Thank God I'm Atheist

A quiet little mistake at BYU sets off a surprisingly big reaction! When a drink at the Mormon-owned Brigham Young University turned out to contain green tea, it reopened the question of what the Mormon "Word of Wisdom" actually bans, and why a 19th-century health rule still causes confusion today. Frank and Dan unpack the green tea mix-up and the strange logic behind Mormon caffeine culture (because they most definitely do consume the stuff!!)
Elsewhere in the episode: Congress launches a "Sharia Free America" caucus, anti-LGBTQ parents win a $1.5 million payout over school books, the Taliban burns musical instruments in Afghanistan, Kansas makes clergy mandatory reporters (with a major confession loophole), a Catholic bishop is accused of embezzling church funds for trips to a Tijuana brothel, and Tucker Carlson's new prayer-app sponsor sparks backlash from Christians.
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A Florida congressman has introduced something called the "Protect Puppies from Sharia Act." Yes, that's the real name. The bill claims to defend dogs from Islamic law bans that don't exist, turning imaginary threats into federal legislation. We break down the culture-war paranoia behind it, and how this is what passes for serious governance now.
Elsewhere, we cover a massive Catholic abuse settlement and what it says about institutional accountability, a heartbreaking measles case tied to vaccine refusal, Louisiana's Ten Commandments law surviving another court challenge, Liberty University's push for a social media fast, and new Gallup data showing public trust in clergy collapsing. We close with a broader look at Christian nationalism and whether losing culture-war battles actually slows the movement, or quietly strengthens it.
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The Mormon Church has made a move that's raising questions about where it's headed next. President Dallin H. Oaks has appointed Clark Gilbert as the newest apostle, a relatively young (at 55 years old!) leader known for his firm orthodoxy and culture-war posture within church education. For many within the church and without, it feels like a signal about the future direction of the institution, particularly on LGBTQ issues and internal dissent.
We also examine Alabama's proposal to make disrupting a church service a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison, Oklahoma's latest attempt to establish a publicly funded religious charter school, and a lawsuit challenging Trump's Religious Liberty Commission. Plus: a controversial plea deal involving a former prison chaplain, and a Christian university "merger" that ended with faculty fired and assets absorbed.
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As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Donald Trump is launching a rival celebration—"Freedom 250"—complete with a national jubilee of prayer and a rededication of the country as "one nation under God." At the same time, the man linked to infidelity, sexual misconduct allegations, financial fraud, and relentless public dishonesty continues to enjoy overwhelming support from American Christians.
Elsewhere, a group of evangelicals hijack a long-haul flight with midair preaching (again!), an Arizona pastor calls for repealing women's right to vote, researchers flag evangelical bias in AI chatbots, a Utah city councilman says your rights are "God-given," not constitutional, and the "He Gets Us" campaign gets a makeover this year for the Super Bowl. Plus: a secular take on Lent and whether giving something up can have value for us non-believers.
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Pop star Nicki Minaj helped launch Donald Trump's latest scheme—and walked off with a shiny receipt. After backing Trump's new "Trump Accounts" and pouring serious money into the project, Minaj publicly declared that God is protecting Trump—then promptly showed off a Trump "Gold Card," a not-so-subtle symbol of access for sale. This week, we break down the celebrity worship, divine flattery, and raw pay-to-play politics that turn governance into a transaction.
We also dig into conservative outrage over the Super Bowl halftime show, Texas pushing Bible-based curriculum into public schools, a coordinated effort to roll back marriage equality, glaring sentencing disparities between religious offenders, and a rare moment of progress as Orthodox rabbis condemn conversion therapy. Then we close the show by pulling way back—confronting the sheer scale of the universe and asking what happens to small, human-sized gods when faced with billions of galaxies and a cosmos that doesn't care what we believe.
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