In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Armin Navabi and Kelley Laughlin, face attacks with no gravity and hurl their molecules under a big udder that prevents the sacrifice of finding the truth behind what the U.S. was based on. Chuck in HI says he has scientific evidence for god and this is that the matter in the universe is eternal. He goes on to say there is no such thing as gravity and that god is holding everything together. Where is the evidence for this self aware, thinking agent that holds the universe together? The caller uses an inappropriate ad hominem and is warned by the hosts. He then goes on to try to convince the hosts that the same molecule is inhaled that is exhaled. How would this get us to god if it is true? Why does something have to make the atoms work and what is the work you think they are doing? The caller continues his childish attempts at insulting the hosts before repeating claims instead of providing the evidence for the claims. Jackie in MS name dropped right off the bat even though Kelley explicitly asked him not to. He proposes that religion becomes a big udder that prevents sacrifice. How can you make your own points without referring to other philosophers? The key is to communicate in a way that is understandable. Why is there a need to use words that are undefined? Mike in SC wants to know how to determine if something is true. Armin likes to put things into two categories: empiricism(more reliable) and rationalism(less reliable). He explains how critical thinking skills and spotting logical fallacies play into figuring out which arguments are the best in addition to using Occam's Razor. There is a difference between the truth and what is justified.Kelley looks for unambiguous empirical evidence to find truth. The topic swings over to the existence of Jesus. Where is the evidence for the resurrection? Why should we believe the Bible being used to prove the Bible? How do you get from the claims of physical evidence to the supernatural? How do people being willing to die for their religion make it true? People have died for bad ideas and things that are wrong throughout history. What is your path to truth and how do you arrive there? When do you accept your evidence and what is your process to prove it? If you have a low percentage of surety, what makes the difference between a positive and a negative decision? Jon in Canada asks Kelley if he believes the U.S. was based on Christianity. Kelley explains how people misunderstand that separation of church was put there to protect religion from the government. And how many of the founding fathers were deists meaning that the U.S. was not based on Christianity but there were Christian influences on the founding of this nation. Ben Clodfelter joined to close out the show as Kelley cut a red tie. Thank you for tuning in this week! Prompt for the week is: When is it inappropriate to respond to, “checkmate atheists”?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai and The Cross Examiner, walk Jackie through some thought processes of his own before encountering questions of existence with some New Age sprinkles.Jackie in MS was not able to answer Forrest’s question of whether he has any of his own thoughts. It goes absolutely nowhere when this happens. Jackie agrees not to mention the names of philosophers and to answer the hosts’ questions. He argues that the existence of metaphysical things associated with religion are the reason for religion being a positive thing. What is an example of a good point you have made regarding these things? Why do you think people listening to this conversation will become convinced to believe in a god? Why do you believe a god exists? What created god that is more complicated than god? Why does the universe need a god to do what it does? Not knowing how something could have happened is not a basis to make a conclusion in the version that you like. Not only is there a magical explanation, but you know the dude that did it, and believe we must hate trans people! This could be a product from your environment, and Jackie, you deserve better than this. George in Bulgaria claims that god is pure existence and we are eternal beings. What does pure existence mean? If we agree that things exist, how do you get from there to a god or to eternal beings? What would happen to existence, if a person was born that never reacted with anyone or anything else? What does your god want you to do? If god is asleep, why should we care? What is the evidence for our consciousness producing reality? Why is this better than just saying reality exists? How can your belief be falsified? A god that does not interact with the universe is indistinguishable from a god that does not exist. What can be gained knowledge wise by testing this?Ibrahim in the USA, converted to Islam, and wants to know the strongest arguments against god. Would you say that the burden should be on us to prove things like Santa Clause are not real? When you get into the business of arguing about god, you get into different versions of god. If this god does exist, what kind of god is it? If half of the things that the Abrahamic god is said to have done are true, he is a monster. The amount of evil and suffering this god has allowed is atrocious. This is not a religion of morality, but a religion of threats.  Why would somebody believe something that is not true when there is harm associated with it? If someone could convince you to believe in absurdities, they can also make you commit atrocities. The real danger sets in when you think you know what that god wants; this is when we start seeing cults, the Crusades, and the Dark Ages. Why does god not fix the suffering in the world and why did he not choose to create a universe where this did not need to happen?The hosts are joined by Ben Clodfelter to close out the show. Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: What is an underquoted scripture at a funeral?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, the Cross Examiner and Ryan Jayne talk about the significance of separation of church and state, rising Christian nationalism in the United States, and phenomenology.Keyon in Utah claims that the stories of multiple religions point to there being a creator god. So many traditions have similar stories, so they must be on to something. He says he’s not religious but seems to still believe in the Bible and Christianity to an extent. Why does the similarities between different traditions’ stories mean that one (Christianity) is true? Keyon says that concepts like the devil are a type of energy and that he feels the truth of them energetically. He can’t conceive of a world where so many people could be wrong about religion. The hosts explain that religions like Islam and Christianity that contradict each other can’t both be true. And how can we tell which religion is true if both groups came to their conclusion through the same methods? Keyon responds by saying that every religion has god because god is love and energy.Manuel is calling from Brazil to challenge the hosts’ views on separation of church and state. He argues that there is a level of importance in issues. He says that there are more important issues like the murder of trans people, but it presumes that you cannot fight both fights at the same time. The hosts point out that something that seems so small like Christian iconography in government spaces impacts other issues like systemic transphobia. It helps justify discrimination and violence in society and legal processes.Jackie in Missouri wants to discuss the “phenomenology of givenness” which is beyond intentionality. Some things are given to you and are not part of your intentionality. The word “given” implies that a “giver” exists. Why are things we can’t explain not just part of the natural world or the human experience? The hosts try to understand why Jackie believes in god, but he just keeps reading his script. Is this his best reason for believing in god? When asked for his best evidence of God, Jackie says that the question is not applicable to his god. We don’t care about a god to which evidence cannot apply or is independent of evidence. It makes that god unfalsifiable. When asked again for his #1 piece of evidence for god, he answers with “the hierarchy of value perception.” We don’t have time to unpack all that today. Jackie can call back to talk about that concept in particular.Mike is calling in from South Carolina with questions about the Fair Housing Act. He asks the hosts if the Fair Housing Act overrides any discriminatory laws at the state level. While landlords can’t explicitly evict someone because of their sexual orientation, they can come up with some kind of other excuse for kicking them out that isn’t blatantly discriminatory. Enforcing a law like the Fair Housing Act is a lot more challenging that you might think.Jason from Massachusetts expresses his challenges with family after deconstructing from religion. Unfortunately, stories like Jason’s are far too common, but demonstrate how essential atheist communities can be.Thank you for calling in this week! This week’s prompt is: Why did God kick out Lucifer? Wrong answers only!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai and Doctor Ben tackle several fun issues. Jack in Canada asks the hosts about the problem of evil. If god made the rules, why would he choose to cause suffering when he is powerful enough not to? Why did god choose something that causes suffering? If your god is in charge of everything, why does he not fix childhood poverty? You are more moral than your god. Max in Russia wants to help but is unable to donate. Every action helps no matter how small and we appreciate you. Doctors without Borders must work legal negotiations before being able to enter a country. Mike in SC has a perception that atheists and theists are doing the same thing because atheists say god is evil, and theists say god is good. Is a bi-sexual trans man better off in hell? Why is it okay that someone is sent to Hell for being gay? What if another god says it is a sin to be heterosexual? Why is it okay for Christians to kick people out of their family for being queer? Imagine what it feels like to be told that because of this monster in the sky who treats you differently for being gay,  you deserve to be tortured forever. How is the lesson someone learns from the loss of the baby worth the baby’s life? Is freewill more important to god than protecting children? Kelvin in FL asks if the existence of transgender people goes against the societal push of deconstructing gender norms. Dr. Ben explains that the trans community is not about adapting femininity or masculinity, and how the trans community leans into gender abolitionism. There is societal pressure put on trans people to perform to those stereotypes. Forrest discusses how sex and gender are different, and how things in the 1400s that were considered manly are not manly today. Vic in TX believes in a creator, but does not believe in the New Testament or Jesus. How is the Bible considered to be morally good? Is it morally good to stone your children if they disobey? Why should this be accepted as an instruction manual when it instructs how to own and beat slaves? Jackie in MS wants us to dig into a bunch of philosophers to promote Christian values. What do you have to say about these values being carcinogenic to human minds? How does the function of an idea speak to the morality of an idea? What is one example where consciousness is independent of matter?Nate in NY discusses his deconstruction before the last caller, Kevin in MA, brings the hosts into a discussion about sexual dimorphism. Thank you for calling in this week! