On the Historicity of Jesus, with Dr. Richard Carrier, Ph.D. (The Humanist Hour #161)

In this episode, Kim Ellington speaks with Dr. Richard Carrier about the historicity of Jesus. They discuss the fine line between history, philosophy, and science and why Jesus was more likely just a literary figure than a real person.

From Dr. Carrier’s website:

Richard Carrier is a world-renowned author and speaker. As a professional historian, published philosopher, and prominent defender of the American freethought movement, Dr. Carrier has appeared across the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and on American television and London radio, defending sound historical methods and the ethical worldview of secular naturalism. His books and articles have received international attention. With a Ph.D. from Columbia University in ancient history, he specializes in the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, particularly ancient philosophy, religion, and science, with emphasis on the origins of Christianity and the use and progress of science under the Roman empire. He is also a published expert in the modern philosophy of naturalism as a worldview. He is the author of On the Historicity of Jesus, Proving History, Sense and Goodness without God, Not the Impossible Faith, Why I Am Not a Christian, and Hitler Homer Bible Christ, and a contributor to The Empty Tomb, The Christian Delusion, The End of Christianity, and Christianity Is Not Great, as well as copious work in history and philosophy, online and in print. He is currently working on several upcoming projects, but also teaching affordable online courses in secular philosophy, history, and methodology at Partners for Secular Activism, and blogging and speaking about history, philosophy, feminism, and other moral causes, as well as his past in the military and his current life in polyamory.

Interview:
http://thehumanist.com/multimedia/podcast/the-humanist-hour-161-on-the-historicity-of-jesus-with-dr-richard-carrier

A Sense Of Self: What Happens When Your Brain Says You Don't Exist (Fresh Air with Terry Gross)

Science journalist Anil Ananthaswamy thinks a lot about "self" — not necessarily himself, but the role the brain plays in our notions of self and existence.

In his new book, The Man Who Wasn't There, Ananthaswamy examines the ways people think of themselves and how those perceptions can be distorted by brain conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, Cotard's syndrome and body integrity identity disorder, or BIID, a psychological condition in which a patient perceives that a body part is not his own...
Interview:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/07/28/426753409/a-sense-of-self-what-happens-when-your-brain-says-you-dont-exist

Learning to Live with the Islamic State: Stephen M. Walt (Point of Inquiry, 7/28/2015)

As difficult it is to accept, there may be no loosening of the grip ISIS currently holds over its territory, at least not any time soon. Our guest, Stephen M. Walt, begins to come to terms with this unpleasant situation in a new article for Foreign Policy magazine, "What Should We Do if the Islamic State Wins?” His answer is not an inspiring one, but one based on the facts as he sees them: We will have to live with it.

On Point of Inquiry this week, Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, explores with host Josh Zepps the historical precedence for successful revolutionary movements and their near-intractability once they’ve claimed power. According to Walt, once established, these revolutionary regimes will either continue to act as dangerous rogues who are isolated and contained by neighboring countries, or eventually moderate themselves to the point where even the U.S. may eventually be able to make formal connections and begin to do business.

The Islamic State’s potential to become a major power (or rather its lack of potential), the unreliability of personal accounts from inside ISIS, and American moral hubris all weigh into this fascinating discussion on Point of Inquiry.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/stephen_m._walt_learning_to_live_with_the_islamic_state/

A New Push For Apprenticeship As A Path To Employment (Diane Rehm Show)

A new push for apprenticeship programs is being embraced by politicians from all sides, from Republicans Marco Rubio and Scott Walker to Democrat Hillary Clinton, who recently proposed tax credits for companies who hire apprentices. U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez is also pushing the government’s plan to provide $100 million in apprenticeship grants this fall. We look at the renewed call for apprenticeship programs, and how some say they address a shortage of skilled workers and the financial burden on young people today.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-07-28/a-new-push-for-apprenticeship-as-a-path-to-employment

The Future Of The Social Security Disability Insurance Program (Diane Rehm Show)

Social security disability insurance currently pays monthly benefits to 11 million Americans. But a financial shortfall in the program could slash those benefits by 19 percent next year. A battle is brewing between the White House and Republican lawmakers over replenishing the disability fund. We take a look at disability benefits, politics of the program and what changes might come.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-07-29/the-future-of-the-social-security-disability-insurance-program

Low-Cost Online Courses: August – The Science and Philosophy of Free Will – with Richard Carrier

Courses last one month.  There are no set times you must be present.  The fee is $59.  Courses are not for credit.

