Hello all you atheists (and theists) out there! The hosts of today’s Atheist Experience are Matt Dillahunty and Shannon Q, so happy to have Shannon Q on today!Our first caller, Jack in Canada, says that he thinks religious groups “walk on eggshells” more than atheist groups. The bible does not preach religious tolerance and we oppose beliefs not religious people. Matt points out Deuteronomy 13 commands you to kill other believers. Ryan in NY asks what proof there is of atheism. What is your definition of a god? Atheism just means disbelief in god/s, the burden of proof is on the claimant. Ryan gives us his personal experience and talks about morality and once again we find another caller cool with slavery…Linguistie in the Ukraine asks if god appearing in believers dreams are a style of lucid dreaming? Your brain functions while you sleep, as well as parses memories, and can affect your waking perceptions. People can use this to solidify their beliefs. Sain in TX asks about divine command theory. The problem is whatever god dictates would be moral, that can lead to some horrible commands. Not to mention the lack of evidence of any god. The biblical god is immoral and in the event of his return, the only recourse is rebellion.Last caller today, Jonathan in AZ asks the reasons for believing one doesn’t go “anywhere” upon dying. There is no evidence anything happens after you die, you just stay dead. A soul is the most dead concept in theology. Shannon expertly breaks down the neurology that makes someone a person, doesn’t lend any credence to a soul or an afterlife. Thanks for tuning in, we are so glad you joined us today. Stay safe and please continue to wear your masks. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Hello all you atheists (and theists) out there! The hosts of today’s Atheist Experience are Matt Dillahunty and David McRaney. David is an author and got into podcasting as a way to promote his book. You can check out his work at https://www.youarenotsosmart.com and the You Are Not So Smart podcast!Let’s get to calls! Our first caller, Jacob in IL, tells a story of a man who went into a coma and saw many-eyed animals next to god and that made Jacob think it was true. Just because people have an experience regarding a religion, doesn’t mean we should leap to believe the experience or the religion. Arthur in Europe asks if we think it's wrong that someone believes in something with zero evidence. There may be bad evidence, but we can't see people believing based on no evidence. It’s best not to believe anything without sufficient evidence.Josiah in CA asks how we are interpreting evidence of paranormal or religion correctly to poke holes in evolution. He then tells us of a dream where he foresaw a man and the details matched up with reality after he had the dream. How can you rule out other explanations? Dreams are fun and all, but aren’t evidence of anything supernatural, godly, or magical.Dan in Romania asks why we wouldn’t believe Paul the Apostle? You can’t just accept claims about an experience with the risen savior on a damascus road with no evidence. Dan doesn’t see a reason they would make that up, but their claims alone aren't sufficient evidence to believe. Otherwise, you would have to believe every other would-be prophet out there.God (Sirha) in CT claims there are no paradigms are real and claims to have transcended reason. Matt tried to ask some questions but lets say he didn’t make it far.Last caller! Marie in VA doesn’t think that the big bang theory conflicts with major religions creation stories. The order of events in genesis doesn’t match with the order we know from science. For instance, the earth was not created before light. Marie believes the bible anyway. Thanks for tuning in, we are so glad you joined us today. Stay safe and please continue to wear your masks. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Hello all you atheists (and theists) out there! The hosts of today’s Atheist Experience are Matt Dillahunty and Jim Barrows! Glad to see Jim back! As an update, our show will remain remote throughout the year and into next year.Let’s get to calls! The first caller, Rick in CA, has a quick question on the efficacy of prayer. Who knows how many times our hosts prayed and nothing happens. The hosts don’t see any evidence that prayer works. Aaron in WI calls to talk about morality as it pertains to atheists vs theists for an argument for god. Neither theism nor atheism takes a position on morality inherently. Aaron feels we would agree with most of the morality in the Bible, but Aaron has more in common morally with the hosts than what's in the Bible. Carl in Ontario calls to tell a story about saving a kid from a car wreck. While reflecting back he has a purpose to protect people and needs no gods. One would hope any decent person would do the same in that situation, with or without a god belief. Mark in FL asks what is the standard of proof before one begins to believe something? There are multiple standards of evidence. Believing means you accept something likely true. Why would you be convinced of something without evidence?Gene in PA, a science teacher, would feel bad if a student left the class believing that the earth is flat but recognizes a right to one's beliefs. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. You can only do your best to educate people, teach them how to think and not what to think.Joe in Lebanon is on the road to atheism and points out that most religions are started by eccentric men and asks if St. Paul was honest. We don’t, and maybe can’t, know. Adrian in TX is calling to argue for a designer god but confuses purpose and design. One can use a rock as a hammer but the rock is not designed. When you can't differentiate between purpose and designed, there isn't much of a conversation to be had. David in Mexico calls to challenge something Jim said at the start of the show, the hypothesis of god can be scientific if you look at it as a non incomprehensible object. Throw in some metaphysics and quantum mechanics and you have some word salad. This is speculative at best.Last up is Jim and NV, calling in about the possibility of a god and that god would want people to be rational...and suggests Matt is god. We aren’t convinced that there is a god and feelings aren’t a pathway to truth.Thanks for tuning in, we are so glad you joined us today. Stay safe and please continue to wear your masks. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Hello all you atheists (and theists) out there! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jenna Belk, who we’re all happy to see return! Welcome back to the co-host chair, Jenna! This episode (and all episodes hereafter) is dedicated to Ed Breyton. Ed has been an integral part of the ACA over the years and while he isn’t as active as he once was, he will always be remembered. Thank you, Ed!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Dennis in New York. He was in the hospital for a time (due to illness) and his Christian friends say his condition improved due to God. Thankfully he knows his improvement was due to doctors’ diligence and treatment.Are rocks atheist? Oh no, not this question. Steve in Virginia switched up his original question from ‘What is the lack of belief?’ to the weird rock question...sigh. To answer the original question: for explicit atheism, it requires a conscious being who is able to determine and evaluate this. There’s plenty of philosophical ground to be covered here!Hold up! We have a theist on the line who would like to start out defining God buuut, he segways and pivots to questioning the Big Bang cosmological event. What does this have to do with the definition of God? And we don’t have time for you, goodbye!William in Australia claims to have seen his grandfather in a vision after he passed. We are sorry for your loss William. It can be a comfort to have these unexplained events occur and feel a connection to your lost family member. Instead of feeling as though it’s a message from them, think of it as a good remembrance of them. Guillermo in California asks why we believe in history, but not biblical history. Jenna asks the all important question, “Why should we believe the Bible?” Also, history books don’t generally use metaphors within the texts.Mike in Washington is wondering how to show other Christians the hypocrisy in the Bible and also how to reconcile it. This caller is a theist and this turns out to be a really interesting call. Austin in Wisconsin says it’s ok to believe or not believe. Uh, sure?. He also thinks there is a war between atheists and theists. Is there really? He also thinks that we are wasting our time and it isn’t worth spending time on the truth. But we aren’t wasting our