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity(SR) and JMike sort through a variety of callers before being joined be Scott Dickie to wrap it up. Jackie in MS misgendered Dr. Ben on Talk Heathen and then refused to issue a proper apology so he was dropped! Be a man, Jackie and do the right thing if you want to play with us. Olivia in TX has questions about the Bible being true and how things she was told would come true when she was a kid are true now. How did you independently verify this if you have not read the Bible? The book alone making a claim is not sufficient. How are the things that have come true now any different than how they were hundreds of years ago? At what point do you trust the things people are telling you? Why is the church telling you the Bible is true, a reason to accept it?Caleb in OH asks the hosts how they have come to the conclusion that there is no god. JMike explains how there are no minds that can exist, and how the commitments that need to be taken on for theism are massive, and therefore not simple. SR confirms that is his position as well. The evidence available leads us to a conclusion that leads to a belief of something being likely to be true. Probability may be interesting, but has no bearing on whether something is true or not. What is the reasoning that you have come to your conclusion about the universe being designed? Does god have free will to create other constants? Why not add more gods?Johan in FL is a pantheist instead of an atheist because for the ethical reason that words have power and atheists tend to play on the word, “god”. What does god/goddess mean to you? What are you adding to the word, “universe” that we don’t share? What does the philosophy of mind stuff have to do with this? Why is there a moral imperative to believe something that supports well being? Polo in PA wants to talk about secular humanism and how he wants to start a new religion that does more interfaith with other religions who see themselves as humanist organizations.  The word “religion” can connote a set of rituals and dogma that may not work for many humanist organizations. Alexander in the UK has gradually stepped away from the Christian religion and is curious why some smart people are still so involved. Scott reminds us how smart people can be excellent at justifying what they believe and compartmentalization. There are people that have great arguing skills. None of us properly adhere to the correct methodology 100% of the time.Dee in IA thinks the hosts missed the mark by not having a stronger acknowledgement when speaking with Olivia. What she got out of Olivia was fear and understands her not reading the Bible. Dee was also in a charismatic cult that took decades to claw out of. We always want to do better and not discount the emotions entirely. Your criticism and suggestion is well taken. Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: If you want to get banned from Bible Study, which Bible story should you pick?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Today we have a Bat Cruise edition of the Atheist Experience live in the studio with Forrest Valkai, ObjectivelyDan, JMike, and Secular Rarity! David in CA, wants to create an experiment where we remove religious teachings from a society, and if it leads to a god explaining things that science is leaving out. Notice how the things we can’t explain keep getting smaller. We would find that we can use rationality to come up with morality. Sean in TX, wants to talk about the Eucharist miracle of Lanciano, where it turned into actual flesh and blood, and they found the specimen was still alive. If this is true, why is ritualistic cannibalism part of your practice? What if we wanted to be more like another person and decided to eat that person? Why would god choose this miracle instead of ending world hunger? Ivan in CA feels that religions are man’s attempt to explain things, and is curious about how to cross the threshold to believing there is not any god at all. If there is a god, what kind of god is it? What does your god actually do? Joshua in the USA, thinks the fine tuning argument is one of the best arguments that exists for theists, and proposes a thought experiment, where every piece of matter has the words, “made by Jesus”. Why does god create a world with life permitting constants rather than no world at all? Mike in WA believes that if a scientist can’t make a complete set of amino acids, then abiogenesis could not possibly happen. Why are you not accepting the evidence that amino acids can self assemble? Was there a time where we could not create lightning in a lab? Benjamin in AL is calling once again to defend slavery in the Bible. What is the motivation for you wanting this and why do you want to defend slavery? Does that make god a good person if he is okay with slavery and would you worship this god? Why do you believe certain parts in the Bible over others? You are better than your god. Steve, a theist in NE, wants to discuss a research paper that argues for panspermia titled, "The Cause Of Cambrian Explosion, Terrestrial or Cosmic?” While cephalopods are life, it does not say anything for the rest of life on earth. Why are you making the leap of intentionality from this event? Jimmy in NY asks the hosts why they don’t believe in god. How can the whole Bible be true if different parts say different things? Why do people go to hell and what kind of asshole would send someone there for not believing in him? Billy, a deist in TX, asks about the observer effect where 95% of the universe is not observable. This has been misunderstood for decades. Think some more on this and there is no need to get mad. Mike in SC says that god did not create a lousy world. Who made the Garden of Eden and who was in charge of where the trees were placed? Who allowed the serpent to tempt them? Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week is: What is a warning label that god forgot to make?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes will be posted upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, The Cross Examiner and Secular Rarity explore the godliness of Superman as they explain where atheists get their morals. Crew cat helped with technical challenges before jumping into grandparents pushing agenda and the Mandela Effect messes with memory. Jim in MO uses a Superman analogy to god, and questions why Superman did not try to stop Lex Luther from doing evil. What kind of similarities can be drawn between stories in the Bible and comic books? We can easily imagine super powerful beings that are more moral than the god of the Bible. Jon in Canada wants to know where we get our morals if it wasn't from the Ten Commandments. Were there recorded civilizations before the Ten Commandments and where did they get their morals from? Laws can make society a better place, but it may not be necessary for them to be in place. Jax in UT asks if the hosts think god is evil and if so, why doesn't he kill us now? God creates all kinds of atrocities. He may not be evil, but he could be an idiot child playing with matches. How is it possible that god disobey’s his character? We don’t know why god does not kill us, he is a mysterious character. Robert in CA, shares how his parents are showing Veggie Tales to his children which caused a switch from neutral to proactive. How much do you trust your parents to honor your wishes? Studies show that if a child reaches an age where they can reason, they will be less likely to adapt to religion. Your parents don’t have to stop being who they are to not put it on the children. These are your kids and no one is entitled to pushing their agenda on them. What are your thoughts about supervised visitations? This situation is an example that answers why we do this. Religion hurts people, that is why we care.Blind Limey in TX describes a Freddie Mercury performance at a Live Aid event that was televised less than 50 years ago. At this event, there were actors as police. How many people would remember there were police present at that event? There are lots of examples of the Mandela Effect. This kind of thing happens all the time and we know this. Even if we had access to eyewitnesses from Jesus’s time who saw something, how could we rely on that? SR shares an interesting story of his memory owning Golden Retrievers and how they were really Terriers. Memory is a fascinating thing with many chemical variables floating around in our brains!Thank you for tuning in this week! Prompt is: What prayer will have you banned from saying grace?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Have the ultimate Atheist Experience today with Johnny P. Angel and John (Godlessengineer)! They wrestle with an argument from popularity right before diving into another theist argument from ignorance with all the chemical gaps being filled with no other but god himself.  Bernard, a theist in NYY, presents two options for the writing of the Old Testament: god or human. What is your criteria for determining this is actually the word of god? How did you rule out these scriptures are not just from people telling each other stories that describe how they thought the world exists? Why do you accept that this book is accurate? How do you explain all the different ways god is referred to such as Yahweh and Jehovah that indicate different writers of the first five books? Why is it supposed to be persuasive if a book references history? Large amounts of people believing in something has no bearing on how true it is. Mike, a theist in SC believes that because of the complexity of DNA, that it had to be designed, and proceeds to lay out his argument using chromosomes as a start. How do proteins come together? What is your definition of information as it pertains to DNA? Why are we replacing chemistry with magic? Why does any of this require a divine intelligence? When was the last time you looked up how many possible life supporting planets there are? What is the nature of the supernatural existence responsible for this design? If god is all powerful, why do genetic disorders exist? God has some explaining to do for this shoddy craftsman work. How is it fair that a kid dies of leukemia and why can’t god intervene to prevent this? Is it because he doesn't care or he doesn't exist? We think you are better than your god. Rachel, a skeptical agnostic in AZ, was told by her friend that she can only accept advice from other Christians. Why do Bible thumping folk think they cornered the market on correct action? It can be helpful to ask the person how they reconcile the genocides mentioned in the Bible such as Numbers 31,  with moral actions. Thank you for tuning in this week!  