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Show 234: Fund Drive Special With Dr. Joel Kovel

Joel Kovel has spent the better part of his adult life profoundly concerned with the effects of human relationships as they impact the species as a whole, and indeed the planet itself. Like many of us on the Left, Joel has come to his work from a place of deep emotional and intellectual conflict… a conflict we experience via between the way we see the human adventure, and the way certain forces have shaped where we are today. All too often, the clash between what “is” and what we think “ought” to be, winds up in the end to favor the status quo. We are given all sorts of reasons for this by our more conservative friends from political and economic “practical” reasons, to the “lowly” nature of human beings (whether of the Christian or Hobbesian kind).

Alas, many of us live with the notion that ‘the more things change (for better or worse), the more they stay the same… which is just another way of our accepting what “is,” and putting our aspirations, hopes, and desires into that hidden away bottom shelf labeled “Utopian Fantasies.”

But as we have addressed for a long time now on Equal Time for Freethought – and indeed all across WBAI – Utopia is not a fantasy, but a destination-one no one expects to reach, but is driven by our very nature to come closer to. Those who argue for another kind of human nature that somehow justifies the status quo, do so from either a place of ignorance, fear, or – for those of us who are financially or politically well off – narcissistic comfort. For Joel Kovel, this just won’t do, and he has done his part to see that Utopia is removed from the bottom shelf, brushed off, and returned back to all of us.
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Show 233: Darwin Day Special Featuring Holistic Darwinism w/Peter Corning

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On February 12th, many will be celebrating the birthday of the father of modern evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin. Darwin Day, as the celebration is aptly called, was initiated by Dr. Robert Stephens at Stanford University and the Stanford Humanist Student Group in 1995. According to the official website – www.DarwinDay.org – “the objective of the Darwin Day Celebration is to encourage existing institutions worldwide, such as municipalities, public and private schools, colleges and universities, libraries, museums, etc., – and individuals – to celebrate Science and Humanity every year, on, or near, February 12th.”
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Show 232: Children, Religion, Coercion, and Submission

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What is the relationship between the way we are raised, and religion? Equal Time for Freethought explores the way in which our experience as children predisposes us toward certain religious attitudes and practices, and how religious attitudes and practices in turn influence the way in which we raise our own children.

Join Arnell Dowret and independent scholar Dr. Benjamin Abelow, author of the as of yet unpublished book, The Crucified Child. Also joining us is renowned education theorist, and author of Unconditional Parenting and The Homework Myth, Alfie Kohn.

Whether or not you know a child, or were ever a child yourself, this program will most probably offer some valuable insight into the experience of childhood through which most of us pass.

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Show 231: Ubuntu, Humanism and South Africa

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A person is a person through other persons”. This rather humanistic concept articulated by the Zulu philosophy of “Ubuntu” is enjoying a renaissance in the 21st Century, serving as a fashionable touchstone for progressive ideals from African diplomacy to the Free Software movement. But what is Ubuntu, and how can its history and present use be instructive to humanists around the world? Eckson Khambule, a Phd candidate in the Programs in Anthropology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, joined Michael O’Neil to discuss.

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Show 230b: Dr. Susan Wicklund – “Women’s Reproduction, Christian Fascism, and Women’s Emancipation: The Morality of Abortion and the Immorality of Those Who Want to Take it Away”

“Women’s Reproduction, Christian Fascism, and Women’s Emancipation: The Morality of Abortion and the Immorality of Those Who Want to Take it Away, Pt. II”

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As the 35th anniversary of Roe V. Wade approaches, it is appropriate to take stock at the degree to which the rise of Christian fundamentalism in American politics and culture has brought with it an unprecedented assault on the most fundamental rights of women.

This week Sunsara interviews Dr. Susan Wicklund, whose new book, This Common Secret, details the horrific experiences of women whom underwent illegal abortions which has motivated her to become an abortion provider, her many years of care for women, and the threats and dangers she has had to confront to do her liberating work.

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Show 230a: Cristina Page – “Women’s Reproduction, Christian Fascism, and Women’s Emancipation: The Morality of Abortion and the Immorality of Those Who Want to Take it Away”

“Women’s Reproduction, Christian Fascism, and Women’s Emancipation: The Morality of Abortion and the Immorality of Those Who Want to Take it Away.”

Part 1 of a two-week special hosted by Sunsara Taylor!

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As the 35th anniversary of Roe V. Wade approaches, it is appropriate to take stock at the degree to which the rise of Christian fundamentalism in American politics and culture has brought with it an unprecedented assault on the most fundamental rights of women.

