Friendly Atheist News Roundup 8/6/2026: Anti-LGBTQ Food Bank Leader Rejects Gay Food (VIDEO Podcast Ep. 647)

0:00 Intro
0:55 Annoying "Sky Evangelist" kicked off airline after scaring everyone with her preaching.
13:03 West Virginia pastor rejects food over LGBTQ support. Now his food bank is empty.
24:46 Missouri Republicans threaten to defund library over books about a rainbow dinosaur and a wig.
34:48 Florida AG threatens to defund Catholic schools unless they loosen vaccination rules.
46:20 Three Texas moms cite "religious freedom" to strike down state's Ten Commandments law.

Interview: 

• Without Jessica: https://www.youtube.com/live/jHndS3begSU?si=fpOLaZtWfmtQkhyx

• With Jessica: https://youtu.be/OhU8Gyz2fdE?si=6BWuqDsivi-OLYS8

Revealed: Russia’s top secret spy school teaching hacking and election meddling

Exclusive: Documents obtained by consortium of journalists show role of Moscow university in training operatives in military intelligence…

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/07/revealed-russia-top-secret-spy-school-hacking-western-electoral-interference

 

Hegseth Has CATASTROPHIC Briefing As Reporter's Question Stops Him Cold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiwY6PmBDis

 

Pentagon probe points to U.S. missile hitting Iranian school : NPR

If the U.S. role in the attack is confirmed, it would rank among the military's most deadly incidents involving civilians in decades. Congress created a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians but it was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth soon after he took office last year...

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/11/nx-s1-5744981/pentagon-iran-missile-school-hegseth 

 

What evidence is there that the US was responsible?

Trump has blamed Iran for the mass killing at Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school but geolocation, videos and satellite imagery indicate otherwise…

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/mar/10/iran-minab-school-bombing-shajareh-tayyebeh-primary-what-evidence-us-responsible

 

Death toll from school bombing reportedly rises to almost 150

The Nobel peace prize laureate and girls' education advocate Malala Yousafzai said in a statement: "They were girls who went to school to learn, with hopes and dreams for their future. Today, their lives were brutally cut short. 

"Justice and accountability must follow. All states and parties must uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and safeguard schools."…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/01/iran-school-bombing-death-toll-us-israel-strikes 

 

The Catholic League’s Bizarre Epstein Defense (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #610)

— Supreme Court declines case involving loudspeaker prayers at high school football games. (1:45)

— The Catholic League’s Epstein defense is even worse than you think. (21:45)

— New Hampshire town pulls plug on open forum after Satanists hoist flag. (40:26)

— How the Assemblies of God became a safe haven for sexual predators. (49:15)

— Colorado’s “first public Christian school” isn’t a mistake. It’s a test case. (1:05:15)

— Florida’s proposed loyalty oath for educators would ban atheists from becoming teachers. (1:13:40)

— U.S. Catholic bishops double down on anti-trans policies in new hospital rules. (1:18:00)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2025/11/20/the-catholic-leagues-bizarre-epstein-defense/

WOTM: Equal Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ8vab9RRCc

 

BREAKING: Alleged Nashville School Shooter RADICALIZED By Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfYitSq-QDg

The "New Atheist" War on Trans People (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #564)

— FFRF, Jerry Coyne, and why the “New Atheists” have waged war against trans people. (1:45)

— Taxpayers funded this trashy, failing Mormon-based private school in Arizona. (46:45)

— Oklahoma’s new social studies standards go all in on Christian Nationalism. (57:15)

— Texas book ban backfires after school removes Bible over “sexually explicit” content. (1:06:27)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2025/01/02/the-new-atheist-war-on-trans-people/

The Oklahoma law on bibles in classrooms is GOOD for atheism!!!

A lot of people are upset that the Oklahoma school system is mandating Christian teaching and bible reading but there's a silver lining. The Bible is a book of horrors and fails science at every turn.

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/3ZHJSBcoZLI?si=LkICWzqx6IONIl1z

Maine Churches Demand Tax Dollars Despite Bigotry (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #548)

— A discussion about the presidential debate. (1:00)

— After Satanists and Humanists speak up, Florida district rejects school chaplains. (5:38)

— Evangelical writer faces backlash after saying public schools might be worthwhile. (22:19)

— Maine churches continue legal fight to maintain taxpayer-funding bigotry. (49:30)

— Christian school goes back to court after facing consequences for anti-trans bigotry. (58:15)

— Researchers say Christian Nationalism fuels violence against non-Christians. (1:08:55)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2024/09/12/maine-churches-demand-tax-dollars-despite-bigotry/

Satanists DERAIL DeSantis Plan To Put Chaplains In Schools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6zZLKBvUKY

New Law Allowing Religion into Science Classrooms Is Dangerous for Everyone | Scientific American

It is imperative that we protect science education from "intelligent design" and other alternative "theories"

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-law-allowing-religion-into-science-classrooms-is-dangerous-for-everyone/

Satanists sue Tennessee district for trying to thwart After School Satan Club

The Satanic Temple just filed a federal lawsuit against a school board in Tennessee for violating their rights by discriminating against a proposed After School Satan Club at Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzk2H-wFR_c

Opinion | I’m a military mom: Here’s what we can learn from Italian lunchrooms - The Washington Post

Early exposure to varied foods allows Italian children to develop diverse palates and drives healthy, lifelong eating habits. The Mediterranean diet, linked to lower risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes, is one of the healthiest in the world...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/22/italian-school-lunch-childhood-obesity/

Texas Lawmaker Destroys Theocratic Argument for the Ten Commandments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49sHFMzpFc

Advocates, Technologists to U.S. Secretary of Education: Cell Phones Are a K-12 Crisis

"Phones are polluting our schools. They sabotage the teaching and learning processes," said Lisa Cline of the Screen Time Action Network at Fairplay for Kids, who spear-headed the effort. "We know empirically that they are distracting — by design — so it's not a fair fight. How can we expect kids to learn and teachers to teach when there are concerts, movies, parties, cyberbullies, shopping malls, and drug dealers in their pockets."…

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/advocates-technologists-to-u-s-secretary-of-education-cell-phones-are-a-k-12-crisis

Democrat at House hearing on banned books: ‘This is the US Congress’ | The Hill

"Let's talk about the schools where they don't even have a library."

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4265446-banned-books-hearing-congress/

Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, California, Evacuated After Bomb Threat Following Libs Of Tik Tok Tweet

"Not only have we been continuously getting hate mails, the school has been receiving calls nonstop and Trump supporters and other unhinged racists have been spreading the school's info by posting the address of our kids' school for the whole internet to see," Chabot's equity and inclusion committee said in a statement to KRON4. "We have received a threat that has triggered an investigation by OPD which is now being considered a hate crime."…

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chabot-elementary-school-in-oakland-california-evacuated-after-bomb-threat-following-libs-of-tik-tok-tweet