Prompt for the week is: What should you NOT say to a friend that is trying to deconvert?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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Have an Atheist Experience today as Secular Rarity (SR) and Armin Navabi, sort through questions of “creation”, differences in Quran scriptures, and ponder the unfalsifiable simulation claim. Jasmine, a theist in Ohio, says that all of existence including us, is part of god and that everything is created through god. How can everything be created through god and be god at the same time? How can something that does not make sense be convincing? Is there a way you can build a claim without using language that is so vague? Rick, a theist in TX, asks how atheists explain the creation of the universe and the world. There are people dedicated their lives studying how this happened and their explanation does not include a deity. The framing of this question assumes there is a creation and that we as atheists have an answer. Why do atheists need to come up with an explanation when we are not making any claims? Even if things did have a beginning, does not make it true there was a creation. We do not have to have any justification for not believing something. Why do you think the scriptures such as the Bible or Quran will have any validity with atheists? If you were to be shown something that shows how the universe got here, and that does not include a god, how would that change your beliefs and certainty there is a god? If justifiable evidence were to be provided for the existence of god, we would believe, however, worshiping that god will be a another story. Armin and SR have a different opinion on this. Abdur Rahman, a Muslim in NY, has laid out three criteria: logical theological framework, preservation of the original text of the Quran, and miracles. There is a ton of evidence showing the Quran has not been preserved perfectly. How do we explain the different versions of the Quran that actually differ in the commandments of Allah? If there were Quranic verses in two separate versions that were so radically different that it changes the commands of Allah and can’t be harmonized, would that make you no longer accept that the Quran is perfectly preserved? Why do we need the opinions of the scholars to make this harmonious? How do you explain these differences without changing the commandment of Allah and committing a sin? Steve in NE wants to talk about the collapse of the wave function, how things will exist in the fuzzy quantum state until they are observed, and the Second Law of Infodynamics which requires information entropy to remain constant or decrease overtime. He wonders if these things are indicators of a simulation program. How are you connecting these things? It doesn't really matter if we are in a simulation or not because our reality is indistinguishable from a base reality. We don’t believe there is anything that can rule this claim out, making it unfalsifiable. Thank you for hanging out with us today and remember the prompt of the week is: Create the next god!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

You will have the ultimate Atheist Experience today as JMike and Darante’ Lamar discuss the moral standards of not throwing babies off roofs. They jump right into a discussion about Moses writing the Old Testament and then they have a short wrangle with Satan Incarnate. Daniel in NC responded to a video where JMike and the caller were discussing if throwing a baby off the roof is wrong in a world where there is no god, and a world where there is a god. Daniel agrees that this action is wrong in both worlds. What is the logical contradiction in a world where there are moral facts? It does not make sense to describe a world with independent obligation. What is the standard for god’s absolute morality? How do you explain the morality that people have who don’t hold a god belief? God has to be defined and shown to exist before you can prove that morality flows through god. Claims that are snuck in such as god being the creator need to be proven as well. Why is there a different standard of morality for god than there is for us? Why is it morally acceptable that god tells people to kill their children?Bernard in NY attempts to demonstrate that god wrote the first five books of the Bible through Moses, who he says also wrote the Old Testament. Where is the scripture that says this?  This call just did not get anywhere. Devon in PA relied on the Bible during a tough situation and references the verses that name, “Philadelphia”. This verse helps clear his name because he is Satan incarnate with black curly hair and a star under his eye. Dude! Why do you think this? Calum in Canada had two near death experiences as a teenager and saw an afterlife that was identical to what his mother described that included a “split” with a choice of where to go. Why did this experience not convince you there was an afterlife? It is rare that we hear this perspective from an atheist. Keith in OR asks what the hosts think when someone is healed at the same moment as the person who did the arm is asking forgiveness. We would ask for evidence of this taking place and would also be intrigued.  Could god create a backdoor to allow for such things to happen just so we can ask for forgiveness? Compares the story of Job to the 1919 World Series with the Chicago Black Sox. If god is omniscient, why would he not bet on Job? God does come down, talk to Job, and stack the bet, just for the record. Thank you for tuning in this week! Have a fun week thinking of why it is wrong to throw babies off roof, and make sure to think about our question of the week: What NOT to say if you meet Jesus.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Johnny P. Angel and Secular Rarity combine for a wild show featuring callers that find divinity through getting high (huh?), the numeric secrects of the universe and more!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Have an Atheist Experience with Secular Rarity and Armin Navabi as they work through callers determined to prove god’s existence. Moses in FL says our lives are the manifestation of god’s truth. Why should emotions override the data? How is it that living our lives shows the truth of god? How do the narratives contained within religion affect a person’s self respect? What is the point of using logic if it is not to achieve better things and progress? When those who follow Jesus are supposed to be good people, why do Christians still do terrible things? What kind of love uses threats of eternal fire and torture? Caleb in OH tries to prove that god exists by stating the universe has a beginning because it is expanding. We don’t know if the universe had a beginning or not. What was the second law of thermodynamics like before the big bang happened? How do you know that other people besides the disciples didn't write the Gospels? Even in modern times with video recordings, people come up with all kinds of narratives of how they perceive current events. What do you think it was like 2,000 years ago? Landy in FL wants us to know that we are all beings of light and science is catching up to what the Bible tells us. Why do letters in a text adding up to a certain number matter with anything? Why should we believe this is any kind of code? Every religion uses number games within their scriptures. Why should we believe one over another? What Biblical information is science just catching up to? James in CA asks what the hosts think about Paul’s argument for Christ being the Messiah. Paul, Mohamed, and Joseph Smith all said the same thing and we reject all of them. How can we believe Paul’s claims if he is not even an eye witness? Why is Paul’s revelation moment any more true than those that others have had? Thank you for joining us this week. Question of the week is “What is Jesus's Secret hobby?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Today you will have a total Atheist Experience as the one and only Shelley Segal treats us to the best start to the show ever! Jim Barrows and JMike walk us through what does and does not matter when providing evidence just before learning there are holograms in our brains! Shelley provides a beautiful concert to conclude our show. Nick in WI believes that he has found god in the same way he would find a specific car in a car lot. If you were to search for god, what reason would you have to think god exists before you start searching? Why would we care about the characteristics if this god has not been demonstrated to exist? How do you explain a Christian foundation’s findings that say prayer has no more effects than a placebo? What does “spiritually alive” mean? Considering the history of the Cananites, how did they get from polytheism to theism? Why blame god for something that is part of you and wanting to know as many true things as possible?Mac in CA has the argument from perennialism to prove god and is described as god has been contacting humans through history. The sound trailed off into underwater territory. Sura in India says there is a strong force that is driving all religions. All religions attempt to explain things we have no control over is a more reasonable explanation than adding a supernatural god to the equation. Why postulate a god for natural phenomena? How do the percentages of people that believe something have any bearing on the truth?Oliver in FL wants to know what science or LGBTQ has to do with atheism and atheists use faith for not having evidence for god. By your definition of faith, what am I believing in as an atheist that I can’t substantiate or confirm? What is the entailment for when we continue to ask for evidence? Why would Einstein saying anything get us to believe in this useless god of Spinoza?Angus in NE,  Jesus Mythicist asks what the hosts think of Yahwey or Yesua never saying anything. The same thing can be said of The Hobbit or other stories. What does what someone says prove anything about their existence? Dave in India asks the hosts if they would consent to the point that there is a hologram in their brains. How would that point to god? Personal experience does nothing to move the needle here. How does your brain making you see stuff get us to god? Under what circumstances should we assume the supernatural is real? Why would you believe our lives as atheists are meaningless?That was awesome wasn’t it? Thank you for hanging out with us this week! Question of the week is: Why did god really go no contact with people?