The Friendly Atheist Podcast

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

— “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… 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)

Patreon supporters who give $5 a month will get an ad-free version of the show!

Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

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

— 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)

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In this solo episode (Jessica will be back next week), 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?

Patreon supporters who give $5 a month will get an ad-free version of the show!

Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

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

— 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)