Friendly Atheist Podcast

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- Donald Trump screwed up Christianity 101 at the White House Christmas Tree Lighting. (1:17) -- Will anything prevent evangelical Christians from voting for Roy Moore in next week's special election to the Senate? (7:36) -- In a tragic story, an atheist activist killed his wife, then himself,...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. (We had an echo during the recording. Sorry! We'll fix it next time.) -- A Scottish shop owner got pushback for keeping her store open on Sundays. (1:16) -- A New Zealand megachurch will lose its tax exempt status after failing to file tax returns. (7:26) -- Why are these UK water companies oka...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- How should we be reacting to the news that Sen. Al Franken once groped and kissed a model without her consent? (0:42) -- Roy Moore's defenders are not making him look good. (18:17) -- An Australian lawyer will help a Christian couple get divorced after marriage equality passes. (24:43) -- An...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- The Texas shooter was allegedly an atheist. Is it true? What would that even mean in this situation? (0:49) -- Roy Moore, the family values Christian and Senate candidate, allegedly molested a 14-year-old girl several decades ago. (14:41) -- Congressman Jared Huffman said he doesn't believe...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- Some critics are angry that Canada's Governor General Julie Payette mocked pseudoscience. (1:05) -- Pat Robertson tried comforting a grieving mother by trashing atheists. (13:00) -- The GOP's tax plan would let pastors endorse candidates from the pulpit without punishment. (18:58) -- A Chris...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- Arkansas State Senator Jason Rapert and the Ten Commandments monument going up (again) in Arkansas. (0:30) -- Alberta Catholic schools want to teach an alternative sex ed curriculum. (13:25) -- The dad from Duck Dynasty is spreading the lie that crime soars in areas without God. (24:40) -- A...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- The new Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, is an ex-Mormon who describes herself as Agnostic. (1:41) -- There's a push for Christian churches to clarify where they stand on issues involving LGBTQ rights. (8:18) -- An ad campaign for the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter makes no...

81% of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump last year, despite his bragging about sexual assault, despite his multiple marriages, despite his wealth and complete lack of concern for the poor, despite his flip-flopping on matters of abortion and saying women who had them needed to be punished, despite the lies and racism and bigotry. It seems like they were going to vote for whoever the Re...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- Your thoughts and prayers after the shooting in Las Vegas aren't helping. (1:06) -- The folks at Fox and Friends think the shooter just "didn't believe in God." (14:31) -- The worst response to the shooting came from a Mormon who blamed the victims. (22:02) -- What should we make of the surv...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- Conservative Matt Walsh criticized a male actor subbing in for a sick actress as promoting a transgender agenda. (1:39) -- Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat who is religiously unaffiliated, will run for Senate in 2018. (10:20) -- Christian theocrat Roy Moore is a step closer to becoming a...

In a bonus episode of the podcast, I spoke with Camille Beredjick about her new book Queer Disbelief (which I helped edit). We spoke about why atheists should be on the front lines of LGBTQ activism, what aspect of the book was most difficult to write, and how she celebrated the completion of her first book. Please support the project at Kickstarter! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- Hemant and fellow writer Camille Beredjick have been working on a new book about the intersection of LGBTQ rights and atheism. (0:09) -- BYU is finally selling caffeinated soda on campus. This is the most exciting thing EVER, said Mormons... and nobody else. (7:12) -- Journalist Sally Quinn...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. -- An Australian minister refused to perform a straight wedding because the couple supported marriage equality. (0:58) -- Evangelical Christians suddenly don't care about a president's private morality. I wonder what changed their minds... (8:13) -- It's harder for some men to get vasectomies b...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. -- Here's how atheists are helping people in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. (0:38) -- An Illinois library board member was voted out of his seat after his anti-gay comments. (7:55) -- Should atheist groups speak out against Donald Trump's DACA decision? (13:06) -- Alt-Right leader Steve Banno...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. -- Why Pastor Joel Osteen didn't open his Houston megachurch for people needing shelter during Hurricane Harvey until after he was publicly shamed over it. (0:37) -- The Nashville Statement, an anti-LGBTQ manifesto written by conservative Christians. (The statement is at 17:28; analysis is at...

Amber Cantorna was a home-schooled child raised in a conservative Christian family. But her father wasn't merely a believer. He's spent 30 years as an executive at Focus on the Family, the ministry founded by James Dobson and known as one of the most anti-LGBTQ groups out there. All of that became a problem when Amber came out as gay, a pivotal moment in her life which she writes about in her fort...

Jessica and her brother Kevin sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. (Hemant was out once again dealing with a newborn.) - Kentuckians for Coal are boycotting the eclipse. - A Melbourne archbishop says he'd rather go to jail than report child abuse told to him during confessional. - Donald Trump's lawyer comparing George Washington to Robert E. L...

Jessica and Anne Bouleanu sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics. (Hemant was away this weekend.) -- Are serial killers more likely to be atheists? -- An evangelical advisor says Donald Trump has God's authority to take out Kim Jong-un. -- A waitress was stiffed on her tip because of her rainbow equality tattoo. -- Christians are more than twice a...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. -- BYU-Idaho asked a student why she dropped out... so she told them the truth. (0:42) -- The Mayor of Knoxville (TN) finally admitted a Bible sign hanging in the police department was illegal. (5:30) -- The White House Bible Study is bad enough, but the instructor is worse. (13:42) -- Donald...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. -- Donald Trump said "We Worship God." All of us. (02:21) -- Trump's ban on transgender troops. (06:21) -- The Colorado atheist who gave his invocation slot to a Satanist. (12:04) -- Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback will become a "Religious Freedom" ambassador... for some reason. (17:45) -- The Boy S...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. -- Ark Encounter lost a tax rebate worth up to $18 million to avoid a 50-cent-per-ticket safety fee. -- Creationists are mocking Flat Earthers for taking the Bible too literally. Really. -- The "inspirational" Mormon story that is anything but uplifting. -- The MN town that shut down a "free s...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. They included: -- The "Activist Mommy" who can't handle an article in Teen Vogue. -- An Appeals Court decision saying Christian prayers led by elected officials is unconstitutional. -- Eugene Peterson, the Bible scholar who inched toward support of marriage equality, then ran back to the other...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. They included: -- Hobby Lobby's owners smuggling black market Iraqi artifacts that may have helped ISIS. -- The Pakistani pizza shop owner who made sure his robot waitress wasn't offending customers. -- The Muslim woman who thinks ex-Muslims are just trying to cash in on apostasy. -- The sad r...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. They included: -- Cardinal George Pell just became the highest-ranking Vatican official charged with sex abuse. -- Sarah Huckabee Sanders' irrational godly defense of Donald Trump's misogyny. -- The Christian who vandalized the new Ten Commandments monument outside the Arkansas Capitol buildin...

Jessica and I sat down to talk about several stories from the past week involving religious and politics. They included: -- The Christian terrorist threatening atheists over a statue in Tennessee. -- The Christians harassing the atheist attorney who won a lawsuit in Florida. -- GuideStar's decision to highlight "hate" groups using the Southern Poverty Law Center's database. -- The woman who won a...