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.

— These Christians are threatening to follow the law if they don’t get to pray over the loudspeakers before football games. (2:20)

— A new book talks about the harm of the evangelical “purity” movement. (7:53)

— Several states are launching their own investigations into the Catholic Church. (17:37)

— Researchers calculated how much money victims of Catholic Church abuse lose over their lifetimes. (22:18)

— A Mexican cardinal says victims of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal have their own skeletons and should shut up. (28:55)

— Sinéad O’Connor deserves all the apologies for calling out Catholic Church abuse long before it was a news story. (31:09)

— A Christian school has banned all Nike products for athletes after the Colin Kaepernick ad. (37:20)

— A bunch of evangelical Christians released a statement denouncing social justice activism. (45:55)

— A Texas pastor sexually assaulted a teen in church. Is the church handling the situation properly? (58:53)

— American Atheists has a new president. Here’s what he should focus on. (1:03:34)

— Is it fair to question Serena Williams about her Jehovah’s Witness beliefs? (1:25:38)

(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! 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 held a dinner party for conservative Christian leaders, screwed up a quotation, and urged pastors to tell their congregations how to vote. (6:22)

— The Pope’s visit to Ireland was not nearly as popular as organizers expected. (13:51)

— A critic of the Pope says he knew about the abuse and did nothing… but the messenger has problems of his own. (18:02)

— Louis CK is performing again… what does that say about #MeToo? (27:35)

— A critic of Mormon “masturbation interviews” is being threatened with excommunication. 32:34)

— Who installed a Scientology kiosk in a Hollywood police station? (40:45)

— A girl was stabbed at a high school after rejecting a boy’s advances. (44:25)

— A 9-year-old boy killed himself after being bullied for being gay. (46:49)

— 97-year-old televangelist Ernest Angley is being sued for all kinds of creepy abuse. (48:57)

— Russian bots wanted to increase hostilities on both sides of the vaccine “debate.” (56:09)

— A preacher who went viral for speaking in tongues now says we weren’t meant to see that. (57:44)

— Forget the “Nones.” Say hello to the “Solidly Seculars.” (1:02:24)

— How many victims of the Catholic Church do we not know about? (1:12:50)

(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.

— Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) used Christianity to cover up his campaign finance fraud. (2:55)

— The Catholic Church has spent millions of dollars in New York lobbying against bills that would let victims of child sex abuse seek justice. (7:50)

— Good news! Claiming to have flown in an alien spaceship is no longer a dealbreaker to get an endorsement from the Miami Herald. (11:50)

— Christine Hallquist, a trans woman, is the Democratic nominee for governor in Vermont! (16:55)

— A conservative legal group is furious that Hawaii asked non-profits to play by the rules this election season. (18:58)

— An Arkansas school district did not like the contextualized “In God We Trust” poster offered to them by American Atheists. (23:25)

— Surprise: HPV vaccines aren’t bad for you! (28:23)

— A young Mormon woman dumped her fiancé after she realized he watched porn. (33:38)

— The Christian family that handles snakes in church can’t stop getting bitten by snakes for some reason. (43:30)

— Rose McGowan goes from hero to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in a recent #MeToo story. (47:14)

— The former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was charged with forcible touching. (50:37)

— Hemant will be in Portland, Oregon on Friday, August 31 for a free conversation about religion with a Christian apologist. Expect all the fireworks! (51:39)

— Thanks to our Patreon supporters! (52:15)

— Is Donald Trump the first atheist president in history? (52:43)

(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.

— The grand jury’s report on the child sex abuse in six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses… and it’s the most disturbing stuff you’ll ever hear. (0:35 with details at 5:15)

— The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue, as usual, is downplaying the seriousness of the allegations against priests. (24:10)

— Mormons don’t want to be called Mormons anymore. (37:55)

— The Christian baker who famously refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple is back in the news for not wanting to make a birthday cake for a trans woman. (40:05)

— Amidst a sex scandal involving its founder, Willow Creek paid out millions of dollars to settle cases involving a volunteer allegedly abusing two special needs kids. (43:55)

— Pat Robertson told a grieving mother who worried about her daughter getting molested to “get over it.” (45:25)

— Liberty University won’t let student journalists do any actual journalism. (47:45)

— A Catholic school has, again, kicked out a beloved staff for being gay-married. (54:20)

— A Michigan Democrat is on the verge of becoming the first Muslim woman in Congress. (59:25)

— Hemant’s speaking with a Christian apologist in Portland on August 31. (1:01:15)

(Image via Shutterstock)