Summary: I received an email from a listener who has a difference of opinion when it comes to God. Apparently me saying "God Bless" at the end of my podcast is offensive. Here is his email: Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I've listened to the last episode of School of Podcasting that I'll be listening to. Normally I'd just unsubscribe and move on with my life, but since you've given me a lot of good advice, I thought it would be fair to return the favor. Your inability to get through a show without letting us all know what religion you are is utterly insufferable to me, as I'm sure it is to many of your former listeners. I don't begrudge you your faith, but if I wanted to listen to someone babble about their imaginary sky-buddy, I'd download a religion cast. With an informational podcast, I should not know anything at all about (a) your religion or (b) your politics. I'm sure you aren't intentionally narrowing your audience, but you are very effectively limiting your audience. I would look at it the same way I look at profanity in a podcast (and sorry for comparing Jesus to profanity, but I think you'll appreciate the analogy). Nobody will ever quit listening to your podcast because it doesn't have enough profanity, but plenty of people will stop listening because it does. I would strongly recommend you leave the religious references out in the future, and hopefully atheists like myself (and the 20% of Americans who do not believe in God) will feel welcome when listening to your show. Thanks for all the great work, Aaron Davies. ps This would probably make a great subject to discuss on a future episode. Here is my response: I listen to George Hrab's podcast (http://www.geologicpodcast.com) (as an Atheist you should check it out). When George talks about the religious morons of the week, he is being George. I wouldn't expect anything else from him. In the United States of America I would fight for the right for George to say his opinion - even if it directly conflicts with mine. You have the right to tune me out, as do I when I listen to George. I know George is a skeptic, and he knows I went to "preacher school" before I quit (religion, not God, drives me nuts). While I could cut George out of my life (we just did an hour live at the NMX) then I would miss all the things we agree on because we disagree on one thing. That would be a shame (and kind of intolerant). I've helped skpetics start podcasts (to not do so wouldn't really be showing God's love now would it?), heck if Jesus was alive today he'd be hanging out with crack heads and politicians. Not that skeptics are crack heads, my point being Jesus hung with everyone. He did not discriminate.It is you choice to unsubscribe, I can't stop you. I wish you the best in all you do. I am Dave Jackson. I'm a Christian. I'm a podcasters. I'm trying to lose weight. I'm a guitar player. I'm a husband and step father. For me to not talk about any of these subjects would stop me from being me, and people can spot a phony a mile away. It was never my intention to offend anyone. Be well,Dave I could have also added Robert Chazz Chute (http://www.allthatchazz.com)who was very helpful to me when I was writing my book. He is an atheist. This doesn't mean he is sacrificing goats and small children in the back yard. He makes me laugh. I like his books. We disagree on God. What Happens When You Worry About Offending Everyone When you remove all opinion that offend everyone, you end up with a morning news station that talks about the winner of American Idol instead of what is really going on in the world. You end up with content that in my opinion is unlistenable. I once worked for a company where ONE customer complained and the owner made SWEEPING changes. The result? A MASSIVE change in customer service in a NEGATIVE way. While I can name all sorts of people who stand up for what they believe (John Stewart, Ted Nugent, Donald Trump, Ellen DeGeneres),
