Freethought Radio

This week we talk about SCOTUS, churches and COVID-19; Kansas schools and proselytizing Franklin Graham; praying Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and non-praying Hollywood celebrity John Davidson. Then we talk with former church music director Steven Phelps who is now an atheist songwriter and performer in Nashville. We hear his moving ballad "After The Last Amen" and his state/church song "Public Places."

Happy Thanksgiving! Co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker host a series of exciting 2020 reports from FFRF staff led by Legal Director Rebecca Markert and Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel. Actor Ed Asner accepts FFRF's "Clarence Darrow Award," activist Ben Hart accepts FFRF's "Freethinker of the Year" award . . . and more from a very busy staff!

FFRF's Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel dissects the shocking speech U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivered to the Religious Right Federalist Society last week. Then journalist Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers, talks about her recent New York Times article, "Trump or no Trump, religious authoritarianism is here to stay."

Many Christian Nationalists are denying the reality of the U.S. election results. FFRF Legal Fellow Brendan Johnson describes the amicus brief we filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court regarding religious groups challenging COVID-19 school closure orders. Then we speak with Nandini Archer of Open Democracy about the group's report, "Revealed: $280 million of 'dark money' spent by US Christian Right groups globally," implicating Trump attorney Jay Sekulow.

We start this election week with John Lennon's "Power to the People." FFRF attorney Sam Grover describes two state/church amicus briefs FFRF has filed in federal court: one in Maine (a victory), and another in Pennsylvania (currently before the U.S. Supreme Court). After hearing Dan's song "We, The People," we talk with historian Kimberly A. Hamlin about her new book that focuses on the woman most responsible for ushering in the 19th Amendment giving "power to women voters": Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener

This Halloween week, it is a scary time for state/church separation, women's rights, and public health. FFRF Legal Fellow Joseph McDonald explains how we got a Missouri public high-school coach to stop leading students in prayer. Then author, educator and activist Sikivu Hutchinson tells us about the challenges facing nontheistic African-American women, explained in her book Humanists in the Hood: Unapologetically Black, Feminist, and Heretical.

We honor the life and legacy of "The Amazing" James Randi, who died this week at age 92, by listening to his entertaining 2008 interview on Freethought Radio. Then we speak with assistant professor of economics Randall Cragun, the lead plaintiff in FFRF's newest lawsuit challenging the disenfranchisement of atheists in Alabama. When Cragun was trying to register to vote, he could not sign the form containing the oath "so help me, God" because he does not believe in God.

The Senate hearings for the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court is the topic of the first half of the show. We discuss why her views on state and church and her membership in a patriarchal cult are alarming. Then we talk with professor Christopher Cameron about his book Black Freethinkers: A History of African American Secularism.

A new national survey of 12,000 nonreligious individuals conducted by FFRF reveals that secular voters are "values voters." After describing the new state/church billboard in Knoxville, Tenn. that was erected by FFRF and its East Tennessee chapter, we announce the winners of the first essay contest for secular students in Puerto Rico. Then we speak with Oxford professor David Nash about his new book, Acts Against God: A Brief History of Blasphemy.

FFRF's Senior Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the lawsuit we filed today challenging the required "So help me, God" oath on Alabama's voter registration forms. Then author, scholar and essayist Susan Jacoby joins us to explain the dangerous religiously dogmatic views of Amy Coney Barrett, the nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court.