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Show 280: The Best Church of God!

The Best Church of God!

Audio here!

Without church, many have asked for more community and fun in the atheist and freethinking community. This void is being filled in a unique and hilarious way by the Chicago based satirical performance group, “The Best Church of God.”  Join us for performance sketches and an interview by Sunsara Taylor with cast members of the group.

From the Best Church of God website:

“Historians will say the Best Church of God was founded in early 2008. The truth is, the BCOG started some 6,000 years ago when the Almighty created the earth (see the book of Genesis for accurate, irrefutable details). And while we are not the first to worship, fear, and consume the Lord, we are the first to do it correctly.

“We are a unique denomination of Christ-followers who believe in the absolute, literal, and unerring word of the Bible as set forth in the original English. The Lord has chosen the Best Church of God as His only official assembly of worship. Being the true Crusaders for Christ, we will stop at nothing to prove to the unbelievers that true faith requires no proof, convert the sinners to the morality only Christianity can provide, and smite those who stand in the way our blessed mission. In the war of religions, God is only on one side: ours. He told us so.”

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Show 279: Julia Bacha on the documentary, “Encounter Point”

Julia Bacha on the documentary, “Encounter Point”

Audio here!

Julia Bacha is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker focusing on the Middle East, and the Media Director at Just Vision.  Her award-winning films about Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have been exhibited at the Sundance, Tribeca, Berlin, Jerusalem, and Dubai International Film Festivals, among others.  She has received several international prizes and was nominated to the Writers Guild of America Award in 2005.  Her documentaries have been broadcast on the BBC, HBO, Sundance, CBC, and Al Arabiya television channels.

Most recently, Julia co-directed the award-winning feature documentary Encounter Point (Typecast Films, 2006), which follows the courageous efforts of Palestinian and Israeli civilians who are at the vanguard of a non-violent movement for justice and peace in the Middle East.  Encounter Point won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Rencontres Film Festival, in Montreal and more.  The film will be screened at a local WBAI fundraiser (Israel and Palestine: Talk We Must) which will include other guests including author Joel Kovel (Overcoming Zionism) and Diann Killian (Brooklyn Center for Non-Violent Communication) on Long Island on May 3rd.

 

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Show 278: One-Hour Easter Day Special w/Arnell Dowret

One-Hour Easter Day Special w/Arnell Dowret

Audio here!

This Easter our basket truly overflowith as we examine…

Naturalistic Christianity, or “Everybody Else Does It So Why Can’t We?”

Is it possible that there can be completely naturalistic approach to being a Christian?  This Easter we’ll be taking your calls to hear your views on this question.

We’ll also be featuring a special rebroadcast of what, to date, is the last known public debate between Jesus Christ and the Easter Bunny – recorded just months before the Bunny tragically contracted Type-2 Genital Herpes, and loath to pass it on, voluntarily went into seclusion 🙁

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Show 277b: On the Origins and Psychology of Dogmatic Thinking and Ideology II

What’s so Wrong about being Absolutely Right?: A Discussion on the Origins and Psychology of Dogmatic Thinking and Ideology.

Pt. 2

Audio for both parts here!

What does it mean when we say someone is being dogmatic?  Are only religious fundamentalists capable of dogmatic thinking?  Can science-based atheists be dogmatic?  What is the difference between dogmatism and ideology?  Why do people engage in dogmatic thinking in the first place; is it biological, sociological or psychological or all of the above?  And, what can we do to limit dogmatic thinking?

These questions and more will be discussed in a special two-part program with clinical psychologist Judy Johnson and social psychologist John Jost.  If we want to get to the reasons why some feel religion and politics are so contentious, and even dangerous, we probably should be focusing on how people behave within religious or political frameworks.  If we want to build a more humanistic, less dangerous world, we must then learn what we should be doing to avoid the potential dangers therein.  We hope this program will offer some of those answers as well as tools toward creating a healthier society.

The audio for this program, which aired in two parts on March 29th and April 5th, can be found BELOW. Please note that this audio is an EXTENDED version containing two questions not aired on WBAI-NY; one of these concerns the question of whether authoritarian persons or societies are a normal part of human nature, or a sign of either an unhealthy individual or society, while the other is a personal question the host asks regarding his own possible dogmatic tendencies.