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Attorney General Bill Barr thinks Americans are going to hell. Katherine Stewart and Caroline Fredrickson’s New York Times column reveals how President Trump is being played by evangelicals. After hearing the freethought song “Experiment” by the atheist songwriter Cole Porter, we listen to author and professor Isaac Kramnick tell us how “God” got inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance, explaining the faulty legal reasoning that allows it to remain.
Happy New Year! Christianity Today did the right thing by condemning Trump’s morality. We talk on the phone from Mumbai with India’s well-known film and TV actor Sushant Singh, who lost his job as a TV host after publicly condemning the Hindu nationalist violence against students protesting the government’s new laws that would discriminate against Muslims. Then we welcome 2020 with Scottish singer Jean Redpath’s lovely rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” written by freethinker Robert Burns.
Hear about the visit to Freethought Hall of the legendary actor Ed Asner (Lou Grant, “Up”). This week’s show is an antidote to traditional Christmas music. We play a number of funny, irreverent (and sometimes positive) Winter Solstice songs, such as “O Isthmus Tree” by Ken Lohnquist, “Solstice Song” by Kristin Lems, “Christmas Carol” by Tom Lehrer, “Blah Blah Bethlehem” by Ian Assersohn, “Christmas is Pain” by Roy Zimmerman and “White Wine in the Sun” by Tim Minchin.
We complain about prayer and worship in the White House, and report a number of FFRF state/church victories. Tom Cara, president of the FFRF Metropolitan Chicago Chapter, tells us about the un-holy holiday displays chapter members have erected in the Chicago area to counter Nativity scenes and religious displays. Then we hear Rachel Laser, President and CEO of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, accepting FFRF’s “Henry Zumach Freedom From Religious Fundamentalism” award.
‘Tis the season to fight state/church violations. We talk about FFRF’s full-page “Theocracy” ad in the New York Times, and a number of FFRF’s solstice displays around the country to counter religious exhibits. FFRF attorney Chris Line tells us about Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s outrageous attack on the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Then we hear from professor R. Laurence Moore, co-author (with Isaac Kramnick) of Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic: Atheists in American Public Life.
Stand-up comic Leighann Lord gives us “Six things to argue about at Thanksgiving other than politics.” Aline Pham, 18, tells us about her winning high-school student essay. “Mrs. Betty Bowers” (Deven Green) recites her Thanksgiving prayer. Then we hear from Andrew Bradley, the co-creator and writer of the satirical series, “Mrs. Betty Bowers: America’s Best Christian,” who reminds us that the evangelical Christian nationalists are no joke.
Kanye West should not be preaching in prisons. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne explains how we successfully stopped public funding for churches and religious ministries. We report additional recent state/church victories in Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Then former minister and Christian apologist John Loftus, who is now an atheist, tells us about his newest book, The Case Against Miracles.
It’s not even Thanksgiving, but the Christian warriors are already at it at the Wisconsin Assembly. We’ll tell you what’s wrong with their Thanksgiving “Bible Week” Resolution. FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor’s timely warning about the precarious state of abortion rights, under attack by organized religion, is making the news, along with FFRF’s new billboard on the same subject. FFRF Litigation Attorney Patrick Elliott talks about FFRF’s major court victory in Kentucky this week, protecting the free speech rights of atheist Ben Hart to say “IM God” on his license plate. Then we interview author and researcher Frederick Clarkson about his latest major exposé regarding Project Blitz, a not-so-stealthy campaign to impose Christian Nationalist legislation at the state level.
We report on FFRF’s perfect score from Charity Navigator (and on the low score of the Catholic League, which is continuing its unfounded attacks on us). We play a shocking audio clip of prosperity evangelist Paula White, just promoted by Trump to a federally paid faith job at the White House, consecrating the White House for Jesus. We report that a federal employee was “Penced” for opposing the vice president’s raid of USAID funds to go to favored Christian groups. After reciting some egregious state/church violations our legal team is fighting, we interview Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps, and the author of a poignant new book, Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church.