time, nice try. Thanks for tuning in and not wasting your time! We are so glad you joined us today. Please continue to wear your masks. The world is better with you in it. See you next 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, Shannon Q is joined by our longtime friend and co-host, Matt Dillahunty. Welcome back to the co-host chair Matt, we’re glad you are here to join us! (Shannon is taking the reins this week!)Let’s get to calls. Our first caller is Jenna from California. She’d like to discuss how her current boyfriend is freaking out about COVID and thinks they would be better off believing in his previous religion (JW) because we are clearly in the “end times.” Next up, Ricky from Georgia says Matt, theologians, and philosophers are all wrong about morality. He also talks about social cohesion and how it relates to morality. But, he seems to agree with Matt for most of the call...so, how again is Matt wrong?Pack it up folks, AXP is done. The next caller says Matt already believes in God. James is saying this in a roundabout way by intentionally manipulating words and trying to pull a “Gotcha!” Boring, NEXT!Next up, Mike in California misinterprets some of Matt’s previous videos. Ooh, and he wants to talk about slavery and the context in which the Bible (specifically Exodus 21) was written. This should be fun!Chandu in Canada calls asking if it is righteous to practice a worldview where everyone is equal. Dualism, non-dualism, and how is this an atheist vs. theist problem?James in California suggests that God is an aspirational archetype and Shannon has a great retort! Whose God? What definitions? Would these definitions be able to change for the good of all? Ultimately God as an aspirational archetype isn’t always a benefit to society and Shannon explains why. WHOA!Greg in Ohio asks if we know who Jesus really was. His actual question was if we know who Jesus was historically. We can’t reasonably demonstrate that he actually existed, but he may have been 1 of 7 people back then, or a rabbi during this time. Shrug?Journey in North Carolina is a returning caller who was hung up upon before who would like to make definitions and defend God. Not an actual god, mind you, but the word “god”...yawn.Alex in New Jersey needs help with fully distancing themselves from spirituality. He is really struggling because of being raised in the church and feeling as though his mental illnesses are holding him back. We feel for you Alex, it’s a tough road, but credit where credit is due, YOU’RE doing the hard work. We are glad to be here for you. That’s our episode for today, please be safe and healthy out there!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist! https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/ Welcome, Hemant, we’re so glad you’re here!Time for calls! The first caller is a returning caller, Keith from Nebraska. He poses a question about hauntings and the supernatural...in a graveyard?! This story sounds very true and legitimate.Next up, Steve in Ohio. He is claiming his prediction about Trump is coming true, except that small part where it’s not even possible for it to be true or untrue yet...Nicolas asks: What if we devise a way to test or measure the supernatural? Will that prove the supernatural and God? The supernatural just means science may not have a way to understand it yet. Once it is understood, then it ceases to be supernatural. Craig in Texas wonders if people have the right to be stupid. Willful ignorance can be harmful to others, so in that sense, no, but this definitely seems to be a grey area.Julian asks a brand new question: how can Atheists have morality without God? He claims that God is the only foundation for morality and there is a right way and a wrong way to act. Siri: Define “circular.”Eryn asks about the value of personal religious experiences. Well, we are social beings and being in a crowd can be a wonderful experience. This call moves on to cathartic personal experiences and the Satanic Temple’s “pink mass.”Jelmar in the Netherlands wonders about the law of excluded middle. It’s either A or NOT A, which logically excludes the middle. There is no other choice! (This is a huge hit with the Sith.) Lloyd in Washington had a supernatural experience and is now a believer. After a long, drawn-out story about removing porn from his life and a commitment to his wife (porn was his second wife, also?), he finally shows us how real the supernatural realm is. It’s… I feel like I’m waiting for a climax that will never come. Sigh. Ba-dum tss.Our last caller of the day, James in Maine has problems with Matt’s logic and stance on LGBTQ+ issues. Religious people have claims and believe in something outside of themselves, LGBTQ+ folk don’t claim the same, they speak their truth from what is inside themselves. We are also not denying their Christian identity, James. Unlike some Christian denominations. It seems some Christians are ok with denying LGBTQ+ identities and people.That’s all folks, please be safe and wear your masks in public!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

The Atheist Experience is hosted today by Matt Dillahunty and Scott Clifton! Scott is an actor who’s well-known for his award-winning soap opera roles in shows such as “The Bold and the Beautiful”, but he’s also a secular activist! (Check him out at https://www.youtube.com/user/TheoreticalBullshit, or on Twitter @TheoreticalBullshit.) After sharing some sweet stories of Scott sending Matt’s grandmother Christmas headshots, we jump into calls!Josh in Tennessee was asked by his atheist wife to call in. Judging by his “evidence” for god, it seems as though he maybe hasn’t questioned his belief, but he’s friendly and open to conversation. This is awesome! (Be like Josh.)Russell in Georgia calls in to talk about how alien encounters are consistent with the Bible, then offers an analogy between himself as a parent using “tough love” to what God does to us as “his children.” He ends up saying morality is fickle because our perception as humans changes overtime, It’s yet another misunderstanding the difference between actual facts changing and our human understanding of facts changing. Then...then aliens. Aliens and Jesus.Kendall in Seattle wants to ask Scott if he’d become a Christian if Christianity were “proven true.” The answer might not be what some would expect.Mo in Canada called in about advantages to prayer, but instead asks the hosts about people leaving religion due to bullying, which, as far as we can tell, is a pretty small group. Then we get to the prayer bit, and eventually get to Islamophobia and the concept of drawing Mohammad.Lance in Ohio insults the previous caller, starts to ask how atheism is a net positive to society, but decides to stop and get annoyed with a host for sighing at this question we’ve heard a million times. He doesn’t seem interested in a real discussion, but that’s on him. If you’re reading this, consider being less of an asshole.That’s our show this week! Remember, being careless during a pandemic infects babies with viruses, so USE YOUR BRAIN! Thanks, we’ll see ya next 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, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Seth Andrews. Seth is a long time friend of Matt and a friend of the show. Welcome back!First up, we have Jonathan in MI, who claims to have solid evidence for god. For example, he takes it on faith that they found Jesus’ tomb and his cross still stands in Jerusalem. Faith is not a good pathway to truth. Work on your Google-fu, Jonathan.Stephen in IL is up next. He was raised reform Jewish and is questioning if Jewish history and Hebrew school is right for his son, more for the culture of it. Our hosts are for religious history classes, just not the advocacy for a god.Matthew from NC is next up. His dad had cancer and Matthew believes his father's faith gave him strength to make it through the ordeal and into experimental treatments. We shouldn't have to lie to ourselves to push through. Great topic caller!RJ in CO is calling to argue that evolution is false and the Judeo-Christian theory is correct. He goes on to argue the origin of humans was in Sumeria. We end with an in-depth conversation about the tower of babel. Fascinating! Jessica from VT has parents who think the world is ending and Jesus is coming back. Her parents have been trying to indoctrinate their grandchildren. Now Jessica is grappling with restricting access to her kids. Give yourself permission to set boundaries. Great advice, Seth! The last call of the show, Mary in MN. She is terminally ill and finds people don't want to talk about death, yet she isn’t afraid to die. She has been living her best life the last 6 months. Matt looks forward to Mary calling back