We talk to Lori Lipman Brown, director and lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America [secular.org]. Until recently, Lori was the only full-time lobbyist working with Congress on behalf of non-theistic citizens. She recently got an assistant.
Why settle for a dry, tasteless cracker, when you can have a tasty Cheeto? A woman in Missouri has discovered a Cheeto that looks like Jesus on the Cross.
Amazingly, this isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Back in March, a Methodist youth director in Texas found another Cheeto that looks like Jesus (a paraplegic Jesus at that, but the less said the better). The man displays this not-so-holy relic, which he dubs “Cheesus”, in his office bookcase. Classy!
Webster Cook, the University of Central Florida student at the center of the Eucharist controversy, gives his version of events on Freethought Radio. Here’s the link.
PZ Myers - We talk to the University of Minnesota Morris biologist and author of the popular science blog Pharyngula [scienceblogs.com/pharyngula]. Dr. Myers is an atheist whose outspokenness often raises the hackles of fundamentalists. His recent missives on the controversy centering on University of Central Florida student Webster Cook’s “stealing” of a Eucharist wafer has brought him to the attention of Blowhard Bill Donahue and his Catholic League.
To protest university funding of on-campus religious services, University of Central Florida Student Senator Webster Cook “stole” a Eucharist during a Mass on June 29th. Drilling down to Cook’s precise motives and exactly what happened can get complicated, but there’s a pretty good account of it here:
Science Debate 2008 - We take a look at the grassroots movement aimed at getting the presidential candidates to talk about issues relating to science and technology, including their “14 Questions”. For more visit ScienceDebate2008.com.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_el_pr/obama_faith
This is certainly disappointing. I had hoped (get it? “hope”? ahem…) that a Democratic president would put an end to government-funded faith-based initiatives, much less EXPAND them.
Don’t do it, Senator Obama! You’re ahead in the polls and a move like this won’t help you. The conservative fundamentalists won’t vote for you under any circumstances, and this will only piss off your liberal/progressive base.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2719223520080627
The day before we recorded episode #20 of the podcast, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the Louisiana Science Education Act, which is essentially designed to protect teachers who might want to insert creationist teachings into public school biology classrooms. It’ll be interesting (and probably frustrating) to see how this thing plays out in practice.
Barbara Forrest - We talk to Dr. Barbara Forrest about SB 733 [link], the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act, a piece of legislation sitting on the desk of Governor Bobby Jindal that, if signed, would enable teachers and administrators in state schools to sneak Creationism/Intelligent Design in under the radar. Dr. Forrest is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, the co-author of Creationism’s Trojan Horse [link], and was one of the star witnesses in the celebrated Kitzmiller v. Dover court case. She’s also a co-founder of the Louisiana Coalition for Science [lasciencecoalition.org] and active in defending science against religio-political encroachment at the national level.
Happy 150th Birthday, Evolution! - In 2009, the thinking world will celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his Origin of Species [link]. But we’re popping the cork early - a landmark in the history of science occurred on July 1, 1858. That’s the day that the theory of evolution by natural selection had its first public reading (at London’s famous Linnean Society). We’ll talk about how Charles Darwin and his associates gave naturalist Alfred Wallace the subtle shaft, ensuring that religious nutjobs in the 21st century would be railing about “Darwinism” instead of “Wallacism”. (For an excellent analysis of this episode, read Robert Wright’s fantastic book The Moral Animal [link].)
Independence Day- Now, here’s a holiday even the grumpiest atheist can get behind. Everybody knows that on July 4th, 1776, the American Colonists told the Brits where they could shove it. Sort of. We’ll look at some of the myths surrounding the birth of America, and revisit that pesky semi-religious language that has the fundies crowing about how this is a Christian Nation.
Goodbye, George Carlin- The skeptical world lost one of its funniest and most adamant stars. Carlin fought for free speech (and even pissed off politically correct left-wingers in the process) during the course of his five-decade career. He will be missed.
South Carolina Approves I Believe License Plates - The SC legislature just approved specialty license plates that include the words “I Believe” along with a Christian cross and a stained glass window. Florida tried the same trick and failed. We’ll talk to Herb Silverman, longtime SC resident and president of the Secular Coalition for America (www.secular.org), about their opposition to this.
City Halls Display In God We Trust - A listener in California alerted us to a movement intent on convincing city councils across the country to display the national motto. The fact that the motto is “In God We Trust” has nothing whatsoever to do with religion, of course.
