The Good Atheist

This week, Ryan joins me for another Bible Stories show, featuring The Book of Ruth. It’s a short show (the book is, after all, one of the shortest in the Bible), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one. Come get your fix, people!

This week, my special guest is singer/songwriter Dan Ingala of the band, Plushgun. He’s come to discuss the messed up political situation in America, and he’s even written a song about it!

This week, Carisa Hendrix joins me as we reminisce about “where were you when 9/11 happened”. Also, we talk about the highs and lows of the whole affair, and even discuss some controversial subjects, like stupidity and war! Come get your fix now.

This week, my special guest is Jerry DeWitt, former pastor turned ‘atheist leader’ (that’s the New York Times talking, not him). Be sure to tune into this episode, and make sure you keep him on his toes and working on a book!

This week, Ryan joins me as we tackle the problem of Orthodox Jews giving herpes to poor little babies, and a scumbag Imam tries to frame a disabled Christian girl for blasphemy in Pakistan. SHOW NOTES Topics New York Rabbis to defy circumcision law, Pakistan Imam accused of planting burnt Qur’an as evidence to prosecute disabled girl Introduction: 2 day vacation in Banff, Alberta and why I understand why people thought the gods lived in mountains. Fossils for sale make it a poor destination for creationists. Part 1: Scumbag Rabbis won’t stop dangerous practice despite law. In New York, many Ultra-Orthodox Jews engage in the practice of metzitzah b’peh, where the Mohel is instructed to place the infant’s penis in his mouth to suck the blood. It comes from a passage in the Torah, that claims this helps prevent infection. However, the exact opposite tends to happen, resulting in serious infections, including herpes. Less than a year after a Brooklyn tot died following an ancient circumcision ritual, the rabbis say they will ignore a proposed law that would mandate parental-consent forms before performing the dangerous procedure…Over the past decade, at least one other newborn died after contracting herpes from the rite, in which the rabbi draws blood from the penis with his mouth.[1] Because Jews are weird, since the 18th century man may use a glass tube to perform this ceremony, however, to accommodate the fact that the government was threatening to ban circumcision, and so many orthodox Jews seized on Talmudic interpretations that allowed them to stop this practice. [2] New York City and federal health authorities issued a public advisory Thursday cautioning against the sucking practice because it has been linked to 11 infants becoming infected with the herpes simplex virus type 1 since 2000. Ten of the infected newborns were hospitalized, two developed brain damage and two died, the health officials said. The city had tried to prosecute  Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer for infecting 3 infants (one of them eventually died), but somehow failed to conclusively prove his guilt. When the city was thinking of suing him to enforce a ban on him performing the ritual, to avoid political fallout Bloomberg allowed the matter to move on to rabbinical court. As expected, he continues to do operate today. [4] In 2006 Mayor Bloomberg held a meeting with rabbinical leaders which proved to be pointless:[3] “The Orthodox Jewish community will continue the practice that has been practiced for over 5,000 years,” said Rabbi David Niederman of the United Jewish Organization in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, after the meeting with the mayor. “We do not change. And we will not change.” Part 2: Imam accused of fabricating evidence to accuse Christian girl of blasphemy Part of this law also makes it clear that it is intended to persecute an offshoot of Islam called the Ahmadiyya [5], who believe that their 19th century prophet was the legendary Mujaddid (a man said to appear every century to ‘revive’ Islam) [6]. who came back on earth to spread his religion peacefully. Muslims in Pakistan consider them using the label Muslim to be offensive enough to make a law against it. Since 1987, almost 700 people have been arrested, and 20 died while in custody. Back in 2009, a woman named Asia Bibi was accused of insulting Muhammad and sentenced to death by hanging. Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was shot and killed by despite the man being one of his bodyguards, his murderer managed to pump over 40 bullets in his body. Government officials went on the record to say he deserved it and celebrated the killer. [7][8] He was sentenced to death, which pleased him greatly. [9] The latest story is of this type of persecution involves a 14 year old disabled Christian girl called Rimsha Masih. After allegedly hanging around a dump site, her accusers claim she was carrying the burnt remains of the Qur’an in her bag. Barnabas Fund reporte[...]

This week, I interview Sylvia Broeckx (pronounced “Brooks), who has an Indiegogo campaign for a movie called “Hug an Atheist“. If you’re interested in supporting the campaign, please visit her site and leave a comment.

This week Ryan joins me as we talk about the early history of Humanism, and my general opinion about this new “Atheism +” thing. Come and get your fix!

This week, Leo Igwe joins me as we tackle the problem of child witches and superstition in Africa. Leo is a former representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and a founding member of the Nigerian Humanist Movement.

This week, Ryan joins me as we tackle the problem of child torture in the Democratic Republic of Congo as we wrap up the last days of the Indigogo “Bible Stories” Campaign. We also feature a hilarious letter from a fan asking for their tithing monies to be spent on something useful instead of opulent.

This week, Carisa joins me as we talk about global warming, Curiosity rover landing on Mars, and the shooting at a Sikh temple by a white supremacist. Be sure to consult the show notes if you want to see the 7 minutes of terror video.

This week, our Bible Stories campaign gets resurrected from the dead, and we talk about gun control in America. I expect there to be lots of discussion, so please be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

Because of a problem with Kickstarter (explained in the show), we had to cancel it despite a superb performance. It has since moved to Indigogo, and we’re trying to have lightning strike twice. In the meantime, we recorded a show to explain the deal.

This is it folks! The final 60 hours before my Bible Stories Kickstarter Campaign is over. So, to celebrate this event (ok, maybe more to entice you), this show will be available for free as long as the campaign is on. So, better hurry up and download it and then go buy a pre-order of the book right after!

This week, we have a very special two part Bible Stories podcast for The Book of Judges. It’s the last few days of the Kickstarter Campaign, so if you haven’t done so already, please go to the site and pre-order the book right now!

This week, we talk about the success of the Kickstarter campaign so far, and what that means for the future of TGA. We also discuss Katie Holmes and her split from Scientology, and how the ‘VatiLeaks’ scandal is helping erode the power of the Vatican. Come and get your fix, people!