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Show 296: Personal Responsibility and Society w/ Dr. Les Garwood

Personal Responsibility and Society w/ Dr. Les Garwood

Audio here!

In addition to having a deep distrust of government, those who oppose health care being extended to the uninsured will often express utter disgust for people who they see as “refusing” to take responsibility for themselves. Welfare to them is not about caring for the citizenry of the country, but the way the State babies and pampers to the “lazy” and “irresponsible.” Indeed, “personal responsibility” seems to be at the foundation of American Conservatism and R-Libertarianism, both often tied to an almost pathological “rugged individualism.”

But “personal responsibility” is a term widely used, but not often really understood…even by those few who agree with the idea that our behaviors are completely determined…who seem to embrace traditional ideas of “holding people responsible” and “keeping people in line” with punishment and rewards. Continue reading “Show 296: Personal Responsibility and Society w/ Dr. Les Garwood”

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Show 295: Reverend Eric P. Lee on Homophobia in Black ‘N White

Reverend Eric P. Lee on Homophobia in Black ‘N White

Audio Here!

Shortly after the legalization of Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, the major media began to stoke the flames of a “Black/Gay Divide.” Their claim was that black voters tipped the balance in favor of the ban. Many were horrified, how could Black people – themselves subject to the denial of fundamental rights, including through the use of religious scripture, through centuries of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, KKK terror and ongoing oppression and discrimination – take part in denying the fundamental rights of another persecuted group?

In reality, a more even-handed analysis of the voter patterns reveal that black people were NOT the deciding factor in passing this ban. The controversy was largely manufactured.

However, a majority of black voters did cast their ballots against gay marriage. Many black preachers played a big role in promoting this position. A few, however, spoke publicly against it.

Continue reading “Show 295: Reverend Eric P. Lee on Homophobia in Black ‘N White”

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Show 294: Chris Mooney on the State of Science Literacy in America

Chris Mooney on the State of Science Literacy in America

Audio Here!

Why is it that in such a technologically advanced country, science is not taken seriously by so many? What is so dangerous about an illiteracy of science, or for that matter, a literacy of science? What role does religion, political economy, and fear play in the current attack on science in America? Will the current affront to scientific method become even more problematic as the effects of climate change become far more serious?

Equal Time for Freethought welcomes back Chris Mooney, author of multiple books including the New York Times bestseller “The Republican War on Science,” and most recently, “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our future.”  Mooney is also a contributing editor to Science Progress, and publishes in many publications including Wired, Slate, and The American Prospect.  This week, Matthew LaClair will chat with Mooney about the issues that America faces regarding scientific acceptance and understanding in the 21st Century.

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Show 293: Dr. Joy DeGruy Reacts to Conservative African Americans on Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.

Belief in Free Will and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Denial

Audio here!

The belief that people’s behaviors are freely chosen, and not the result of all of their previous experience, enables some to justify the plight of others and perpetuates blaming victims for being victims.  And although it’s a belief that is contradicted by a mountain of evidence, it remains replete throughout our entire society, primarily inculcated as part of a traditional religious worldview.

This Sunday on Equal Time for Freethought Dr. Joy Degruy, author of “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome,” defends her work against criticism in the recent book by Sana Butler, “Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves.”  Butler claims that the children of freedmen simply chose to leave their slave experience behind, and that any  problems currently experienced in families who descend from African slaves is just the result of people deciding to not “choose” correctly.

Join us as Dr. DeGruy weighs in on personal choice, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome denial, and recent events in general.

Continue reading “Show 293: Dr. Joy DeGruy Reacts to Conservative African Americans on Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.”

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Show 292b: Humanism & the LGBT Community II

Humanism & the LGBT Community: The Origins and History of Homophobia and the Struggle for Freedom!

Pt. 2

Audio here!

We will begin this exploration first with a biblical scholar and member of the humanist/atheist community in America, Robert M. Price, who discussed with me the biblical and religious connections to homophobia which seems to some as having sparked the anti-gay movement we are now living through.  Then we will hear from a leader in the organized Freethought movement, DJ Grothe – himself a gay male – on his own experiences, his take on gay marriage and church/state considerations, and the humanist viewpoint on alternative sexual relationships.

Then, to go beyond the atheistic/religious horizon as regards the origins and history of homophobia and anti-gay sentiment in America, we will hear from two gay authors who have recent publications out on sexuality and the political left… Socialist Sherry Wolf and Anarchist Terence Kissack.

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Show 292a: Humanism & the LGBT Community

Humanism & the LGBT Community: The Origins and History of Homophobia and the Struggle for Freedom!

Audio here!

