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We listen to some of Vice President Mike Pence’s religious pandering as he spoke (at his own invitation) to the Southern Baptist Convention this week, promising believers that he and Trump “will always stand with you.” After covering positive freethought news from around the world, we hear the words of American patriot Thomas Paine in the song “The World is My Country.” Then we talk with well-known “Wellness” advocate and multiple triathlon world champion Donald Ardell (79), who, in addition to promoting private and public health, is a champion of the words of the 19th-century agnostic orator Robert Green Ingersoll.
FFRF attorney Liz Cavell discusses the recent disappointing Supreme Court Masterpiece Bakery decision, explaining that it is not as bad it could have been, and that it is still illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion. After hearing the song “Poor Little Me,” written by Dan Barker and Broadway composer Charles Strouse (whose 90th birthday is today), we talk with Irish-American actor/author/politician and radio host Malachy McCourt, whose most recent book is Death Need Not Be Fatal.
Jane Donnelly and Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland tell us about their involvement in the successful May 25 referendum repealing the Amendment 8 abortion ban and the decline of Roman Catholic power in their country. Then we talk with Peruvian ophthalmologist Dr. Hector Guillen the main organizer of the first international Latin American Freethought Conference, involving 12 countries fighting for secular government, that took place in Arequipa, Peru in May.
After 67 years, James A. Haught, the hard-fighting editor of West Virginia’s largest newspaper, the Charleston Gazette-News, is still advocating for reform. Haught, who has authored a dozen freethought books, tells us what it has been like fighting governmental corruption working for a progressive-minded paper in one of the most conservative states in the country. Then we listen to the stories of Samson’s wedding and Pinehas’s racism excerpted from the audiobook of Dan Barker’s book GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction, read by Dan and Buzz Kemper (who played the “voice of God.”)
Sarah Haider, co-founder of Ex Muslims of North America (exmna.org) will receive FFRF’s “Freethought Heroine” award at our convention in San Francisco in November. She talks to us about the irony that while the number of Ex-Muslims is growing rapidly in the United States, the challenges of leaving Islam are becoming more dangerous. Then we interview international lawyer, chess promoter, and private investment fund manager Richard A. Conn, Jr., about his new book: Earthbound Parent: How (and Why) to Raise Your Little Angels Without Religion.
Rev. Franklin Graham, an evangelical moralist, says the Stormy Daniel controversy is “no business” of anybody. Boy Scouts rebrand their image but still exclude nonbelievers. We listen to Representative Jared Huffman explain on C-Span why he created the first Congressional Freethought Congress. After hearing Irving Berlin’s song “Pack Up Your Sins And Go To The Devil In Hades,” we talk with New York City standup comedian (and atheist) Leighann Lord, who just made it to the finals (top 5 out of 200) in the American Black Film Festival-HBO Comedy Wings Competition and who will be performing at FFRF’s annual convention in November.
This week we celebrate the formation of the new Congressional Freethought Caucus, promoting science and state/church separation in government. FFRF attorney Liz Cavell explains our victory declaring a cross on the Lehigh County, Pennsylvania seal unconstitutional. We again protest the National Day of Prayer by hearing the words of the federal judge who ruled it unconstitutional. After hearing Dan sing “Get Off Your Knees And Get To Work,” we talk with victorious state/church plaintiff David Steketee about his lawsuit (taken by FFRF) declaring New Jersey county grants to repair churches to be unconstitutional.
There was a lot of media coverage about FFRF’s unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court victory stopping counties from using public money to repair churches. FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert describes the amicus brief we filed in opposition to President Trump’s recent travel ban, claiming it violates the Establishment Clause and the “no religious test” provisions of the Constitution. Then we talk with psychologist and author Valerie Tarico, a former fundamentalist, whose cogent article, “Why is the bible so badly written?”, was censored by Salon.com.
Breaking news: The New Jersey Supreme Court just handed FFRF a unanimous victory declaring state grants to repair churches to be unconstitutional. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne gives us the details. Author and researcher Linda LaScola, editor of the Patheos blog “Rational Doubt,” congratulates “#MeToo” atheist women for speaking out against sexual harassment in the freethought movement. Then the Peruvian author Ricardo Zavala, president of the Freethinkers of Peru, describes the first-ever Latin-American Freethought conference he is organizing that will take place in Arequipa, Peru May 24-26, to promote a completely secular state.
