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Show 286: Humanism and Marriage — The ETFF Pride Weekend Edition

Audio here!

It was Pride weekend and this show aired mere hours after NYC’s world famous Pride Parade, celebrating the rights and accomplishments of the LGBT Community.

“For years the issue of same-sex marriage has electrified the political landscape. But is marriage a religious institution? And if so, should the government be granting privileges to *any* couples? Or does marriage benefit civic society, and is it wrong to let religious objections keep certain couples from participating?

Also, is marriage a humanist institution?

Join your host Michael O’Neil as we review this issue and take your calls on Equal Time For Freethought!”

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Show 285b: “Abortion – the Debate That Won’t Go Away” II

In the Aftermath of Dr. Tiller’s Assassination: Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women

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When a hero of women is hunted, demonized and finally cut down for saving the lives and the quality of life of women everywhere, it is women as a whole who have been violently assaulted.  And a society that does not rise up in massive repudiation against this is a society that accepts as normal the degradation, subjugation, shaming and blaming of half of humanity.

This Sunday, Equal Time for Freethought will run a second segment on the question of abortion in the aftermath of Dr. Tiller’s assassination.  Sunsara Taylor will speak with Susan Wicklund, author of ‘This Common Secret: My Journey As an Abortion Doctor.‘

Susan Wicklund, like Dr. Tiller, has been stalked, blockaded, harassed and assaulted for decades for her continued determination to provide safe abortions for women who need them.  She attended Dr. George Tiller‘s funeral along with other colleagues from around the country and will join Equal Time for Freethought to discuss why her work is so central to women’s ability to live full and equal lives.  She will discuss the atmosphere surrounding abortion providers in the aftermath of Dr. Tiller’s murder.

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Show 285a: Abortion: The Debate that won’t go Away (Call-In Special)

“Abortion – the Debate That Won’t Go Away” (Call-In Special)

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Events in the past two months have made it clear that despite it being thirty six years after Roe v Wade, the question of abortion continues to be as controversial as ever. On Sunday May 17th, President Obama suggested that we draft “a sensible conscience clause” presumably giving anti-abortion health care providers the right to refuse to perform an abortion. On May 31st, abortion provider George Tiller was shot dead while attending church.  On May 15th, a gallop poll found that 51 percent of those questioned call themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion.  On April 19 and 26th, our own WBAI featured two programs during which explicitly anti-abortion views were offered both by the guest and the producer as well. This Sunday ETFF will be taking your calls as we examine abortion, the debate that won’t go away.

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Show 284: Church & State in Kearny, New Jersey; The Saga Continues…

Call-In Special: Church & State in Kearny, New Jersey; The Saga Continues…

Audio here!

Matthew LaClair will be conducting a special call-in program on a topic which he was first introduced to ETFF’s audiences as a guest speaker on.  Matt will be updating and discussing the latest chapter in the ongoing saga regarding his former U.S. History Public High School teacher who, back in 2006 in Kearny, NJ, he recorded and challenged for preaching religion during class.  That incident garnered worldwide attention, and was reported on in the New York Times.

This time, the teacher, David Paszkiewicz – who is also the adviser of a Christian Club in the school – is taking the club to the Creation Museum in Kentucky this weekend. This field trip was initially supposed to occur in part during school hours using taxpayer money with the educational rationale being to expose students to the “science behind creationism.”

Matthew will discuss his actions this past week, and talk about what can be done about this breach of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. What do YOU think about this issue?  Should religious clubs in public schools be allowed to use taxpayer money to promote something that directly opposes the educational curriculum?  Should this teacher be appeased or admired?  Or is this yet another way the religious right uses back door tactics to turn American schools into mini-theocracies, and thus teachers like Paszkiewicz be removed from public service?  Call Matt to chat abut these questions Sunday at 212-209-2900!

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Show 283: PLAY w/ Stuart Brown M.D. *With Bonus Material!*

The attached mp3 contains the interview with Stuart Brown MD meant for air for on May 31 2009 but was interrupted by technical difficulty. And there is an additional +5 minutes of the interview that we are including here as a bonus! A “Director’s Cut” if you will.

Audio Here!

Michael O’Neil interviews Stuart Brown, MD about his book Play: How It Shapes The Brain, Opens The Imagination, and Invigorates The Soul. Stuart is the founder of the National Institute For Play, supporting research on play as a biological drive in nature and an essential component of society and personal development.

What is play?

Why does a Humanist movement need play?

What is a play history and what is your play personality?

Stuart Brown, M.D. is a medical doctor, psychiatrist, clinical researcher, and the founder of the National Institute for Play. He speaks regularly to Fortune 500 companies and groups across the country on the importance of play in our lives. Most recently, he appeared at the New York Public Library. The producer of a three-part PBS series, The Promise of Play, he has also appeared on NPR and was featured in a cover story in The New York Times Magazine.

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Show 282: Thinking Critically: Zeitgeist I & II

Two-Hour Fund Drive Program – Thinking Critically: Zeitgeist I & II

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Zeitgeist, the Movie is a 2007 documentary film about “social myths”, including religion, 9/11 and the banking system. The sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum, advocates a new technology-based social system influenced by the ideas of Jacque Fresco and the Venus Project.

A remastered version of the film was screened on November 10, 2007 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of a film festival held there (the 4th Annual “Artivist Film Festival”) where it won the “Best Feature” award in the “Artivist Spirit” category for feature-length documentaries. In 2008, “Zeitgeist Addendum”, the sequel, received the same award. These awards feature prominently in the two films’ promotional material but have failed to attract any interest in the media.

The Zeitgeist Movement is a worldwide grassroots movement advocating broad social advancements, most notably, the application of the Scientific Method for human social concern and overall well-being. One major goal of the movement is for modern global society to transition from a monetary based economy to a resource-based economy.

PS: As of 2008, the director of the films, Peter Joseph, has backed down from the 9/11 claims made in the first film but still advocates for both films’ take on the Federal Reserve, Capitalism, Religion and Technology.

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Show 281: Futurist, John Smart

Futurist, John Smart of the Acceleration Studies Foundation

Audio here!

The world of the near future will bring challenges that are much stranger and far more disruptive than keeping your flying car from drifting out of its lane.

Casting off the limitations of traditional religious and cynical attitudes about humankind going to hell in a hand basket, it becomes possible to imagine a radically different future that may be highly desirable. That a happy future for humankind is possible, and that we need to begin preparing for, and ensuring the realization of such a future is the key concept with which all futurists are concerned.

On this installment of Equal Time for Freethought we consider our future with one of the preeminent futurists of our time John Smart.

Continue reading “Show 281: Futurist, John Smart”

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Show 280: The Best Church of God!

The Best Church of God!

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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 🙁