Thank God I'm Atheist - podcast cover

Thank God I'm Atheist

Frank and Dan's off-the-cuff conversations focus on current events cast through the lens of their shared atheism. Episodes include a rundown of six news stories from the prior week, and the show occasionally features interviews with writers, thinkers, and leaders in the atheist community. As former Mormons, the hosts provide insight into the often misunderstood religious minority.
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Episodes

Wait... Christmas? Again?! #678

Ugh... it's true and here's what we talked about: Upcoming LGBT pilgrimage, a nativity at the Vatican (appropriate), a nativity at the US Capitol (less appropriate), a call to Biden, revealing cellphone data about church attendance in US, Noah's ark update, and we offer up once again our Christmas survival guide.

Dec 18, 20241 hr 8 minEp. 678

Half of America Shrugs #677

Bible sales are booming, anti-woke crusader targets Christian nationalists, Atheists are more likely than Christians to treat the other fairly, group kicked out of Christmas parade, Village People frontman comes out as homophobe, Christian lawmaker wants to rollback gay rights, and a health insurance CEO is gunned down in NYC and the internet breaks.

Dec 10, 20241 hr 22 minEp. 677

The "Wives" of Joseph Smith #676

This week, Kenneth Copeland sentences us heathens to eternal boredom, India proves that Christians actually are oppressed somewhere , the UK tries to do the bare minimum for dying folks, Ohio takes further steps toward theocracy, an Iowa pastor shows contempt for atheists by depicting a jewish king as a badass, corrupt Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton proves he can be an a$$hole to Christians too, and Andrea and Dan discuss the many [not really] wives of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith....

Dec 03, 202457 min

Fading Faith or Fading Interest? #675

First millennial saint canonization date announced, Texas approves Christian curriculum for public elementary schools, Iranian protestor released from mental hospital, small town Scottish supermarket now open on Sundays, Pope Francis makes changes to papal funerals, AI Jesus debuts in Switzerland, and the very mundane reasons people leave religion.

Nov 26, 202455 minEp. 675

Mormons and Their Rules #674

Episode 674: Muslims who voted for Trump already feeling betrayed, head of the Church of England steps down, Iran tries new approach to convince women to wear hijab, Oklahoma bible update, retailer caves to Christian pressure, Louisiana Ten Commandments update, and Mormons just aren't as strict as they used to be (and that's upsetting to many former Mormons).

Nov 19, 202459 minEp. 674

Holding Space and Giving Grace #673

Church foolishly offers money-back guarantee, human rights orgs cry foul over Iran’s execution of Jewish man found guilty of murder, neighbors say NIMBY to cold nights in Fruit Heights, CEO of Christian org is worried about children except the ones he harms, magician tries to make new Christians appear out of thin air (in public schools), JWs are NOT doing well in Eritrea, and Dan and Kate try to figure out how to deal with friends and family who believe stupid things

Nov 12, 202451 min

The One That Almost Got Away #672

So... there was a HUGE miscommunication and this show didn't get posted at the correct time! Our deepest apologies! Anyway, You don't get any show notes this week. If you want to know what happened on the show, you're just going to have to listen to it! Thanks for understanding.

Nov 09, 202453 min

Risqué Mormon Undies #671

Suspicious 'Catholic' newspapers spew right-wing propaganda, Catholic Church attempts to cancel transgender rabbi's play, polio surges in Pakistan, a 'solution' to some bad publicity, Kamala Harris goes to church, an unexpected walkout at a speech, and the Mormon Church announces big change to their magic underwear.

Oct 29, 20241 hr 9 minEp. 671

Hang in There #670

Taliban bans images of living things, new 'Tree of Life' garden open in Utah, radical Christians say Kamala Harris has a 'Jezebel spirit', archdiocese to pay largest settlement ever in child sex abuse case, Islamists call for caliphate in Germany, 'Utah hair' makes waves on TikTok, and things might be about to get very bad in America.

Oct 22, 20241 hr 5 minEp. 670

Relax, It's Just Christian Nationalism #669

Night of sex, drugs, and Catholic priests ends badly; school district rescinds policy; 'Trump Bible' headed for Oklahoma classrooms; does being Christian count when pleading insanity?; California sues Catholic hospital; and a discussion about how sometimes it's not Christian Nationalism, it's just Christians being annoying.

