Before Ohio holds its primary, the presumptuous GOP candidate for Governor Vivek Ramaswamy is running a negative ad against the presumptive Democrat candidate Dr. Amy Acton. Ramaswamy's ad attempts to gaslight voters about Acton's role as the Director of the Ohio Department of Health at the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The ad falsely claims Acton acted outside her authority to postpone the March 2020 primary election. Ohio Republicans have been wanting voters to forget the truth of their inaction during the pandemic and undermining the state's response for political reasons since 2020.

We look at Ohio Representative Josh Williams who is the only black Republican in the Ohio House and he is running for Congress in Ohio's 9th District. He claims DEI and affirmative action keep the Black community stuck in poverty and he vocally supports anti-abortion stances, often echoing sentiments that appeal to a predominantly white anti-abortionist base like repeating the false and harmful narrative of abortion as a form of genocide within the Black community. Williams should be the last person holding negative views about policies and programs that give a hand up out of poverty since he himself needed and used that help when he was bed ridden for six years and had no high school diploma yet is now a lawyer and teaches law at a local college while serving as a state representative.

Finally we look at the fight between President Trump and the Pope. It is particularly striking that figures like Trump and JD Vance, especially Vance's recent conversion to Catholicism, feel emboldened to critique religious authorities, including the Pope, on theological grounds that contradict their own political alignments. This speaks to a broader trend of politicization of religion where moral authority is wielded selectively. We see that politicization in every level of government from the local to the federal. It is a trend that needs to be stopped.

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Our guest is Wil Jeudy an urgent care physician by day and a secular activist the rest of the time. He is the State Director (Texas) for the American Atheists where he helps keep the secular groups in Texas healthy and active. He is the chair of the American Atheists's "Secular Advocacy Team" which tracks and testifies for/against bills during the Texas legislative session. He formed the group Secular Houston which organizes the secular political voice in the greater Houston area, endorsing candidates that align with our values, and teaches constituents how and where to direct their energy to affect change through a secular prism aka Separation of Church & State.

We discuss politics, church and state issues in Texas, and Democrat James Talarico who Jeudy believes is a unicorn for secular voters - a person of faith who actually understands and supports real religious freedom and separation of church and state. Our host, Doug, is still nervous about him.

With the establishment of Secular Texas PAC, Jeudy emphasizes the importance of endorsing political candidates who align with values prioritizing church-state separation and other progressive issues. Jeudy expresses his frustrations about the lack of participation from Republican candidates, highlighting the absence of secular representation in the Texas GOP, a barrier that complicates his mission.

The conversation shifts to political endorsements, specifically focusing on James Talarico, a Democrat endorsed by Secular Houston for the U.S. Senate. Though Talarico's background as a seminarian raises eyebrows among some secular voters, Jeudy reassures that Talarico demonstrates a commitment to church-state separation and effectively challenges Christian nationalism through his legislative actions. Jeudy shares an experience of attending a fundraiser where Talarico emphatically advocated for secularism, further solidifying his faith in the candidate.

We talk about the complexities of navigating faith in politics, with Jeudy asserting the significance of collaboration between secular and interfaith groups to counter the influence of Christian nationalism.

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We dissect the Trump administration's claims that the U.S. has been at war with Iran since 1979. Contrary to the administration's narrative, that the real issues at play are deeper than mere historical grievances, extending to vital distractions from pressing domestic challenges, including the skyrocketing grocery prices, disappointing job numbers and the Trump-Epstein files. We explore how President Trump seems to be creating chaos as a diversion, notably with military actions that bolster his standing among certain GOP factions as they gear up for the imminent midterm elections.

Transitioning from foreign to domestic matters, we scrutinize Trump's SAVE Act and the political landscape leading up to the midterm elections. The legislation poses significant changes to voting regulations, such as instituting stringent photo ID requirements while limiting mail-in voting. The act is an attempt at disenfranchisement, targeting marginalized communities and exacerbating the looming threat to democracy in hopes of securing a GOP majority in Congress.

Finally we look at the upcoming Ohio gubernatorial race, framing it within the context of the national landscape. Dr. Amy Acton is being targeted as an emerging key figure in the gubernatorial narrative. The GOP's main attack line is her tenure as Ohio Health Director during the pandemic, where mischaracterizations of her leadership have emerged as the Republicans attempt to paint her in a negative light. We look at the baseless claims against her, noting how her ethical decisions during the pandemic’s peak, such as refusing to yield to political pressure, not only saved lives but also set a standard for leadership that starkly contrasts with her critics.

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