The Friendly Atheist Podcast

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Caroline Mala Corbin is a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. She teaches classes involving the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment, the Religion Clauses, the Free Speech Clause, Feminism and the First Amendment, and Reproductive Rights. Her scholarship focuses on the First Amendment’s speech and religion clauses, particularly their intersection with equality issues.

We spoke about the Supreme Court’s recent decisions, the fear of the legal challenges that lie ahead, what could happen when non-Christians use “religious freedom” arguments in court, and more.

1:36 How bad are things right now?

2:42 What was the “303 Creative” case?

7:05 Does it matter that no gay couple asked Lorie Smith to design a wedding website for them?

10:30 How worried should we be about the ruling in 303 Creative?

15:26 Can Colorado do anything to circumvent this ruling?

17:25 Should atheists or Satanists use this ruling to discriminate against Christians?

20:30 Why did Neil Gorsuch compare this case to the 1940s’ Barnette case involving the Pledge of Allegiance?

28:55 How do you teach Constitutional Law when this Supreme Court continues to ignore precedent and distort existing law?

30:38: What was the Groff v. DeJoy case all about?

33:44: What does it mean that SCOTUS changed the previous minimum standard to one that requires substantial costs to a company?

42:30 What religious liberty issues are coming down the pipeline? What should we be paying attention to?

45:05 Do teachers have a First Amendment right to refuse to call students by their pronouns? Is the government controlling their speech by forcing them to acknowledge trans identities?

49:33 Why do students in Texas and Florida need their parents’ permission to get out of saying the Pledge of Allegiance?

53:22 Will the expansion of “religious liberty” rights be a useful tool for non-Christians pushing for progressive interpretations of the law?

58:06 What’s your prediction for the next big change to SCOTUS, barring an unexpected death?

58:53 When you meet with constitutional lawyers, what do you all talk about?

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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— Pat Robertson is still dead.

— Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders defends Cross drawing at Governor’s Mansion. (0:52)

— Sen. Josh Hawley shared a fake Patrick Henry quotation to promote theocracy on Independence Day. (16:58)

— Mormon parents sued a school district after their son had sex in the parking lot. (38:00)

— What should Sweden be doing after a man burned the Qur’an outside a mosque? (47:55)

— Are Secular Americans the new abortion voters? (1:07:20)

— Insurers are avoiding Australia’s Anglican schools due to child sex abuse risks. (1:18:38)

— Faith “switching”: Religions are leaking members and can’t plug the holes fast enough. (1:23:05)

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Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— Pat Robertson is still dead.

— What happened to that submersible? (0:20)

— Josh Duggar‘s father-in-law delivered a racist sermon praising Christian slaveowners. (5:15)

— Is the Supreme Court case involving a bigoted Christian web designer built on a lie? (32:40)

— A GOP congressman is targeting a church/state separation group with his defense bill amendment. (46:10)

— In Colorado, nearly 1 in 4 state lawmakers are non-religious. (1:01:20)

— At 14, she was “betrothed” to her pastor. She’s finally sharing her side of the story. (1:11:51)

— A Catholic priest forgot how to count. Now the Church is celebrating a “Eucharistic miracle.” (1:28:15)

Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

***CORRECTION***: The “He-Man Woman-Haters Club” is from the Little Rascals, not The Simpsons! Oops!

— What we can learn from the disgraceful life of Pat Robertson. (0:22)

— Stop overreacting about Jeopardy! players missing a clue about the Lord’s Prayer. (10:47)

— Most Christian pastors use armed church members to thwart a possible mass shooting. (18:25)

— Utah Republicans are furious schools banned the Bible to comply with their book-banning law. (27:05)

— The Catholic Church in Kansas City used the wrong wine… and broke the religion. (34:35)

— A California restaurant chain had employees confess their work-related sins to a fake priest. (43:26)

— U.S. bishops are about to block trans-affirming care at Catholic hospitals. (53:17)

— After complaints from Christians, Poland’s 666 bus to Hel will cease to exist. (1:05:45)

— Survey: In the U.K., belief in God has finally dipped below 50%. (1:09:35)