You’ll be watching a classic Freedom From Religion Foundation movie on its weekly “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday. The state/church watchdog is going to air a 40-year-old film, FFRF's first feature, called “A Second Look at Religion.”

“Fashions may have changed, I have changed a lot, but the content remains as timely and compelling as when ‘A Second Look at Religion’ debuted in 1980,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor introduces the movie. “The program you are about to see is historic. You will hear people tell why they left their churches and why they no longer believe in religion.”

You can always see this show instantly on our YouTube channel by clicking here.

The cities where “Freethought Matters” broadcasts, along with the channels and timings, are listed below:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.

You will also enjoy catching up with previous episodes of “Freethought Matters,” which has been in production for several years. The first guest in the new season was U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Huffman’s appearance on the show made media waves. Freethought icon Ron Reagan, world-renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett, acting legend Ed Asner and U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin and Mark Pocan have recently appeared on the show. Guests on past seasons include comedian Julia Sweeney, former Planned Parenthood director Cecile Richards and a variety of freethought authors and activists. 

FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and her husband, Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister and well-known atheist author, are creators and co-hosts of the show.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), with more than 31,000 members nationwide. FFRF also works as a watchdog guarding the constitutional separation between religion and government.

The show is usually produced in the Stephen Uhl Friendly Atheist Studio at Freethought Hall in Madison, Wis., by FFRF’s videographer Bruce Johnson, a public television veteran. Crew includes staff members Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey, Kristina Daleiden, Lauryn Seering and Chris Line, plus various floor managers, with sound production provided by Audio for the Arts.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

An ex-evangelical freethinking psychologist and author is interviewed on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s weekly “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday.

Valerie Tarico is a former evangelical who was raised in a staunch fundamentalist family and attended the ardently Christian Wheaton College. She has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology and writes about issues such as Christian fundamentalism, the role of women in society, and reproductive rights and health. Her books include Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks At Old Beliefs In A New Light. Tarico was interviewed long distance by satellite from Seattle.

“I got angry at the God in my head,” Tarico explains on the show about why she quit religion. “I was holding God together at that point with duct tape and bailing wire. And I said to God, ‘I’m not making excuses for you anymore.’”

As an antidote to religion on the airwaves and Sunday morning sermonizing, the half-hour show airs Sunday mornings in 11 cities and Sunday evening in FFRF’s hometown of Madison, Wis. And this week’s show is already available on FFRF’s YouTube channel. (Look for the Freethought Matters playlist to watch previous shows.) 

If you find yourself hunkering down with extra free time, you might enjoy catching up with previous episodes of “Freethought Matters,” which has been in production for several years. The first guest in the new season was U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Huffman’s appearance on the show made media waves due to his remarks about his colleague Rep. Liz Cheney’s dogmatic stance on the religious oath. World-renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett, acting legend Ed Asner and U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin and Mark Pocan have recently appeared on the show. Guests on past seasons include comedian Julia Sweeney, former Planned Parenthood director Cecile Richards and a variety of freethought authors and activists. 

The cities where “Freethought Matters” broadcasts, along with the channels and timings, are listed below:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.

FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and her husband, Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister and well-known atheist author, are creators and co-hosts of the show.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), with more than 30,000 members nationwide. FFRF also works as a watchdog guarding the constitutional separation between religion and government.

The show is usually produced in the Stephen Uhl Friendly Atheist Studio at Freethought Hall in Madison, Wis., by FFRF’s videographer Bruce Johnson, a public television veteran. Crew includes staff members Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey, Kristina Daleiden, Lauryn Seering and Chris Line, plus various floor managers, with sound production provided by Audio for the Arts.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

A national state/church watchdog today has placed a timely digital message on a billboard in Melbourne, Fla.: “Science works! Please stay home.”

The large billboard is on Interstate 95 at Pineda Causeway, Melbourne.

The message is the brainchild of a lifetime member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Dwayne Free, who lives in Melbourne and was prompted to take action by the intransigence of Florida’s governor.

"I did this in response to Gov. [Ron] DeSantis exempting churches from following social distancing requirements which endangers ALL of us. It is absolutely unconstitutional to force companies out of business and allow churches to continue theirs,” says Free, a businessman.

FFRF had previously written DeSantis a firm letter, objecting to his reckless endangerment of health and life by explicitly exempting churches and religious gatherings from his very belated stay-at-home order last week. FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote the governor on behalf of FFRF’s 31,000 nonreligious members, including the 1,600 members in Florida (as well as a central Florida chapter).

