I interview Representative Jared Huffman (Democrat representing California's 2nd District), co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. We talk about the origins, purpose, and recent activity of the Freethought Caucus; about perennial issues (like the national motto, the Pledge of Allegiance, legislative prayer, etc.) of concern to freethinkers; public policy and public acceptance (or denial) of science; and the current "civil war" within the GOP between the traditionalists and the more rabid Trumpist/MAGA/QAnon faction.

For more about Congressman Huffman visit https://huffman.house.gov. 

For more about the Congressional Freethought Caucus click here.

We touched on the work of Jeff Sharlet in exposing The Family (the secretive, but powerful, Christian organization best known to the public as sponsor of the so-called National Prayer Breakfast). For more about The Family, you can listen to our interviews with Jeff Sharlet in episodes 67 and 105.

Plus:

Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has resigned after his cellphone data was used to track his participation in the gay hookup app Grindr. You will recall the USCCB briefly threatened action (potentially denial of Communion or even excommunication) against American politicians--including President Joe Biden--who are self-proclaimed Catholics who nonetheless support a woman's right to choose when it comes to birth control and abortion.

Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 91 years old, has been charged in Massachusetts with sexually assaulting a teenaged boy in 1974. The charges are made possible after so long a time due to a quirk in Massachusetts' statute of limitations, which places a "pause" on the countdown when an offender leaves the state. McCarrick was only defrocked two years ago, and reports reveal that multiple popes either ignored McCarrick's misdeeds or tried to downplay the church's response.

Theme music courtesy of Body Found.

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