[chuck]Palmer sent us an email confession: he is not actually a faithful, active member of the LDS Church (though he apparently was until about 3 years ago) — he is actually an atheist in disguise. He came on the show after being thoroughly disgusted with Sean’s performance and hoped to give us a real challenge, arguing as he would have 3 years ago.

I’m a bit nonplussed. He’s a good apologist, so I’m disappointed we won’t be able to go the rounds on more issues, such as the LDS history of institutionalized racism, the Adam-God doctrine, polygamy, etc. We will probably have him on the show to explain his deception more thoroughly and to give debating tips from a former apologist’s perspective.

Truth be told, I’m still not sure what to make of it all.

[irrelig]Wherein we engage active LDS member former LDS, current atheist Palmer in a debate about the Mormon “plan of salvation,” the church’s involvement in Proposition 8, and the “translation” of the Book of Abraham. Palmer wanted to come on the show to make up for Sean’s poor performance, which I believe is still a blight on the LDS Church.

For my part, I sound pretty tired. I don’t think I woke up until about halfway through the debate.

[irrelig]This week we have Emma, a former Catholic school girl who emerged nearly normal from her religious upbringing which included retreats, Catholic school, confirmation, lumpy dove candles, and so much more.

Don’t miss out, it’s all right here.

[irrelig]Guest month is underway! To make up for Leighton’s horrible botching of the first Hinduism podcast, we captured a real-life Hindu and forced him to divulge all the secrets of this crazy religion. The majority of the podcast is essentially telling Leighton where he got it wrong, but the conversation ranges widely, from Shiva to Kali to a little bit of Islam for good measure.

Check it out here!

[irrelig]After the Hindu podcast debacle, we go back to our roots in this one. Nice, familiar, Western religion, filled with slavery, nonsensical tirades against sex and children, and old-fashioned antisemitism: the Acts of Thomas and the Epistle of Barnabas. Ahhhh, it’s good to be back.

Plus, the Mims Carter Skunk Dick of the Week and a surprise announcement for June. Catch it here.

[irrelig]Well, you asked for it. Leighton does all of the research and most of the talking, and I sit back and attempt to add some color to the weird, weird story of Hinduism. If you’ve ever wondered what the hell is going on with the third largest religion in the world, well, we can’t really help you. We don’t understand it either. But go ahead and give it a listen here anyway.

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[chuck]While editing the new podcast on Hinduism, I noticed it was “Draw Muhammad Day.” Well, we here at Irreligiosophy couldn’t let that pass by unnoticed, so we put our intrepid starving Thai children to work. It took multiple threats of watching Kent Hovind videos, but here’s what they finally came up with:

New podcast up soon.

[irrelig]Finally! More than you ever wanted to know about comic books and the puritanical busybodies who almost destroyed them. We discuss the events leading up to the hysteria of the 1954 Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency, as well as the key players such as Bill Gaines of EC Comics and the dreaded Dr. Fredric Wertham. This episode has it all — crime, horror, gore, suppression of free speech, a televised showdown between giants, and a befuddled little psychiatrist who kept referring to his personal case records as “a laborious clinical study.”

It clocks in at just over 90 minutes; check it out here. And while you’re waiting for that to download, here’s a peek at another EC Comics cover to whet your appetite:

[chuck]Thanks for your patience. This week has seen some health problems in the family and a minor surgery, as well as Leighton’s finals, which are tonight. Give us a day or two more to get our shit together, and we should have another podcast out by Friday or Saturday.

Here’s a hint as to the subject material:

[leighton]You ever have one of those transcendental experiences due to someone comparing you to something completely off the wall? I just finished up an interview with Karl wherein he said I was “… pretty much freakin’ Wolverine, in my books.” I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but there may be a couple differences between Wolverine and I. For one thing, I’m not Canadian and I’m not as hairy. Actually, that’s all I could come up with on the differentiation front.

Karl shows quite a bit of intelligence especially when he states this in reference to having Charley on his show last year, “I could hardly say “oh ummmm, actually, I meant the guy behind you.” I doubt I did his interview justice, but give Karl his due credit for putting up with me. Much like Charley’s wife, he has the patience of Job, but none of the boils. Trust me on that one. I made sure to thoroughly check him over before the interview started. Too bad he’s into women. He’s got nice thighs and I’d spork with him any day.