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Show 286: Humanism and Marriage — The ETFF Pride Weekend Edition

Audio here!

It was Pride weekend and this show aired mere hours after NYC’s world famous Pride Parade, celebrating the rights and accomplishments of the LGBT Community.

“For years the issue of same-sex marriage has electrified the political landscape. But is marriage a religious institution? And if so, should the government be granting privileges to *any* couples? Or does marriage benefit civic society, and is it wrong to let religious objections keep certain couples from participating?

Also, is marriage a humanist institution?

Join your host Michael O’Neil as we review this issue and take your calls on Equal Time For Freethought!”

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Show 285b: “Abortion – the Debate That Won’t Go Away” II

In the Aftermath of Dr. Tiller’s Assassination: Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women

Audio here!

When a hero of women is hunted, demonized and finally cut down for saving the lives and the quality of life of women everywhere, it is women as a whole who have been violently assaulted.  And a society that does not rise up in massive repudiation against this is a society that accepts as normal the degradation, subjugation, shaming and blaming of half of humanity.

This Sunday, Equal Time for Freethought will run a second segment on the question of abortion in the aftermath of Dr. Tiller’s assassination.  Sunsara Taylor will speak with Susan Wicklund, author of ‘This Common Secret: My Journey As an Abortion Doctor.‘

Susan Wicklund, like Dr. Tiller, has been stalked, blockaded, harassed and assaulted for decades for her continued determination to provide safe abortions for women who need them.  She attended Dr. George Tiller‘s funeral along with other colleagues from around the country and will join Equal Time for Freethought to discuss why her work is so central to women’s ability to live full and equal lives.  She will discuss the atmosphere surrounding abortion providers in the aftermath of Dr. Tiller’s murder.

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Show 285a: Abortion: The Debate that won’t go Away (Call-In Special)

“Abortion – the Debate That Won’t Go Away” (Call-In Special)

Audio here!

Events in the past two months have made it clear that despite it being thirty six years after Roe v Wade, the question of abortion continues to be as controversial as ever. On Sunday May 17th, President Obama suggested that we draft “a sensible conscience clause” presumably giving anti-abortion health care providers the right to refuse to perform an abortion. On May 31st, abortion provider George Tiller was shot dead while attending church.  On May 15th, a gallop poll found that 51 percent of those questioned call themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion.  On April 19 and 26th, our own WBAI featured two programs during which explicitly anti-abortion views were offered both by the guest and the producer as well. This Sunday ETFF will be taking your calls as we examine abortion, the debate that won’t go away.

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Show 284: Church & State in Kearny, New Jersey; The Saga Continues…

Call-In Special: Church & State in Kearny, New Jersey; The Saga Continues…

Audio here!

Matthew LaClair will be conducting a special call-in program on a topic which he was first introduced to ETFF’s audiences as a guest speaker on.  Matt will be updating and discussing the latest chapter in the ongoing saga regarding his former U.S. History Public High School teacher who, back in 2006 in Kearny, NJ, he recorded and challenged for preaching religion during class.  That incident garnered worldwide attention, and was reported on in the New York Times.

This time, the teacher, David Paszkiewicz – who is also the adviser of a Christian Club in the school – is taking the club to the Creation Museum in Kentucky this weekend. This field trip was initially supposed to occur in part during school hours using taxpayer money with the educational rationale being to expose students to the “science behind creationism.”

Matthew will discuss his actions this past week, and talk about what can be done about this breach of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. What do YOU think about this issue?  Should religious clubs in public schools be allowed to use taxpayer money to promote something that directly opposes the educational curriculum?  Should this teacher be appeased or admired?  Or is this yet another way the religious right uses back door tactics to turn American schools into mini-theocracies, and thus teachers like Paszkiewicz be removed from public service?  Call Matt to chat abut these questions Sunday at 212-209-2900!