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Guest: Philip S. Gorski This week we listen to the moving testimony before the National Capital Memorial Advisory Committee in favor of a new monument to honor America’s “forgotten founder” Thomas Paine — testimony by Rep. Jamie Raskin, Margaret Downey (president of the Thomas Paine Memorial Association), military veteran Greg Jones and Black Nonbelievers President Mandisa Thomas. Then we talk with Philip S. Gorski, co-author of The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy.
Guest: Adam Laats. FFRF attorney Chris Line tells us how FFRF is combatting religious indoctrination in Alabama schools. We parse Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s disturbing remarks denigrating nonbelievers during a Notre Dame “Religious Liberty” speech he gave in Rome last week. Then we speak with professor Adam Laats about his new book Creationism USA: Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution.
“Christian nationalism” is being mentioned more and more in the news: Religious right-wing Christian members of Congress and candidates for public office are openly embracing the divisive concept. After hearing the very moving ad by “Mothers Against Greg Abbott” (opposing the Texas abortion ban) and the song “Heaven” set to a Rupert Brooke poem, we hear Bangladeshi-American author, activist and producer Bonya Ahmed describe how she is promoting science and freethought in Bangladesh and the rest of the world.
Guest: Don Ardell. The news is filled with state/church battles, politicking preachers, and religious threats to women’s lives. After hearing a sneak preview of the Godless Gospel song “Life Is Good,” we talk with U.S. and world triathlon and duathlon champion Don Ardell about his newest book, Freedom From Religion in 30 Days: A REAL Wellness Approach to Critical Thinking, Exuberance and Personal Freedoms.
Speeches by Randa Black and Randall Cragun. Christian nationalists have influenced the Supreme Court and the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. To avoid public scrutiny, right-wing religious think tanks and legal groups are reclassifying themselves as “churches.” Actress Randa Black explains why she gave a secular invocation rather than a prayer at a city council meeting, and Professor Randall Cragun tells us how he challenged Alabama’s discriminatory voter registration law — and won.
Guest: Kate Cohen. This week we describe some of the ways FFRF is lashing back against Christian nationalism. After hearing the sobering but optimistic song “In a Dark Time” (words by Philip Appleman, music by Dan Barker), we speak with Washington Post columnist Kate Cohen about her June 30 article: “As the court forces Christianity on America, it’s time for atheists to speak out.”
GUEST: Linda Greenhouse. This week we focus on recent bad Supreme Court decisions attacking women’s rights and the separation of church and state. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott explains the confusing Bremerton case allowing a high-school coach to pray with students. Then we talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist and Supreme Court observer Linda Greenhouse about the demise of Roe (overturning the right to abortion) and her recent New York Times article “Requiem for the Supreme Court.”
FFRF attorney Sam Grover helps us dissect the disappointing Carson v. Makin decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that now allows public tax dollars to directly fund religious education. Then we hear from four winners of FFRF’s David Hudak Memorial student essay contest for Black, Indigenous and People of Color: Galilea Baca (1st-place, pictured), Fadima Tall, Tylinn Wilson and Everett Viego. Then the new student scholar for FFRF and Secular Students of America Sami Al Asadi explains how he became an atheist and an activist.
Guest: Maryam Namazie. Abortion, politicians blaming gun violence on godlessness, secular billboards and the growth of support for state/church separation are among the news topics we discuss this week. After listening to a sneak preview of the new “Godless Gospel” songs, we speak with Iranian-born ex-Muslim activist Maryam Namazie about the international “Celebrate Dissent” conference she is organizing, which will take place in August in Cologne, Germany.
