The Gods the Bible Inherited (Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher; Data Over Dogma podcast on YouTube)

In 1929 a farmer in French-occupied Syria caught his plow on a rock and accidentally uncovered Ugarit, a lost city whose clay tablets have been quietly reshaping Hebrew Bible scholarship ever since.

This week we dig into the Baal Cycle: the elderly patriarch El, the storm god Baal, the sea god Yam, and a goddess named Anat who is genuinely terrifying. If you've ever wondered where the divine council, the rider of the clouds, and the waters above and below actually come from, this one's for you.
Interview: 

https://youtu.be/LspLpLlf3MQ?si=cuffZLGZsMi7cIe8

How Fossil Fuel Companies Made Us Believe Gas Was Clean – Mother Jones

A new report released by the Center for Climate Integrity, a research and advocacy group, reveals that fossil fuel companies knew as early as the 1960s that branding gas as “clean” was deceptive…

 https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/07/natural-gas-methane-pollution-clean-branding-myth/ 

This Is Christian Nationalism: Breaking Down Rededicate 250 (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Sunday's nine-hour “Rededicate 250” event on the National Mall brought together politicians and religious leaders calling for America to be returned to God. In this episode, Brad Onishi breaks down key statements from figures like Robert Jeffress, Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth, and Marco Rubio, exposing how their claims rely on selective history, mythmaking, and a deeply misleading vision of the founding. From the Doctrine of Discovery to the legend of Washington at Valley Forge, the story being told isn’t just inaccurate—it’s strategic.

This episode argues that Christian nationalism is not about personal faith or patriotism, but about power: the belief that certain religious identities deserve greater authority in public life. By revisiting the Constitution, the founding era, and the principle of “we the people,” Brad shows what’s actually at stake—religious freedom, democratic equality, and the boundary between church and state. The question isn’t whether religion belongs in American life, but whether the government gets to decide whose religion counts.
Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/this-is-christian-nationalism-breaking-down-rededicate-250?hsLang=en

The Gospel of Deportation: Why Christian Nationalists Love ICE (Reign of Error Pilot Episode) (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

In this special episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad introduces Reign of Error, a new investigative series hosted by journalist Sarah Posner. The pilot episode, titled "The Gospel of Deportation: Why Christian Nationalists Love ICE," sets the tone for the series by examining how Christian nationalist theology is shaping immigration policy, public rhetoric, and the use of state power. Brad joins Sarah to frame the project's goals and to unpack why immigration enforcement has become such a powerful site for religious symbolism, moral certainty, and political violence in the Trump era.

The conversation explores how biblical language, evangelical identity, and nationalist mythmaking are used to justify mass deportations, expanded ICE authority, and the erosion of civil liberties. Brad and Sarah trace these narratives through current events, media spectacle, and political leadership, showing how religious certainty is weaponized against vulnerable communities while distracting from broader policy failures. The episode also offers moments of clarity and resistance, highlighting court challenges, community organizing, and the importance of sustained public engagement.
Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/the-gospel-of-deportation-why-christian-nationalists-love-ice-reign-of-error-pilot-episode?hsLang=en

The 5,000-Year-Old Secret Behind The Genesis Creation Myth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDdP2OUPSD4

 

New Data About How Issues of Family, Gender, Sexuality Drive MAGA Extremism (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi welcomes back Dr. Andrew Whitehead, sociology professor at Indiana University and co-author of Taking America Back for God. They unpack how Christian nationalism uses ideas about gender, family, and sexuality to shape political identity—especially among white working-class Americans.

Dr. Whitehead shares key insights from public opinion data that reveal a strong link between Christian nationalist beliefs and support for authoritarian leaders. The conversation explores the myth of the “nuclear family,” the politics of fear, and how nostalgia and hierarchy fuel the MAGA movement.

Andrew’s Substack: https://andrewwhitehead.substack.com
Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/new-data-about-how-issues-of-family-gender-sexuality-drive-maga-extremism/

So Help Me God and the Constitution (Andrew Seidel; One Nation, Indivisible podcast Episode #002)

In this episode of One Nation, Indivisible, host Andrew Seidel unpacks the historical and modern implications of the U.S. Constitution’s deliberate exclusion of references to God or Jesus. He dismantles the long-standing myth that George Washington added “So help me God” to the presidential oath—tracing this falsehood back to Washington Irving’s embellishments—and explores how this fabricated tradition has endured over time.

Andrew also examines pivotal moments in American history where the use of secular versus religious language in government has been fiercely debated, shedding light on the ongoing struggle against Christian nationalism. Tune in for a deep dive into why the framers intentionally kept religion out of the Constitution and why protecting that foundation remains crucial today.
Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-hhz4v-241e1e69

Exposing the Biggest Myth in Christianity

Join me as I show you the historical way this myth became a key doctrine of Christianity and look at what the Bible says about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3-W8s61LcU

Playing God with David Fitzgerald (Phil Ferguson Show podcast #494)

Interview with religious scholar David Fitzgerald. We discuss his 3 (yes, 3) new books - "Playing God" Vol 1,2 and 3. David already has several books on religion: "Nailed - Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All", "Jesus: Mything in Action"(also in 3 parts) and "The Mormons". David and his wife are also the authors of the fantastic trillogy "Time Shards". Do things happen in 3s????

Investing Skeptically:
Self directed 401(k)
In service distributions
where old and small 401k accounts go to die
Bahacon is August 9-11, 2024.
Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-dy4u3-1f8a5f64

Jesus Complete Myth?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYiTLBQ-cRg

How Did Christianity Really Start?