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Have an Atheist Experience with Secular Rarity and Forrest Valkai as they work together to catch a troll who won’t answer a question only to later have another transphobe try a bait and switch tactic with the call screeners. Kevin in GA asks the hosts why he is incorrect by believing there is an intelligent designer without having specific proof such as a video describing how a car is made. What do you have to compare a designed universe with? Not knowing something is not the same as magic. There are multitudes of different types of proof that are needed for us to believe that a creator designed the universe. We do know where things came from and they are all from natural sources. If there is no proof, what is it that leads you to accept it and why do you believe your god is real? Royal Trans Atheist in the UK asks about the morality of homosexuality under atheism. Why are you going out of your way to poke at people? What is your understanding of how reasoning and logic leads one to accept that being homosexual is how one is born? Overwhelming consensus is that it is not a choice but is part of the spectrum of human sexuality. At what point in your life did you decide to be straight? Do you believe that homosexuality is immoral? “Pleading the fifth” is now how this show works; if you are going to be a troll, at least be honest. Seethi in OH asks Forrest about a call where Forrest had said there is no gender of a sex. Forrest explains that gender is a social construct and changes throughout time. Using the proper terminology from a scientific perspective will be inclusive. Agreeing on the facts and agreeing on what the facts mean are two different things. It is important to be careful to not cause more harm when describing how gender does not line up with sex, even when trying to be well intentioned. Caleb in OH has evidence of the supernatural and asks the hosts their belief of the supernatural. Neither host believes in anything they do not have evidence for. How would accepting the universe having a beginning get us to god? Why would we believe anything contrary to the wealth of knowledge we already have about the universe? Mr. British in London asks the hosts if atheism is appropriating the word “theist” in a proper way? What could this possibly mean? Is it misappropriating the word “symptom” to use the word “asymptomatic”? Can a term be used to describe whether or not something possesses a particular quality? Why should we use the word “secularism” when it does not mean the same thing as atheism? Mike in SC asks SR about his prior belief and if he just grew out of religion. SR explains his deep belief and involvement early in life until an effective method was demonstrated to him. Forrest describes his exposure to a variety of churches and religions and how he applied the same rules to those beliefs as he did for anything else. Mike then asks if all atheists believe that gender is fluid. The majority care about gender identity, but as with other groups, there are atheists that are transphobic. If you are not willing to speak up against policies that are harming trans people, then we would argue you do not have a trans friend. Thank you for joining us this week! Remember to call the show and not just comment in the chat! The prompt for this week is: What is a good come back for, “You need Jesus”?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Have an Atheist Experience with Jim Barrows and The Cross Examiner and work through the current challenging issues that both theists and atheists continue to sort through. Chidumeei in PA asks how he is to tell atheists that they are not morally superior.  How do you deal with Christians that think they are morally superior? You take it one step at a time like you do everything else. Many people go through the angry atheist stage, and sometimes this is frustration from learning the Bible is wrong and realizing people have been lied to. If you slow the conversation down, ask for definitions, and look for understanding, people will realize the conversation is more important than the finger pointing. Miguel in CO asks about how society handles transgender people in sports. How does society reconcile the two established facts of transgenderism being real, and the hormonal treatment being good but not perfect? Sports matter more than we think it should, and solutions that we come up with for one sport may not work for another. Maybe early recognition of one being transgender will solve some of the issues. It would be insulting to all genders to just boil it down to not allowing men to compete with women. People do not on a whim just decide to change their gender. Be careful to weed out the lies such as “six year olds getting surgeries”. Brandon in CA wants to know why we embrace the trans community by using pronouns. What problem do you have with inclusion? How has the use of pronouns just come out of nowhere? We are hoping to build a society where it does not matter where you are dropped in, and the bottom rung of the ladder keeps going up so that everybody is included. What skin do you lose by using pronouns?Dan in Canada has just been through the loss of a service dog and wants to know if it is okay to be Catholic without proof of god. How do you feel about believing a story without evidence of your dog being in a better place? What is your community around you now like? You may consider calling The Secular Therapy Project for someone to talk with or Recovering from Religion. It is okay to go to a church; there are times when communities offer more benefits than risks. The thing to look forward to when you do not believe in a god, is the exciting prospect that the future is yours to make and do what you want. Chloe in MI says that the USA is not a Christian nation even though she is a Christian and does not see the attitude of Jesus and putting other people first. How do we define what a true Christian is? What do you think people mean when they say it is a Christian nation? In addition to legal meanings that are wrong on many levels, it could mean that people who are white evangelicals feel like they are losing their power. How do we determine whose interpretation of the Bible is correct? Who has the proper insight to know what the Bible means? We agree the United States is not a Christian nation. Thank you for tuning in this week! Prompt of the week is: How did god the father get out of paying child support? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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Recorded in front of a LIVE studio audience in Austi, TX!Join The Atheist Experience with Jamie Boone and Christy Powell and work through issues, lack of evidence for god, and religious trauma challenges. Caleb in OH, believes the Big Bang is evidence for god, and asks the hosts if atheists believe there is no evidence for god. Evidence that is meaningful, compelling or that stands up to scientific rigor has not been observed yet. The universe having a beginning is consistent with many religions. How is your religion any different?  Why would an all powerful and all loving god not show us something on this show? Call back with one good argument that is overwhelming. Yetmas in FL makes an analogy about god, people, and ants, and then asks why we are searching for god evidence when we have not even mapped 25% of the ocean floor. This is 25% more than before there was science. AJ in MN asks the hosts what they used to justify the Bible when they used to believe. Christy described having to read a chronological Bible that noted the numerical differences realizing it was not inerrant. Jamie never looked into the claims, and when he finally did, he became an atheist. How many talking animals do you need in a story before you realize it is not literally true? Terry in NY wants to know how to bat away the indoctrination and fear of hell. Why would we lose sleep over the Christian hell if we are not worried about the Hindu hell? Your nervous system does not need to be argued with and it is okay to struggle with this distress. Adult logic may not work with your first early childhood concept of hell. Recognizing this conflict is the first step to acceptance. Is it fear or is it guilt that is so scary? A book called, Leaving the Fold, by Marlene Winell is a good place to start along with Recovering from Religion where they are trained to help through this struggle.  Jon in Canada says that the 10 Commandments are necessary for society to function and prove the existence of god. How can you tell me that they eradicated slavery? How do you explain the basis of Chinese civilization before the Ten Commandments?Katie in OK is trying to determine if she has religious trauma or if it is being raised in a hetero culture. Living in a religious society is almost certain to cause cuts and scars. Having to pretend to believe in something you don’t believe in can be traumatizing. If it hurts, you are allowed to have compassion on yourself and do something about it.Barry in GA says that faith is the basis for believing along with the word of god. Where does faith come from? What does it mean if something that you read moves you? What other creation stories from other faiths have you read? Why do you use faith for the Bible but not anything else? What would you say to someone that has faith in Allah?Josef asks the hosts their opinion on the scriptures that condemn homosexuality. Jamie disagrees with the verses. Christy finds these verses to be a big problem and is what caused him to challenge Christianity. If you remove a person's exposure to a type of person, it is easier to make them hate that type of person. Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week: Missing from the Sermon on the Mount is, Blessed are the ___.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

