June 2018

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Queer Disbelief, a book Hemant edited, is now out on Kindle and in paperback! It’s on sale during Pride month, too! Go pick up a copy!

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— What does Anthony Kennedy‘s retirement mean for church/state separation? (1:05)

— The Supreme Court banning abortion will backfire on evangelicals. (18:25)

— A Walgreens pharmacist refused to fill a prescription for a woman who miscarried. (32:00)

— Your thoughts and prayers alone won’t help the victims in Annapolis, Maryland. (37:50)

— The American Family Association thinks a man spying on women in a Target dressing room is a good reason Target should ban trans people from using the right bathroom. (43:50)

— Joel Davis, a man who fought to stop sexual violence, has been charged with committing sexual exploitation against children. (51:50)

— El Al, Israeli’s national airline, vows to kick off ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to sit in seats next to women. (54:20)

— The GOP’s tax bill accidentally hurt churches. (57:42)

(Screenshot via YouTube)

If you support what we’re doing, please contribute to our Patreon page!

Queer Disbelief, a book Hemant edited, is now out on Kindle and in paperback! It’s on sale during Pride month, too! Go pick up a copy!

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— Should Catholic Church confessionals about child abuse be reported to the cops? (2:01)

— Apparently, Australia doesn’t exist. (9:45)

— Two Christian women released a marriage checklist. It’s disturbing. (13:14)

— In Alberta, religious schools want the ability to “out” members of Gay-Straight Alliances to their parents. (26:00)

— PA State Rep. Brian Sims had a one-finger salute for Mike Pence. (36:27)

— “Hot Dog Water” isn’t a thing. But people are buying it. (39:13)

— Focus on the Family doesn’t care about families being ripped apart by Donald Trump. (43:05)

— Country musician Rory Feek accepted his gay daughter’s marriage. Now Christian bookstores won’t sell his memoir. (45:54)

— Gwyneth Paltrow‘s GOOP tried to get more scientific… and failed. (53:36)

— The governor of Texas promised a dying boy that he would ban abortion completely. (59:26)

— Attorney General Jeff Sessions was accused of immigrant child abuse by 600 members of his own religion. (1:07:13)

— Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz won a huge settlement from the Southern Poverty Law Center (yay!) and the Religious Right is using it to their advantage (boo). (1:14:45)

— Can you separate art from the artist? (1:27:03)

(Image via Shutterstock)

If you support what we’re doing, please contribute to our Patreon page!

Queer Disbelief, a book Hemant edited, is now out on Kindle and in paperback! It’s on sale during Pride month, too! Go pick up a copy!

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— The Trump administration is using Bible verses to justify tearing children away from their parents. (1:29)

— Canada’s Supreme Court says legal societies can reject the accreditation of an anti-gay Christian law school. (14:52)

— Abortion: Why won’t anyone think of the men? (28:14)

— A Christian Right group plans to spend $20 million for the upcoming midterms. How will you respond? (40:42)

— A study says religious people live several years longer than atheists. Don’t believe it. (50:09)

— These cities are in danger of outbreaks due to parents not vaccinating their kids. (58:30)

— Ireland has set a date for a referendum to overturn the law banning blasphemy. (1:02:12)

— Another Bangladeshi atheist was murdered. (1:08:38)

— Why would a UK legislator block this bill? (1:13:25)

— We got mail! (1:16:34)

(Image via Shutterstock)

In this bonus episode, Hemant spoke with David Ellis Dickerson. He’s a writer mostly known for his many appearances on “This American Life,” telling stories about growing up a conservative Christian in Tucson, Arizona. In 2013, he became an Emmy-nominated game show writer for his work on the Christian game show “The American Bible Challenge,” which aired on the Game Show Network and can now be seen on Netflix.

Be sure to watch his recent (hilarious) TEDArchive talk.

We spoke about how our paths inadvertently crossed about a decade ago, how an atheist gets a job writing for a Christian game show, and what “SEX DUO” has to do with the Bible.