Finally! President Barack Obama goes on the record in support of gay marriage--but only a day after North Carolina voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning it.

And speaking of North Carolina, pastor Sean Harris of Fayetteville's Berean Baptist Church preached a sermon in which he advocated parental violence against gay children. He later issued a non-apology apology, dismissing the whole thing as a poor choice of words.

Meanwhile, gay activist Dan Savage is under fire from critics for calling bull$#!+ on Christians obsessed with Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality.

Finally, David highly recommends Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel Cat's Cradle.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you're in Atlanta on Saturday, May 26, come to the Atlanta Science Tavern to hear "The Christian Right's Assault on Public Education and the Science Curriculum," a talk by Katherine Stewart, author ofThe Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children (hardcover or Kindle). The Tavern requests RSVPs, and since it fills up early, the sooner you reserve your place the better.

CONTACT

Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com.

Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com.

Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.)

If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed.

Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups.

Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com.

If you’d like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer.

May 10, 2012. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.

That's right, 150 episodes. Yay us.

John gives a report on his (and Allison's) recent trip to London and Edinburgh. A good time was had by all.

We received lots of listener feedback on our interview in show 149 with Matthew Bowman, an admitted true-believing Mormon and author of the cultural history The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (hardcover or Kindle). Listeners opined Mormon attempts to overturn same-sex marriage in Maryland, the shocking suicide rate among gay Mormons, and expressed dismay that a seemingly thoughtful and intelligent person could believe in golden plates.

On to business...it looks like the religionists won Salazar v. Buono, the case to remove a Christian cross (erected by a private party in 1934) from Sunrise Rock, which is located deep within the federally-owned preserve in California's Mojave Desert. Rather than rule that a private cross on federal property is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court kicked the case back to the lower court. Now a federal judge has ruled that the cross can stay as long as the government swaps the acre where the cross sits for five acres elsewhere. It's a bad ruling and a bad outcome that sets a bad precedent. No secular (or no-Christian) symbol would ever have been show such deference.

Meanwhile, the Freedom from Religion Foundation has convinced Sylvania, Alabama to remove a blatantly religious Bible verse from its "welcome" signs. How anyone could think that "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism" isn't hopelessly sectarian and plainly unconstitutional boggles the imagination.

Finally, the War on Christmas rages in April in Leesburg, Virginia, where local freethought groups are urging the county's planners NOT to allow holiday displays on the courthouse grounds. (In recent years, the park around the courthouse has turned into a tacky free-speech free-for-all.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you're in Atlanta on Saturday, May 26, come to the Atlanta Science Tavern to hear "The Christian Right's Assault on Public Education and the Science Curriculum," a talk by Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children (hardcover or Kindle). The Tavern requests RSVPs, and since it fills up early, the sooner you reserve your place the better.

CONTACT

Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com.

Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com.

Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.)

If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed.

Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups.

Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com.

If you’d like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer.

April 28, 2012. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.

We interview Deborah Scroggins, author of the Wanted Women: Faith, Lies and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. This dueling biography contrasts the lives of the world’s most hated female apostate and the world’s (at one time) most wanted female Islamic terrorist.

Also:

The Cranston, Rhode Island school board has decided NOT to appeal the recent court ruling that a prayer banner at Cranston High School West was unconstitutional. Student Jessica Ahlquist, who brought the lawsuit, has been the subject of abuse and even death-threats in the mostly Catholic state, which was (ironically) founded on the principle of religious freedom. School board chairwoman Andrea Iannazzi claims they won’t be pursuing an appeal, not because they understand the unconstitutionality of a religious banner in a public school, but because the district cannot currently afford the legal costs (as if the ACLU is flush with cash nowadays).

Some progress in the fight for gay rights. Washington has become the 7th state to legalize same-sex unions, but New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (often mentioned as a potential Republican VP nominee) has vetoed a similar measure passed by his state’s legislature. A November referendum is a possibility in both states.

Giveaway! Either join our Facebook group or leave feedback on our NEW iTunes feed, and you’re eligible to win a copy of Cullen Murphy’s new book God’s Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World. A winner will be randomly selected on February 25th.

CONTACT

Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com.

Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com.

Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.)

If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed.

Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups.

Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com.

If you’d like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer.

February 20, 2012. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.

Controversy at the National Prayer Breakfast! Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) walked out during President Obama's sermon. Gingrey is shocked--shocked!--to find that there's politicking going on at the NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST.

"Rabbi" Ralph Messer has crowned Atlanta's New Birth Missionary Church "Bishop" Eddie Long as king. To see the 15-minute ceremony, go here and skip forward to the 53:30 point. Needless to say, this has pissed off actual Jews.

Also:

Read "Atheism in America" by Julian Baggini.

If you live in Virginia, call your state representative and urge him/her to vote no on House Bill 189, which would allow religious organizations to discriminate against would-be adoptive parents on the basis of religion.

If you live in Georgia, call your state representative and urge him/her to vote no on House Resolution 425, which proposes to amend the state constitution to allow direct and indirect state funding of religious charities.

Giveaway! Either join our Facebook group or leave feedback on our new iTunes feed, and you're eligible to win a copy of Culllen Murphy's new book God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World. A winner will be randomly selected on February 25th.

CONTACT

Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com.

Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com.

Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.)

If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes page.

Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups.

Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com.

If you'd like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer.

January 21, 2012. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.

We interview Cullen Murphy, editor-at-large for Vanity Fair and author of God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World. For more on Cullen visit CullenMurphy.com.

John also recommends Wanted Women: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui by Deborah Scroggins.

We look at the aftermath of highschooler Jessica Ahlquist's First Amendment victory in Rhode Island. After winning a lawsuit to have a prayer banner removed from a public high school, Ms. Ahlquist has received threats and harassment--even local florists refuse to deliver flowers to her house!

The Supreme Court has supported the concept of "ministerial exception," ruling that religious organizations may hire or fire "ministers" for any reason, even if the reason would otherwise violate laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Consider it fair warning that if you accept a job with a religious organizations, you could be checking your civil rights at the door.

Also discussed:

The new documentary Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged, now in very limited release.

The 2003 documentary Touching the Void, about mountaineer (and atheist) Joe Simpson's hair-raising story of survival in the Peruvian Andes.

Holey Scripture! If Tim Tebow's 316-passing-yard victory over the Steelers points to John 3:16, what verse does his 136-passing-yard loss to the Patriots point to? True believers probably don't want to know.

Speaking of John 3:16, Crosshairs, er, Focus on the Family has a new TV ad that's running during football games. Where it's more annoying than effective, we may never know.

The Supreme Court refuses to hear two cases relating to prayer at government meetings, letting stand lower court rulings.

We're reading God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World by Cullen Murphy, and Wanted Women: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui by Deborah Scroggins.

Giveaway! Either join our Facebook group or leave feedback on our new iTunes feed, and you're eligible to win copies of Christopher Hitchen's books Hitch-22 and Arguably. A winner will be randomly selected on February 1st.

[Opening soundbite from "My First Hardcore Song"]

CONTACT

Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com.

Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com.

Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.)

If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes page.

Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups.

Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com.

If you'd like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer.

January 21, 2012. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.