00:00 Intro11:08 Ameen-WA | Should I Come Out As An Atheist To My Parents?34:42 Andrew-FL | Power Dynamics Preventing Consent56:51 Bjorn-(NO) | Upholder Of Potential Is Consciousness1:13:52 Jason-WI | Prophecy From God As Barnum Statement1:18:55 Jake-AR | Societies More Prosperous Without Religion1:25:49 Lucy-(LT) | Religiosity Breeds Toxic Positivity1:34:26 Josef-MI | Fascinating Details As Argument For GodSHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and Armin Navabi sort through evidence for a designer, Barnum statements, and upholders of consciousness.   Ameen WA is contemplating reasons to come out as an atheist to his Muslim parents. What would be the two main costs and benefits to making this decision? Considering this will upset your mom, how long will it take for her to get over it? What will you do if the costs outweigh the benefits? What can be done to help fill the void your mother would feel? Showing support to your family is not the same as believing something. Sometimes you need to play a little peek at a boo with the mask. Don’t do it fast and get them scared. Andrew in FL says that Armin failed to debunk the slippery slope argument about sexual relationships being allowed that have no potential for harm. How can you claim a failure when you don’t know everything that was said? The potential for harm with incest is much higher than it is with LGBTQ, that is why it is not fair to compare on to another. Incest will have the problem of power dynamics that makes it hard to demonstrate consent. The emotional harm can’t be prevented as easily as STDs can. Bjorn in Norway has research that connects consciousness with god and every real life moment has to have the potential of becoming a realization. If you are trying to prove god’s existence, please define god beyond a name. What is god? How would you demonstrate this? How can we connect all these random sentences together and tell us why consciousness is necessary? How do you know that something can’t exist alone? Why do we care about things that are potential but not probable? How do you know what happened before the Big Bang?Jason in WI has a prophetic message from god about things that will happen. What will happen specifically and what is the exact date and time? Making Barnum statements is not the same as prophecy. Don’t waste our time. Jake in AR says the world would be better off without religion. Would a society that has closer beliefs to reality have a better chance of prospering than one that does not have true beliefs? As Forest would say, all models are wrong, and some models are useful.Lucy in Lithuania says that religiosity can breed toxic positivity. We agree and this is also a way for religious governments to take advantage of people. Josef in MI asks what god the hosts have an issue with and uses DNA as an example of why he believes god exists. We have a problem with all claims without evidence. Your interpretation of an experience is going to be heavily influenced by the culture in which you are raised. What do you think a good standard for god is and are we there? It must be proven the designer exists before we can prove that things were designed. Why would we assume that the supernatural or god has anything to do with our existence more than chemicals? Why would DNA being fascinating be an argument for the existence of god? How do we find the creator of the body like we can find the designer of a car?Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week is: Why is Satan competing for god’s followers?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to the full Atheist Experience where JMike and Secular Rarity(SR) take on the resurrection, complaints of atheists, and people being saddened by the truth before Kelley Laughlin takes over for JMike battling the allegation that atheists have no will and the fear of hell. James in OH has evidence for the resurrection that has been heard before and is Biblical based. Why would it need to be a supernatural cause if Jesus did in fact resurrect? You must make your case for this with an argument because just stating it doesn't cut it. How can this be done without just adding more miracles? Giving reasons and evidence will move people closer to your position. What is the earliest date of the earliest gospel? Michael in FL asks why atheists complain that Christians can’t agree on issues when atheists can’t even agree on what atheism is. SR reminds the caller that Christians inherently have the same idea of the deity while atheists do not have any idea of a deity. JMike points out the problem of interpretation agreeing with god’s principle with Christians, and still has yet to complain about it. How do two people have a relationship with an entity and be so wrong on the  most basic aspects of it? Does god love the LGBTQ people or does god want them to be murdered in the streets the way the Bible says? Chloe in MI, one of our more honest and engaged callers, is a theist who responded to the chat poll with atheists should NOT be persecuted for their lack of belief in god. She added some good reasoning behind this; one of which is that god is love. Is love the reason why billions of infants die? How do you reconcile your two concepts of love?Jon in Canada looks at the sky and wonders how all this came about by accident. Just because something is not intentional, doesn’t make it an accident. Why is it okay to let people believe untrue things that may end up killing them? Would you rather have people who are sad because they learned the truth, or people who believe in an imaginary deity that makes them feel broken? Take the risk of bumming people out by telling them the truth when the alternative is how the Bible considers them worthless. Leonard in Germany says that atheists have no will or drive. SR explains how he has been involved in starting up several non-profit organizations, and Kelley runs his own business. How is this not a sense of will? There is a common thread of religions being political, where politics is not a part of atheism, however, individual atheists can be politically active. Every group of people will have bad people within the group. Why do we find justification in the core doctrine of religions to do atrocious things? The crusades, inquisition and conquest of the Americas are examples of this. Make friends with an atheist to get an idea of how they live and treat other humans. Autumn in MD asks how to calm the fear of hell in her partner. Be patient and be a support system. Reach out to Recovering from Religion and the Secular Therapy Project.Thank you for tuning in this week; question of the week is: Why did god wipe out the dinosaurs? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity and Armin Navabi, question the universal theist answers and someone figured out that Jesus is the Devil, but not to worry, it is all in the mind because the experience is having us not believe that god is true because of cultural longevity. James in OH asks if the hosts think atheists have more questions than theists. Theists may have more answers, but many of those answers are wrong. Would you agree that having more answers is not necessarily correct? A lot of times, answers that are given on the non-religious side do not unravel more layers of questions. Why would you use the Bible as a method to demonstrate god? What would you do to prove that Abraham almost slaughtered his own son and that the Bible is a good source for this claim? What information has been given to you that makes the supernatural a viable option?John in CA claims that Jesus Christ is the Devil and quotes something that he calls a parable from The Book of Revelation to try and prove it. Why does this “parable” bring you to your conclusion? Is the Devil the good guy or the bad guy? Why is it that nobody else has figured this out? Why are you one of the few or the only one that has solved this puzzle?Mark in MN says that the proof of something is in a person’s own mind. Accepting a belief is up to the individual, but that does not change the facts. What is your best evidence for god being real? Lets pray! God please provide us atheists proof of your existence! Amen! Okay now everyone get off your knees, you are released from the magical spells.Josh in MT says that Jesus awakened a truth about people’s experience of the world. Most of the universe is not experiencing anything. Michael in CA says that it is important to believe in god because god has always been a part of human culture. Would this be a good justification for the conclusion if we used another word instead of god? Why would longevity make it reasonable to believe in god? If you believe in something, and good things happen because you believe this, would the good things happening justify believing it is true? What if it is a lie? Where is the tomb now? How easy do you think it was for fraudulent claims and lies to spread thousands of years ago?Thank you for tuning in and be as blasphemous as you need. Don’t forget Atheist Day on March 23. Question of the week: Name a time that God unfairly blamed someone. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity and JMike float above their bodies as they look at the chat in order to prove they exist as an all knowing god does illogical things with free will. Jeff, with no location disclosed, believes in Jesus because he experienced floating above his body right before someone took him to church. Why does this give you creedence to believe? How do we justify this content in your head? What does “demonstrated by love” mean? Asking questions does not mean we are disrespecting you, it just means we want to understand the methodology used to arrive at your beliefs.George in TX asks the hosts if they can see the chat. And then he just left with a classic troll mic drop of running away. Ali in VA asks the hosts if they can prove that they themselves exist. Available views can be compared to demonstrate how we exist and views that have less explanatory power lose out on justification abilities. Of the two following questions, which will have more justifications in the answers? “Why am I seeing a tree rather than anything else?” Or “Why am I seeing a tree rather than not a tree?” If you received words from Allah directly, would you accept that is Allah speaking? Abe in NJ asks the hosts about god being all knowing and having free will at the same time. It feels like these ideas clash with each other hard. An open theist might say that knowing the future is not a propositional attitude. This contradiction can reveal some theological and scriptural concerns. Thank you for tuning in today everyone! Question of the day is: Name a time that god had not chills. Put your answer in the comment section.