A leading chronicler of the rights of non-Christian Americans who is also an ardent humorist is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday.
Professor Jay Wexler of the Boston University School of Law and his newest book, Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans and Others Are Demanding Their Rightful Place in Public Life, are featured on the talk show. He embarked on a cross-country adventure (during which he stopped by at the FFRF headquarters in Madison, Wis.) that resulted in a 2009 book called Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/state Wars. Wexler clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and his work focuses on state/church issues and constitutional law. He also was the first to study laughter at the Supreme Court.
“If you just look at the data, the demographics are changing, and these days there are fewer and fewer Christians and more people who identify with minority religions or no religion at all,” Wexler explains to “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor the impetus for his latest book. “But beyond that, I think our Constitution very much makes it clear that we’re not a Christian nation, that we’re in fact, a nation where all religions can be exercised freely, but no particular religion can be supported by the state or be our official religion.”
If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of Freethought Matters by subscribing to FFRF's YouTube channel.
This is the fall season’s 25th episode of “Freethought Matters,” airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Feb. 14.
Coming shows include interviews with Nate Phelps, the freethinking son of the notorious founder of the Westboro Baptist Church Fred Phelps, Congressional Freethought Caucus member Rep. Jerry McNerney and Indian actor/activist Sushant Singh.
“Freethought Matters” airs in:
- Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
- Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
- Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
- Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
- Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
- New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
- Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
- Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
- Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.
Previous guests from the fall season include: pundit Eleanor Clift, whose interview you can watch here, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse, the country’s leading analyst of the U.S. Supreme Court, and legislative stalwart and feminist and civil rights pioneer U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. One of the most eminent public intellectuals in the world, Professor Steven Pinker, was interviewed a few episodes ago talking about his new course on rationality. Legendary TV host, actor and singer John Davidson was the guest in early December. Recently, the show featured Ann Druyan, the co-creator of “Cosmos,” possibly the most acclaimed TV series of all time. A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, grappled on the show with philosophy and the pandemic, and discussed how he himself dealt as a nonbeliever with a personal tragedy. And a couple of weeks ago, the show interviewed Robert P. Jones, the CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute who is an expert on the intersection of religious and racial extremism.
Watch previous seasons here, including interviews with Ron Reagan, Julia Sweeney and Ed Asner, as well as U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.
P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!