Oct 08, 20241 hr 8 minEp. 669

Hail Mary or Hail Nah? #668

Jesus appears in unlikely place, unexpected results from Latin American poll, angry Christians call for Coke boycott, prominent Louisiana pastor convicted, anti-Trump political ad features Billy Graham, Oklahoma state superintendent seeks $6 million for classroom bibles, and the Catholic Church's attempts to find evidence for miracles.

Oct 01, 20241 hr 9 minEp. 668

Rusty Turns 100 #667

Pope says 'all religions are path to God' ticking off other Catholics, the country of Georgia curbs LGBT rights ('cause religion), UK enacts buffer zones around abortion clinics, shocking percentage of Australian Catholic clergy accused of abuse, Pope urges Catholics to choose the 'letter evil' between Harris and Trump, Mormons in Arizona might swing the state toward Harris, and president of Mormon Church turns 100.

Sep 24, 202459 minEp. 667

The Devil Made Me Do It! #666

Mormon apostle and steaming pile of unpleasantness Jeffrey Holland decidedly does not apologize, study finds that Christian nationalist rhetoric from political leaders has real consequences, the Pope has a tone-deaf message for Papua New Guinea, and Lance Wallnau agrees that Kamala Harris won the debate, and he knows how she did it. And also- it's our 666th episode, and Satan made Frank sick. Or maybe God did. But we're going to talk about Satan.

Sep 17, 202446 minEp. 666

Mormon Hangover #665

Rabbis launch their own fire department, Johnson amendment, Catholic Church dumps predator priests throughout Pacific, Catholic priests stuck in immigration queue, The Meeting House shuts down, Iowa really doesn't want Satanic Temple rally at state capitol, and a bunch of very not Mormon housewives still claim to be Mormon.

Sep 10, 20241 hr 15 minEp. 665

Mormons Rewrite Temple Ceremony (Again) #664

Timor-Leste prepares for Pope Francis' visit, Orthodox Church through the pandemic, Utah lawmaker posts racist video, teacher sues after being fired, Ukraine bans Russian Orthodox Church, South Dakota school prayer bill, and the Mormon Temple ceremony just got another rewrite.

Sep 03, 20241 hr 11 minEp. 664

Feeling a Little Better #663

Taliban fires men who can't grow beards, the Taliban also gets weird about the sound of women's voices, book banning is alive and well in America (but specifically Texas in this case), Houston megachurch lists mansion and compound for $15M, Mormon Church issues new rules about trans members, Florida's official tourism site removes LGBTQ section, and we feel a guardedly hopeful about America after the DNC.

Aug 27, 20241 hr 5 minEp. 663

Dammit, Dawkins #622

Church of England pays off predator, Catholic charter school in Oklahoma, Oklahoma legislators 'might' investigate State Superintendent Ryan Walters, Pew world religion survey, proposed Democratic Party platform, Dave Ramsey lawsuit, and Richard Dawkins spreads lies about female olympians.

Aug 20, 20241 hr 14 minEp. 622

Holy Health Hazards! #661

Louisiana has a plan to skirt the First Amendment, Evangelicals increasingly uneasy about politics, Evangelical leaders call out 'prophets', Rwanda enforces new church policy, appeals court sides with Boston City Council over Satanic Temple, new Episcopalian AI tool kinda nails it, and faith-based medical schools have us wondering what parts of a quality medical education they might be leaving out.

Aug 13, 20241 hr 6 minEp. 661

Eternal Victims #660

Priest sues Grindr, Hindu pilgrims reek havoc, Egyptian Muslims boycott new film, British response to stabbing tragedy, Mayoral candidate says main qualification for office is his being Christian, monk showdown in Greece, and Christian Crybabies and the Olympics.

Aug 06, 20241 hr 20 minEp. 660

Still Waiting on a Sign #659

Oklahoma school districts in revolt against state superintendent's order to teach bible, large churches are pushes small congregations out of the marketplace, Kim Davis is such a pile of poop, shocking abuse report out of New Zealand, class-action lawsuit forms against Mormon Church, why doesn't Robert Jeffress think god burned down his church, and do atheists need a symbol (something like the Christian cross, but not a murder weapon)?