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai, Armin Navabi, and Seth Andrews sort through information that causes design as they dodge spiders with wings because Jesus just was not an apocalyptic creature.Adam in England wants to talk about the relationship between information and design where the information needs a mind to exist and therefore the mind must be god. How is this different from the argument that says DNA is so perfect we must need a designer? Why do people have different understandings of words like “mind” and “freewill”? Where do we draw the line for what has a mind? Being too inclusive with how these words are defined cause them to lose their utility. What is one example of something that was chosen by god to be the way it is? Why add dead weight to the universe to try and explain it? RJ in CO asks why spiders have not developed wings if evolution is real? If you are such a hard worker, why are you not blowing glass yet? Spiders have some terrifying ways of traveling through the air and there is just no reason to develop wings, just like not having a reason to blow glass. What are the benefits and cons of spiders having wings? Why would the wing mutations have any advantage over what spiders are now? Why would god create a spider to cause its prey to die so horribly? If your god is real, he is evil. Why would god punish a child that he designed for things a child does not understand?Mikael in GA asks why atheists feel that Jesus is an apocalyptic preacher, when he presented himself as a peaceful Messiah. Why can’t Jesus be both? How do you reconcile the verses that suggest the second coming would happen within the lifetime of his followers? Was it right or wrong for god to forcibly impregnate a young girl?Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: It is a bad idea to (blank) at church.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity and Jim Barrows walk callers through logical fallacies, getting out of faith mindsets, and ways to learn more about evolution. Luke in AZ states that the existence of god is a rational necessity because everything will be meaningless if god doesn't exist. Why does some god’s opinion of what is meaningful have anything to do with anyone else’s? Lack of knowing what is behind everything does not mean there is a god and shows the fallacy of incredulity. Do you accept this same reasoning for anything else in the world?Art in PA regards god as the ultimate ground of existence. How do you define the “ultimate ground of existence”? Does existence have to exist and is pure philosophical nothing possible? If there was a number other than 17 frequencies to use, what does this do for your concept of god? What do we care about what theology says about science? If your god is the same as “existence”, how does calling “existence” god not lead to problems? What is the difference between Spinoza’s god and a hurricane?Jack in MD argues that the universe was created because it needs an uncaused cause, and free will is the only uncaused cause. We have not been able to rule out all the potential causes so therefore this is an argument from incredulity. What is an example of free will existing without a brain and how do you get to this being an uncaused cause? Does someone with a traumatic head injury that has lost their ability to eat have free will? We do not need to assume free will to make progress, but we do need to assume logic. Patrick in SC would like to know how to get out of a faith mindset. You ask yourself how you know things and why you think they are true. This is not done overnight but is constant because we are always learning new things. Ask yourself if you could get to any conclusion using the same method you use to get to god. Olivia in NJ asks if god was created to cope with the uncertainty of death and to explain what we don’t know. We need to make sure we are not presenting this as if the first believers were doing this maliciously. Humans like telling stories and we need to assign agency to random events. Adam in TX is looking for hardcore evidence for evolution. Start by defining what evolution is, and then must prove that either genes don’t exist, or must prove their frequency does not change over time. Watch the science journals for all the ways that evolution happens. Check out the content by Erika Gutsick Gibbon and Forrest Valkai for helpful information. You can also check out Crash Course for bit size chunks that will help broaden your understanding. Denny in MI went through conversion therapy that did not work and is considering telling his parents who he really is. Your safety and security needs to be weighed along with how hurtful it may be to your parents. Contact Recovering From Religion for help with ideas on how to deal with this. Thank you for tuning in folks! Question of the week is: What is an example of god’s sense of humor?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and JMike find Jewish atheist communities to help not trust their brains for the truth while they travel into the past to discover that oral traditions are partly the root of religions and to finally confirm that gravity is real. Chuck in HI is that humans are here to provide a dwelling place for Jehova and gravity is not real. If he is omnipotent, why can’t he provide his own dwelling place? How would he be omnipotent if he does not know who he is dwelling in? Where do you get your god claim if we do not have the sensors to detect him and you do not have evidence? Whining about things that fly in the face of science does not meet the criteria to make them true. Try and bring your A game next time.Richard in NY is looking for a community of Jewish atheists. Jim points out that both Judaism and Islam are as much a culture as they are a religion and how people have a hard time accepting that. Mike mentions that it is not that weird to grow up never thinking about god. There are many social media platforms available, and if you don’t find what you need, you can create one.Katelyn in WA asks why we should trust our brains for truth when the basis is to survive. Jim explains how we know that our thinking is faulty with the pattern recognition leading to cognitive bias. This and the need to reason better is why we developed science. We build machines that do better things than we do and see that god’s design is flawed. We are most fascinated about why you believe in a god; what is the reason? Why does god not stop suffering or allow us to survive off just sunlight? Why does god not have the ability to make a world where people do not choose evil? Would the most important message in the world be shrouded with ambiguity?Colin in the USA wonders if the religions made laws because they were easier to remember as stories through oral traditions prior to the written word. We like tales and stories, but this is not the only reason why religions made laws.Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: Name one of god’s unpopular opinions.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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Show notes upon receiptBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receiptBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Happy New Year from The Atheist Community of Austin! This year we began a new segment called “Share Your Experience,” or as we generically referred to as “question of the week.” This segment is only as good as the comments we get to respond to, and you, the viewers, really rose to the challenge! Here is a compilation of our ten favorite questions and answers.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Dive into this year's best, most viewed calls of The Atheist Experience with 'The Atheist Experience Top 5 Calls of 2023.' Forrest Valkai, Seth Andrews ( @TheThinkingAtheist ), Johnny P. Angel, Jmike, Kenneth, and Dave Warnock in thought-provoking conversations that challenge beliefs and promote critical thinking, and in rare cases, change minds. We're giving our valued hosts, guests and crew this holiday season off, but we still want to be able to bring you some of the moments that have made Season 27 one of the best ones so far! So from all of us at The Atheist Experience and The Atheist Community of Austin, we wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. Join us in January when we resume our live productions.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Christy Powell and Armin Navabi, meet god in a dream that tells them which gender is god’s gift before finally being told that god is in fact everything which is really nothing. Trees in KS had an experience where they met infinite blackness in a dream and felt immense love being surrounded by faceless Grim Reapers. How do you explain what happened to you in this dream? How do you know it was some kind of god and not something generated from your brain? Calling an experience you had god does not make you a theist. How do you know the difference between an experience in your mind and actually meeting a deity? You can have the feeling of meeting god as an atheist just like you can feel like you are flying when dreaming, but those feelings do not make either of these things true. Jon in Canada describes women as god’s gift to men. Are men god’s gift to women? How can you rectify the problematic ideas about men and women in the Bible? Are you able to provide reasoning to this 1950’s way of thinking? Do you have any data to suggest your suggestion is better than other households? If two parents are better than one, wouldn't it be true then that three parents or even four would be better than two? There is no reason to believe that the nuclear family is superior. What about two toxic parents that are fighting with each other? Jared in KY rushes through a proposition that agnosticism’s claim is a contradiction to itself. What claim are you talking about? We are getting bored of people who think they are intelligent that put words together and then think they are winning. Watch out for theists purposely speaking in philosophical language just to be not understood. Erasmus in CA believes that god talks to people through dreams and visions. Why is it that Muslims have Islam related dreams, Christians have Jesus related dreams, and so forth? What metric do you use to know that dreams are not from your mind? Why is it not possible for dreams to be both clear and unclear? What is your evidence that clear dreams are more than a product of the brain? Having a scientific understanding of dreams will help dispel some of these theories you have. Dreams might just be weird thought noise. Rick, in Canada believes that atheists dodge evidence for god and that energy is god. We are not following your notion of evidence, but do see the word salad you put together. Deep emotional experiences are insufficient evidence for a supernatural claim. Where is the evidence that energy is conscious? If everything is god, then the word god means nothing and loses all utility. Is there anything that is not god? How does matter and energy being everything prove there is a god? How is any of this relevant to the existence of god? TJ in TX asked god for less pain in a prayer and got beaten up in school the very next day. You can hate a character in a book that does not exist. Emotions do not have to be rational or true because it makes no difference to your nervous system. Don’t try to define yourself by how people see you. We are not seeking the approval of theists. Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: What is a minorly inconvenient way that god punishes people?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forest Valkai and Johnny P. Angel works through issues of Genesis, Unicorns, suffering, reproduction and babies hating god.Ray in WV says that asks if the hosts believe we evolved from higher apes He then states that god is sovereign and every human hates god when they are born. The scientific argument is not if evolution happened, but how and why. Why do you think there is a god? How does a baby know there is a god to hate? How can one hate something when they don’t believe it exists? How do you know that god exists? We feel the same way about Yahweh as we do other mythological villains and fictional antagonists. Our explanations for how the universe came about are based on evidence. How much time have you spent talking with people who don’t already agree with what you think? Being a Christian does not give you the ability to have a monopoly on goodness.Camden in NC asks if the innate response of evolutionary reproduction compliments what god says in the bible. Reproduction is one way that we classify what is and is not alive. If something did not reproduce, we would not know about it and evolution is the logical outcome of reproduction. We did not suddenly jump from a worm with no eyes to a human with eyes. Once the earth cooled from this fiery hello, life appeared relatively quick, and this can show that it is possible for life to arise without needing a cause. There are certain biological constants throughout history that have been developed through evolution and can be seen in many cultures.Andrew in FL says religion gives meaning to suffering and that atheism makes suffering meaningless. Atheism does not have the narrative that religion does, however humanism helps reduce unnecessary suffering. What is the issue with not seeing the meaning to human suffering or existence? Religion has been used by powerful groups to convince us that we should just accept that suffering has a greater purpose. What do you think about rooting out the causes of suffering and fixing it? The current work structure is not a call from god, it is a call from capitalism. If you did not believe in a god, and you believed this is the only life you have, what would you do for your life, family, and career?CJ in KS references a previous call where he had evidence for Eve's creation from Adam’s rib and is calling to develop the conversation. He explains that the water mentioned in Genesis is a manifestation of Jesus. The writers of Genesis did not know there would be writers of John. The people who wrote the Bible had access to earlier writings, not the other way around. The later writing does not prove the book is true, but rather develops the theme. Why do you believe the Bible is not just a literary book? How is sin anything that causes death? What about children who die from SIDS? Do you believe in a literal hell?Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week: What is an inappropriate thing to say or do at a holiday party?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity(SR) and Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist, wrestle with the foreshadow of Jesus. Christina in Canada calls to inform us that it is humans that are poisoning the earth, not god. What does people not being interested in saving the planet have to do with there being a god? If Allah speaks to you in your dreams, why do you read the prophecies of the Bible and not the Quran? Tethering these things to the real world is the concern. Nikol in Armenia says that if we don’t believe in god, we would live better in this world than others rather than pretend we can help others. The less religious nations are the more peaceful and produce a better living. The changing of our scientific positions is a feature, not a bug. How does god allow all kinds of bad stuff if he is all knowing and all good? The belief in a divine essence produces all kinds of problems that a secular morality does not have. If you stopped believing in a deity today, why and how would you suddenly become more selfish? James in CA describes circumcision as a foreshadow to the blood sacrifice Jesus made. Why does circumcision need to be the penis? What does our immorality have to do with this practice? Why is self mutilation as a reminder that we are not able to meet up to god's standards not a problem? Even 2,000 years ago, we would not just walk up to someone and ask to see the penis so we could cut off the tip, unless of course we had a need of 100 Philistine foreskins. Jimmy in Texas thinks that an atheist view of god is naive and asks the hosts about what their conception of god is. SR does not have a conception of god, but uses the callers’ conception of god for discussion. Seth explains how the argument for any kind of benevolent god falls apart. If a benevolent and omniscient god wanted to have a relationship with us, why would he not intervene and prove himself to us? Would it make sense for a loving parent to be confusing on purpose when clarity is the goal? Why does god need Jimmy to do the heavy lifting by calling a show? Presumptively crawling into our skulls does not mean you know our view or experience. Harvey in Canada asks why the hosts are convinced there is not a god. Which god are you talking about? If we are not really delving into what god is, we have not moved the needle with being convinced. Keep asking questions and being honest with yourself on your journey. If you find something concrete, have your people call our people. Jon in Canada asks what the worst part of Christianity is. Seth answers with a list of awful things and most offensive being how Christianity sells itself as a love relationship when it is in actuality abusive at its core. SR says that at best, there is no methodology for knowing what is true, and the existing method used is what has led to the worst experiences we have had. James in Ca asks if we can demonstrate morality. The question is ridiculous, offensive and lazy. Do we need to be told not to harm in order to know the difference? Thank you for tuning in this week. Question of the week is: What would you give Jesus for his birthday?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Armin Navabi and JMike exist only in god’s imagination as callers discover that you just can’t get to an all powerful god from the Kalem or patterns in books. Peter in IL proposes that if god exists, then we are imaginary and are entirely within god’s mind. What is the reason that brought you to this conclusion and what argument do you have to support this? Describing more details is not the same as providing evidence. How do you know that other scenarios where god exists are not true? Are we being made imaginary to solve the problem of evil? What is the problem with two competing good things? Does god have reasons for evil to exist? It is important to spend time thinking of things that are real, and not just things that could be real. If you study how logical fallacies work and take some time to understand how the scientific method works it will help you build a stronger position. James in MI claims there is evidence for god in the book of Numbers and that Christ, Jesus and Messiah are the three words that prove it. How are the three words evidence for your claim? How do you get from patterns in a book to an all powerful god that is the creator of the universe? If the Quran has patterns as well, why does that not make it the word of god? Why does this only work in English? Robert in CA asks if Arabic has changed as much as English has since the sixth century, when the Quran was written. Early Arabic would be unreadable for Arabic speaking people today. The evolution of the Quran is more complicated than what Muslim narratives say, and it seems that some of it came from pre-Islamic periods and other languages than Arabic. The vast majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic and will need to read the translation of the Quran. There are many competing translators of the Quran and can be different from each other.Roger in the UK asks why the Kalam cosmological argument is not taken seriously, and how to determine the difference between “no evidence” and “non convincing evidence". The difference resides within how language is used. No good evidence for something is essentially the same as no evidence. There is evidence for everything if bad evidence counts. Can you give an example of anything that has no evidence at all? What if someone dreams of a square circle and calls that evidence? What in the Kalam gives you the attributes and characteristics of god such as being all knowing? If you want to just call random things god, then anything can be god. Nothing from the Kalam will prove god based on your own definition of god. Yeshua in the UK believes the universe only exists in the mind of god. How can you support this belief with a coherent sentence? Questioning the hosts does not support the view or produce an argument. Personal incredulity does nothing to support your claims. Thank you for tuning in this week!Prompt for the week is: Name a weird thing that god gets offended by.