249 - The Faith of Christopher Hitchens

12/14/18 • 64 min

1 Listener

American Freethought Podcast

Original release May 25, 2016.

Encore release December 14, 2018.

Encore release September 6, 2017.

We discuss Larry Alex Taunton's new book The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World's Most Notorious Atheist (available in hardcover, as an audiobook, or for Kindle). In this memoir, Taunton (a Birmingham, Alabama based minister and founder of the Fixed Point Foundation) recounts the friendship that developed between himself and Christopher Hitchens. Considerable controversy has arisen over Taunton's insinuation that Hitchens, while he had no deathbed conversion, may have re-evaluated religion (if not Christianity) during his final months.

Original release May 25, 2016.

Encore release December 14, 2018.

Encore release September 6, 2017.

Previous Episode

248 - Cruz Is No Lucifer, but Trump Might Be the Anti-Christ

Original release May 5, 2016.

Encore release December 13, 2018.

Encore release September 5, 2017.

Recently retired Speaker of the House John Boehner told a Stanford University audience that Texas Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz was "Lucifer in the flesh" and "the most miserable son of a bitch" he's ever worked with. Nobody's less happy about the comparison than actual Satanists, who don't think Lucifer is real to begin with, and who object to Cruz's incessant moralizing and desire for full-on Christian theocracy. (Of course, Cruz has since dropped out of the campaign, leaving the field wide open for walking id Donald Trump.)

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore continues his crusade to make life miserable for the LGBT community. He's sticking to his orders to state officials to ignore the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v Hodges, which ensures equal treatment for same-sex couples who want to get married. Moore held a press conference recently, saying that "atheists, homosexuals and transgender individuals" were behind complaints against him. Well, duh.

Actor and fundamentalist evangelical Kirk Cameron is at it again. This time he's describing his (or maybe God's) version of a perfect marriage: "Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband's lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband." Yeah.

Announcements!

Get ready for the Reason Rally, June 4th at the Lincoln Memorial. David will be there--say hi if you can find him.

DragonCon will be here before you know it. John and Allison will be there, doing a live show if all goes as planned. Meanwhile, send your suggestions for topics we can cover or questions we can answer, and if you're looking to get married...

Next Episode

250 - Mary Roach (Grunt)

Original release June 3, 2016.

Encore release December 15, 2018.

Encore release September 7, 2017.

Whoo-hoo! It's our 250th episode! We'll celebrate by continuing to put out some more episodes.

Meanwhile, we interview Mary Roach, whose latest book is Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War (available in hardcover, audiobook and for Kindle). Roach is the author of other insightful and humorous nonfiction titles like Stiff (an exploration of the ethical issues associated with the use of cadavers), Spook (at look at scientific evidence for the afterlife), Bonk (the study of human sexuality) and Gulp (eating and digestion). We last spoke to Mary waaay back in episode #99 about her book Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. For more about Mary Roach and her work visit MaryRoach.net.