with updates. Great example of a rational mind facing death!Thanks for tuning in today! Check out Seth on the Thinking Atheist YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheThinkingAtheistBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jim Barrows. Jim is one of ACA’s own hosts and we are happy to have him today! Welcome back Jim!First up we have Emyn in OH, who is calling in about the Monty Hall problem. Pick a door Jim! Matt is not sure how this ties to atheism and thinks the analogy is untenable. Maybe compose your thoughts in an email?Jeury in NY is up next. He is calling to ask how to deal with conversations when there is no point. Our hosts explain that you need patience and may have to know when to walk away and regroup. Oscar from IN is asking why Matt is an atheist and not agnostic. Matt was a southern baptist and was trying to demonstrate the belief in god and found his way out. There didn’t seem to be a point so on to more callers.Gerard in CT is calling in to challenge Matt on believing as many true things and as few false things as possible. The caller goes on to demonstrate he wants to believe as many true things as possible. Daniel from CA is saying that Christians don’t investigate the bible and points out the bible is a historical text. The hosts flex their Bible knowledge chops to point out it’s not historically accurate. Check out this call for a fun conversation about the Bible and Christians.Alex in VA is up next. His father is dying and although Alex isn't a believer he asks if it's ethical to let his father think he is still a believer. The hosts relate stories of their loved ones and give some great advice in this call. Who is chopping onions in here...Angel in NC has moved in with some atheists and has questions for us today. Angel is questioning her faith and uses a form of Pascal's Wager to stay a believer. A great call destructing Pascal's Wager and "Christianinanity" ensues. Justin in MN says the study of comets disproves evolution. Oh, boy, 12,000 year old comets prove a young earth? The hosts point out Justin is cherry picking data and short period comets aren’t the only types of comets. Mark in RI says you can be justified in believing that a miracle is an explanation for an event. Matt points out that you can’t appeal to the supernatural until it's been found to exist and could have explanatory power. Luke in GA wants to tell us that some people haven't received the holy ghost but anyone can. Apparently you just have to “die unto yourself” and take up a cross. Ugh. And moving on.The last call of the episode, Michael in San Diego, wants to know why they don’t believe in Spinoza's god. Matt points out there is no evidence for it and he doesn't care what Spinoza or Einstein believed. Thanks for tuning in folks! Check out Jim in other ACA shows. See ya next week and wear a dang mask!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Today we’re joined by Justin Looney, who helps the ACA by answering the e-mails you, the fans, send us! After some regular announcements, he offers some tips about e-mailing (or voice mailing) the ACA, its shows, or members. Then off to calls!Our first caller, Michael in Pennsylvania calls in to say he doesn't want to publicly label himself an atheist "because atheism is too close to communism." He won't budge from the position that America is inherently tied to theism due to particular words in its founding documents.David in Mexico City wants to call nature "God" for what he claims are pragmatic reasons when talking to theists. (AKA: It's easier to talk to theists about stuff if you just say you believe in God.)Next up, Steve in Ohio wants to bet $1,000 the following prediction is accurate: Trump will lose the election in November, refuse to give his position over in January, and become a military-backed King of the U.S...We'll see you in January, Steve.Questions...and agreements?! Josh in Israel doesn't buy Matt's claim that Judaism wasn't originally monotheistic, and has to have it explained...and accepts the explanation, seemingly! Yay!Comin' in hot! Chris in Tennessee assumes Matt wants Bibles removed from schools by law, not even realizing Matt actually wants Bibles and comparative religion courses in schools. The hosts also explain to Chris what the separation of church and state issues inside schools are, and what "secularists" want in that regard.Kevin in Oregon calls in to ask about specific comments from Matt about free will. He's quickly hung up on after seemingly refusing to listen.Here's an interesting one: Paulo in Boston has some ideas about why it is that moralities rooted in God belief are so incredibly appealing to people...and the truth is that it removes the thinking and makes morality seem easier to deal with.Our next caller, Cory in New York supposedly has a real reason to call, but immediately shows himself to be dishonest and uninterested in listening. Through that, Matt and Justin STILL try to help him understand...and he just doesn't want to understand.Seemingly questioning believer, Elijah in New Mexico seems to be thinking Christians don't have any hope if the resurrection myth turns up false, or if they stop believing it is true. The answer is a little more complicated than replacing faith with something else, because de-conversion is a hard, complicated process.Our last caller, Tory in Illinois is an "ex-JW" (ex-Jehovah's Witness) who disassociated, which inside of the JW organization means his family is intended to consider him dead. This means Tory may have to accept never speaking to his family again, and the hosts go over some useful resources for Tory and ex-JWs like him.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Shannon Q. Shannon is a longtime friend of the ACA and we are glad she is joining us today! Welcome Shannon!First up we have Earl in New York, who has proof of the nephilim (aka giants.) He claims his “evidence” comes from the bible. It could be confirmation bias and very likely internet hoaxes or conspiracy theories. Shannon puts it best: “Advocate for your own understanding. Go and find your sources, seek out the information, do the research.”Will in Washington is up next, claims the ability to perceive beauty is proof and evidence of God. Will sounds a little confused about his thoughts and comes off a bit hostile. Dude, chill and maybe email us! Or not.Victor from New Mexico claims to have had a demon inside him and the only remedy was Jesus. Goes on to say that a lot of this could very well rooted in anger and hatred of others. Shannon gets to the core of his issues. And he hasn’t listened to a word Shannon has said. Sigh.Ivan in Russia is calling in to tell us that he has a message from God. The message is that God loves us, very very very much and God is Love. Also thinks God wanted him to call in to express himself and provide us this message. Shannon breaks it down for him.Joseph from Nova Scotia is wondering if both hosts are materialists. There is some philosophy in this call, listen in and watch Matt flex those amazing philosophical muscles. It’s something to behold, definitely.The last call of the episode, Sy Garte in Maryland, wants to talk about how DNA is a code (aka pseudoscience) and this is the atheist view. He goes on to say that Atheist activists/influencers should use their clout to downplay memes and pseudoscience. Ok, cool, lets add that to their already busy schedules. Thanks for tuning in folks, Shannon Q will be back, yay! Stay safe out there folks, we’ll see you all next 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, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Lloyd Evans. Welcome back to the co-host chair Lloyd, I quite enjoyed your last appearance on the show and have since added ‘an onslaught of nutters’ to my lexicon.Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Dave in Austria. He would like to invite us to question slavery in a different way, one that shifts the question. Matt has OPINIONS about this. Next up, Sawyer from Australia would like to talk about becoming an atheist activist after leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses. Lloyd has a fantastic perspective and whether this is the right path for him.Kevin in Arizona claims Matt has a flaw in reasoning on whether it was rational to believe in god. He also says essentially god exists beyond our reality. “I have a cognitive bias and I don’t care if it’s flawed or an argument for personal experience.” Sigh.Douglas in Georgia is up next wanting to prove the existence of a soul. He talks about the argument for the existence of a soul and that a soul is possible in a logical sense. Lets see how this plays out...Malcolm is calling from California. He has NEW evidence for the existence of god. Lloyd is skeptical. Malcolm claims: a species that at one time that looked like a snake or eel carries the proof and meaning of god. Oh and pronunciation, linguistics, and patterns! Nathan in Idaho is seeking help, he ran away from his religious home and is concerned about his brother. Lloyd recommends being very cautious about this and to tread lightly with this situation. Next up, condescending Kevin in Oregon has questions about infinity and it sounds like he wants to catch Matt in a conundrum. Good luck with that Kevin. Justin in Minnesota, has the evidence for Demons. It was in Time Magazine! There was a study measuring brain waves and prints. Every individual has a unique brain print under normal circumstances. EXCEPT when they think are possessed. Um, how does this prove the supernatural? Chris in Idaho, there are derivatives of god’s nature all around us, in us, and proves his existence. The problem is that this depends on a belief in god. But we don’t, so how does this work? Why should we believe it? Andy in New Mexico used to be an atheist, did some drugs, and is now a hard solipsist. He also claims to be a deist and possibly believes in all gods because of his experiences on drugs.Carlos in Peru would like to talk about a specific argument they saw in a video. The argument they are wanting to talk about is the argument from contingency. Up next, Sebastian in Belgium. Has noticed himself being more and more of an angry atheist and would like to figure out how to be more calm. Greg in Ohio doesn’t agree with Matt on the general goal of life. What reason do we have that there is any life goal generally? Kim in California would like our opinion on a couple verses talking about the creation of Israel being formed is a prophecy and Damascus is a pile of ruin. Except Israel is not a prophecy and Damascus is a thriving city.That’s our show folks! See you next 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, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Phil Ferguson. Phil has been a long time and recurring co-host on the show. Welcome back to the co-host chair Phil! Also happy birthday Phil!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is David from Georgia. He claims that 100,000 years ago, the magnetic field was decaying and caused the Earth to… all of the what? I am not following this caller at all. Phil puts it succinctly: “Wow, that was… profound.”Next up, a different David, this time from New York would like to talk about prostitution and has reasons for believing it is morally wrong. He provides these reasons and doesn’t provide evidence or provide justification for these reasons: 1. Self value (“selling oneself”) 2. Harmful/damaging to one’s self/spiritually/psyche. It sounds more like he has a personal problem with it and seems to be projecting. Paul wants to know why atheism is a better default position than theism. It’s real simple, Paul. We have no evidence for the existence of a god (any god), much like we also have no evidence for the existence of Thor, Odin, Zeus, et cetera. Oh… here comes the argument from experience and god of the gaps. And here comes the intelligent design argument. Todd is an atheist and is wondering how to approach the argument of intelligent design provided by friends and family. ‘I don’t know’ is a legitimate answer to this sort of argument and saying so shouldn’t be seen as a weak position.Tom in Ohio, is hearing voices and claims they are mystical/natural in origin. He has heard these voices since the 70s and have increased in intensity lately. Oh, I feel for you Tom. Please seek and find the professional help you so desperately need. Pack it up folks, we are done being atheists! Miner is up next. He says the story he has is very powerful and says once people hear this story, we won’t be atheists anymore. Are you ready? His story: Some helicopters scared some bobcats off while he was playing guitar on a mountain with a friend. That’s it... Just checking, I’m still an atheist.Mallory from Oregon is up next. Recently deconverted after most of her life passionate about religion. She is having trouble finding joy or interest at the same intensity as religion anymore. Matt provides some really great advice on this. You definitely don’t have to figure this out today, best of luck!RJ claims he can prove god with the mathematical progression argument and statistics. No it won’t. He claims that static growth models and population science gives more relevance to the bible. Claims the current count of human population is impossible. You didn’t do the math right RJ. Stop Googling and go talk to anthropologists and scientists.Jesse from California claims that the brain has a high level of consciousness… then changes the subject when he is actually on air. Dude, that’s really dishonest. Next!Steve has facts and evidence to back up his opinion about god and prayer. Um, ok. How did god lead you to Daniel 8? And you’re done!That’s our show for today folks, stay safe out there! Even though it looks like the shelter-in-place orders are being lifted, please try to continue to keep yourself safe and healthy out there.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by the wonderfully amazing Don Baker. Before we get to calls, we have a topic to discuss from Don: ‘Are Christians Lazy?’Let’s get to calls. Andrew from California wants to discuss something that has never EVER been discussed on the show… Are you ready for it? Julian from Canada would like to break down (in a nonreligious way) that a god or deity or higher power exists. Are we ready to get dizzy? When pressed on the definition of god, he responds with “god created himself and creation.”Keyon from Utah is wondering how we had the first babies and how they came about. Ummm… they came from their moms? He also tries to argue against evolution, talk about divine human intervention through “visions” at church, and we are just denying god. Wait. what!? O.oCaller Dave is next wanting to talk about Christian laziness with Don. This will be great! Don asks for examples he would like to talk about and Dave claims it’s the atheists’ burden to bring those examples to the table. Hmmmm… how about no, you called us... right?Next up, David wants to convince us that the god particle actually proves god. Oh yeah David also says he's an atheist. That's a bold move, Cotton. Let's see how it plays out..Miner in Arizona claims to have an argument against atheism. Um, ok. Go on... He claims that because there are so many people on the Earth, there has to be a god. Correlation does not equal causation and I’m not following Miner’s line of thinking. Is this an argumentum ad populum?Oscar in Mexico would like to discuss the spiritual meaning of life if you’re an atheist. Is there a drive to do anything if there isn’t anything spiritual to inspire you? Matt tried to speak Spanish during this call!Ben in California asks about Jesus’ existence and is wondering why Matt doesn’t claim he doesn’t exist. How will Matt handle this one?Our last call, Cory in South Carolina believes in a god but is worried this god is an evil god. He claims he did some research and is calling back to talk to Matt and Don about what he has discovered. That’s our episode for today, please be safe and healthy out there folks. The world is way better with you in it. See you next 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, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Johnny Angel. Welcome back to the co-host chair Johnny! We loved having you on with us a couple weeks back, glad to see you again!Let’s get to calls. The first caller in the queue is a returning caller, Javier from Florida. He would like to discuss how he had a street discussion with a preacher against theism and it had him in a bit of a fluster. It sounds like he is almost on his way out and clinging to religion it seems. Good luck to you Javier!Next up, Dormand from New Jersey claims that he can prove a god and this god is all powerful. He’s called before and we’ve gone over this before with him. But this time he claims he can prove it with mathematics and philosophy! Show your work then, I’m waiting for the equations and eventual fallacies. Nathan is up next, claiming he has good reasons to believe in god, and it’s FAITH. It’s our problem we don’t believe because we are atheists, man. C’mon dude, give us something to work with here. You’re not providing us with anything to discuss here. FYI, faith is NOT a good enough reason.David had a vision in 1994! The room turned a hue of pink and was visited by someone (maybe Jesus) who was 10 feet tall. This person spoke and he provided instructions to not cut their hair and to meet them on a mountain in 2011. Hmmm… Was it drugs and alcohol? Why didn’t he explore this further? Sounds like an argument from personal experience… What the heck is in the water in Colorado??? Next up, Zachary in Alabama wants to talk about how incorrectly atheists assess evidence and have an inherent presupposition against believing that Christianity is true. He continues to say that it is “totally true.” It isn’t true until it is proven to be true and faith on it’s own is not a reliable path to truth. Oh boy and we end on the morality of slavery, Matt’s (so not) favorite topic. Our last caller of the day, Raul from Texas. He claims he can prove intelligent design. Look at the stars, especially the constellation Orion, The Big Dipper/Ursa Major, and Scorpio! We are blind to these constellations being figures that were constructed by god. Wow! Humans time over time look for patterns and this is definitely one of those times. Sigh.Have a great week folks, we’ll see you next 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, Jenna Belk is joined by Anthony Magnabosco. Here’s his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/magnabosco210/ and here is his website: https://streetepistemologyinternational.org/ Ready for round two Anthony? We are so glad you are here. It should be a good show!