidence that this evil, evil creature exists

This week, the Proceedings of the Royal Society B published the results of that research:

Sykes and colleagues tested 36 hair samples from Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Russia and the U.S. using DNA sequencing and all of them matched DNA from known animals. Most were from bears, but there were also hairs from a Malaysian tapir, horses, porcupine, deer, sheep, and a human.

While Sykes said they didn’t find any proof of Bigfoot-related creatures, he acknowledged their paper doesn’t prove they don’t exist.

Well, you can’t disprove the existence of a fictional creature. Atheists known that better than most. But before you dismiss the paper as some silly publicity stunt, realize it’s using actual science to refute wacky theories. Will the Bigfoot/Yeti believers now admit the elusive fantasy creatures don’t exist? Of course not. If they took science seriously, they would’ve dropped their beliefs a long time ago. But at least the bar is set a little higher now; if they want us to take them seriously, they need to produce previously-unclassified DNA. Maybe a body part or two.

Sharon Hill has an easy-to-read deeper analysis of the paper here.

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

When the Satanic Temple of New York scheduled a “Black Mass” on Harvard’s campus, the resulting backlash forced them to change locations. Why the backlash? Because a Black Mass distorts and inverts a traditional Catholic Mass, and that offends certain Catholics who believe their traditions are the only ones that matter and cannot be mocked in any way.

Now, the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu church in Oklahoma has scheduled a Black Mass at the Oklahoma City Civic Center this September and, again, there’s an outcry:

Archbishop Paul Coakley has called on Catholics to pray that God might change the minds of the organizers of a “Black Mass” scheduled for later this year in Oklahoma City.

…

“… we’re astonished and grieved that the Civic Center would promote as entertainment and sell tickets for an event that is very transparently a blasphemous mockery of the Mass,” Coakley said.

Civic Center Music Hall spokeswoman Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock said the Civic Center Music Hall is a taxpayer funded entity and in that capacity it honors and upholds relevant state and federal laws including the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the free expression of speech and equal protection among all groups and individuals.

Unfortunately for Coakley, blasphemy and mockery aren’t good enough reasons to shut down the service. Even if a consecrated wafer is destroyed, it’s only a symbol, not anything illegal.

But Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is — as usual — raising the persecution flag:

Oklahoma City had better think twice about this. The Civic Center is funded by the taxpayers, many of whom are Catholic, and they are not obliged to pay for attacks on their religion. Moreover, there are strictures that must be respected. To be specific, performances at the Civic Center are not permitted if they violate “community standards,” including works that are “illegal, indecent, obscene, immoral or in any manner publicly offensive.” One does not have to be Catholic to know that if Catholics believe that a consecrated Host is considered sacrosanct, then public displays of desecration meet the criteria as outlined.

Oklahoma City is setting itself up for a lawsuit.

If obscenity and offense were reasons to shut down a public event, then I’m not sure why the shows Avenue Q and Corpus Christi (which depicts Jesus as a gay man), which are playing at the same civic center over the next year, get a pass from Donohue.

Everyone is offensive to somebody. Just because the Black Mass goes after Catholicism is no reason to shut it down. It’s a private group renting out a public facility. No one is forced to attend the Mass. And just because the majority of citizens are Catholic is no reason to deny church members the ability to celebrate the Mass as they wish, provided they’re not doing anything illegal (which they’re not).

By the way, the same group has held a Black Mass three times before — without drawing much attention at all. It’s almost as if the sky didn’t fall.

(Top image via Shutterstock. Thanks to @arensb for the link)

The team at Stated Clearly have an excellent new video explaining why it’s so important to understand evolution:

Science! It works!

The video series, by the way, is possible because of a successful Kickstarter campaign. Can’t wait to see what other videos they release.

If right-wingers were to make a more Second Amendment-y version of a Hooters restaurant, what would it look like?

Guns? Of course. Gotta have those.

Alcohol? Let’s avoid that… for obvious reasons.

Attractive (yet covered-up) waitresses? Check.

Jesus? Somehow, yes.

Based in a town named Rifle? How could anyone resist.

That’s the premise behind Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado:

A customer (left) with a server outside the restaurant (via Facebook)

A sign on the front door of Shooters Grill reads, “Guns are welcome on premises. Please keep all weapons holstered, unless the need arises. In such cases, judicious marksmanship is appreciated.”

Shooters owner Lauren Boebert of Rifle said she is simply allowing customers and employees to exercise their constitutional right.

“We encourage it, and the customers love that they can come here and express their rights,” Boebert said. “This country was founded on our freedom. People can come in carrying their gun, and they can pray over their food.”

