Show 238: 1-Hour Easter Day Special: From Sacred to Secular Cruelty & Vengeance

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The story of the events of Easter Day in combination with the events leading up to it is a narrative so loaded with dysfunctional, anti-humanistic, and delusional content, it has served as a virtually inexhaustible wellspring of toxicity for two thousand years, providing support for most of the very worst ideas in our society which are still with us today.Belief in universal sin, belief that universal sin could somehow be relieved through someone’s torture, and belief in an immortal soul that rises up after we die, are just some of the problematic lessons of Christ’s Passion.

A major example of an inhumane institution which derives legitimacy from beliefs which can be traced back to the Easter narrative can be found in our American system of criminal justice. Joining us to facilitate our examination of our modern prison system will be author of “American Furies,” Sasha Abramsky, and Dr. Philip Zimbardo, author of “The Lucifer Effect,” and Chief Researcher and designer of the famous “Stanford Prison Experiment.”

And we’ll also be replaying the now classic confrontation between Jesus and the Easter Bunny, first played on this program, in which we’re given the best argument to date for why we should jettison all the suffering, blood and gore and instead celebrate the Spring for the natural “miracle” it is.

Show 170: On the Count meets Equal Time for Freethought

1-Hour Special!

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For anyone who is a humanist, reform of our brutal criminal justice system is a major concern, but can real structural changes to our criminal justice system become adopted and be sustained without a radical change in our nation’s consciousness which departs from religion?

The host of WBAI’s ‘On the Count!’: The Criminal Justice and Prison Report’s” Eddie Ellis, join’s “Equal Time for Freethought’s” Arnell Dowret for a wide ranging examination of the philosophical and theological ideas involved in creating a new, more humane and just criminal justice paradigm.  Included in this discussion is a look at how a secular humanist world view compares with a world view that is faith-based in regard to relevant social, economic, and political issues such as poverty, capitalism, racism, and reparations.