The Friendly Atheist Podcast

Lloyd Evans is the founder of JWSurvey.org, a website that focuses on the problems with Jehovah’s Witnesses. For most of his life, Lloyd was a Witness. But that changed not too long ago. Now he’s trying to help others leave the faith.

On a personal note, I’ve learned so much about the seedy underbelly of the religion by reading his work.

We spoke with Lloyd about why JWs are suddenly getting more attention, the most painful aspect of leaving the faith, and the awful afterlife in store for those who didn’t make the cut for the “chosen” 144,000.

Notes:

Here’s a video Lloyd made for his newborn daughter Jessica.

With Lloyd’s help, this is an Atheist Voice video explaining 9 things you may not know about the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Dr. Ryan T. Cragun is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Tampa and the author of books including What You Don’t Know About Religion (but Should).

His latest is called How to Defeat Religion in 10 Easy Steps.

We spoke with Dr. Cragun about whether religious fervor is cyclical or fading, why religious holidays should become secular, and the surprising thing churches can do to stop the shifting trend away from religion.

Notes:

Here’s a link to an article about Dr. Cragun’s paper calculating the cost of religious tax exemptions (His estimate: $71,000,000,000/year).

Jennifer Michael Hecht is a historian, philosopher, and author of several bestselling books including Doubt: A History.

Her latest book is called Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It.

At the American Atheists 2015 convention in Memphis, Tennessee, Jessica spoke with Jennifer about how thoughts of suicide differ between atheists and religious people, how more people in history have been atheists than believers, and whether it’s possible to discern what certain historical figures thought about God.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Gerald Posner is an investigative journalist and author of several books, including ones about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

His latest book, God’s Bankers, is all about the Vatican’s finances, and how the Church got involved with the Mafia and money launderers.

We spoke with Gerald about how he followed the trail of the Church’s money, what the Vatican Bank is used for, and the advice he has for investigative journalists.

Notes:

Here’s a link to Gerald’s petition to #FreeTheFiles.