…

“I consulted with my Christian friends and everyone said ‘Shooters’ sounded like a bar or a strip joint,” Lauren Boebert said with a laugh. “But I thought, this is Rifle — it was founded around guns and the Old West. We called it Shooters and started throwing guns and Jesus all over the place.”

This can only end well…

It’s worth pointing out that anyone can pray over their food anywhere. In fact, I can’t think of a single restaurant where that’s forbi—what’s that? “FREEDOM”?! Ah, yes. Got it.

For their sake, I sincerely hope this is the last time I hear about them in the news.

(via Christian Nightmares)

Because it wasn’t enough for Hobby Lobby to deprive female employees of comprehensive contraception coverage, Rick Warren and more than a dozen other Protestant and Catholic leaders are now demanding that President Obama give religious companies with federal contracts the ability to discriminate against LGBT employees. Because if the Supreme Court can bend over backwards for Yahweh, so can Obama, right?

It all has to do with an upcoming executive order that Obama said he would sign. The order would ban all federal contractors from discriminating against employees because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Because we don’t know what the order will say, the faith leaders are trying to make sure it doesn’t apply to religious groups. Because Jesus loves to discriminate. (The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which the Senate passed last fall but the do-nothing House hasn’t acted upon, includes the religious exemption.)

The hypocrisy comes through loud and clear in their letter to the President:

We have great appreciation for your commitment to human dignity and justice, and we share those values with you. With respect to the proposed executive order, we agree that banning discrimination is a good thing. We believe that all persons are created in the divine image of the creator, and are worthy of respect and love, without exception. Even so, it still may not be possible for all sides to reach a consensus on every issue. That is why we are asking that an extension of protection for one group not come at the expense of faith communities whose religious identity and beliefs motivate them to serve those in need.

…

Religious organizations, because of their religious faith, have served their nation well for centuries, as you have acknowledged and supported time and time again. We hope that religious organizations can continue to do so, on equal footing with others, in the future. A religious exemption in your executive order on LGBT employment rights would allow for this, balancing the government’s interest in protecting both LGBT Americans, as well as the religious organizations that seek to serve in accordance with their faith and values.

“We agree that banning discrimination is a good thing,” which is why we want to make sure religious groups get the unique right to discriminate. Yep. That makes perfect sense.

If we were talking about a courageous group of leaders, which these people most certainly are not, the letter might’ve said something different:

“We understand our congregations and religion-based companies are not going to become welcoming and tolerant anytime soon, which is why we support a full ban on all LGBT discrimination for companies with federal contracts with no exceptions. Our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ won’t all be happy, but we know the fastest way to become a more equal society is to eliminate discrimination for good. We’re the obstacles in your path and we’re happy to get out of the way.”

Okay, so I’m in a fantasy world. Christian leaders would never do that.

It’s just incredible what these standard-bearers for goodness are asking for: They’re arguing that religious groups will be unable to do their jobs and not even bother to apply for federal contracts if they’re not allowed to treat LGBT Americans like shit.

Michael Wear, who worked for Obama and led his faith outreach during the 2012 campaign, said to the Atlantic that “This is not an antagonistic letter by any means.”

Not in the signers’ minds, of course. These are the same people whose mental compartmentalization allows them to say in the same breath, “We love gay people” and “homosexuality is a sin.” These are not moral, loving people we’re talking about.

If your church or company can’t do its job because the staff might have to work alongside gays and lesbians, then don’t apply for a federal contract. It’s that simple. Other groups will just have to step up and take over. If you want to treat LGBT Americans like second-class citizens, do it within your church walls — as usual. We don’t expect any better.

But don’t ask for permission to be assholes and expect anyone to sympathize with you.

No church will be harmed if Obama doesn’t issue a religious exemption. If he does include it, though, he will be perpetuating the harm that many of these churches — including Warren’s Saddleback Church — have caused to people across the country.

In a pretty gutsy move, Atlanta Black Star, a web publication for African-Americans, has done its predominantly Christian audience a great and effective service. An article by ABS staff presents basic financial information about eight black pastors who earn more than 200 times what their average congregant makes.

Take the aptly named Creflo Dollar:

Creflo Dollar is senior pastor of World Changers Church International with a net worth of $27 million. He leads one of the nation’s largest mega-churches, located in College Park, Georgia. Dollar also hosts a television show, Changing Your World, on cable networks.

The New York Times reported that Dollar owns a million-dollar Atlanta home, drives a Rolls-Royce, is transported by a private jet and has a $2.5 million Manhattan apartment.

The average annual income in College Park, Ga., is $29,640.

It reminds me of this quote by Mahatma Gandhi:

I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

That includes, of course, Caucasian pastors-turned-snake-oil-salesmen like Benny Hinn, Ed Young, Peter Popoff, and way too many others.