How Did Christianity Really Start? Dr. Richard Carrier

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/xpLnG_j3IE4?si=-ZZLyHs3FIL5dmBi

Myth America review: superb group history of the lies that built a nation

Republican strategy shifted so quickly that by the time the party gathered in 1964 to nominate Barry Goldwater for president, for the first time in 50 years there were no Black delegates in any southern delegation. One of the few Black delegates who did attend "had his suit set on fire". The Black baseball star Jackie Robinson, a longtime Republican, declared that he knew "how it felt to be a Jew in Hitler's Germany"...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/28/myth-america-review-history-zelizer-kruse

The Rain Miracle of Marcus Aurelius: A Case Study in Christian Lies • Richard Carrier

…More likely than not, the Rain Miracle of Marcus Aurelius began as just a couple of fortunate coincidences, later conflated, that then all who were there praised as a miracle of pagan magic. A few years later, Christians changed the entire account to make them the heroes, forging state documents, fabricating narratives, and inventing a whole fake legion. Rapid legendary development, completely eclipsed subsequent history. Christian lies triumphed. A myth was born by pagans, and then out of that, an even more absurd myth was born in its place by Christians. That's how all religious history was created (OHJ, Element 44, pp. 214-22; OHJ, Chapter 9; OHJ, Chapter 10).

Yet another of countless examples of Christian authors making up stories to sell Christianity by, routinely fabricating history and forging documents to do so. It didn't matter that their stories are thoroughly implausible and fairly easy to refute for anyone who took the trouble to check the facts. It is clear no one did. Few could (Not the Impossible Faith, Chapter 7); and none were encouraged to (Not the Impossible Faith, Chapter 17). And if any did, nothing they said would be preserved by the subsequent Christian gatekeepers of all print media, who delighted in "disappearing" every book there was that ever challenged or criticized Christianity—or even their preferred sect of it…

https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/12480

New Documentary by Frontline and ProPublica Reveals Origins of the Stolen Election Myth — ProPublica

A group of people working from a plantation in South Carolina spread misinformation about the November 2020 election. These falsehoods have since become articles of faith for many Republicans...

https://www.propublica.org/article/new-documentary-by-frontline-and-propublica-reveals-origins-of-the-stolen-election-myth

The Bible Geek Podcast 22-003 (Robert M. Price)

The crucifixion story in all four gospels had to have been based on Josephus’ story of rescuing a friend from crucifixion. All four gospels were written after the Josephus “rescue”, so there is not a problem with the dates. But Paul talks about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection before the Josephus rescue occurred. How did he know about it? 

Concerning Pau's vision about the "Last Supper", I had for a long time accepted the mythicist argument that this was a vision Paul received from Christ and not something that went back to the historical Jesus, or a tradition of Jesus. But didn't Christians start having visions of Jesus only AFTER his death and resurrection? How would Paul be having a vision of Jesus BEFORE he even dies and resurrects?? 

1 Cor 11 says this happened on "the night he was handed over". 

Could you explain the original language of the Old Testament, the language of the manuscripts, and how the text has evolved? 

What is your understanding of why the word "jealous" is used to describe God? 

What is Ephesians 3:18 about? 

Is the object missing from the sentence? 

Why are there four dimensions in the Pauline hyperreality? 

Is Leviathan evil? 

If a sun god is transformed into a human hero, for example Samson, is this demythologization? 

And is demythologization the opposite of euhemerism?

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-ki45e-12f7c80f

Are white Christians under attack in America? No, but the myth is winning

…But conservatives have long known that stoking racial or faith-based fears works, and they're leaning into this messaging. 

I spent much of my childhood attending white evangelical Christian churches in the midwest, and I remember sermon after sermon painting Christians as victims. It started with a story about how Christians were being persecuted in a foreign country, often China, and how that echoes the biblical stories about Christians being persecuted. Inevitably the sermon would turn to Jesus being executed by the Romans, and then extrapolate this persecution to our lives as American Christians. The message was clear: it's us versus the world – and the purpose of everyone else is to squash the fire of our faith…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/18/are-white-christians-under-attack-in-america-no-but-the-myth-is-winning

Bible prophets do not forecast the future - Dr. Joel Baden

https://youtu.be/0tS8Wo-k6zw

How We Know The Book Of Daniel Is A Forgery - Dr. Richard Carrier - YouTube

The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BCE biblical apocalypse with an ostensible 6th century BCE setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a portrayal of end times) both cosmic in scope and political in focus, and its message is that just as the God of Israel saves Daniel from his enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression. 

The Hebrew Bible includes Daniel in the Ketuvim (writings), while Christian Bibles group the work with the Major Prophets. It divides into two parts, a set of six court tales in chapters 1–6, written mostly in Aramaic, and four apocalyptic visions in chapters 7–12, written mostly in Hebrew; the deuterocanon contains three additional sections, the Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. The book's influence has resonated through later ages, from the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the authors of the gospels and of Revelation, to various movements from the 2nd century to the Protestant Reformation and modern millennialist movements—on which it continues to have a profound influence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNDYE-tLiG4 

Five myths about evangelicals - The Washington Post

... In reality, evangelicals did not cast their vote despite their beliefs but because of them...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-evangelicals/2021/01/22/9ff5cc44-5c29-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html

Take it from a historian. We don't owe anything to Confederate monuments

Trump spends so much time defending statues not because he cares about history, but precisely because he doesn’t
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/23/trump-portland-confederate-monuments-racism-history