Greta Interviewed on “Equal Time for Freethought” Radio Show/ Podcast!

Equal Time for Freethought logo

I did a radio interview recently with Barry Seidman of the “Equal Time For Freethought” show on WBAI Radio in New York.

Coming Out Atheist cover 150
We talked about Coming Out Atheist: How to do it, How to Help Each Other, and Why — why coming out as an atheist is important; how believers react to the idea of atheists coming out; the reality of anti-atheist bigotry; why believers resist the very idea of atheists coming out; my own “coming out atheist” story; the flaws in the “born this way” argument for LGBT rights (and why the fact that atheists aren’t “born this way” is no reason to be bigoted against us); whether becoming an atheist in the first place is more of an intellectual process or an emotional one; how coming out about our atheism involves both emotional issues and intellectual ones; some general guidelines on coming out as an atheist; some specific guidelines about coming out in the workplace; atheists’ experiences coming out to friends and family and how (and why) it often turns out better than we think it will; why believers often take it personally when atheists in their lives come out (and how to deal with it when they do); how political differences and religious ones sometimes intersect; why I hate the word “spiritual” with the fire of a thousand suns; and more.

Why Are You Atheists So Angry? cover
And we also talked about Why are You Atheists So Angry: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless — the view of anger in a “bright-sided” society; anger as a motivator to take action; anger as a sign of compassion; atheist anger and the Hobby Lobby ruling; the Supreme Court and religious contempt for women; progressive and moderate religion and why religious faith itself is inherently harmful; the argument that “science doesn’t explain everything, therefore God exists”; why atheists trying to persuade people that religion is wrong isn’t the same as trying to enforce our beliefs; when to get into arguments about religion (and when not to); pushing back against the force field religion has protecting it from criticism; why I don’t automatically have a problem with religious evangelism; anti-atheist discrimination among progressives; how being out as an atheist is inherently confrontational; why atheists and humanists shouldn’t ignore the value that people do get from religion and religious communities; whether working to persuade the world out of religion is a lost cause; whether truth matters; and more.

It was a really interesting, thought-provoking, challenging conversation. The interview is now available as a podcast. Check it out!

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Greta Interviewed on “Equal Time for Freethought” Radio Show/ Podcast!
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One thought on “Greta Interviewed on “Equal Time for Freethought” Radio Show/ Podcast!

  1. 1

    Dear Greta,

    Thank you for making this post. I wish that other freethought leaders would follow your lead, and that you would do this more often. I mean that I like to read about places you go to talk about atheism or some other good progressive values. I like to know what audience you reached out to, and the key points you made there, just as you describe in this post.

    You are one of the ambassadors of expressing my own thoughts and feelings. So every time you talk, it gives me a feeling of satisfaction that our views have been better shared with the world. Each talk has the potential to reach out and free some unknown number of human minds from old fashioned or primitive thinking.

    You are a professional author and public speaker, and you have the freedom to express our views clearly, in ways that are not practical for me to do now. But it gives me vicarious pleasure to know that you are spreading a good message. So it energizes me to read about each talk you do.

    So just please keep doing what you are doing.

    I should note that we might not always agree, as I’m a straight white male, etc. But I keep feeling that the points you make in your books are the points I would want to tell the world also. Thanks very much.

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