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Trudy from Texas. She is all over the place on this call and super difficult to follow; babies are miracles, she has an Atheist best friend, she experienced an NDE. Listen in and challenge yourself to figuring out what her point is because I’m totally lost.Next up, Debbie in New England is calling in with her son Eric who was on a mission trip in Australia and is now home. He was encouraged to call in with his mom as an update from their last call. He talks about his reconversion and his experience within the LDS church. He was convinced of these two things: The LDS church and their message/teachings made sense and was appealing to him. Ooooh boy.Adam calls in saying he is about to be kicked out of his home due to watching the ACA shows. Our hearts go out to you Adam, please stay safe and take care of yourself first, then work on coming out. Also, please reach out to the Recovering from Religion, they may have some great resources for you. Jack is coming in hot with a huge amount of claims about the Bible, Jesus is real, Evolution is false and we Atheists are wrong. Dodging and deflecting left and right. We first try to establish who is an expert and Anthony tries to figure out his confidence level on his “studies.” We dropped the call because Jack refused to listen and have a dialogue. Call back (or don’t) when you’ve calmed down. And NO, we aren’t scared, you didn’t “own” us, and you didn’t provide anything close to a good argument. Next up, Jack in London claims that truth is something we experience first hand, and belief is something we don’t but we think it to be true without evidence. Umm… I’m a bit lost here. That doesn’t sound quite right.Dean in North Carolina ponders the strengths and weaknesses of street epistemology. The strength that Anthony could see is that it is something that everyone can use. A weakness in this method is two willing participants. If one isn’t willing to interact in this way, it can become a difficult conversation.That’s all folks for today! Thanks for tuning in, stay safe and healthy out there!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome back to The Atheist Experience! Today’s show is hosted by Matt Dillahunty & Shane Isgrig. We have a little pre-show chatter, but most important is we have Secular Survey results! https://www.secularsurvey.org/executive-summaryCharles is curious whether our hosts accept any sort of supernatural phenomenon, then explains that God is as clear as the cause of a scraped knee!David wants to talk about Aristotle’s reason for believing in God, assuming we care specifically about Aristotle’s opinion.Andre has an argument from quantum mechanics. The call ends quickly and Matt and Shane discuss these odd “proofs for God” from quantum mechanics. What an interesting follow up from quantum gods. Michael says God exists, doesn’t exist, is mathematics, and is reality. Uh...what?!Brian believes Matt’s position on how likely a god is to exist changed, and Matt clarifies this misunderstanding of his own positions.Glenn says the whole show is pointless, because God doesn’t exist and no one will ever call in with evidence of God!Vladimir has proven God: a creation needs a creator. He’s got us. Pack it up.Matt in Indiana has an equation that MAY prove god, he thinks. I have an idea on which side of “MAY” the answer will end up.Kanyon is saying she’s had a lot of unexplained things happen to her, and for that reason she thinks “something” must be behind it.Daniel in Toronto insists that, since there are so many alien abduction stories, some of them must be true! He also says that there is evidence of alien technology on earth. Ooh, aah!That’s our show today! If you want to support the show you can check out https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience for a monthly subscription to podcasts with NO ADS, or https://tiny.cc/aenmerch for ACA merch! Matt is on Twitter @Matt_Dillahunty and Shane is on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/shanemysterio).Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome back to The Atheist Experience! Today’s show is hosted by Matt Dillahunty with guest Dave Warnock. Dave is an ex-pastor turned atheist who was recently diagnosed with ALS, a terminal illness. He now travels the world talking to interested groups about dying as an atheist, embracing life’s “moments,” all wrapped up in one statement: Dying Out Loud. (https://www.daveoutloud.com/) Dave also advocates death with dignity, which allows those with conditions like his to choose when they’re ready to go, when they have had enough pain.Javier wants to know what Dave and Matt think about the concept that religious leaders often are the catalysts of religious followers losing their faith.Marcus claims to have a syllogism that proves theists and atheists are just as rational as one another. He then explains that a bad argument isn’t necessarily one that leads to a wrong answer, as if we didn’t already know and say that on this show...constantly.David calls in to ask Dave a specialised question: What should I do to prepare my religious family for my death? Dave gives a recommendation toward the Final Exit Network (https://finalexitnetwork.org/).Amanda was adopted, and her biological older brother recently found her. Since then, that part of her family has been seemingly trying to convert and question her, and she’s wondering how to have these conversations without “scaring them off.”Will in Florida calls to ask if it makes sense to be a theist who believes in evolution...then asks if he should believe in god. What answer was he expecting?Richard starts off by asking what counts as “you?” He then stretches this out to mean that somehow one human is humanity. That’s our show today! If you want to support the show you can check out https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience for a monthly subscription to podcasts with NO ADS and other fun goodies, or https://tiny.cc/aenmerch for merch from all of the ACA’s shows! Matt is on Twitter @Matt_Dillahunty, and Dave is there @dwwarnock. Thanks for watching/listening!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Greetings folks! Today’s episode of the Atheist Experience is brought to you by, I can’t think of anything clever to say, so it’s brought to you by virtual hugs. Virtual Hugs to all! Today’s episode of the Atheist Experience is, Matt Dillahunty and Jenna Belk. It’s going to be a great show!Let’s get to calls. Our first caller is Bug from Texas. He wants to discuss how he is convinced there is no deity helping us make our decisions. He also rambles a bit and it was difficult to really follow what the topic was, but he seems very sincere. Good luck to you Bug!Next up, Phillip from Florida would like to speak about “the Absence of God Paradox”, claiming if there are no divine laws, God doesn’t exist, and religion is wrong. That’s not a paradox though? The following caller is Javier from Florida. What is going on in Florida?