321 - Randall Balmer (Solemn Reverence)

American Freethought Podcast

I interview Dr. Randall Balmer, historian and Episcopal priest, about his new book Solemn Reverence: The Separation of Church and State in American Life.

To buy this book click here.

Plus:

Kudos to the US House of Representatives for removing Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments, as punishment for promulgating dangerous and false conspiracy beliefs and for concurring with calls to assassinate fellow members of Congress. The Republican Party failed to discipline her themselves, having become the party of Trumpism and QAnon conspiracy theorists.

Newly minted Secretary of State Antony Blinken took his oath of office with his hand resting on a copy of the Constitution, not the Bible, surprisingly with little controversy. This hasn't stopped some conservative pot-stirrers from complaining that VP Kamala Harris insincerely "hovered" her hand over her Bible, somehow invalidating her oath. And last year, Marjorie Taylor Greene implied that federal law required oaths be taken on a Bible, and unsuccessfully attempted to confront Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib about their use of a Qur'an.

Theme music courtesy of Body Found.

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