Access to abortion is out of reach for many poor and rural women, abortion providers are still under constant physical – and increasingly, legal – threat, and the Supreme Court – with their decision to uphold the so-called “Partial Birth Abortion Ban” – has begun the process of criminalizing abortion. A growing number of pharmacists are refusing to fill birth control prescriptions, the life-endangering “abstinence-only” programs are being pushed onto our school children by Democrats and Republicans alike, and “Purity Balls” where young girls pledge their virginity (and receive a ring) to their fathers until they get married, are spreading like wildfire across the country.
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Show 229: Naturalistic Christmas Special

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Long, long before anyone ever heard of Jesus, people all over the world knew that this time of year was special. The winter solstice is a completely natural event, which is loaded with significance, both symbolic and real.

On Christmas Day, Equal Time for Freethought will show how and why Christmas can, and should, be a fully naturalistic holiday… And what a great time we’re going to have doing it!

We’ll be featuring a replay of our classic Equal Time for Freethought’s “Christmas with Santa Claus” interview; we’ll have a look at the history of Christmas and from where its traditions are derived; we’ll be taking your calls, and if that wasn’t enough- we’ll be venturing out to the cutting edge as we offer a special Christmas guided meditation in which everyone can participate!

And you don’t even need to be non-faith based or non-supernatural to benefit from tuning in; in addition to our traditional non-faith-based listeners, Muslims, Jews, Astrologers, Roman Catholics, Baptists, and others can get a lot from the elements of a Naturalistic Christmas…

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Show 228: “Was Jesus Left Behind?” w/ Dr. Robert M. Price

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As Christmas approaches, and the religious Right try to force everyone to say “Merry Christmas,” and mean it, the rest of us may want to know why they protest so much. What is the relationship between the religious Right, the Christian Church, and the gospel story of Jesus of Nazareth; where do they intersect, and where to they part ways?

Robert Price, a professor of Theology and Scriptural Studies, and a fellow of biblical criticism’s most activist research groups, The Jesus Seminar, has asked these questions (and more) of himself and fellow researchers, and has published his opinions in a host of controversial books and papers. He has taken on Pastor Rick Warren with his book, The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For?; Dan Brown, with his book, The Da Vinci Fraud: Why the Truth Is Stranger than Fiction; discussed his own de-conversion in Beyond Born Again; and even addressed the question of whether an historical Jesus ever existed in Deconstructing Jesus. His answer to that dangerous question…? No.

For Equal Time for Freethought’s one-hour special this Sunday, we will speak to (and take calls for) Dr. Price regarding two of his most recent books; Jesus is Dead (a collection of essays discussing both the historicity of Jesus and the Resurrection), and The Paperback Apocalypse: How the Christian Church got LEFT BEHIND (a critical look at myriad apocalyptic novels, including what one reader called, “the biblical errors and theological absurdities in the Left Behind series”).

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Show 227: Having a Merry Naturalistic Christmas

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No matter how secular or naturalistic you are it’s impossible not to notice that Christmas time is here. To avoid getting a whiff of Douglas Fur should atheists, agnostics, and other non-believers hold their breath until mid January when the sanitation department guides the once noble icons to their transition into wood chips?

Looking beyond its association with faith and beyond the way it has been co-opted by the merchants of crass consumerism, are we left with anything about Christmas worth celebrating? With nine day until Christmas, Equal Time for Freethought will be discussing why “Having a Merry Naturalistic Christmas” is not only possible, it’s desirable.

But what would be the philosophy behind a naturalistic approach to Christmas; and what would activities for a naturalistic Christmas look like?

To facilitate the participation of widely different groups of people that the church wanted to assimilate early church fathers adopted a wide range of local traditions into Christmas. The result is that today’s Christmas celebration is essentially a pan-regional, best of traditions past collection. Rather than denying Christmas, if like the Church fathers of the past, naturalists could find ways to build upon some of the existing holiday traditions and make them their own, it may go a long way to helping establish naturalism as a popular practice.

Hear why, when it comes to Christmas, we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

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Show 226: Leonard Wheat – Against Religious Superstition: Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”

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Friday, The Golden Compass opens in theaters nation wide. Whatever critics may say about this new children’s fantasy trilogy, the die has already been cast. According to Christian activist groups, Golden Compass is a direct affront to Christianity and indeed God Himself, as emails, chatrooms, blogs and conservative television pundits warn everyone that in this trilogy, a little girl “kills God.”

Of course, the truth is not so far removed from the Christian propaganda it has spurned. While there is no doubt Hollywood’s version of author Philip Pullman’s – a member of the British Humanist Association – novel series will be rather tame, the books do indeed offer a non-religious take on C.S. Lewis’s Christian vision found in his seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series (indeed, Narnia was the inspiration for Materials).

Christian activists are arguing that Pullman is being grossly deceptive by offering watered-down film versions of his work to entice children to ask their parents to buy them the books, which will in turn de-convert them from Christianity. If only it were that easy.

But seriously, what does Pullman’s books actually say about Christianity, and religion in general, and what ought a secular society take from either the films or novels in question?