Friendly Atheist Podcast

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Ep. 454 - Interview with Rachel Laser, President of Americans United Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

In this solo episode, 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?

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Ep. 453 - YouTube Finally Banned Greg Locke Nov 18, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— 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)

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Ep. 452 - The Growth of the Godless Caucus Nov 11, 2022

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Ep. 451 - The IRS Isn't Investigating Churches Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— Greg Locke's Halloween bonfire to destroy "witchcraft" artifacts, Catholic symbols, and other things he deems evil got a heavy dose of rain. (3:50)
— The IRS isn't doing a damn thing to enforce the Johnson Amendment and stop churches from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit. (15:00)
— If the IRS doesn't care, should more Democratic preachers use the pulpit to promote their candidates? That's what Rev. Jamal H. Bryant did. (He's not a hero, though.) (36:30)
— Yolanda Flowers, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Alabama, made a surprise appearance this week at Creationist Kent Hovind's Dinosaur Adventure Land. (47:12)
— While New Mexico GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti insists he's not an anti-abortion extremist, a prominent pastor is telling a very different story. (56:40)
— Four members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, all in Pennsylvania, were charged with sexually abusing a total of 19 kids. (1:07:36)
— Brazil defeated Jair Bolsonaro and his evangelical Christian base. (1:09:29)

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Ep. 450 - How Many Houses Did Jesus Have? Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— 45% of Americans say we should live in a "Christian nation." Yikes‚Ä¶? (0:50)
— Even Christianity Today admits public schools aren't godless. (16:50)
— Christian "prophet" Robin Bullock says that Jesus was a wealthy man who owned five houses. (26:18)
-‚Äì Sumner County, TN has adopted new rules acknowledging the supposed "Judeo-Christian" founding of the country. (34:23)
— Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke is so loud that his county may institute a noise ordinance. (40:36)
— Leaders in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo (NY) have agreed to government oversight because they're utterly incapable of protecting kids on their own. (48:15)
— A Hasidic school in New York City will have to pay back millions for defrauding the state. (55:50)

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Ep. 449 - Greg Locke's Next Book Burning Oct 21, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— Atheist candidate Mike Itkis made a sex tape to boost his flailing congressional campaign. (1:44)
— Preaching history teacher and Christian bigot David Paszkiewicz is running for public office in Kearny, NJ. (14:35)
— Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke plans to hold another book burning on Halloween. This time, Catholic symbols will be up in flames too. (25:22)
— Conservative blogger Matt Walsh says anime is Satanic. (34:10)
— Christians lashed out against a "satanic" mural in a middle school painted by a teenager. (38:01)
— Mormon dad Matthew Watkins explained how he would disown his daughter if she were in a same-sex marriage and it did not go over well. (50:30)
— "The Unbelieving," a new play about preachers who no longer believe in God yet remain in the pulpit, is premiering off-Broadway. (1:03:40)

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Ep. 448 - Bart Barber and Southern Baptist Cruelty Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— Bart Barber, the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, was featured on 60 Minutes but revealed the bigotry underlying his faith. (1:13)
— Christian hate-preacher Steven Anderson delivered a very explicit and homophobic sermon. (26:29)
— Why did a youth pastor hand out "I <3 hot youth pastors" stickers to kids? (33:42)
— Catholic hospitals have always been dangerous. After the overturning of Roe, that's never been more true. (46:00)
— A lawyer was fined $400,000 for warning a Catholic school about a predator priest on the payroll. (57:00)
— Two evangelists canceled a Florida stop due to Hurricane Ian after insisting God told them the event would go on without a hitch. (1:16:02)
— One Million Moms prematurely declared victory over the cancellation of "Little Demon." It's not canceled. (1:18:15)

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Ep. 447 - Herschel Walker's Abortion Hypocrisy Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— Texas mother Jamie Gooch is warning people against Hocus Pocus 2. (0:33)
— Minnesota lawmakers are launching a Secular Government Caucus to combat Christian Nationalism. (11:54)
— Will the revelation that Herschel Walker paid for an abortion have any effect on conservative Christian voters in Georgia? (21:50)
— Christian spyware that's meant to monitor visits to adult websites is also being used to monitor Wikipedia searches for atheism. (46:45)
— A Christian father has horrible advice for raising good kids. (57:44)
— Andrew Thorburn, the newly appointed CEO of an Australian football team, resigned due to backlash over his conservative Christian bigotry. (1:12:30)

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Ep. 446 - Christian Homework in a Bathtub Sep 30, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— An 8-year-old girl was expelled for not wanting to send her teacher a picture of herself reading in the bathtub. (0:55)
— Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is going after Republican Darren Bailey for using a fundamentalist Christian curriculum in a school he opened. (10:36)
— Are Tennessee's license plates making it easier for cops to spot atheists? (24:19)
— Students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana thought they were attending a "College & Career Fair." Instead, they were taken to church. (30:44)
— Fundamentalist Christian mom Lori Alexander wants women to avoid feminism. This chart isn't helping. (38:55)
— Bible preacher Mike Winger says you should kill someone if God tells you to. (47:30)
— The documentary Jihad Rehab is poorly and irresponsibly made, but some prominent atheists are whining about "identity politics." (52:47)
— The Satanic Temple sued Indiana's top officials to block an extreme abortion ban. (1:08:35)

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Ep. 445 - Where Did Coach Joe Kennedy Go? Sep 23, 2022

Show notes

Please support the show at https://www.patreon.com/friendlyatheistpodcast. Donors now get access to a new BONUS episode.
Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Please join our Discord server!
— Greg Locke is very unhappy about his depiction in the Peacock series Shadowland. (1:47)
— Despite the Supreme Court giving him his old job back, Joseph Kennedy, the football coach who held prayer spectacles at midfield after games, is long gone. (14:04)
— Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma claimed that God showed approval for his state's extreme abortion ban by‚Ä¶ making it rain after a drought. (26:15)
— God's Not Dead 5 is coming soon. (32:18)
— Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says Christians must vote a certain way or else they're being "unfaithful" to God. (45:20)
— When Liberty U. comes into town, UMass football will hold "Pride Day" (56:22)
— Many of New York's Hasidic schools are taking public funds but not educating kids. (1:00:55)
— Rapper Kanye West has opened his own private Christian school where parents have to sign NDAs. Yikes. (1:12:00)

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