The August course is The Science and Philosophy of Free Will – with Richard Carrier, Ph.D.

Lucien Greaves – Atheistic Religion & the Satanic Reformation (2015 National Convention)

Lucien Greaves speaking at the 2015 American Atheists National Convention in Memphis, TN

Lucien Greaves is co-founder of The Satanic Temple, a non-theistic, anti-supernaturalist religious organization that facilitates "the communication and mobilization of politically aware Satanists, secularists, and advocates for individual liberty" and argues for recognition of non-theistic values as protected religious opinion. TST has gained national media attention for their battle to place a Satanic monument alongside a decalogue at the State Capitol in Oklahoma.
https://youtu.be/9CVXPbMzXBU

The West Bank attack on Friday have become known as 'price tags'

It is the price paid for any perceived attack on the Jewish settlements. John Terrett explains.
https://youtu.be/rEgjUxMV-aQ

Jeb Bush Avoids Key Questions About His Civil Rights Record In Speech To Black Voters

Bush did not mention his record of ending affirmative action, expanding some mandatory minimum prison sentences, and signing ... Read more

Telecom Lobbyists Ignore 2,000 FCC Complaints, Demand Government Undo Net Neutrality In Lawsuit

Lobbyists representing almost every major telecom company have called on a federal court to overturn the Federal Communications ... Read more

These 3 Graphs Could Change Your Mind About Legalizing Sex Work

Amnesty International sparked an outcry this week when it released a draft proposal calling for decriminalizing sex work. But ... Read more

Why Jimmy Carter Thinks The United States Isn’t A Real Democracy Anymore

A startling diagnosis from our 39th President.  ... Read more
https://youtu.be/hDsPWmioSHg

Huckabee Floats Plan To Deploy U.S. Troops To Stop Women From Getting Abortions

He cited Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson as justification for the move. ... Read more

Palestinian Teenager Is Fatally Shot While Protesting Deadly Arson Attack

Laith al-Khaldi, 17, was shot Friday during a demonstration near Ramallah, one of many protests in response to the deadly arson that appeared to quickly devolve into clashes. Jewish extremists are suspected in the firebombing of a house early Friday morning in the West Bank hamlet of Duma, which killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and severely wounded his parents and his brother.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/world/middleeast/palestinian-teenager-is-fatally-shot-while-protesting-deadly-arson-attack.html

“THEY DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT GOVERNING”: Conservative Media's Influence on the Republican Party

This article is a scholarly work from a researcher at Harvard. It is very long and well documented. 
Some quotes from her work:

Holland Cooke, an industry consultant and former broadcaster, said in an interview, “The big national, topical talk hosts – Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin – their ratings are all terrible in the big markets.”
…
Even before the Fluke storm, some syndicated radio hosts were taking sponsorship dollars from Tea Party-affiliated groups, including FreedomWorks, Heritage Action, Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Patriots and the Senate Conservatives Fund. That cemented the collaboration of media and advocacy groups in opposing the Republican leadership, and in demanding an ideologically pure agenda and discouraging compromise. Politico reported in April 2014 that, based on its review of federal tax filings and other information, several of the well-known groups had spent almost $22 million between 2008 and 2012 to sponsor programs including those of Limbaugh, Levin, Ingraham, Hannity and Beck, as well as lesser-known hosts. FreedomWorks, Politico reported, had given $6 million in that time to Beck, while Heritage sponsored Hannity for several years and spent $9.5 million over five years to back Limbaugh’s program.[60] The talkers in turn promote the groups, their positions on issues and their favored candidates – candidates who often have been Tea Party challengers to Republican incumbents or, in open-seat races, to the establishment’s preferred candidates. 

