Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence

Guest Hector Avalos, who went from Mexican child evangelist to an atheist and leading bible scholar, talks about his book, Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence, as well as his academic activism at Iowa State University to counter creationism and a sports chaplaincy. For fun, a clip of Bill Maher as "meteroevangelist" plays. A dividend: an excerpt of Kingdom Coming author Michelle Goldberg's excellent speech to the 2007 FFRF convention, "The Rise of Christian Nationalism." The timely song: Philip Appleman's poignant "In a Dark Time," set to music by Dan Barker. The weekly show is hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (MP3, 53 min, 24.5 MB)