Freethought Radio

FFRF attorneys sent more than a thousand letters to public school districts warning of the dangers of bible classes. We complain about an Appleton, Wisconsin, school board member who is a pastor who is flagrantly mixing religion and government. We talk with FFRF lead attorney Rebecca Markert about the disappointing decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing a large Christian cross to remain on public land. Then we interview, by phone from London, journalist and author Catherine Nixey, about her book The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World.

Bad news for state/church separation: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Bladensburg cross to be constitutional, and intolerant right-wing ideologue Tony Perkins (president of the Christian Family Research Council) has ironically been appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. FFRF's full-page ad in the New York Times challenges the Christian-nationalist attack on reproductive rights. After hearing Ta Nehisi Coates' reasoned plea for reparations, we talk with author and screenwriter (Bill & Ted movies) Chris Matheson about his video "God's Art Museum" and about his upcoming book, The Buddha's Story.

We challenge a Tennessee sheriff deputy who preaches that America should follow the biblical law that homosexuals should be "put to death," and a Tennessee District Attorney who uses his religious beliefs to deny equal treatment to the LGBTQ community. Then we speak with the founder and president of Rationalist International, Sanal Edamaruku, who had to flee India to Finland after being accused by the Catholic Church of blasphemy because he exposed a purported miracle of a weeping Jesus statue in Mumbai as nothing more than a leaking water pipe. Sanal tells us about the Rationalist conference in Cambridge, UK, July 27-28.

Demons on airplanes. Democrats deleting God. Courtroom prayer by judges. Bible classes in public schools. We talk about all of this, and more, plus Icelandic and other international humanists on today's show. After FFRF attorney Sam Grover describes our newest lawsuit, challenging a proselytizing judge in Texas, we talk with Mark Dann, FFRF's new Director of Governmental Affairs, a full-time DC lobbyist, about how to raise the national profile of freethinkers and the Freedom From Religion Foundation in order to promote secular legislation that honors the separation of state and church.

What does the bible really say about abortion? Annie Laurie Gaylor and FFRF attorney Liz Cavell answer that question. Then, on the first anniversary of the successful May 2018 referendum to overturn Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion, we talk on the phone from Dublin with feminist and LGBTQ activist, professor Ailbhe Smyth, one of the main organizers of Together For Yes, which successfully campaigned to repeal the Eighth Amendment.

This week we talk about the religious-right assault on abortion rights, and what we can do about it. After hearing a hilarious "Practicing Atheist" monologue by Irish comedian Dave Allen, we talk on the phone from Mumbai, India, with Irfan Engineer, Director of the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism, about the disappointing results of this month's national election in India, voting Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi back into power.

The Alabama abortion bill, motivated by religious dogma, is in the news this week. FFRF's legal fellow Chris Line tells us about a state/church victory in Pennsylvania stopping "God Bless America" broadcast in a public school, and about a Texas county that displays Christian crosses on its courthouse. Then we speak with author, activist and award-winning journalist Janet Heimlich, founder of Child-Friendly Faith and co-host of the "Parenting Beyond Belief" podcast, about her book Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment, and about the "horrific" abuse at a Christian Texas ranch for at-risk children occurring over many decades.

What happened in Poland could happen here. Christian Nationalists are proposing and passing laws to outlaw abortion in many states. We listen to part of Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan's impassioned remarks in opposition to the fetal-heartbeat bill, and Governor Kemp's anti-choice remarks when he signed the bill into law. After hearing the 1941 song "One Life To Live," written by freethinking songwriters Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, we talk with constitutional attorney Andrew Seidel, who is FFRF's Director of Strategic Response, about his new book The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American.

We analyze Trump's Christian nationalist remarks during the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer kickoff. After applauding Kansas for protecting women's right to abortion, we hear Pete Seeger's irreverent take on the song "Gimme That Old Time Religion." Then we talk with UK journalist Nandini Archer, who worked on Open Democracy's recent eye-opening report: "Revealed: Trump-linked US Christian 'fundamentalists' pour millions of 'dark money' into Europe, boosting the far right."

We unveil an appealing new digital media campaign featuring three remarkable winners of FFRF's 2018 student of color freethought essay competition. Then we talk about FFRF's actions related to Ark Park school field trips, more Ten Commandments displays in schools and the true health hazard of measles spread by religious misinformation. Absentee co-host Dan Barker makes a statement about Barker v. Conroy, which permits the U.S. House to continue to exclude secular invocations by atheists. FFRF Communications Director Amitabh Pal joins co-host Annie Laurie Gaylor in interviewing Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst who uncovered the Christian supremacist plot known as Project Blitz, to legislate theocracy at the state level. Tune in to find out his advice about how to fight these theocratic inroads.