An acclaimed scholar who has charted the meteoric rise of secularism is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation show this Sunday.
Ryan T. Cragun is a professor of sociology at the University of Tampa who focuses on both Mormonism and nonreligion. Professor Cragun was born and raised in Utah as a Mormon and served as a Mormon missionary but now thinks of himself as a “None.” He is the author or co-author of many books, including Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society, What You Don’t Know About Religion (But Should), Christianity and the Limits of Minority Acceptance, which is subtitled God Loves (Almost) Everyone, and the intriguingly titled How to Defeat Religion in Ten Easy Steps.
“If we just focus on the U.S., in 1990 about 7 percent of adults identified as having no religious affiliation,” Cragun tells “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “As of today, it’s close to 30 percent. So it has more than quadrupled during that time period. It’s hands down the fastest-growing ‘religious’ group that we have in the U.S.”
Alas, the number of stations broadcasting “Freethought Matters” has reduced this year due to budgetary constraints. If you don’t live in any of the marquee towns where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel. New shows go up every Thursday.
“Freethought Matters” now airs in:
- Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), 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.
- New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- San Francisco, KTVU/KICU-IND (on broadcast Ch. 36 and Cable 6), Sundays at 10 a.m.
- Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.
(To view details on channel variations depending on your provider, click here.)
Upcoming shows include an interview with former Americans United director Barry Lynn and an episode that spotlights a recent debate Dan Barker and Phil Zuckerman had with religionists at Oxford. You can catch interviews from previous seasons here, including with Gloria Steinem, Ron Reagan, “Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead, author John Irving, actor John “Q” de Lancie and award-winning columnist Katha Pollitt. Past interviews also include Julia Sweeney and Reps. Jared Huffman, Jamie Raskin, Hank Johnson and Eleanor Holmes Norton, among many other notable authors, activists, musicians, actors and freethinkers.
Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.
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