Friendly Atheist Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 232 - The Mormon Who Ended An Engagement Over A Fantasy Aug 25, 2018

Show notes

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)

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Ep. 231 - The Disturbing Details From The PA Catholic Church Scandal Aug 18, 2018

Show notes

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)

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Ep. 230 - Southern Baptists Can't Handle A Vegetarian's Plea Aug 11, 2018

Show notes

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

— The rest of Willow Creek church's leadership resigned over the Bill Hybels scandal. (0:28)

— Brock Turner lost his appeal to overturn a sexual assault conviction. (16:14)

— A one-minute video promoting animal rights was too controversial for a Southern Baptist group. (20:40)

— An anti-abortion pamphlet was found inside a box of diapers. (28:30)

— An Atlanta charter school tried to avoid a Pledge of Allegiance controversy only to get embroiled in a Pledge of Allegiance controversy. (32:25)

— A Tokyo medical school changed test scores to purposely exclude women for years. (37:28)

— Why are people abandoning religion? Not believing in God isn't the #1 reason. (42:10)

— Arkansas State Sen. Jason Rapert is rewriting history and blame atheists for wrecking his Ten Commandments monument. (52:10)

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Ep. 229 - Broccoli, The Atheists' New Worst Nightmare Aug 06, 2018

Show notes

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

— Willow Creek megachurch's founder Bill Hybels has now been accused of sexually harassing his assistant decades ago, and the lead pastor quit as a result. (2:15)

— Jeff Sessions' "Religious Freedom Task Force" is just a government program to help conservative Christians discriminate against groups they hate. (18:09)

— Child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church would stop if only seminaries required applicants to abstain from lust or masturbation for a year, says priest. (23:55)

— Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss no longer has his top science job at Arizona State after an investigation found that he groped a woman at a conference. But he's still on the school's payroll. (28:58)

— Want to volunteer with Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse group to help with California wildfire relief efforts? You need to be anti-gay first. (36:44)

— There can be no compromise between LGBTQ Americans and conservative Christians. (41:59)

— Move over, bananas. Atheists have a new worst nightmare: Broccoli. (50:43)

— Pope Francis says the death penalty is never okay. Hallelujah! (55:02)

— A Mormon woman couldn't get a Temple Recommend because she breastfed her baby in church. (1:04:27)

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Ep. 228 - Goop Has A Fact-Checker? Jul 26, 2018

Show notes

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

-- 50 years ago, the pope said birth control was immoral. (1:15)

-- Did you know Gwyneth Paltrow hired a fact checker for Goop? (9:40)

-- This 11-year-old college grad wants to pursue astrophysics so he can prove God's existence. (19:44)

-- Computer models could help us understand the future of religion. (30:25)

-- A Republican candidate for office thinks the Founding Fathers put "One Nation Under God" in the Pledge... which wasn't written until after they all died. (45:35)

-- Two South Asian atheists face blasphemy charges in their countries. One's currently filming a reality show. (56:25)

-- This alternative Ten Commandments is incredible. (1:02:20)

-- We answer a question about whether or not to show off your shoulders in a very Mormon part of Utah. (1:07:17)

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Ep. 227 - The Jesus Endorsement Didn't Help Jul 21, 2018

Show notes

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

-- Republicans just passed another bill to repeal the Johnson Amendment. (0:22)

-- If you're running for governor, don't belittle someone who asks a good question about climate change. (6:35)

-- Russian spy Mariia Butina infiltrated the government via the National Prayer Breakfast. (12:25)

-- Science denier Jenny McCarthy has solid verifiable proof that a ghost is in her house. There's even video! (25:45)

-- Why a gay Catholic could help end the blood donation ban on gay men. (29:15)

-- Richard Dawkins doesn't like the sound of Muslim prayers. Should we be offended? (40:05)

-- White evangelicals don't like that America is becoming less white. (55:26)

-- An Alabama county commissioner with the endorsement of Jesus lost her election. (59:20)

-- Darla Shine, wife of the new Trump administration appointee, thinks women are just asking for harassment if they join the military. (1:02:17)

-- House Republicans passed a bill effectively allowing anti-gay discrimination at adoption agencies. (1:04:19)

-- Ken Ham's merry band of Creationists tried explaining the discovery of a new planet, since it violates their beliefs. (1:10:45)

