The Friendly Atheist Podcast

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! Go pick up a copy!

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

— Here’s what happened in the Supreme Court as they discussed the Bladensburg Cross. (1:27)

— The “My Pillow” guy, Mike Lindell, told CPAC Donald Trump was the best president ever because he was “chosen by God.” (12:45)

— Cardinal George Pell‘s lawyer tried to get him a more lenient sentence by referring to his actions as “plain vanilla” child rape. (15:36)

— A Missouri bill would ban anonymity for anyone who files a church/state separation lawsuit. (20:00)

— The United Methodist Church just voted for its own extinction by adopting an anti-LGBTQ stance. (26:56)

— Skeptics came up with a clever way to expose psychic mediums. (33:22)

— Richard Dawkins is giving away professionally translated versions of his books for free for readers in Muslim-majority nations. (41:22)

— Pope Francis had no concrete suggestions for handling child sex abuse at a summit about handling child sex abuse. (44:18)

— Portland (Oregon) now explicitly includes atheists in its non-discrimination ordinance. (46:33)

— With a conservative government, Brazilian lawmakers are resurrecting old bills that promote Christian supremacy. (48:20)

— In Argentina, an 11-year-old girl was forced to give birth to her rapist’s baby. Because that’s what the “pro-lifers” wanted. (51:37)

— A Florida Democrat is skipping the first day of the legislative session so she can hang out with Pat Robertson. (54:06)

— A Kansas lawmaker won’t endorse anti-gay “parody marriage” bill after daughter’s open letter, but he doesn’t go far enough. (56:50)

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! Go pick up a copy!

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

— A California law would force Catholic priests to report child sex abuse. (0:41)

— Washington legislators want to remove faith-healing homicide exemptions from the law. (6:47)

— A Colorado billboard welcomes women seeking abortions. (11:30)

— A Tennessee legislator wants to change the Constitution to include a useless line about God. (21:10)

— A Wyoming lawmaker supports the death penalty since that’s how Jesus was killed. (25:52)

— Who’s to blame for the Flat Earth movement? YouTube. (27:50)

— Should a former teen ISIS member be allowed to re-enter society when she becomes an adult, if she doesn’t have any remorse? (32:50)

— Move over, Christian bakers. You’ve got company in the tax department. (41:55)

— The Church of Norway is apologizing for its stance on abortion. (45:42)

— Pope Francis said critics of the Catholic Church were “friends of the Devil.” (48:52)

— Catholic cardinals blamed the “homosexual agenda” for the sex abuse scandal. (50:30)

— Michigan’s attorney general is going after the Catholic Church and its sex abuse cover-up. (52:16)

— A Christian Right leader went on a rant about witches in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s district. (56:05)

— What the Southern Baptist sex scandals teach us about the Catholic Church sex scandals. (1:00:40)

— An 11-year-old was arrested after he didn’t say the Pledge. Kind of. (1:04:15)

— What is going on with Jussie Smollett? (1:07:10)

(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! Go pick up a copy!

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

— Once again, an atheist invocation by an Arizona legislator was rebuked by a Christian who couldn’t handle it. (0:45)

— An investigation found rampant abuse among Southern Baptist churches. (7:00)

— A Nebraska lawmaker wants atheists to promote religion in order to keep everyone “in line.” (18:06)

— Don’t shake the hand of this FOX News host. (27:18)

— A theologian claimed that female pastors are as bad as sex offender pastors. (31:14)

— The MAGA hat-wearing boys from Covington Catholic did nothing wrong, says an investigation commissioned by Covington Catholic. (32:39)

— A Christian school told female dancers to bind their breasts before a show. (37:11)

— A Planned Parenthood (that doesn’t even perform abortions) was set on fire in a possible hate crime. (42:55)

— A West Virginia lawmaker suggested he would drown his kids if they were gay. (52:12)

— Women in the military say they’re being denied birth control. (56:35)

— An 18-year-old who had never been vaccinated defied his parents and got his shots. (58:11)

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! Go pick up a copy!

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

— Donald Trump accidentally praised religious leaders for achieving the “abolition of civil rights” during the National Prayer Breakfast. (1:18)

— A TN lawmaker says taxpayer-funded abortions violate the law because they’re an endorsement of the “religion” of Secular Humanism. (4:00)

— A cross washed up on a Florida beach… so of course it’s supernatural. (9:00)

— Democrats are debating “In God We Trust” when administering oaths in House subcommittees, and one decided to do away with the phrase altogether. (12:20)

— Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson says he doesn’t need health care because God made us all immortal. (16:19)

— In Arizona, the specialty “In God We Trust” license plate is funding a Christian hate group. (20:40)

— Hemant is giving an atheist invocation at a county council meeting! (27:10)

— New Jersey will begin teaching LGBT history in public schools. (30:32)

— A gay atheist in Poland just launched his own political party to push back against Catholic influence. (33:06)

— Michigan’s attorney general just pulled the state out of three church/state separation lawsuits on which they were fighting for the wrong side. (36:13)

— Pope Francis, for the first time, acknowledged the ongoing sexual abuse of nuns by priests. (38:35)

— A judge said a 13-year-old girl was the “aggressor” in a sexual abuse crime involving a 67-year-old man. (41:45)

— A 24/7 Dutch church service meant to protect refugees finally ended after the policy in question changed. (42:24)

(Screenshot via YouTube)