Such financial deals apparently continue, to the chagrin of establishment Republicans. Levin, for one, “was at the forefront of the effort to make demands of Republican leaders that are unaccomplish-able, and he works in concert with Heritage Action and the Club for Growth,” said a congressional leadership aide who would not be named. “And they like to put down markers – that House Republican leaders should demand ‘X’ and they should stand firm, they should demand repeal of Obamacare. And if you notice, every time they do that, they send out an email to their list and they’ve got a big ‘donate’ button. They have found that they can stir up the grassroots and, most importantly, raise money off the idea that if only Republican leaders stood firm and chose to fight, they could win.” The aide added, “That’s all well and good, but when you’re setting down a marker and you know that your ask is un-accomplishable, that it’s not a goal that’s achievable, then it’s just about ratings and money.”[61]
…
So much for the impact on rank-and-file lawmakers – what about the effect of conservative media on the decision-making of the leaders who try to set the agenda? Arceneaux, a professor at Temple University, said in an interview, “I think it’s made it very difficult for them to make the compromises that are necessary in the American system of government, where you’ve got institutions that have a lot of veto players.”[64] Feehery, the longtime Republican strategist, put it simply: “They intimidate members of Congress.”[65]
…

And, Latham and other Republicans complain, many in that media – in their zeal for audience share – willfully ignore the realities of a legislative process designed by the Founders to require deliberation, checks and balances, and compromise. “They will not take 80 percent – it’s got to be 100 percent or you’re not pure,” Latham said. “They don’t give a damn about governing, or about anything than being pure themselves. And it’s causing more people to be concerned about primaries than ever before. I just don’t see – with continual pounding of the drums in the media and these outside groups – I don’t know how you function, I really don’t. I don’t know how you pass appropriation bills this year.”
Does he sometimes feel like Republicans helped create a monster?
“Oh, yeah. Are you kidding?”[95]
…
In 2010, libertarian scholar Julian Sanchez at the Cato Institute provoked a lively debate among conservative intellectuals when he wrote that the expansion and success of conservative media had created a closed information circle harmful to conservatism. Conservatives, he said, could pick from so many sources to buttress their biases that they could dismiss as false any contrary information from outside that circle. He called this “epistemic closure,” borrowing from a term in philosophy (and perhaps ensuring that the highfalutin phrase did not catch on beyond the intelligentsia). For many conservatives, “Reality is defined by a multimedia array of interconnected and cross-promoting conservative blogs, radio programs, magazines and of course, Fox News,” Sanchez wrote in the first of several online essays. “Whatever conflicts with that reality can be dismissed out of hand because it comes from the liberal media, and is therefore ipso facto not to be trusted.”[126]

The result, Sanchez said in another piece, was that conservative media’s logic had become “worryingly untethered from reality as the impetus to satisfy the demand for red meat overtakes any motivation to report accurately.”[127] His theory first got attention as the Tea Party was ascendant, and nonpartisan surveys provided evidence of many conservative voters’ mistaken beliefs in Obama’s foreign birth and Muslim faith, death panels, and climate change as a hoax, among others. But the debate revived after the 2012 election to explain how Republicans could have been so surprised by Romney’s defeat when mainstream media had widely reported on nonpartisan polls showing him behind.
…

http://shorensteincenter.org/conservative-media-influence-on-republican-party-jackie-calmes/

Jewish extremists torch Palestinian homes, killing toddler, authorities say

...The sensational killing took place at a time of soaring tensions in the West Bank, driven in part by radical Jewish settlers prepared to defy their own government...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/jewish-extremists-torch-palestinian-homes-killing-toddler/2015/07/31/a4680948-2fe5-11e5-a879-213078d03dd3_story.html

Week In The News: Cincinnati Police Indictment, Bye-Bye Boston 2024, RIP Cecil The Lion (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