… don’t answer that! He posits that the foundation for morality is subjective. Matt then says “There is no objective reason to care about well-being, nor what you think your God wants.” Pretty quick call, but good.The next caller in the queue is Ernesto from Georgia wanting to discuss his questioning of his faith. He is trying to understand and how to better communicate with his significant other about how he feels about where he is.Next up, Amene in Texas advocates for the God of the Old Testament. Ok, and... What’s your point? Having a bunch of people believe it isn’t enough of a reason to believe in a God. Afterwards we have Hunter from Texas. He wonders about having to give a religious eulogy. He is expected to give one for family. It’s up to him to decide on how open he is with his Atheism to his family. Perhaps Recovering from Religion would be most helpful. https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Our last caller of the day, Wilbur in New York would like to discuss how people experience the Holy Spirit and possibly how folks in crowds may feel a certain way due to collective delusion. But there can be euphoria with all sorts of things that aren’t religious. Jenna, you are wonderful! Matt you are fantastic! The crew is amazing! The ACA is here to give you structure by producing our shows remotely for you to enjoy, and we appreciate all of you! Stay healthy, stay home, and wash your hands.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome back to The Atheist Experience! Today’s show is hosted by Matt Dillahunty and Jim Barrows! We start the show with a little more COVID-19 talk, as has become an unfortunate tradition in recent days. Jim addresses an earlier comment he made about suicide as a sin in the Catholic church.Our first caller, Tony in South Africa, thinks that atheists (he uses the strong definition of believing there is no god) and theists can both be correct about God. There is a god, but also...there isn’t. Maybe.Aligaz in San Antonio claims to have undeniable scientific proof of god, but things get squirrely when Matt asks for a definition of god. We get to all-powerful, and Aligaz’s response to whether or not God can create a rock so big he can’t lift it is surprising.In what immediately sounds like a strange re-definition of “god,” Tony in Illinois (who claims to be neither atheist nor theist) says that men are gods, but have to earn the title. Turns out he means people will figure out how to overcome the end of the earth and “choose to exist” to become gods.Juan in Colombia tells us that basic axioms get us to god, but doesn’t quite flesh out those axioms or their relation to God.Wes in the Middle East calls to talk about infinity, but seems to have a pretty severe misunderstanding of infinity as a concept.Our final caller, Kevin in Mississippi, seems to have come across a few basic arguments for God and found them quite compelling. He goes down a list of different arguments, from, “The universe is complex,” to, “A lot of people believe it.” It turns out Kevin has been interested in some of our videos and is essentially hanging by the thread of Pascal’s wager...he may be calling in as a de-convert soon.That’s our show today! If you want to support the show you can check out https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience for a monthly subscription to podcasts with NO ADS and other fun goodies, or https://tiny.cc/aenmerch for merch from all of the ACA’s shows! Hosts can be found on Twitter @Matt_Dillahunty and @JimBarrows. Thanks for watching/listening!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by two very distinguished guests and friends of the ACA, Nick Fish and Debbie Goddard of American Atheists. They definitely have some experience being atheists and we are happy to have them join us today! Also, happy zombie day to all, keep your brain safe by staying inside and away from everyone. Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Guardy from Canada. He believes that some people need God because they also need defined rules given to them. And he’s an atheist? This is interesting and may potentially melt your mind. Good for zombie day I guess?And we are done, we have our Sundays back folks. Dewitt has historical proof of Jesus. Though, his name was Yeshua, and oh he probably didn’t exist... nevermind. hmmm… how historic is this claim because I have serious doubts? I’ve noticed lately that we get this kind of call quite a bit. But because we get this sort of argument frequently doesn’t make it true. Even though we are done here and have our Sundays back, Amene has called in saying God through the Holy Spirit has encouraged him to call us. Yeah, no.Murray is conflicted because they are fearful about how to get through the current situation we are all in without God. Having religion there is definitely a source of comfort, and without it can be troubling. It’s not easy to let go and it is very legitimate to feel this way. “Draw strength from the relationships and community you have.” - Debbie GoddardNext up, Marquel in Georgia is calling again (he called during Talk Heathen when Andrew was on: Clip! https://youtu.be/g1dftovY7CY ) talking about how he is the ONLY person who has experienced pre-existence, spoke life into existence before time began, and had a race with god. Yeah, sure you are. He claims to have met god during this pre-existence. Yeah, um… ok. Afterwards we have Amin from New Jersey. He thinks the things that protect us from the COVID-19 outbreak may usher in the beast in his mind. He continues to give a laundry list of events and he’s lost me in the conspiracy. Wow this one… are we having fun yet?Greg in Florida ends the show with the eternal question about why we are here. He claims we are here to Worship! He also claims that King James did a great job writing the King James Bible. (facepalm.) The bible makes no sense when explaining why we are here, it’s a horrible miss-mash of stories that really have no bearing on why we are here. What is our intended purpose of being here?And that’s all folks. Have a wonderful zombie day! Stay Safe, Stay Home, Stay Healthy. Wash your damned hands and wear a mask if you go out for quarantine supplies!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome back to The Atheist Experience! Today’s show is hosted by Matt Dillahunty and friend of the show Dragnauct Sylvas. We start the show with discussion about the coronavirus and its effects on daily life, from isolation depression to grocery store gross-outs. Then, we get to caller numero uno!Dragnauct picks an interesting topic from Gavin, who says he wants to check in on his own rationale. Gavin says he believes in a soul, or at least something like it, based on some experiences he’s had in life, but he’s pretty sure something about that rationale is faulty. Is he right?Brian in Washington, DC calls in to convert Matt by asking, “What’s wrong with being a saint?” and using a version of Pascal’s Wager. When Matt and Dragnauct bring up the fact of Catholic cover-ups of child molestation, Brian starts to get a little squirrely.We have a few frequent callers, and one is coming back: Kamal in Alabama was brought into a Facebook intervention by his family, who tried to bring him back to Jesus. We’ve all had this experience, unfortunately, and it’s nice to relate to each other sometimes. We love you, Kamal.Carlos is another newly frequent caller, and his argument today is...well, it’s a little confusing. He says that God as described in the Bible gives life so he can determine how long it is for you. Then there’s an analogy from Batman. Essentially, Carlos thinks we shouldn’t see God’s action as distasteful if we read the Bible as fiction, because you’re not allowed to think fictional characters are bad guys, I guess?Can somebody say Clergy Project? https://clergyproject.org/ Well, not quite, but our caller is in that sort of predicament. Cade went to a Christian high school where he lost his faith, but he’s stuck in the church. No one knows about his non-belief, and he’s not sure what to do. Matt ends up turning this caller into a co-host for a moment!Laura in Michigan has personal access to God, and Matt attempts to use this access to have Laura ask God what she should say to convert Matt. Turns out, you just have to study the Bible and be open to love! We should have known.Our last call is an important one. Justin has a wife, and the two are currently awaiting a child’s birth. His wife has started to express concern about her child “being told there is no God,” or something along those lines. Dragnauct takes over most of this call, as his wife is also a believer, so he has some experience here. The key: communication between spouses, education for the child!That’s our show today! If you want to support the show you can check out https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience for a monthly subscription to podcasts with NO ADS and other fun goodies, or https://tiny.cc/aenmerch for merch from all of the ACA’s shows! Hosts can be found on Twitter @Matt_Dillahunty and @Dragnauct. Thanks for watching/listening!