Click here to watch the teaser.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday ponders why so many gods (especially the God of the bible) behave like territorial, violent alpha males.
Guest Hector A. Garcia is author of Alpha God: The Psychology of Religious Violence and Oppression and contends that this concept of a deity creates many psychological problems for believers. Garcia, who has also written Sex, Power and Partisanship: How Evolutionary Science Makes Sense of Our Political Divide, is a clinical psychologist specializing in post-traumatic stress disorder and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Garcia has done TED Talks, has been on PBS and C-SPAN and will be speaking at FFRF’s convention the last weekend of October in San Antonio.
“Gods often serve as men of war that lead men into battle,” Garcia explains to “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “All those aspects of our violent territorial nature get sacralized. It’s very hard to extricate those from the fabric of a culture when they’re sanctioned by the most powerful being in the universe, so to speak. If you really believe that, it’s hard to change your mind about what lands are entitled to you and what you may do to acquire them.”
If you don’t live in the quarter-plus viewership of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube channel. New shows go up every Thursday. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of “Freethought Matters” by subscribing to FFRF’s YouTube channel.
“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, KIAH-CW (Ch. 39), Sundays at 11 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, Digital Channel 5.5), Sundays at 9:30 a.m. (Digital channel 5.2 has been dropped.)
- New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 10 a.m. Note time change!
- 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.
Upcoming shows will include an interview with Hector Garcia, author of Alpha God: The Psychology of Religious Violence and Oppression and a speaker at FFRF’s November convention in San Antonio, and Cynthia McDonald, a civil rights activist and atheist who will be part of the convention’s “Godless Gospel Choir” and a conference panel of Black freethought activists. “Freethought Matters” is now in its sixth season. To watch earlier shows, including an interview with freethinker and feminist icon Gloria Steinem, visit the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube channel. 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!