A dead black motorist and a fast murder charge against a white Ohio policeman this week. This time a bodycam tells the story. Race and law enforcement, again center stage. In Africa, a presidential visit and outrage over a Minnesota dentist killing a beloved lion. Calls for extradition. Mike Huckabee brings the Holocaust into the Iran Deal debate. Trump leads the polls. Turkey joins the fight against ISIS. Planned Parenthood takes more heat. A Malaysia Airlines clue. And the Winter Olympics go to Beijing. This hour On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. / Tom Ashbrook
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/07/31/iran-deal-cincinatti-boston-2024-cecil

Friday News Roundup – Domestic (Diane Rehm Show)

Former University of Cincinnati police officer, Ray Tensing, pleads guilty to a charge of murder of a black motorist and is free on bail. GDP numbers for the second quarter of 2015 suggest the U.S. economy is growing, but slowly. Congress passes a three-month stopgap highway funding bill, adding another item to the already long list of legislative priorities for the fall. And now there are 17: Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore announces he’s in race to be the GOP nominee for president. We look at these and other top stories of the week.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-07-31/friday-news-roundup-domestic

Friday News Roundup – International (Diane Rehm Show)

Peace negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan are postponed amid news of the death of the Taliban’s supreme leader. Turkey escalates airstrikes on Kurdish targets in northern Iraq. Thousands of migrants try to reach Britain from France through the Channel Tunnel. The U.S. Parole Commission announces that Jonathan Pollard, a convicted spy for Israel, will be released from prison in November. And French authorities investigate plane wreckage found near Madagascar that could be from the missing Malaysian airliner. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week’s top international news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-07-31/friday-news-roundup-international

New Jersey Archbishop Could Be Next To Come Before Vatican Abuse Tribunal

Evidence is mounting for his investigation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-jersey-archbishop-could-be-next-to-come-before-vatican-abuse-tribunal_55ba63b1e4b0b8499b18a7d3

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Atheists Ask Judge Not to Dismiss Lawsuit Involving Banned (and Completely Inoffensive) Bus Ad

That’s almost literally the least offensive atheist ad ever. It says the word… and little else.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/07/30/atheists-asks-judge-not-to-dismiss-lawsuit-involving-banned-and-completely-inoffensive-bus-ad/

The Satanic Temple and the First Amendment

Lucien Greaves of the Satanic Temple gives a speech covering everything from gay Baptist to Satanic endorsements of Republican Governor Rick Scott. Hear about how an atheist became a atheist satanic leader who is trying to protect freedom on many political fronts. This speech was given on February 16, 2014 at the monthly meeting of the Secular Humanists of the Low Country in Charleston, South Carolina.
https://youtu.be/V_O0BR-HQFY

Breaking: Mike Pence's Investigation Into Planned Parenthood Finds Zero Violations

The false and debunked claims that Planned Parenthood is selling aborted fetus body parts just got even more debunked.
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/breaking_mike_pence_s_investigation_of_planned_parenthood_finds_zero_violations

Angel Dillard to Stand Trial for Threatening Abortion Provider

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s decision overturns a lower court ruling that held Dillard’s 2011 letter to Dr. Mila Means saying someone might place a bomb under her car was constitutionally protected free speech...
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/07/30/angel-dillard-stand-trial-threatening-abortion-provider/

Lucien Greaves, Skepticon 7: The Oklahoma Monument

Lucien Greaves discusses the continuing effort of The Satanic Temple to place a Baphomet monument alongside a 10 Commandments monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol Building grounds.
https://youtu.be/4iNhLMf9UGs

Clergy Project (Freethought Radio, July 20, 2015)

After reporting on an FFRF state/church victory removing Christian crosses from a Texas county building, we hear “Blood Brothers,” the song Dan Barker wrote right after leaving the ministry. What happens when a minister no longer believes? Catherine Dunphy, a Catholic seminarian and chaplain who abandoned her faith and author of the new book, From Apostle to Apostate: The Story of the Clergy Project, tells us about how this new group is helping to “Save a Preacher."
Interview:
http://ffrf.libsyn.com/clergy-project