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SUMMARYWe look funny today, but it’s because our awesome crew figured out a way for us to continue the show from individual hosts’ and crew members’ homes! Thanks, guys! We start off with a bang: What do we do about church gatherings that could spread the corona virus more? If God isn’t real, why is religion influential? Can you even test science, and do the same forces that “created” the universe still exist? Isn’t there something “higher” that’s apparent? Why is Matt inconsistent with standards of evidence for others’ beliefs vs. his own? Ending the night with a beautiful summary of so much of this show’s history: Why don’t we believe in Jesus and his resurrection? But then technical issues cause us not to end the night, so we talk to Lana about her family’s gross treatment of her transgender daughter. And that ends our show.SHOW NOTESToday’s show looks different, because we’re all at home right now! Hosts, crew, all of us! Even me, writing these notes (although that’s no technical feat). Thank you to our wonderful Vern and Mark for making it possible for us to continue doing shows throughout the corona virus pandemic and Austin’s shelter-in-place ordinance.In relation to the pandemic, Dave in Austria asks a question of alarming importance: What do we do about all of these churches and religious groups having massive gatherings in tight spaces when the way to prevent this pandemic’s spread is staying home and social distancing? What can we do?Anthony in Florida has a kind of “gotcha” question: If God isn’t real, how is religion so influential? Checkmate, atheists!In what seems to be another attempt at a wording gotcha, Alex in Saskatchewan asks a couple things: Can we test science? Are the forces that created the universe still in the world? (He lists a few things that aren’t necessarily their own types of forces...there seems to be a misunderstanding here of what a force is.)A wild(ly confused) agnostic (atheist) appeared! (It’s okay to be confused. It happens.) Shawn in Minneapolis says he’s “between” believing and not believing to our call screener. He seems unable to let go of a concept of something “higher” as his first reason for not being an atheist is along the lines of, “Don’t you channel something higher when you play music?” Hm...I don’t think I do…You know what’s fun? Being accused of having different standards of evidence for beliefs you disagree with! Omar in California wants Matt to know that that’s exactly what he does! He provides awesome examples and Matt is forced to turn in his Atheist card and walk away in shame.Our final caller, Aaron in Arizona, wants to know why Matt and Jenna don’t accept Jesus and his resurrection.HAHA, we lied, that wasn’t the final call. Our show has to run long today...what a strange tech issue! Caller Lana is having issues with her family’s poor treatment of her transgender daughter, and she’s looking for advice.That’s our show today! If you want to support the show you can check out https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience for a monthly subscription to podcasts with NO ADS and other fun goodies, or https://tiny.cc/aenmerch for merch from all of the ACA’s shows! Hosts can be found on Twitter @Matt_Dillahunty and @Belk_Jenna. Thanks for watching/listening!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW SUMMARYWelcome to the Atheist Experience where we experience life as atheists. Today’s episode we have our wonderful host Matt Dillahunty being joined by Shane Isgrig. Welcome to the show Shane! We begin the show with Dean claiming ancient oral tradition like the Dead Sea Scrolls are more accurate than modern human communication. Brent the pantheist calls in saying the universe is conscious and alive. We have an update call, Traci calls to update us on how she’s doing. Damon “thinks” he can prove reincarnation due to the universe expansion and contraction (LOL ok.) Anna Marie is seeking to understand coincidences and un-explainable events. And lastly Brian doesn’t think it’s fair that atheists can cherry pick the bible (sounds like projection!)CALL NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Shane Isgrig. Shane is a host on Atheist Vanguard and he is Welcome to the co-host chair Shane!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Dean from North Carolina. Why are the transmission of the stories of the bible not historically accurate? He gives an example of the Dead Sea Scrolls and oral tradition because the new testament was written 50 years after the ‘fact.’ Dean, have you played the game telephone right? Are ancient humans and their communication style more accurate than modern humans? Sigh, he said they were than us.Brent the pantheist calls in saying the universe is conscious and alive. Hmmm… parts are, but as a whole this is a problematic claim. If anything, the universe has been created for black holes, hates living things, and his argument in favor that the universe is conscious and alive is arrogant and biased.Traci the ex-christian is next, she is struggling with completely letting go of god. Congratulations on moving on from religion. Unpacking the religious suitcase and baggage is tough, but you’ll get through it. Shane also brings up a good point: If someone specifically made COVID-19, would you trust them to come up with the vaccine and cure? Why is god more comfortable then if he made this virus?Oooooh, Damon thinks he can prove reincarnation due to the expansion and contraction of the universe over and over. Ummmm…. He claims he has reasonable justification of this using a TON of assumptions. Next up, Anna Marie, a recently deconverted atheist in Indiana seeking understanding of un-explainable events. Saying ‘I don’t know’ isn’t providing the solace she is looking for. But it is the best answer in some of these situations. Our last caller of the day, Brian in South Carolina would like to discuss language semantics and translation due to a previous call. He moves on to talk about how atheists cherry pick the bible, ah, that sounds like projection to me!And that’s the show for today! We end the show with a word from Matt and Shane about staying safe, stay home, and if things escalate, please keep an eye for announcements as things are always changing.Send your prayer postcards for Matt to answer on the show to 1507 W. Koenig Lane, Austin, TX, 78741. Otherwise...goodbye!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

The Atheist Experience 24.11 2020-03-15 with Matt Dillahunty & Don BakerSHOW TIME-STAMPS00:01:33 Announcements Regarding Coronavirus & the ACA00:08:58 The Coronavirus & the People Taking Advantage of It for Money00:12:11 Failures of Christianity: Why Won't God Just TALK?00:29:08 Tom - MO - Struggling Out of My Lutheran Faith (Doubting God)00:53:01 CJ - NC - How Are You Feeling About Debating David Wood?00:06:15 Hassan - CA - God is to the Universe as Zero is to Math01:16:12 Luke - AZ - Why Aren't You Nihilists?00:00:00 Caller - PL: Topic00:00:00 Caller - PL: TopicSUMMARYIn today’s show, Matt takes us through the steps the ACA is taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus locally, Don and Matt chat about coronavirus charlatans, and Don has a new Failure of Christianity! We have questioning believers from Matt’s old stomping grounds (near his old church, even!), discussion of debate tactics, God being analogous to zero somehow, and Matt turning an empty truck of gotcha around with a whole trailer full of GOTCHA! And that’s our show!SHOW NOTESHi, folks! We’re in weird times with a pandemic turning its ugly head at us, so Matt starts the show by explaining what the ACA is doing. The tl;dr version: The ACA has issued Defcon levels regarding how many and which people we allow into the Freethought Library, and International Atheist Day events have been moved to online-only, as the Austin capitol has officially closed to the public.Before we get into Don’s failures, we highlight people taking advantage of fear around the coronavirus. Jim Baker has weird silver supplements, Alex Jones has...anti-coronavirus toothpaste? What? And Matt Dillahunty has F BOMBS!What’s this week’s failure of Christianity? Well, God keeps hiding from us! He won’t answer our calls, he seems to be answering a bunch of people’s calls with different information, and he won’t heal amputees! WHY?! https://whywontgodhealamputees.com/ (Also Matt puts his Christian hat on...and an atheist hat...and another hat.)Our first caller shares some ground with Matt, as he lives near Matt’s old church! Tom has some questions, as he feels he’s struggling out of his faith, so he runs some thoughts by our hosts about how he’s deconverted so far (and whether the reasons are good), and what his current questions are. (He does something fun at the end of his call.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Denis Loubet. We are borrowing Denis from the long standing Non-Prophets show also produced by the ACA. Glad to have you Denis, welcome to the co-host chair!