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forest Valkai and Jamie the Blind Limey sort through the creationist talking points while someone admits that sicking bears on kids is okay as a regular caller once again tries to prove god by using the seven day week. Jonathon in CO asks how the hosts decide who to talk to. The hosts must consider how productive the conversation will be. They think through who they are actually talking to and what the goal is. Someone with bigoted talking points will always be debated, and it may not be pleasant. If not the caller, somebody listening may change their mind. Mr. Le Cook in Canada uses several premises including the seven day week to claim the Bible proves god, as usual. You know the seven day week dates back to hundreds of years before Jesus, right? Did this become a global practice because of divine intervention? Or was it that one culture steamrolled accross the earth committing genocide against those that disagree? Is the seven day week the only power your god has? Trying to continue to sell your show to other hosts and constantly repeating yourself does not get through. If we changed to an eight day week would you stop believing in god? The only cultural religious practice that matters is yours, just like how your condescending seven day special dish is undercooked, contains empty calories, and lacks any kind of seasoning or reasoning. You are serving us something that is deeply weird and your position is irrational. David in CA asks what the hosts consider to be knowledge and what they consider evidence. We think we know where this is going. Something that is verifiable in everyday life is knowledge, and beliefs can be more subjective. If god exists, then that creature would know what it takes to get someone to someone and present that as evidence. If Jamie’s eyes were to be fully healed, how do you know what god to attribute that to? How did you come to the conclusion there is only one god? If you were born in Saudi Arabia, would you have the same beliefs you have today? How do you deal with the inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and atrocities contained in the Bible? If you derive your faith from the Bible, why do you not practice all of it? Would it be cool for Jamie to sick bears on children who laugh at him being bald? If you think so, we are deeply disturbed by this and are not taking you seriously. CJ in KA claims Genesis 1 contains evolution and that Genesis 2 is scientifically accurate. There are problems with birds coming from water and insects coming from earth. Why are things coming from the wrong places? Why is there no mention of fungi and why are these things in the wrong order? This sounds a lot like post hoc rationalization. How is making a person out of a rib scientifically accurate and not just magic? Did birds come from water like in Genesis 1 or did they come from earth like in Genesis 2? Why should we believe myths of people being made out of clay written by a bunch of goat herders? How do you explain what does not line up with scientific reality such as the timing of day and night? Why is the creation story not made to be something more understandable? Justifying a book is not the same as asking questions. Thank you for tuning in to this crazy show! Question of the week is: What is a modern sin that god did not know about 2,000 years ago? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and Armin Navabi battle the problem with evil, as they commit blasphemy right after discovering that only men have the breath of life because ideas must be real. Mike in SC asks about free will and the problem of evil. Is violating someone’s freewill the only way to prevent someone from doing something bad? Is it rational to believe in things for which you have no evidence? How do you know that the eyewitness testimonies presented in the Bible are not just part of the story? If god is omnipotent, why do people have to burn for not believing? How is the Bible a guide for life if it can’t even get the answer for what we can and can’t eat right? Can you provide evidence without just repeating what you are saying? Are all the ancient gods that changed cultures and performed miracles real?Michael in GA asks why atheists say that a baby is not a person before it takes its first breath. He also believes that only men have the breath of life since god breathed into a man, not a woman. Your Bible does not even use masculine terminology until after Eve so Adam is gender neutral. Nobody has the right to tell you how to use your body, otherwise we are creating slaves. Bringing up the race of the fetus will do nothing to further your case. In fact, take a wild guess of what that kind of trolling will do for you. Bye!Rami in Hawaii reads out of the Bible as evidence of the holy spirit’s presence. Why do you need the holy spirit to attain positive qualities? Why is it okay to blasphemy against Islam by not believing that Mohammed is the profit, but not okay to blasphemy against the holy spirit? We are all going to hell in somebody’s religion. You know that right? If god is real, he is a narcissistic monster and should be jailed for crimes against humanity. Is it good or evil to create an organism that is spread by mosquitoes and kills billions of people? Did god create everything including malaria? If we are good people, and do not believe in Jesus, what happens to us when we die?Oliver in the UK asks what right atheists have to question someone else's reality, if ideas are real. Just because an idea is real, does not mean that it is true. What makes you think atheists don’t have the right to ask questions? Why would Muslims have the right to say that Allah is real, but don’t think that atheists have the right to say that Allah is not real? Thank you as always for tuning in this week. Question of the week is: Why is god really mad at Satan? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forest Valkai and JMike hoped to experience miracles as they wrestled with miracles, animals, morality, failed preachers, gender, and apes. Ben in Utah has seen some miracles such as praying and fasting for a person to come back to church that worked, and the person came back. How do you know this happened supernaturally? How do you know there was not something in their life that happened to cause this? If this god is real, what is it doing and why is it useful to us? Apply the same rules of logic that you would for everything else when it comes to god.Levi in Canada asks why it does not undo the concept of morality when atheists believe we are no different than animals. Non-human animals have plenty of morality such as empathy, grief, fairness and equality. The desire to obtain human well being is a source of morality for some, “Survival of the Fittest” causes more harm than good, falls into Social Darwinism, and is complete BS. If there is a being that has the ability to stop harm, wouldn’t you expect the being to prevent the harmful action? If god knows the future and everything that is going to happen, how can we have free will? If god is infallible, then it logically follows that god wants evil to happen. Rick in Canada calls to challenge JMike’s position that Jesus is a failed apocalyptic preacher. Luke and John had to reinterpret what was being expressed in Mark’s account. It is not enough to cite the proof text. How do you know which red lettering in the Bible are the words that Jesus said? Early Christians had apocalyptic messages like Paul, and later believers had to re-interpret that as a spiritual notion. Reality exists outside of the Bible and we can check what happened. Mike in Canada asks if Forest believes that genders are categories that we invent, and inquires about his earlier statement about nature fuzzy that we draw boxes around. Gender varies culturally and generationally so it is impossible to say how a man or woman should behave. Gender is something that we do, and not something that we are. Can you give us a definition of man or woman that is exclusively and solely based on physical characteristics? Just because nature is fuzzy, does not mean Biblical lines can be drawn to classify humans differently than animals. Based on the available data at hand, humans are primates, mammals, and animals. Also, sex and gender are two different things. This is not comparable to the arbitrariness of using the Bible.James in California explains that if god did intervene, he would have to punish all of us because we became immoral. Could you freely not have sinned the last time you sinned? Was it logically possible for Adam and Eve to make the right choice? Could they have freely chosen good over evil? Is god a being that can instantiate any state of affairs that does not contain a contradiction? How are we not just tools for the end?Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week: What is the real definition of the soul?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and JMike have fun with antinatalism, and most importantly, blasphemy!Kirsten in TX asks about the benefits of religion providing community, and how secular communities can provide the same benefits. We now have many choices on social media where you just can find your community. You can even start your own group! You can use words like “critical thinker”. If we do not do this ourselves, it is not going to happen.Samuel in Canada asks how to talk with a pastor that believes there is no evidence for creation or evolution and to just decide based on faith. There is more evidence for evolution than there is gravity. Everything in biology and in medicine is related to evolution. Changes in allele frequencies in a population over a period of time is already a fact that evolution occurs, and we haven’t even got to natural selection yet.Jon in Canada believes that evidence for god is that people have faith. Does the number of people who believe something have any bearing on whether it is true? If we have evidence that god exists, we will believe in god. We do not have anything against something that does not exist. Queue in IL asks about the hard atheist stance with the belief that god does not exist and needing to provide the burden of proof. You can give a strong inductive case of why god is not probable. Every theist tends to make deductive cases for their god. Every phenomenon that we know of has a natural explanation or we just don't know how it happens. Even in places where naturalism might be improbable, it is just as improbable under theism with extra ontological baggage.Amanuel in TX says there should be a restriction on freedom of speech or expression because of an experiment of his that showed panic caused when some hosts tore up the scriptures. What kind of experience do you have setting up these experiments and was there a control group? How is bias not built into your study if these were people you knew? Stating a position of non god belief is not blasphemy or causing harm. Your irrational fear that should not be someone else's problem is used to justify atrocities such as gay conversion therapy. How does a blasphemous meme harm you? Look at how the Islamic world goes nuts for drawing on magazines. Restricting freedom of speech and what artists can portray is the totalitarian way and downright wacky.Andrew in FL calls to state that atheists tend to lean towards antinatalism and how they are damaging the population. Where do you get this claim? If this is true, why is atheism the fastest growing segment? If correlation is causation, then the increase of ice cream would increase the crime. Up until the last 10 years, the US was 90% Christian. The No True Scottsman fallacy does not work with the Baby Boomers messing up the population.Thank you for tuning in this week and the question of the week is to capture the image shown on the screen by giving us a caption!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.