American Freethought Podcast

Original release April 2, 2016. Encore release December 11, 2018. Encore release September 3, 2017. So-called Religious Freedom Restoration Acts are meeting with mixed success at the state level. RFRAs are ostensibly about protecting religious freedom, but they're really just pandering to religious conservatives who want to discriminate against the hated gays (just like Jesus would have). In Georgia, under pressure from civil liberties organizations and business interests who warn the state could lose its lucrative movie-making industry, Governor Nathan Deal (a conservative Republican!) just wielded his veto power on a discriminatory bill, citing the lack of need for such a law and appealing to love and tolerance. Meanwhile, North Carolina just passed a law prohibiting local governments from protecting LGBT rights (this in response to a Charlotte city ordinance allowing transgendered people to use restrooms that correspond with their self-identity). Supporters are crowing about "common sense," but others are