Freethought Radio

Are clergy "essential" workers? FFRF is complaining about favoritism to religion during the coronavirus pandemic. Our comfort music this week is "Smile," written by the freethinking Charlie Chaplin. FFRF Director of Communications Amit Pal joins us as we talk by phone from locked-down India with Avinash Patil, the courageous executive president of the Organization to Eradicate Superstition in Maharashtra, India, whose founding president Narendra Dabholkar was murdered by religious fanatics.

Happy Earth Day To You! We report an FFRF state/church victory dealing with HUD and Freedom of Information. FFRF Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel describes his groundbreaking article in the Northeastern University Law Review called "Bad History, Bad Opinions." After hearing the "comfort music" song "Promise of Dawn" by Dan Barker and Juanice Charmaine, we talk with poet, essayist and author Katha Pollitt, from her NYC "epicenter" apartment, about how anti-abortionists are exploiting the pandemic to promote their ideological agenda.

God, government, and the coronavirus. Public officials are favoring religion during the COVID-19 crisis. Despite prayer, churches were damaged by Easter storms. After hearing "America's Best Christian" Betty Bowers urge churchgoers to "stay the hell at home," we talk with professor Ryan Burge about his research showing that atheists and agnostics are the most politically active "religious group" in the United States.

We are preserving social distancing between state and church. FFRF attorney Sam Grover describes our recent free-speech victory against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who removed our winter-solstice display from the state capitol. After hearing more comfort music — including Tom Lehrer's "Vatican Rag" — we talk with eminent British philosopher and author A.C. Grayling about his new books, The History of Philosophy and The Good State.

For our first show produced remotely, we cover abuses of state/church separation during the pandemic. After celebrating the birthday of irreverent lyricist ("Over the Rainbow") Yip Harburg by hearing "The Begats" and "Ain't It The Truth?", we talk with freethinking actress, playwright and former SNL comic Julia Sweeney, who is "sheltering at home" in Hollywood, about her co-starring roles in "Shrill" (Hulu), "Work in Progress" (Showtime), and the upcoming season of "American Gods" (Starz, Fall 2020).

This week on Freethought Radio: President Trump wants to "pack the pews" of churches by Easter. Vice President Pence encourages believers to continue tithing. Governors, mayors and lawmakers promote prayer as a response to the pandemic. After hearing the Philip Appleman song "In A Dark Time," we talk by phone with journalist and author Susan Jacoby, from her New York City apartment where she is sheltering in place in the coronavirus epicenter, about battling the virus of faith.

FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne tells us what is wrong with President Trump and local officials using prayer to fight the coronavirus. Then we hear journalist and author Jeff Sharlet talk about his powerful exposé, a book which is now a Netflix series, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. Taking the cue of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, we end the show with some "comfort music" for these troubling times: "Love Walked In," by George and Ira Gershwin.

There is more to beware of this week than the Ides of March. Can the Corona Virus be cured by prayer? FFRF's Andrew Seidel tells us about how Vice President Pence is (unsuccessfully) trying just that. After reporting state/church news and listening to the optimistic Yip Harburg/Earl Robinson song "One Sweet Morning," we talk with journalist and author Katherine Stewart about her cautionary new book, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism.

We filed our first lawsuit in Puerto Rico, with the Humanistas Seculares as plaintiffs. FFRF attorney Sam Grover explains that the public schools in Puerto Rico have been forcing Christian prayer on all students. Then we talk with investigative journalist Nandini Archer about her Open Democracy expose, "Trump-linked religious 'extremists' target women with disinformation worldwide," proving that American anti-abortion evangelicals are funding dishonest Crisis Pregnancy Centers all over the world.

Missouri school board sides with FFRF (and not the state attorney general) in disallowing coach-led prayer. FFRF Director of Communication Amit Pal tells us about Trump's "religious nationalism" visit to India this week. Then we talk with Erin Louis about her freethought "behind the scenes" book Expose Yourself: How to Take Risks, Question Everything and Find Yourself — Humor and Insights From My Life As A Stripper.