Glass City Humanist
In this episode Douglas talks about the large amount of hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and other magical thinking brought on by the response to the pandemic and what Humanists and others can do to get through this thick cloud of problem thinking.
Richard Dawkins is a well known figure in the freethought community. His books have been best sellers and have helped lead many people to ditch religion. In recent years, Dawkins has not been a decent human being and on April 10th a transphobic tweet reminded us all we need to stop putting science communicators on a pedestal. The support Dawkins received for “Just Asking Questions” reminds us what Humanism really means as we reject his questioning of the basic dignity and worth of a group of people for no rational reason.
In this episode Douglas goes through the process his Humanist group took to create a new tag line to help market the group to the public. When some groups are dropping the word Humanism from their name SHoWLE rejected that direction. Then Douglas talks about the new election laws being passed as a result of the massive turn out in the 2020 election and how these laws aren’t reform but just Jim Crow laws in another form.
Free speech doesn’t mean free from consequences. Cancel culture is just the complaints about Political Correctness dressed in different clothes. Douglas gives a primer about what the 1st amendment really means and it doesn’t cover using bigotry disguised as jokes on social media. Finally, we look at the need for transparency as the American Humanist Association looks for a new executive director.
Did you know you don’t really need to spend years going to medical school to become a doctor in order to affect the health of people? All you need is to be elected to the state legislator. In this episode, Douglas will talk about the Ohio Legislature’s arrogant push to override the public health orders made my Governor DeWine during our current pandemic. Finally, he will talk about a good proposed law that will protect women trying to obtain an abortion in Toledo.
In this episode Doug talks about the attempted coup that happen in Washington DC on January 6th and how that was balanced by the swearing in of a new President. What will this mean for secular people. Doug also gives an update on a Federal lawsuit by three Lucas county religious schools to subvert a public health order and finally Doug mentions a couple of articles he’s read that deal with the mental health issues of schools being closed and how Ohio made headlines as an Anti-vaccine state
In this episode Douglas talks about the passage of House Resolution 512 that calls for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws. Next he talks about two cases of schools trying to use religion to circumvent public health orders and finally in a new segment called Humanism 101 he looks at Global Awarness.
In this episode Douglas talks to artist Martha Knox about her woodcut print art, her performance art called “Submit”, the state of art during a pandemic and why selling her art is not her goal. Martha also talks about being very active in the leadership of organized freethought and then stepping back after becoming disillusioned.
In this episode Douglas chats with August Brunsman, one of the founders and first paid executive director of the Secular Student Alliance which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. We talk about the heady days at the beginning of the group, the problems that come along with a college project like SSA, and his continuing work with Camp Quest – An educational adventure shaped by fun, friends and freethought.
In this episode Douglas looks at Christian nationalists using Religious freedom as cover for their discrimination, why the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the US Supreme Court is a problem for all of us, and he introduces a new recurring segment where people share the story of their journey to Humanism.