Michael O’Neil will host as we take your calls LIVE and discuss the BBC’s refusal to include Humanist contributions in their Thought For The Day program, along with a new ad campaign in Britain partly financed by Dr. Richard Dawkins.
Audio here!
Show 298: ‘Good without God’ w/ Greg Epstein
‘Good without God’ w/ Greg Epstein
Audio Here!
This Sunday, Matthew will interview Greg Epstein, author of the new book ‘Good Without God; What a Billion Non-Religious People Do Believe.’ The book has influenced many campaigns, such as the ‘Good Without God’ posters in the New York City subway system.
Epstein is the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University. He blogs for Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post, and has been featured by National Public radio, BBC radio, Newsweek, US News and World Report and more.
Show 297: Celebrating Charles Darwin!
Celebrating Charles Darwin!
Audio not available.
Join us for a 2-hour fund-drive program airing at a special time as we celebrate naturalist Charles Darwin, author of perhaps the most important science text in human history – ‘On the Origin of Species‘ (1859)!
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”
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”
Show 294: Chris Mooney on the State of Science Literacy in America
Chris Mooney on the State of Science Literacy in America
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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?