Jul 29, 20241 hr 9 minEp. 659

Trump's Big Miracle #658

Republican National Convention crashes Grindr, god-fearing olympians refuse to play on holy days, Taliban leaders filmed dancing, Taliban and women athletes at Olympics, Memphis school district owes Satanic Temple $15k, Paris holy games, and Trump now gets to go around saying god saved him.

Jul 23, 20241 hr 5 minEp. 658

Peace? Not in Our Time

Pastor assaults wife over flight upgrade, artwork controversy, baseball player gets baptized on the field, church insurance, largest proportion of new UK MPs take secular oath, Democrats urge IRS investigation, and 'America at a Crossroads' episode talks to Greg Locke.

Jul 16, 20241 hr 12 minEp. 657

The Fourth of Meh #656

'Tips for Jesus' gone wrong, Israel's chief rabbinate left 'unmanned' (there might be a pun in there), government minister suspended for 'black magic,' excommunicated Jesuit artist's to be removed, megachurch closes due to ineligibility for abuse insurance, British Columbia secularists win, and the Fourth of July just didn't feel all that great this year.

Jul 09, 20241 hr 2 minEp. 656

Bummed by Biden? Yeah... Us Too #655

City confiscates church's loud speakers, an update about an atheist parolee, we actually agree with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, a story to remind us that Oklahoma is Bible crazy, ultra-Orthodox men must be drafted into Israeli army too, a Christian utopia in Nigeria fails (not in the way you would think), and boy oh boy... that was one heck of a debate.

Jul 02, 20241 hr 2 minEp. 655

The Ten Commandments are Stupid #654

Saudi Arabia is a terrible place to be in summer, Christains turn against their own because they don't understand literary devices, Christian Reform Church doubles-down on hate, Catholic church sued for torturing rather than helping, Christian University shocks everyone by being awful, Unitarians consider adding a new anti-bigotry principle to their creed and some of them fight against it , and Louisiana wants to force kids to have to look at a stupid and outdated group of rules.

Jun 25, 202456 min

Check Out the Gays #653

A Texas church tells a blind woman to take a hike, a yearbook mistake(?) offends everybody, Samuel Alito is unfit to serve on SCOTUS (again), a Christian medical group tries to trick people, a gay Pakistani man makes questionable choices, Sean Feucht thinks his rights are being violated, and Christians are checking out all the gay books!

Jun 18, 20241 hr 9 min

From Faith to Fables #652

Colorado GOP wants to burn Pride flags, a question of women in clergy, an Amazon tribe gets the internet, Southern Baptist abuse reform task force fails, Oklahoma offers school credit for Satanic Temple courses (probably), a discussion about school vouchers, and so many people leave religion only to replace their faith with woo.

Jun 11, 20241 hr 14 minEp. 652

Holy Words, Hollow Impact #651

Vatican apologizes for pope's use of homophobic slur, Baptist theological seminary covers up sexual assault allegation, Oklahoma schools to allow religious classes during school hours, American missionaries killed in Haiti, Christian lifeguard sues Los Angeles over pride flags, an update about public education in the South, and a conversation about how difficult it is for Christians and atheists to communicate.

Jun 04, 20241 hr 16 minEp. 651

Gen Z: Christianity's Last Hope #650

Florida priest assaults woman during communion, Scotland passes demographic milestone, Italian middle school teacher causes national uproar over Dante, new website for finding churches, fifteen year old boy sainted, holy relics at Vatican, and polling shows that the number of "nones" in US has plateaued.

May 28, 20241 hr 14 minEp. 650

Madonna's Satanic Panic #649

Texas megachurch really wants a new traffic light, Vatican museum staff sues Vatican, imprisoned Rastafarian appeals to Supreme Court over cut hair, Chicago high school's quiet time crosses the line, Billy Graham statue headed to US Capitol, free books at Louisiana school, and Madonna's free concert in Brazil stokes new Satanic Panic.

May 21, 20241 hr 4 minEp. 649
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