Friendly Atheist Podcast Friendly Atheist Podcast
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- Religion & Spirituality
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Hemant Mehta and Jessica Greiff cover the latest news, politics, and pop culture with a focus on atheism and religion.
This is the official podcast for FriendlyAtheist.com.
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Southern Baptist Membership Drops (Again)
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— A high school artist called out Christian bigotry. Her school board is furious. (1:33)
— Southern Baptist membership dropped yet again to a 47-year low (17:48)
— A pastor who was "betrothed" to a child, then abused her, is finally in custody. (34:10)
— Lying preacher John MacArthur: "There's no such thing" as PTSD, OCD, and ADHD. (50:45)
— The Boy Scouts, despite its "inclusive" rebranding, will still exclude atheists. (1:03:19)
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Liquor License in the Bible Belt
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Despite pastor's opposition, Georgia man gets OK to open liquor shop near churches. (0:30)
— The United Methodist Church reversed its ban on gay clergy. Will it matter? (12:25)
— A beloved Alabama principal may have lost her job because she has a girlfriend. (33:22)
— Kentucky mayor lashes out after criticism of his "Prayer Breakfast" event. (42:07)
— Preacher gets unearned praise after calling Trump Bible "disgusting" & "blasphemous." (51:25)
— Doug Wilson has ludicrous ideas for how the U.S. could become a Christian Nation. (1:02:15)
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Corporal Punishment and Christianity
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— What I'll remember about Daniel Dennett. (0:28)
— Catholic priest resigns after backlash involving his criticism of a gay author. (8:43)
— Christian lawmaker says teachers should be allowed to hit special needs students. (24:38)
— A Christian ministry urged the Supreme Court to criminalize homelessness. (46:03)
— Māori atheists say Christian colonization helped push them away from the faith. (1:01:59)
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Christian Men's Conference Descends Into Chaos
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Christian Men's Conference descends into chaos over sword-swallowing acrobat. (1:02)
— Wisconsin official blames homelessness on "sin," then votes against aid for the poor. (25:15)
— Christian Nationalist falsely claims Satanist chaplains "don't qualify" to work in schools. (39:27)
— Tennessee declares Aitken Bible one of its "official state books." (53:37)
— North Dakota GOP endorses Christian theocrat to run the state's public schools. (1:07:06)
— Louisiana High Court: Priests have a "right" not to be sued over decades-old abuse. (1:20:15)
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Pastor Calls Autism Awareness Week "Demonic"
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Arizona GOP lawmaker lashes out at "god-haters" who criticized abortion ban prayer. (4:21)
— Christian school's pastor cancels Autism Awareness Week, calling it "demonic." (19:40)
— New Testament scholar Richard Hays now says God's cool with gay people. (35:53)
— The Vatican, a threat to human dignity, calls gender-affirming surgery a threat to human dignity. (45:57)
— Wisconsin public school district seeks new leader with "conservative, christian values." (1:01:09)
— Christian woman admits she was fired from Starbucks for being an anti-LGBTQ bigot. (1:11:24)
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Richard Dawkins' Cultural Christianity Carelessness
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— This pastor's wedding night "joke" epitomizes Christian sexism. (0:40)
— Richard Dawkins says Christianity is "fundamentally decent," but Islam "is not." (18:42)
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— Prominent Christians falsely claim Biden chose Easter to honor trans people. (34:13)
— Donald Trump is now selling a Bible that a Christian publisher walked away from in 2021. (41:13)
— New York prisoners, led by atheist, sue state in order to see solar eclipse. (48:28)
— Christians erect (another) $240,000 cross in Mississippi. (1:03:18)
— After ruining a school district, Christians in Colorado want to "take over" a city council. (1:09:40)
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Customer Reviews
Gawds work
Hemant is great and has always been one of my go to guys since starting to leave Christianity. Jesica is also great and they compliment each other well. Thanks for the laughs and keep doing gawds work.
New go to podcast
Discovered the podcast about a couple of months ago and have been loving binging my way through the past eps! I love the banter between Hemant and Jessica, and Jessica’s reactions are the best! Also, as someone who tends to prefer animals to most people, learning in the last ep that I share a bday with Dottie made my day!
One of my Ride or Die podcasts!
I’ve been following Hemant and Jessica’s work in the atheist field for (approaching!) 10 years! The podcast is something I look forward to waking up on Friday mornings for many years and sets me up for riotous laughs and rage for the weekend.
I particularly appreciate the wide range of topics and intersectionality of topics. LGBTQ+ rights, feminism, racial justice, disability rights, and advocating for the rights of the religious (yes, atheists want you to have your rights too!) are not just included but a fundamental part of this show that keeps me coming back.
Even though it is often US centric (understandable as the hosts are based there) international topics are not neglected.
Hemant provides such no-nonsense, dry wit, to-the-point reporting that even some very tricky topics are digestible. Jessica balances this so well with her passionate furor and quips (I LOVE her laugh and her loudness. Women can be intensively expressive AND serious) , and is a fountain of knowledge on so many topics that gives crucial context to the stories covered to give more informed reporting.
I look forward to listening to these two for many more years to come. I cannot recommend them enough.