Confederate Audio & Atheist Bible Study (Dogma Debate #192 )

Casey Brescia SCA Update, Stephanie Guttormson-Trans 101, Joey Kirkman records and interviews people at the Confederate Flag Rally, Atheist Bible study Hebrews vs. Matthew, and more...
Interview:
http://login.dogmadebate.com/podcast/192-confederate-audio-atheist-bible-study/

The Failed War on Drugs, with Johann Hari (The Humanist Hour #159)

In this episode, Bo Bennett speaks with author and journalist Johann Hari about the failed war on drugs, its history, and a proposed solution that has been tested. Hari’s new book, Chasing the Scream, explores the war on drugs through the stories of people across the world whose lives have been transformed by this war.

From ChasingTheScream.com:

Johann Hari is a British journalist. He has written for many of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Le Monde, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, the New Republic, the Nation, Slate, El Mundo, and the Sydney Morning Herald. He was a lead op-ed columnist for the Independent, one of Britain’s leading newspapers, for nine years.

He was born in 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has lived in London since he was a baby. His mother is from the Scottish tenements and his father is from the Swiss mountains. He graduated from King’s College, Cambridge with a double first in Social and Political Sciences in 2001.

Johann was named ‘National Newspaper Journalist of the Year’ by Amnesty International twice. He was named ‘Environmental Commentator of the Year’ at the Editorial Intelligence awards, and ‘Gay Journalist of the Year’ at the Stonewall awards. He has also won the Martha Gellhorn Prize for political writing.

He is currently working on his next book, and he is a Visiting Fellow with Purpose, the New York-based progressive campaigning group.
Interview:
http://thehumanist.com/multimedia/podcast/the-humanist-hour-159-the-failed-war-on-drugs-with-johann-hari

Freethought Today August 2015 Newspaper

Read  it here: http://ffrf.org/images/uploads/fttoday/2015/FT_August_2015_Web.pdf

Sarah Palin Defends The Confederate Flag – Because Planned Parenthood

Sarah Palin used the right-wing campaign against Planned Parenthood to swipe at opponents of the Confederate Flag - and pretend it's because she cares...  Read more

Archaeologists discover 1,000-year-old weak spot in Earth's magnetic field

Patches of ground in southern Africa where huts were once burned down reveal surprising clues about the history – and future – of our planet's geomagn... Read more

Young women 'catfished' ISIS out of $3,300. Will they be punished?

Three young women from Chechnya who posed as potential Islamic State recruits on social media are under investigation for fraud, but many online suppo... Read more

Trump Dominates Fellow GOPers, But Trails Democrats In New Poll

Donald Trump dominated the Republican presidential field in yet another poll on Thursday, but his favorability was the lowest of any candidate and he ... Read more

Jindal: Guns Should Be Allowed In Movie Theaters

One week after a gunman killed two people after opening fire in a Lafayette, La. movie theater, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said that people shoul... Read more

New Hampshire Focus Group Fawns Over Trump: 'He's Like One Of Us' (VIDEO)

At least 12 voters in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire are absolutely gaga over real estate mogul Donald Trump. ... Read more

Report: Emails Show Walker's Role In Attempt To Gut Wisc. Open Records Law

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) aides may have had a bigger role in a failed attempt to gut the state's government transparency laws than his office... Read more

Confederate Flags Placed At Black Church Near MLK Center

ATLANTA (AP) — Four Confederate battle flags were found on the grounds of the Ebenezer Baptist Church near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlant... Read more

Another Planned Parenthood 'Sting' Video Comes Just Before Senate Defund Vote

Anti-abortion activists have amped up their campaign attacking Planned Parenthood ahead of a planned Senate vote to end federal funding to the reprodu... Read more

Rick Perry: Carly Fiorina 'Makes A Lot Of Sense' As VP Pick (VIDEO)

