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We recap the diverse international conference, “Days of Atheism” held in Poland in March, including the commemoration of the 330th anniversary of the execution of Polish writer Kazimierz Lyszczynski for atheism. In honor of Daniel C. Dennett, who visited FFRF’s office last week, we play Irving Berlin’s rousing 1922 song, “Pack of Your Sins and Go to the Devil.” Then we talk with author, professor and clinical psychiatrist Hector A. Garcia about his new book Sex, Power, and Partisanship: How Evolutionary Science Makes Sense of Our Political Divide.
In this week’s show, guest-hosted by FFRF Communications Director Amit Pal, we first touch on a number of events in the news, ranging from the international to the national to recent Wisconsin election results. We then talk with FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover about how the term “religious freedom” is being currently used and misused. We conclude with an interview with documentarian Mary Dore, the director of a film on the early women’s rights movement, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, on how and why she made the movie and its relevance to the state of women’s rights today.
We celebrate the March 29 birthdate of Monty Python’s Eric Idle by playing two of his irreverent songs. In the news segment, we talk about the upcoming international atheist gathering in Warsaw, Poland, FFRF’s new scholarship competition for law students and the threat of legislation intended to ban abortion in the United States. Then Dan Barker interviews Red Tani, founder of Filipino Freethinkers, who talks about the challenges of promoting science, reason and women’s rights in a country so heavily dominated by the Catholic Church.
FFRF constitutional attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about his testimony in Missouri opposing a bill that would disallow plaintiffs from filing anonymously in state/church lawsuits. Tax professor Adam Chodorow explains what is wrong with the recent Seventh Circuit decision overturning FFRF’s victory in the “housing allowance” lawsuit challenging special tax privileges for clergy. Then we speak with author, journalist and activist Robin Marty about her new book Handbook for a Post-Roe America.
Oral arguments took place this week in the case FFRF, Americans United, and the ACLU are defending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over a Florida county that bars atheists from invocations. Hear our reaction to President Trump signing bibles for Alabama tornado victims, and listen to Annie Laurie’s complaint over discrimination against menstruating women worldwide. After hearing the Yip Harburg song “One Sweet Morning,” we talk on the phone from Ghana with Roslyn Mould, the Coordinator of the West African Humanist Network.
FFRF’s director of strategic response, Andrew L. Seidel, joins host Annie Laurie Gaylor for a lively dissection of the oral arguments last week in the Supreme Court’s Bladensburg cross case, including excerpts of the arguments and Andrew’s eyewitness impressions. Then, they interview David Steketee about his exciting win Monday in FFRF’s successful challenge of billions of tax dollars for church repairs, in clear violation of the N.J. state Constitution. This week, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of FFRF’s victory, making it final. Then we play a rousing, timely pep talk on the recent threats to secular government by Larry Decker, until recently the executive director of Secular Coalition for America, who spoke at FFRF’s 2018 annual convention. By the way, you’ll hear musical teasers of Ravel, an atheist who was born on March 7, 1875. We also give a shoutout to International Women’s Day and the anniversary of the landmark McCollum v. Board of Education case (both on March 8.)
We review major news of the week: The pope blaming Satan instead of the church for child abusers within its ranks; oral arguments in the Bladensburg cross case before the Supreme Court; the 4th anniversary of the murder of atheist author Avijit Roy by Islamist terrorists, and the Trump Administration’s new assault against Planned Parenthood. Cheryl Kolbe, director of FFRF’s Portland chapter, joins us to talk about how she just persuaded Portland’s city council to give nonbelievers protected status. Then “Why I Am Not a Muslim” author Ibn Warraq tells us more about atheism and freethought in the Muslim world and why millions are leaving Islam.
We celebrate Black History Month by hearing Nina Simone sing “I Ain’t Got no God” in the song “Ain’t Got No,” and by talking with Mandisa Thomas, founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, who tells us about the upcoming “Women of Color Beyond Belief” conference in Chicago. Then we speak with Polish atheist, feminist and activist Nina Sankari, vice-president of the Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation, about the “Days of Atheism” conference next month in Warsaw.
We give a Bronx cheer to Trump’s religious remarks at the State of the Union and the National Prayer Breakfast, but we give a real cheer to Black History Month by celebrating Butterfly McQueen and Frederick Douglass. After hearing a Valentine’s Day love song, “The Man I Love” (written by the nonbelieving Gershwin brothers, and sung by Dan’s mother when she was a teenager), we talk with author and filmmaker Jeremiah Camara about his new documentary movie, Holy Hierarchy: The Religious Roots of Racism in America.