DeSantis specifically did not apply his social distancing order to those “attending religious services.” What is particularly egregious about his actions, avers FFRF, is the fact that this exemption “shall supercede” measures taken by local officials. DeSantis’ order appeared to be crafted to propitiate his evangelical religious base, who objected to the lawful arrest of a preacher in Hillsborough County for flouting orders. The notorious Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne called the pandemic a “phantom plague” and claimed 13 machines in his church would kill the virus. The governor’s order apparently will allow him to continue to endanger his parishioners and the public by holding church services.

FFRF has noted that Florida already regularly limits worship gatherings that jeopardize public health. It called the exemption “unconstitutional and deadly.” The organization heartily welcomes the initiative of its member to remind his fellow Floridians to follow the dictates of science and common sense, instead of religion and superstition.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is cautioning that new “drive-up Easter” worship rules in Wisconsin are likely to be abused and that the “Safer at Home” executive order issued March 24 by Gov. Tony Evers is not safe enough.

Evers, who remained stalwart in refusing Assembly Republicans’ demand to allow full in-person Easter and Passover services, compromised on Thursday, April 9, by approving drive-up services. FFRF notes that if everyone attending drive-up services obeys the rules, stays in their vehicles with windows up and with no communion or collection plates passed, these churches are complying with the spirit of the order.

However, FFRF notes instances where parishioners have disregarded self-imposed rules at drive-up services.

Also of great concern is the exception Evers has allowed for small religious meetings. FFRF, a state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., wrote a letter April 6 to Evers applauding him “for standing up for science, and the lives of Wisconsinites, by declining some legislators’ dangerous request to allow in-person Easter and Passover services.” However, FFRF takes issue with the exemption his emergency order gives to religious gatherings under 10 people.

Noting that the situation has changed appreciably since March 24, FFRF points out that one-third of all COVID-19 cases in one large California county can be traced to church services, also citing a South Korea church in which one person attending two services spread the coronavirus to 1,200 people.

Data show even small gatherings can be deadly, FFRF says in its letter. “This includes gatherings of just 10 people, as permitted in your order. Your Safer at Home order is not safe enough.”

FFRF praised churches that have gone online with services and have taken steps not to spread the virus, but noted there are undoubtedly small churches or congregations in Wisconsin that will feel encouraged to meet in person because of the exemption. “Religious facilities, entities, groups or gatherings simply are not in a category of providing essential services,” FFRF told Evers.

“Prohibiting religious gatherings is not a ban on worship any more than speed limits are a ban on driving,” writes FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Viruses do not respect boundaries or holy ground, they simply travel from person to person.” Like all states, Wisconsin already regularly limits worship gatherings that jeopardize public health.

Click here to watch.

“Unabashed atheist” Ron Reagan is this week’s entertaining and eloquent guest on “Freethought Matters,” the Freedom From Religion Foundation weekly TV show, available to watch now on FFRF’s YouTube channel.

As an antidote to religion on the airwaves and Sunday morning sermonizing, the half-hour show airs Sunday mornings in 11 cities and Sunday evening in FFRF’s hometown of Madison, Wis. All previous programs are also available to view on FFRF’s YouTube channel.

Ron, who has so generously recorded an iconic 30-second TV commercial for FFRF, is, of course, the son of Nancy and President Ronald Reagan. He’s had a dancing career, including at the Joffrey Ballet. And he has worked as a broadcast and print journalist and TV and radio commentator. During the interview, Ron discusses being a near-lifelong atheist.

“At age 12, my father came into the bedroom one Sunday morning; we were going to pile into the car and head off to the Bel Air Presbyterian Church,” he recalls during the show. “I said, ‘I’m not going. I’m done with that.’ And he was wise enough to not try and strong-arm me into it.”

If you find yourself hunkering down with extra free time, you might enjoy catching up with previous episodes of “Freethought Matters,” which has been in production for several years. The first guest in the new season was U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Huffman’s appearance on the show made media waves due to his remarks about his colleague Rep. Liz Cheney’s dogmatic stance on the religious oath. World-renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett, acting legend Ed Asner and U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin and Mark Pocan have recently appeared on the show. Guests on past seasons include comedian Julia Sweeney, former Planned Parenthood director Cecile Richards and a variety of freethought authors and activists. 

The cities where “Freethought Matters” broadcasts, along with the channels and timings, are listed below:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.

FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and her husband, Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister and well-known atheist author, are creators and co-hosts of the show.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), with more than 30,000 members nationwide. FFRF also works as a watchdog guarding the constitutional separation between religion and government.

The show is usually produced in the Stephen Uhl Friendly Atheist Studio at Freethought Hall in Madison, Wis., by FFRF’s videographer Bruce Johnson, a public television veteran. Crew includes staff members Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey, Kristina Daleiden, Lauryn Seering and Chris Line, plus various floor managers, with sound production provided by Audio for the Arts.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!