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FFRF’s Director of Communications Amit Pal updates us on Indian Prime Minister Modi’s attempt to turn secular India into an officially Hindu nation. After hearing the “comfort music” song “Don’t Fence Me In,” by atheist songwriter Cole Porter, we talk with FFRF’s Director of Governmental Affairs Mark Dann about what it’s like to be a D.C. lobbyist during the pandemic, and what accomplishments FFRF has garnered on Capitol Hill with the Congressional Freethought Caucus and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Dallas megapastor Robert Jeffress improperly politicked from the pulpit on “Freedom Sunday.” After hearing the parody “Hang On, Ruthie” (about Ruth Bader Ginsburg), we talk with Skyler Hutto, the South Carolina attorney who is suing his governor for distributing millions of dollars of COVID relief to private (mostly religious) schools. Then we chat with historian, author and commentator Juan Cole about his article, “Fundamentalist pandemics: What Evangelicals could learn from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam.”
Religion is a major cause of the spread of COVID. The NO BAN Act passed the U.S. House this week, undoing President Trump’s restrictions on travel and immigration from several Muslim countries. FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about a church-owned property that will now have to pay taxes. We protest an evangelical-owned coffeeshop for violating mask regulations and condemn the South Carolina governor for diverting tax money to religious schools. Then we talk with U.S. Representative Jared Huffman — the only open nonbeliever in Congress — about the Congressional Freethought Caucus’ scathing rebuke of the report by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights.
The Catholic Church lobbies for special treatment to gain billions of PPP dollars. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about the secret phone calls between the White House and religious groups to funnel money to Trump’s preachers. Then law professors Nelson Tebbe and Micah Schwartzman discuss their powerful New York Times article, “The quiet demise of the separation of church and state.”
FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert explains what was so bad about two Supreme Court decisions this week dealing with religion, civil rights and women’s health. FFRF’s Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel tells us about the billions of dollars flowing to churches (many that are evangelical favorites of President Trump) under the Paycheck Protection Program. Then we talk with professor Khyati Y. Joshi about her new book, White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America.
The Mississippi flag swaps one exclusion (Confederate symbol) for another (“In God We Trust”). FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott explains our amicus brief supporting California’s social-distancing requirement for churches and tells us what was wrong with the Supreme Court’s Espinoza pro-voucher decision. Then FFRF’s “Anne Nicol Gaylor Reproductive Rights Intern” Barbara Alvarez tells us what was right about the Supreme Court’s June Medical decision about abortion.
For our first broadcast of the summer, we hear actor John de Lancie (who played Q on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) deliver a very moving virtual commencement address to graduating seniors in the Secular Student Alliance. Then we speak with award-winning NYC stand-up comedian and author Leighann Lord, who comments on the bird-watching incident in Central Park, and about her thoughts on Father’s Day in her “People With Parents” podcast.
We celebrate this week’s Supreme Court Bostock decision affirming civil-rights protections to the LGBTQ community. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott explains how that case relates to religious liberty. After hearing the song “Freedom From Religion,” we talk with Jon Steingard, the former lead singer of the Christian rock band Hawk Nelson, who just announced on Instagram that he no longer believes in God.
The Texas lieutenant governor and a Texas mayor are improperly mixing religion and government. We ask the Pennsylvania governor not to hand state money to churches. After hearing the freethinker Nina Simone’s 1964 civil-rights protest song “Mississippi Goddam,” we talk with eminent Chicago Law School professor Geoffrey R. Stone about the Supreme Court’s upcoming decisions about abortion and state/church separation.
