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Show 439: Katherine Stewart on The Good News Club

Katherine Stewart on The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children

Audio here!

This Saturday on Equal Time for Freethought we will talk with Katherine Stewart, author of “The Good News Club: The Religious Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children.”  Ms. Stewart, a journalist, appeared on our show months ago, but the discussion was our only show in ETFF’s 10+ year history to NOT be recorded. We will discuss her book regarding the Good News Club, an evangelical organization that has infiltrated thousands of elementary schools across the country, promoting their doctrine under the guise of free expression. We will discuss this organization, how it became so powerful, and the little known but immensely damaging impacts of their manipulation of our most vulnerable citizens.

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Show 436: Attack of the Theocrats!

Attack of the Theocrats!

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This Saturday, host Matthew LaClair will speak with Sean Faircloth, the author of “Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What We Can Do About It.” Faircloth served for a decade as a state legislature (Maine), and later worked for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science as the Director of Strategy and Policy and served as Executive Director for the Secular Coalition for America. We will talk about the effects of the religious right on America’s military, children, laws, education system, politics and more. With these concerns in mind, Faircloth presents a vision of a more secular America that provides true Constitutional religious equality among all citizens, both legally and socially.

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Show 410: David Niose on his new book, Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans

David Niose on his new book, Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans

Audio here!

David Niose advocates for an identity-oriented approach to secular activism to raise awareness of the secular demographic in American society. Using the LGBT movement as a model, Niose argues that by “coming out” and asserting rights as a minority group, nonbelievers can similarly gain acceptance. Critical of the Religious Right, Niose argues progressive policy goals will be difficult or impossible to attain without the secular demographic in America asserting itself. David has served since 2009 as president of the American Humanist Association, an organization that promotes humanism, and defends the rights of humanists and other non-theistic Americans is the author of Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans.

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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 192: Fund Drive Show: “Our Children; Our Future”

Fund Drive Show: “Our Children; Our Future”

Audio 1 here!

Audio 2 here!

As the Culture Wars persist in America, what affect are they having on our children? How are parents steering their children in or around the battles between Right and Left and between Fundamentalist Religion and Secularization? And how are our notions of human nature and childrearing itself framing what and how our children learn – in school and in summer camp?

These are the questions we will be asking our very special guests on the next Equal Time for Freethought – our Fund Drive Special – Our Children, Our Future, as we look to understand where we may be going wrong, and how we might move in a more progressive way to secure our children’s futures, and indeed the future of humanity?

Our guests will be Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, directors of the Oscar Nominated documentary, Jesus Camp; noted education specialist and author of numerous books on human nature, education and parenting, Alfie Kohn; and High School Senior Matthew LaClair.

Continue reading “Show 192: Fund Drive Show: “Our Children; Our Future””