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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 204: Jeff Sharlet – “BattleCry”

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This Sunday, join co-host Sunsara Taylor for an exciting talk with Jeff Sharlet about BattleCry, the Christian fundamentalist movement that is training an army of youth to conquer the country and the world for their hateful, intolerant god.

In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, Jeff Sharlet, religious scholar and widely published author, took this exposure further in his piece, “Teenage Holy War: Behind-the-scenes with the most militant Christian youth crusade in America”

Excerpt: “Luce ends his rallies with an illustration from the Book of Judges: the story of a man who, after he gives over his concubine to be gang-raped, kills the disgraced woman and cuts her into twelve pieces, then sends one to each of the tribes of Israel as a reminder of what happens to the ungodly. For a finale, Luce or one of his junior pastors dissects a mannequin labeled with the sins of secularism and then – to the cheer ‘Cut up the concubine!’ — sends his assistants into the crowd to distribute the pieces.” (for the full piece, see here )

In March of 2006, Sunsara Taylor reported from inside BattleCry’s stadium, writing the first national exposure of this growing Christian fascist youth movement that has connections all the way up to George Bush himself. Her three part series appeared in TruthDig.com (here) and CounterPunch.org.