-- The Humanist Legal Society, an atheist response to the Federalist Society, just launched. (1:16:04)

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Ep. 226 - Throw Away The Used Communion Wafer Jul 14, 2018

Show notes

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

-- The new Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the one right-wing group that opposed him (temporarily), and his claim that church/state separation is "based on bad history." (0:30)

-- This is why it's a problem believing communion wafers are the literal body of Christ. (20:14)

-- Apparently you're not a real man unless you have a first-born son. (25:29)

-- Kentucky can't decide if religious license plates should be allowed because atheists would get to have them. (27:44)

-- Donald Trump's spiritual adviser Pastor Paula White says (wrongly) Jesus never broke the law. (33:00)

-- A judge ruled against the least offensive atheist bus ad ever. (38:09) -- What did you do, Papa John? (43:47)

-- The studio behind God's Not Dead wants to make a movie about the Thai kids trapped in a cave. (46:53)

-- The Center For Inquiry is suing CVS for selling homeopathic medicine in misleading ways. (52:40)

-- Australia is punishing parents who don't vaccinate their kids. Good. (57:52)

-- The UK government is planning on banning gay conversion therapy. (1:01:10)

-- A 12-year-old girl is working to bring a Pride parade to Buffalo Grove, Illinois. (1:04:20)

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Ep. 225 - The Faith of the Next SCOTUS Pick Jul 07, 2018

Show notes

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

-- Is Ark Encounter lying about attendance again? (0:39)

-- A Republican congressional candidate thinks women are best described as "helpers." (15:52)

-- What does Scott Pruitt's resignation letter say about God? (26:22)

-- The man who destroyed the Ten Commandments monument in Arkansas doesn't regret it. (30:40)

-- In Virginia, a new city council was sworn in... and they got rid of prayer. (36:21)

-- A priest conducting a funeral went crazy after someone bumped into a chalice. (39:30)

-- Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential Supreme Court pick, has a church/state separation problem. (43:58)

-- Southern Baptist donors are furious that a seminary fired Paige Patterson, a man who downplayed or ignored sexual abuse. (58:22)

-- This church protested Donald Trump's immigration policy by locking the Holy Family up in a cage. (1:02:37)

-- There's a cultural vacuum in Trump's White House. (1:04:37)

-- The issue of government-led prayer is in chaos because of the Supreme Court. (1:10:26)

-- Don't get suckered in by Christians saying "I'm sorry" at a Pride parade. (1:21:30)

-- The new season of the StartUp podcast is looking at a church plant. (1:31:08) -- We've got listener mail! (1:33:10)

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BONUS - The Bluemke Sibling Dollop Tribute Journey Through the Satanic Panic Jul 04, 2018

Show notes

In January, Jessica found out her brother Kevin was reading a book about the Satanic Panic and she thought it would be fun to sit down and have him walk her through the ins and outs of that era. They recorded in February. They had technical issues and had to scrap it. They tried again in April. It went very poorly. They scrapped it. But, third time's a charm, and so now we present to you "The Bluemke Sibling Dollop Tribute Journey Through the Satanic Panic." Notes: This podcast is a hat tip to The Dollop, a favorite American History comedy podcast hosted by Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds. (We suggest starting with Episode 2: Purity Balls if you enjoy the FA Podcast.) Kevin's sources are from Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe.

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Ep. 224 - Anthony Kennedy's Church-State Legacy Jun 30, 2018

Show notes

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

-- What does Anthony Kennedy's retirement mean for church/state separation? (1:05)

-- The Supreme Court banning abortion will backfire on evangelicals. (18:25)

-- A Walgreens pharmacist refused to fill a prescription for a woman who miscarried. (32:00)

-- Your thoughts and prayers alone won't help the victims in Annapolis, Maryland. (37:50)

-- The American Family Association thinks a man spying on women in a Target dressing room is a good reason Target should ban trans people from using the right bathroom. (43:50)

-- Joel Davis, a man who fought to stop sexual violence, has been charged with committing sexual exploitation against children. (51:50)

-- El Al, Israeli's national airline, vows to kick off ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to sit in seats next to women. (54:20)

-- The GOP's tax bill accidentally hurt churches. (57:42)

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