Freethought Radio

This week's guest will be Steve Benson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Republic, and atheist grandson of Ezra Taft Benson, the late president of the Mormon Church. Steve will talk about leaving the Mormon fold, the endangered status of editorial cartoonists today, and other timely topics. For news, the hosts will talk about the Irish Commission's new report of Catholic abuse in the Irish Republic, the fate of Proposition 8, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and the landmark conviction of a Wisconsin mom for reckless homicide for praying over her diabetic daughter, instead of seeking health care.

This week's guest will be Steve Benson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Republic, and atheist grandson of Ezra Taft Benson, the late president of the Mormon Church. Steve will talk about leaving the Mormon fold, the endangered status of editorial cartoonists today, and other timely topics. For news, the hosts will talk about the Irish Commission's new report of Catholic abuse in the Irish Republic, the fate of Proposition 8, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and the landmark conviction of a Wisconsin mom for reckless homicide for praying over her diabetic daughter, instead of seeking health care.

"Atheist Sunday School"—What's Wrong with Hymns
The remarks of Pres. Barack Obama in his May 17 speech to Notre Dame, including many deferential religious references and messages, will be parsed. And for something completely different, the hosts will do an eye-opening analysis of standard Christian hymns, such as "There Is a Foundation Filled with Blood," which reveal why the more one goes to church, the more likely one is to support torture. They will also look at hawkish hymns which feed the intrusion of evangelical Christianity into the U.S. military.

Topic: "Jesus Killed Mohammed" (Harper's Magazine expose)

After a look at timely topics in the news (including the "biblically correct" Miss California USA, the Pope's visit to the Mideast, a study correlating church-going with endorsement of torture, and the heartening secularization of American youths), the hosts will interview journalist and author Jeff Sharlet about his startling expose in this month's Harper's of fundamentalist Christian promotion by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also featured: a short tribute to Pete Seeger, who turned 90 this month.

Jennifer Hecht, author of Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson, will talk about her book tracing the impressive history of doubt. Rebecca Kratz, FFRF staff attorney, will join Dan and Annie Laurie for updates over FFRF legal complaints about transportation of bibles to Iraq and Afghanistan by the military, and local abuses over the National Day of Prayer. FFRF is suing the President over the National Day of Prayer, which resulted in a lot of attention to this annual abuse, and a moderation of the relationship between government and the National Day of Prayer Taskforce, associated with the Christian-right Focus on the Family.

Freethought Radio's guest will be Brent Michael Davids, an atheist, an enrolled citizen of the Mohican Nation, an American Indian music expert and a professional concert and film composer. Excerpts of some of his compositions, touching on Christianity's role in the genocide of American Indians, will be played. The hosts will discuss FFRF's lawsuit against the upcoming National Day of Prayer and the White House "dial-a-prayer" situation.