Friendly Atheist Podcast

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — "Top evangelicals" are not backing away from Donald Trump, no matter what the headlines suggest. (2:11) — A restaurant in Virginia refused to serve members of a Christian hate group. Is that religious discrimination? (13:15) — An atheist delivered an invocation in Lake County, Florida‚Ķ only to be followed by a Christian giving his own prayer as a sort of correction. (29:29) — SPONSOR: Check out Elle the Humanist, an introduction to Humanism for young readers! Using this link or the code "friendlyatheist" will get you 10% off anything on the website! (37:04) — Actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron is pretending public libraries are censoring him for not hosting events for his new book. (38:30) — Matt Chandler, a megachurch leader with a history of downplaying sexual abuse, returned to the pulpit after his own scandal, but he's not offering any details about what happened. (49:11) — Uber and Lyft allow drivers to preach at riders, setting up a very uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation. (1:04:23) — Will Democrats notice that non-religious voters helped tip the scales in their favor during the midterms? (1:12:15) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Christian hate-preacher Aaron Thompson celebrated the Club Q shooting, calling it a "good thing." (3:00) — Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis says the victims of the shooting are probably in Hell. (9:45) — Focus on the Family's sign was vandalized. Was it justified? (12:30) — Christians are now in the minority in England and Wales. (33:55) — SPONSOR: Check out Elle the Humanist, an introduction to Humanism for young readers! Using this link or the code "friendlyatheist" will get you 10% off anything on the website! https://labelfree.com/discount/FriendlyAtheist (41:53) — Christians in Tuscumbia, Alabama are furious that a Krampus-friendly Festival of Yule is taking place in their community. (43:17) — In Bangladesh, two men sentenced to die for murdering an atheist author and his publisher escaped police custody. (52:48) — At least two instructors at BYU-Idaho, an affiliate of Brigham Young University in Utah, have been fired for not receiving "ecclesiastical clearance." (58:29) — Adnan Oktar, a Creationist preacher in Turkey, was sentenced to 8,658 years in prison for a variety of crimes including running a criminal organization, sexual abuse, torture, and abduction. (1:15:05) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this solo episode, I spoke with Rachel Laser, who became president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State in February of 2018. She is the organization's first non-Christian and female leader in its 75 year history. Rachel is a lawyer, advocate and strategist who has dedicated her career to making our country more inclusive. We spoke about her work with religious organizations, whether the Johnson Amendment will ever be enforced, what people still don't get about church/state separation, and more. 0:00 Intro 2:00 What did you take away from the results of the midterm elections? 5:16 What's the relationship between AU and religious organizations? 10:02 How does your strategy shift given the Supreme Court's right-wing shift? 17:23 How fundamental are lawsuits to AU's mission? 22:18 Are there ways to get Republicans to support church/state separation? 27:04 What misconceptions do Americans have about church/state separation? 32:57 Will new IRS funding lead to enforcement of the Johnson Amendment? 36:03 What are the biggest looming church/state issues we should be concerned about? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Actress Candace Cameron Bure is making pseudo-Hallmark movies that feature "traditional marriage," not gay couples. (0:54) — Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke just lost both of his YouTube channels. (23:28) — "Highly religious Americans" are the biggest climate deniers. (29:40) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt celebrated his re-election with a public prayer in which he claimed the entire state in the name of Jesus. (37:08) — A Buddhist pilot won't have to go through Alcoholics Anonymous after a settlement with United Airlines. (39:20) — A Christian Nationalist who won a school board seat in Florida wants to bring back physical abuse in school, (43:48) — After speaking out against her abusive Christian school, a Canadian woman had her home vandalized. (51:52) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Pat Robertson's prediction failed. (3:00) — How did the godless fare in the 2022 midterm elections? (13:35) — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis deemed himself a "fighter" sent by the Christian God to defend the downtrodden. (33:06) — Tennessee rightly