“Freethought Matters” spring finale: Dan goes to Oxford to debate God delusion 

The super-super spring finale of “Freethought Matters,” the Freedom From Religion weekly TV show, was shot on location and chronicles FFRF Co-President Dan Barker’s recent debate there about God.FFRF Video Director Bruce Johnson accompanied Dan when the famous student Oxford Union Society, founded in 1823, invited him to debate whether God is a delusion. Believe it or not, it was Dan’s 140th debate over religion! The program takes viewers on a tour of Oxford locations and excerpts highlights from the robust debate as well as a short post-mortem in studio. Before the debate, Dan sat down with co-debater and secular sociologist Phil Zuckerman to have a relaxed conversation.

Said Phil: “I keep thinking about Shelley, who wrote a little pamphlet on atheism when he was a student at Oxford, was expelled when it was uncovered that he wrote this tract in the 1800s. And so the fact that you go from Shelley, this great British writer getting expelled for his atheism, to today, where [we are debating] ‘This house believes God is a delusion,’ it really tracks the secularization of Britain.”

Dan had the final word at the debate:

“Why does the existence of God need arguments? It seems like God is doing a great job of hiding himself, doesn’t it? And if he’s doing that, then why are you going to so much trouble to smoke him out of his hiding place? These absences that I mentioned make it highly unlikely that this God is a real being, something outside of my own mind, and much more likely that he is a delusion.”

Tune in to find out which side won the debate!

If you don’t live in any of the marquee towns where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel.

“Freethought Matters” now airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), 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.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.

NOTE: This is the final show of the spring season. “Freethought Matters” takes a summer hiatus and begins broadcasting again the first Sunday in September. Catch up over the summer with interviews from past seasons here.

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 — your antidote to religion on Sunday morning!