Thank God I'm Atheist

Trump Signed a Painting of Jesus. Seriously.

What happens when Trump desecrates a painting of Jesus? Billionaires line up to buy it. At a Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party, Trump signs a painting of Christ—offering a very public glimpse at how faith, money, and power now intersect. From there, it's a week of religion doing what it does best: embarrassing itself in public. A failed doomsday prophet in Ghana finds out there are consequences when the apocalypse doesn't show up, Iran's theocratic regime faces mass protests fueled by hunger and economic collapse, and conservatives melt down after New York City's new mayor commits the ultimate sin—taking his oath of office on the "wrong" holy book. Plus, Marjorie Taylor Greene stumbles into a moment of clarity about Trump's faith, Chick-fil-A makes things awkward again, and we ask—once more—what any of this is actually doing to the country.

Grading Honestly Is Apparently a Fireable Offense

A University of Oklahoma instructor gave a student a failing grade — and lost their job over it. The reason? Religion entered the chat. We unpack how a routine college assignment turned into a culture-war flashpoint, why academic standards suddenly became optional, and how religious grievance keeps getting rewarded when it collides with higher education. Also this week: Trump administration officials decide government social media accounts are a fine place to preach Christianity, Sarah Huckabee Sanders issues a Christmas proclamation that sounds more like a sermon, and a Colorado megachurch leans hard into child-trafficking panic to push anti-trans ballot initiatives. Plus new Pew numbers on religion in America, a rare LDS feel-good story, listener mail, and yet another reminder that moral panic never really goes away — it just finds new targets.

When Religious Entitlement Hits 30,000 Feet

What happens when a man decides an airplane cabin is the perfect place to hold church? This week, we discuss the now-viral moment of a passenger pulling out his guitar mid-flight to serenade a captive audience with praise songs. Some travelers joined in while everyone else stared ahead in silent fury. We talk about public space, consent, religious entitlement, and why "sharing the Good News" at 30,000 feet feels less like ministry and more like an in-flight nightmare. Also on the show: Franklin Graham preaching about God's love and God's hatred at a Christmas service hosted at the Pentagon; an Arizona lawmaker pushing to force "intelligent design" into public school science classes; the Catholic Archdiocese of New York selling off prime real estate to pay clergy abuse settlements after its insurer refuses coverage; an Anglican bishop cleared after allegedly mishandling multiple abuse cases; a self-styled prophet predicting a Christmas flood and building multiple arks to survive it; and a surprisingly hopeful look at how AI is helping scholars translate ancient religious texts—possibly demystifying scripture faster than ever before. 💙 Support the show: https://www.thankgodimatheist.com/donate

Should Courts Protect Children from Religion?

What happens when a custody dispute turns into a fight over whether a child is being harmed by religion—and the courts are forced to weigh in? This week, we dig into a disturbing custody case that forces an uncomfortable question into the open: should religion get special protection when kids are the ones paying the price? We also cover the Mormon Church's latest branding hypocrisy as it pressures independent podcasts to stop using the word "Mormon," a Utah high school administrator delivering a religiously loaded pep talk that shames struggling students, and a World Cup Pride match in Seattle that sends Iran and Egypt into predictable outrage. Plus: Florida and Texas label a Muslim civil rights group a "terrorist organization," the Catholic Church is forced into a $230 million abuse settlement, and new Pew data reveals that religion's long decline in the U.S. may have temporarily stalled.

What This Nativity Says About America

It's that time of year again: the War on Christmas is back—and wilder than ever. This week, Dan and Kate dive into the bizarre conservative outrage over a nativity scene depicting the Holy Family as migrants detained by ICE. Right-wing commentators are furious, churches are divided, and somehow this one small display has become a national symbol of everything they think is wrong with America. We unpack the theology, the politics, and the truly unhinged reactions. Then we get into a whole slate of religious weirdness from around the country: A Florida attorney general tries to shut down a Drag Queen Christmas performance Christian rock band Skillet is accused of releasing "demonic" holiday music West Virginia courts weaken vaccine mandates in the name of religious liberty BYU football players quietly scale back their missionary service A Tennessee woman stages a fake kidnapping "lesson" for kids that backfires spectacularly And for our final segment, Dan dives into research on how former members of insular religious communities talk about forgiveness—and how that differs from what their traditions demand.