got rid of a ban on pastors in public office. An (unenforceable) atheist ban, however, remained in place. (53:15) — Amendment 3, a "religious freedom" amendment, failed in Arkansas. (1:03:50) — Was the Air Force Academy promoting Christianity on the soccer field? (1:12:36) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Greg Locke's Halloween bonfire to destroy "witchcraft" artifacts, Catholic symbols, and other things he deems evil got a heavy dose of rain. (3:50) — The IRS isn't doing a damn thing to enforce the Johnson Amendment and stop churches from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit. (15:00) — If the IRS doesn't care, should more Democratic preachers use the pulpit to promote their candidates? That's what Rev. Jamal H. Bryant did. (He's not a hero, though.) (36:30) — Yolanda Flowers, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Alabama, made a surprise appearance this week at Creationist Kent Hovind's Dinosaur Adventure Land. (47:12) — While New Mexico GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti insists he's not an anti-abortion extremist, a prominent pastor is telling a very different story. (56:40) — Four members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, all in Pennsylvania, were charged with sexually abusing a total of 19 kids. (1:07:36) — Brazil defeated Jair Bolsonaro and his evangelical Christian base. (1:09:29) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — 45% of Americans say we should live in a "Christian nation." Yikes‚Ķ? (0:50) — Even Christianity Today admits public schools aren't godless. (16:50) — Christian "prophet" Robin Bullock says that Jesus was a wealthy man who owned five houses. (26:18) -‚Äì Sumner County, TN has adopted new rules acknowledging the supposed "Judeo-Christian" founding of the country. (34:23) — Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke is so loud that his county may institute a noise ordinance. (40:36) — Leaders in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo (NY) have agreed to government oversight because they're utterly incapable of protecting kids on their own. (48:15) — A Hasidic school in New York City will have to pay back millions for defrauding the state. (55:50) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Atheist candidate Mike Itkis made a sex tape to boost his flailing congressional campaign. (1:44) — Preaching history teacher and Christian bigot David Paszkiewicz is running for public office in Kearny, NJ. (14:35) — Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke plans to hold another book burning on Halloween. This time, Catholic symbols will be up in flames too. (25:22) — Conservative blogger Matt Walsh says anime is Satanic. (34:10) — Christians lashed out against a "satanic" mural in a middle school painted by a teenager. (38:01) — Mormon dad Matthew Watkins explained how he would disown his daughter if she were in a same-sex marriage and it did not go over well. (50:30) — "The Unbelieving," a new play about preachers who no longer believe in God yet remain in the pulpit, is premiering off-Broadway. (1:03:40) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Bart Barber, the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, was featured on 60 Minutes but revealed the bigotry underlying his faith. (1:13) — Christian hate-preacher Steven Anderson delivered a very explicit and homophobic sermon. (26:29) — Why did a youth pastor hand out "I <3 hot youth pastors" stickers to kids? (33:42) — Catholic hospitals have always been dangerous. After the overturning of Roe, that's never been more true. (46:00) — A lawyer was fined $400,000 for warning a Catholic school about a predator priest on the payroll. (57:00) — Two evangelists canceled a Florida stop due to Hurricane Ian after insisting God told them the event would go on without a hitch. (1:16:02) — One Million Moms prematurely declared victory over the cancellation of "Little Demon." It's not canceled. (1:18:15) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode. Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. — Please join our Discord server! — Texas mother Jamie Gooch is warning people against Hocus Pocus 2. (0:33) — Minnesota lawmakers are launching a Secular Government Caucus to combat Christian Nationalism. (11:54) — Will the revelation that Herschel Walker paid for an abortion have any effect on conservative Christian voters in Georgia? (21:50) — Christian spyware that's meant to monitor visits to adult websites is also being used to monitor Wikipedia searches for atheism. (46:45) — A Christian father has horrible advice for raising good kids. (57:44) — Andrew Thorburn, the newly appointed CEO of an Australian football team, resigned due to backlash over his conservative Christian bigotry. (1:12:30) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.