The Republican Party once led the fight against slavery. Today, it’s home to America’s Christian nationalist movement. What happened?

In this episode, Mike breaks down how religion shaped every stage of the political party realignment, from Lincoln’s abolitionist Republicans to the rise of the evangelical right. Religion didn’t cause the switch, but it provided the moral vocabulary for both oppression and liberation.

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

 Pour a cup and hang out with Mike Smithgall for a Sunday morning Q&A. You’ll hear my take on “I’m praying for you,” why Christian apologetics fascinates and embarrasses, and a story about a friendly young-earth creationist who pushed me to think harder. We get into belief in a god without religion, the rise of the “nones,” and why a secular state isn’t my goal. We talk through fear during deconversion, mixed-belief relationships that work or implode, and simple etiquette for atheists at religious events. I close with “God of the gaps,” why “I don’t know” is a strong answer, and an invite to call the Heathen Hotline to add your voice. If you’re sorting your views or supporting someone who is, you’ll leave with calm, practical perspective and a few laughs. 

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

 In this episode, Mike Smithgall examines the growing push to hang the Ten Commandments in public classrooms and the larger campaign to rewrite history under the banner of “heritage.” He explains how Christian nationalism turns nostalgia into propaganda,  and why real heritage requires facing uncomfortable truths.

Question: How should schools teach history without whitewashing or politicizing it?

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

 This Breakfast with a Heathen episode covers a range of questions from faith and politics to parenting and personal belief. We start with how religion was never out of U.S. politics—Trump only made it obvious—and look at what happens when faith becomes a tool for control rather than reflection.

We talk about the idea that atheists “believe in nothing,” the emotional damage of teaching children about hell, and the isolation that often follows when you stop believing. There’s a discussion about finding hope without faith, why you don’t need all the answers to live meaningfully, and how religion has traumatized people who once trusted it.

Lighter moments include alternative swear words, the ethics of infant baptism, and how to respond when someone says “God is science.” We also look at the claim that most Nobel Prize winners believed in God, and why historical context changes that picture.

It’s reason over rhetoric, curiosity over creed, and coffee over communion.

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

 In this episode, Mike Smithgall dissects Pete Hegseth’s viral Lord’s Prayer video and its disturbing fusion of religion and state power. Using biblical analysis and historical parallels from Sinclair Lewis and Eugene Debs, he explains how Christian nationalism repackages faith as propaganda and patriotism as obedience.

This episode asks a hard question: when government officials use prayer to sanctify military imagery, is it devotion, or theater?

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

 Mike Smithgall, the unelected mayor of Atheistville, sits down with coffee to answer your questions about atheism, belief, and honesty. From telling your Christian mom you’re an atheist to why arguing with believers never works, this Sunday Q&A takes on faith, comfort, family, and finding peace without religion. No sermon, no shouting, no salvation required. 

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

If morality comes from God, why do moral progress and religious doctrine so often collide? Mike Smithgall breaks down the myth that we need divine authority to be good.

This episode examines empathy’s evolutionary roots, the failures of fear-based morality, and the evidence that secular societies thrive without divine command. It’s a reasoned and candid look at what truly drives human ethics.

Visit www.Atheistville.com for more shows and resources.

Q: How do you explain moral instincts in people who’ve never been exposed to religious teachings? 

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

A counselor in Colorado claims her “sincerely held beliefs” give her the right to counsel LGBTQ+ minors out of who they are. The state says that’s harmful pseudoscience. She says “First Amendment.” And now, the Supreme Court will decide.

Host Mike Smithgall breaks down Chiles v. Salazar, exposing the tactics behind the legal argument, the misuse of science by religious law groups, and the broader threat to professional standards.

Evidence versus belief. Law versus faith. Protection versus permission.

That’s today’s Mike Drop.

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

In this candid conversation, Mike shares his path from a devout Lutheran youth leader and Boy Scout to an openly bisexual atheist who rebuilt his life after addiction, prison, and deep personal conflict. We discuss the pressures of growing up in a conservative religious environment, wrestling with questions about faith and morality, and the cost of living a double life.

Mike opens up about the role military service, the loss of community, and hidden identity played in his struggles, and how moving to a more accepting environment, getting mental health support, and embracing authenticity changed his life. This is a raw, honest look at belief, deconversion, and finding purpose beyond religion.

📑 Relevant Topics / Chapter Headings

• Growing up Lutheran and feeling “in the in-group”
• Transitioning from religious school to public school
• Leadership roles in church and Boy Scouts
• Early doubts about God and reading the Bible critically
• Navigating bisexuality in a conservative faith community
• Military service and living a double life
• Alcoholism, PTSD, and the path to recovery
• Prison, stigma, and second chances
• Finding acceptance and purpose after deconversion
• Lessons for others questioning their faith

Visit us at www.Atheistville.com  for more content from Mike Smithgall and the Atheistville team

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  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media 

Religious faith often leans on mysteries as proof of God. But when science explains those mysteries, faith loses ground. In this episode, I trace the history of the god-of-the-gaps argument, from Zeus’s lightning to modern debates over consciousness. I show why this strategy fails, and why atheism is better framed as trust in curiosity and evidence. 

-Which scientific discovery do you think most changed how humans see the world?

Visit us at www.Atheistville.com  for more content from Mike Smithgall and the Atheistville team

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💬 Want to be a guest or submit a question? Drop us a note at CONTACT

Check us out at: https://atheistville.buzzsprout.com

  🔥 New episodes weekly from Atheistville — Mike Drop with Mike Smithgall, Ask an Atheist, and The Unholy Roundtable, Breakfast With a Heathen

 © 2025-2026 Atheistville Media