American Freethought Podcast

Original release January 22, 2012. Encore release August 29, 2018. Encore release May 22, 2017. We look at the aftermath of highschooler Jessica Ahlquist's First Amendment victory in Rhode Island. After winning a lawsuit to have a prayer banner removed from a public high school, Ms. Ahlquist has received threats and harassment--even local florists refuse to deliver flowers to her house! The Supreme Court has supported the concept of "ministerial exception," ruling that religious organizations may hire or fire "ministers" for any reason, even if the reason would otherwise violate laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Consider it fair warning that if you accept a job with a religious organizations, you could be checking your civil rights at the door. Also discussed: The new documentary Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged, now in very limited release. The 2003 documentary Touching the Void, about mountaineer (and atheist) Joe Simpson's hair-raising story of survival in the Peruvian An