Presidential candidate and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Thursday he thinks fellow Republican 2016 hopeful Carly Fiorina would make a good runn... Read more

Lindsey Graham Brings Up Hitler While Criticizing The Iran Deal (VIDEO)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday invoked Hitler's slow takeover of Europe through appeasement to explain why t... Read more

Conservatives: Planned Parenthood Faked 'Hack' To Raise Money

Conservative websites Breitbart and The Federalist are claiming that a reported cyber-attack of the Planned Parenthood website is in fact a "PR stunt"... Read more

Trump’s Immigration Policy Doesn’t Make Much Sense But That’s OK Because He Knows ‘How To Manage’

"It sounds cold. It sounds hard," Trump admitted ... Read more

Pennsylvania Employers Steal Tens Of Millions Of Dollars From Their Workers In Any Given Week

Rampant wage theft is slicing hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Pennsylvania economy each year, a new analysis ... Read more

College Board Caves To Conservative Pressure, Changes AP U.S. History Curriculum

After complaints from conservatives about a lack of founding fathers, the AP American History standards will change.  ... Read more

Best of Nonbelievers Arguments And Comebacks Part 1

The speakers in order are:
1. Christopher Hitchens
2. Daniel Dennett
3. Ayaan Hirsi Ali
4. Dan Barker
5. David Silverman
6. Douglas Murray
7. Lawrence M. Krauss
8. Matt Dillahunty
9. Michael Shermer
10. Neil DeGrasse Tyson
11. Richard Dawkins
12. Sam Harris
13. Steven Pinker
https://youtu.be/GQQDkuAhYOs

The Obama Administration’s Ambitious New Plan To Tackle HIV Rates

A new five-year expansion to current HIV strategy promises to decrease HIV in at-risk groups, increase testing opportunities, ... Read more

Environmental Group Sues California Over ‘Fundamentally Flawed’ Fracking Report

An environmental group is suing the state of California's oil agency for not incorporating certain information into its ... Read more

Cruz Stands By Claim That President Obama Is World’s Biggest Funder Of ‘Islamic Terrorism’

Former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the man who lost to Obama in 2012, also hit out at Cruz Thursday in a tweet. The ... Read more

The Hidden Silver Lining In The EPA’s Most Recent Court Loss

Why the EPA is "pleased" about a loss in court this week... Read more

Jeb Bush Parrots Frank Luntz Climate Script, Just As His Brother Did A Decade Ago

You can expect many conservatives critical of the Clean Power Plan to start using the poll-tested words "technology" and ... Read more

50 Years Later, Medicare And Medicaid Are A Smashing Success

Let us count the ways these programs have changed life in the U.S. ... Read more

ANOTHER Black Woman Dies in Police Custody, 3rd in 2 Weeks

–Ralkina Jones is the third black woman found dead in police custody in the past two weeks.
https://youtu.be/ZVaRxM6Adt0

Medicare For All

https://youtu.be/8PDcyXESrks

Best of Alex Rosenberg Arguments And Comebacks Part 1

https://youtu.be/SiKZaYFHWbs

Gay Movement is PREDATORY! (Co-Host: Armoured Skeptic)

The SFS host discuss "Jack Burkman Says 'The Homosexual Movement In This Country' Is Fundamentally 'Predatory'" We also close the show at the end, fun times and good laughs!
https://youtu.be/cOy5etqMCVE