We will begin this exploration first with a biblical scholar and member of the humanist/atheist community in America, Robert M. Price, who discussed with me the biblical and religious connections to homophobia which seems to some as having sparked the anti-gay movement we are now living through.  Then we will hear from a leader in the organized Freethought movement, DJ Grothe – himself a gay male – on his own experiences, his take on gay marriage and church/state considerations, and the humanist viewpoint on alternative sexual relationships.

Then, to go beyond the atheistic/religious horizon as regards the origins and history of homophobia and anti-gay sentiment in America, we will hear from two gay authors who have recent publications out on sexuality and the political left… Socialist Sherry Wolf and Anarchist Terence Kissack.

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Show 291: Douglas Rushkoff on Humanism and Corporatism

Humanism In The Age Of Corporatism? Interview With Douglas Rushkoff, Author Of Life, Inc.

Audio here!

Michael O’Neil interviews Douglas Rushkoff, media critic and documentarian who has worked with FRONTLINE, the Media Literacy Organization, and the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics. We’ll discuss Douglas’ National Bestseller LIFE INC: How The World Became a Corporation and How To Take It Back.

How did we come to live in a society designed for and around corporations?

How does corporatism affect our most important institutions and our personal relationships alike?

How do we reclaim a humanist society from the ideology of corporatism?

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Show 290: Cindy Sheehan on Radical Politics and Humanism

Audio here!

Cindy Sheehan is widely known – and loved – for being the courageous mother who refused to accept the BIG LIE that her son, Casey, died for a “noble cause” in the Iraq war. Instead, she camped out on Bush’s ranch and refused to leave as long as he refused to meet with her, each day calling more attention to the illegitimacy of his wars.

But, what most people don’t know is that Cindy Sheehan, once a Roman Catholic, is now a humanist.

This week on Equal Time for Freethought, Sunsara Taylor will interview Cindy Sheehan and explore her journey away from the church and organized religion. They will discuss Cindy’s views on humanism and what meaning she finds in working to change the real world – in struggling and sacrificing to put an end to the horrors the US empire is inflicting on innocents around the world and upon the young people it is turning into cannon fodder and war criminals.

For many secular folks, religion can’t hold a candle to the morality that Cindy Sheehan has exhibited – and inspired in others – in turning her own horrendous grief and loss into fuel for a world without such cruelties.

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Show 289: “On Human Nature and the Potential for Peace”

“On Human Nature and the Potential for Peace” w/ Anthropologist Douglas Fry

This program aired in honor of Universal Peace Day!

Audio here!

A few weeks ago on Equal Time for Freethought, Arnell Dowret interviewed two social scientists and a bio-engineer on the validity and importance of social science – what it can tell us about human nature, whether or not it was a rigorous enough a science to inform us on how to develop healthier societies, and if all the recent attacks on it by skeptics, evolutionary psychologists, and indeed some social scientists, have been deserved or not.  It is perhaps not unreasonable to suggest that by the end of the program, the validity of the social sciences had been fairly proven – with all due respect to the bio-engineer participant.

Still, if my experience discussing social science and human nature – particularly with regards to violence, warlike behavior, authoritarianism and selfishness – with scientifically and politically serious people on Facebook is any indication on where many people today stand on the validity of social science… things look weak at best for those defending sciences like sociology, anthropology and psychology.

And while I have found, without much surprise, that most people who reject social science tend to be political centrists, conservatives or r-libertarians, I have also found what seems to be a deep suspicion of the merits of these sciences even from those left of center. – Barry F. Seidman

Douglas P. Fry teaches in the Faculty of Social and Caring Sciences at Abo Akademi University in Finland and is an adjunct research scientist in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona. A renowned anthropologist and a leading authority on aggression, conflict, and conflict resolution, he has worked in this field for over twenty-five years and has published many articles and books on this subject. His latest text is ‘Beyond War: The Human Potential For Peace.’

This program aired on WBAI on July 26th and August 2nd, but the full audio can be found here!

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Show 288: Special: Evolutionary Biologist and practicing Christian, Dr. Kenneth R. Miller

Special: Evolutionary Biologist and practicing Christian, Dr. Kenneth R. Miller

Audio 1 here!

Audio 2 here!

Matthew LaClair will be interviewing Dr. Kenneth R. Miller, a biology professor at Brown University and the lead witness in the case regarding Creationism in Dover, PA in 2005.  Dr. Miller, also a practicing Roman Catholic, believes that Evolutionary Theory and religious beliefs such as his are not contradictory.  Matthew will talk with Dr. Miller about his advocacy of science, his involvement in debates and controversies surrounding Creationism, and his arguments supporting the idea that religion and science do not contradict one another. Can religion and science coexist? Furthermore, do science and religion (theology) explain the natural universe?