"Rinse and Repeat" by Old Fart Rants

https://youtu.be/pkUhTozLXL4

"The Republican Party has gone completely off the rails - they have nothing to offer except clowns, lies, fear, and hate. Donald Trump said he'd love to have Sarah Palin on his team - not as his running mate because of course even a bloviated carnival barker like Trump knows she's a total moron, and their campaign slogan would have to be "You're Fired / I Quit!" He meant having her in his cabinet which would make her one of those dreaded czars she hates so much. But of course he's lying about that just to get votes from the flock of idiots who are so stupid and uninformed they actually think Sarah Palin is qualified for anything besides standing in front of a flag babbling incoherently. Donald Trump is leading the polls for the Republican Party's presidential nomination! To conservatives, the Pope is now the most dangerous man in the world - Marxist enemy number one. Some even think he's the Anti-Christ! The friggin' Pope! We have unprecedented disrespect for the President of the United States all because he's black with a Muslimy sounding name. Unprecedented obstruction which hasn't just prevented good things from happening for the country, it's actually damaged the country! Benghazi is still a bigger failure than 9-11. Fox News is still lying about everything and their viewers are still too dumb to know it. The rest of the modern world is making great advances in healthcare and renewable energy while we can't even get out potholes fixed. I just saw where a guy got a bill from the hospital for $153,000 for treating his snakebite. That's enough to buy a house in a lot of American cities. Only an idiot could ever think we have the “best healthcare system in the world” and only a bunch of crooks would try to repeal Obamacare over 60 times knowing full well they can’t, and call it patriotism! They've got wild conspiracy theories that make science fiction look a documentary. Almost 100 years since the Scopes trial they're still trying to replace science with religion to force their fairy tale beliefs everyone. Racism, bigotry and imaginary divine authority are not only alive and well - they're on steroids! They completely control Congress now, but they haven't accomplished a single thing except to name a few post offices. They have no ideas and no alternative solutions for anything – all they do is lie, whine and complain. The only thing the Republican Party's has been FOR since Obama was first elected is trying to undermine Roe V. Wade and go after Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile they're ready to start a war and kill other people's sons and daughters at the drop of a hat, actually proposing war as a better option than a treaty with Iran that everyone in the world thinks is good but them. They're literally ready to bring on Armageddon just to get their way. How much worse can things get? With so much idiocy going on for so long, it's getting hard to pick a story anymore, much less keep up. What's left to say that hasn't been said? Why bother, especially when it's all so easy to understand. No matter what act is in the center ring of their circus of nightmares at the time, here's all you need to know: Republicans and their Tea Party spawn are bad. Democrats are less bad, making them the lesser of 2 evils. And here's how to fix the problem: Get rid of every Republican in every office from dog catcher to President of the United States, and only elect Democrats for at least the next 8 to 12 years. See if things get better. If not, rinse and repeat. That's it."

Basic Christianity, People!

Source: http://ffrf.org/images/uploads/fttoday/2015/FT_August_2015_Web.pdf

Why Does the Mormon Church Want to Build a Small City in Florida?

Makes you wonder why churches should be allowed to be tax exempt.

"Of all the things you’re supposed to do with tithed money, building a shopping center or a full-blown community — even if profits eventually get used to promote the religion — isn’t on the list. And if making money is part of your Church’s mission, why are members getting tax exemptions for their donations?"
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/07/29/why-does-the-mormon-church-want-to-build-a-small-city-in-florida/

Catholic school teachers near deal, but ‘morality’ fight goes on

...{Archbishop] Cordileone sparked outrage among hundreds of teachers, students and parents earlier this year when he proposed adding morality clauses to the contract and an employee handbook. It said sex outside marriage, homosexual relations, the viewing of pornography and masturbation are “gravely evil” and opposed contraception and abortion as well. Administrators, faculty and staff should “affirm and believe” the statements, according to the document...
http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Catholic-school-teachers-close-to-deal-but-6413516.php

Boy Scouts still excludes a growing group: atheists

Even as it shifts its policy on gay leaders, there are still millions of Americans today who do not meet one of the basic requirements to become a Boy Scout leader: those who does not hold religious beliefs...
http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/2782087-155/boy-scouts-still-excludes-a-growing

Florida Gun Store Sued After Declaring 'Muslim-Free Zone'

...The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale accuses Florida Gun Supply of Inverness of violating the federal public accommodations law and seeks an injunction to stop the discrimination, according to the complaint...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-gun-store-sued-after-declaring-muslim-free-zone_55b95f87e4b095423d0dcec5