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Sam from the UK. Oooooh boy, he wants to talk about why there is slavery in the Bible and why it’s misunderstood. Ready for some fireworks? Here we go!Next up, Minh from California would like to talk about when you deconvert from religion, what do you replace it with? (and Denis’ reply, “when you cure cancer what you replace it with… um health”) The following caller is Christopher from Pennsylvania is concerned about how to help mend a relationship with his family after avoiding them after deconverting. He is struggling with how to proceed. Christopher, you may find some solace in contacting the folks at Recovering from Religion. https://www.recoveringfromreligion.orgJames in Canada is next, calling in about having discussions with a Catholic friend who is questioning their faith. He is expressing some discomfort in helping this friend deconverting. He is troubled with feeling as though he is pushing him towards atheism and is concerned with the repercussions.Next up, David in New Jersey attempts to argue that he can apply the rules of logic to presuppositional arguments, I think. Some if not all of this word salad makes my head spin… Whoa, do not tell Matt he doesn’t understand the laws of logic. We have a live one here.Afterwards we have Jeremy from Louisiana. He ponders about Pascal’s Wager and asks Matt about it. “Which creator is the right one?” Matt did say at the beginning of the episode he has talked about Pascal’s Wager at least every episode the past 15 years he’s been on the show.And that’s it folks! Send your prayer postcards for Matt to answer on the show to 1507 W. Koenig Lane, Austin, TX, 78741 and check out the amazing artwork of Denis Loubet at http://www.denisloubet.com ! :)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

TIME-STAMPS00:03:21 Arthur - (CA): Seeing My Family For First Time Since Coming Out Atheist00:17:06 Thomas - GA: Evidence Jesus Exists (I Know Too Much, I HAVE to Tell You)00:28:04 Mark - ME: What's the Point of Looking at the Bad Parts of Holy Books?00:45:44 Arturo - TX: Let's Build a Strawman Ep. 666: SATANISTS!01:01:11 Akeem - PA: I Have Scientific Proof Homosexuality is Wrong! (He Doesn't)01:10:44 Hallie - CA: Hallie - CA - I'm a Questioning Fundamentalist Christian, I Have Questions01:21:21 Danny - UK: What Caused God? Why Can't We See Him?01:26:15 Jason - SC: I'm a Theist That Leans Atheist (Moral Argument for God)SUMMARYToday’s episode is hosted by Jenna Belk, with guest host Phil Ferguson of The Phil Ferguson Show! How do you deal with seeing your religious family after coming out as an atheist...in a different COUNTRY?! A guy who knows Jesus exists, a guy who doesn’t understand why we’re just so darn hard on the worst part of “holy” books, a guy who has actually encountered baby-eating Satanists (supposedly), scientific proof that homosexuality is wrong (not so much), a formerly fundamentalist Christian who’s honestly questioning her religious beliefs, a guy telling us that god is just whatever caused the universe, and a theist who is merely convinced by a moral argument for god, because it would be really sad if we didn’t have some ultimate arbiter!That’s our show! If you’d like to donate monthly, you can visit us over at https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience. Chat with other fans at https://tiny.cc/acadiscord. Check out our merch at https://bit.ly/aenmerch. SHOW NOTESToday’s show is hosted by the powerful Jenna Belk and Phil Ferguson of The Phil Ferguson Show, where Phil talks religion, politics, and money (the 3 things you shouldn’t talk about with your family!).Our first caller today is Arthur, who is concerned that his Nigerian family will try to re-convert him when he goes back to see them for the first time since he has publicly identified as an atheist.Thomas in Georgia doesn’t seem to have ever had this conversation before, and we seem to be able to offer him new questions. We’re hoping he calls back if he finds some answers for us.Our next caller, Mark in Montenegro, asks why we “throw out” the Koran “just because it had bad things in it.” He seems to miss the part where people base their entire morality on these books… He then tells Jenna her argument comes from ego. Fun!Let’s talk about Satan, ba-by, let’s talk about you and me! Arturo came to the show to straw man Satanists, or something! Apparently he found some real Satanists who eat babies, or something?Akeem in Philadelphia thinks he has a good secular reason why homosexuality is wrong by quoting a debunked article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2014/03/10/did-the-new-yorker-botch-puff-piece-on-frog-scientist-tyrone-hayes-turning-rogue-into-beleaguered-hero/#1bcbf81147f6 ..we don’t end up agreeing with Akeen. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Next up- Hallie in California is a fundamentalist Christian...or was until recently. She’s starting to back away from that, and has questions about her faith in general. Hallie may be in the midst of a skeptically motivated de-conversion!Caller Danny from London presents us with a version of the Kalam which includes a definition of God as “whatever caused the universe.”Jason in South Carolina says he’s a theist who leans atheist. Apparently he’s so compelled by a perceived lack of moral arbitration “beyond human beings” without god that he believes in a god. Hmm.That’s our show! If you’d like to donate monthly, you can visit us over at https://www.patreon.com/theatheistexperience. Chat with other fans at https://tiny.cc/acadiscord. Check out our merch at https://bit.ly/aenmerch.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:00:00 Introduction (to Darrel Ray & Recovering From Religion)00:21:21 Mary - MN: My Relatives Fear Me Going to Hell (Atheist w/ Pancreatic Cancer)00:32:32 David - MEX: Demons & Sinful Behavior Cause Paranormal Events00:38:12 Rami - FR: The Scientific Method Proves God (Over-Simplifying Science)00:43:40 Alex - MD: I Know What Unites All Religions/Ideologies00:54:58 Shannon Q - NS: How do we combat "Christian counseling?"01:05:47 Matt Dillahunty Answers Prayers Again!01:12:03 Tom - (CA): Can you explain Our Lady of Guadalupe? (Real Miracles! ...not)01:22:00 Mike - VT: Rude Caller Hung Up On (Bible & Masturbation)01:24:56 David - LA: Fictional Science Diabetics Book...and other word salad.01:32:51 Alex - AUS: How Do I Get My Wife to Raise My Kids Secular?01:39:50 David - AZ: Disproving God Via Math...not so much.SHOW NOTESDr. Darrel Ray is back on the show to talk to us about the mission of Recovering From Religion (1-84-I-DOUBT-IT, 1-844-368-2848, https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/). Matt and Darrel discuss how religious beliefs impact therapy when therapists bring religion into their practice, and go over Religious Trauma Syndrome.Mary in Minnesota asks what to do about the fact that her friends and family seem to be afraid of hell for her as she faces imminent death from pancreatic cancer. Matt & Darrel offer some useful advice, but the best thing to know from this call is that Mary will be meeting friend of the show Dave Warnock. If you’re interested in a perspective on actively dying as an atheist, please check out Dave Warnock and Dying Out Loud. (Website: https://daveoutloud.com/, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaveWarnock.DyingOutLoud/, Twitter: @dwwarnock, Instagram: @warnockpa, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpN57H2-9Nv2u5rqIMLZwg?fbclid=IwAR2ygIagoXdW7yxQ-geZbazPrvghM6ZBLV_AUttjb8TdQxjv57ZTY5ouPOs, e-mail: [email protected].)We have some unfortunate issues hearing what caller David says, but he starts to imply that “our sin” has caused some sort of physical change in the universe. He eventually gets to dark energy, at which point Matt drops the call because it’s unfortunately likely that this caller is severely misunderstanding dark energy.Rami in France seems to offer a similar sort of proof of God, but his is mathematic rather than scientific. He is hung up on after not allowing hosts to address points of disagreement. Womp, womp.Deepities! Deepities abound! Caller Alex in Maryland uses a LOT of language fluffing to explain the fairly basic concept that a lot of people want good things. He uses this to justify what he calls “meta-theism.”Speaking of friends of the show, Shannon Q is here! We announce as she calls in that she’ll be here to host the show during Faithless Forum, but her question for Dr. Darrel Ray is this: How do we deal with so-called “Christian counseling?” Shannon takes a look at this on her own YouTube channel in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6vDhtBWFtc. (It’s a long one, grab some popcorn! But if you’re into it, subscribe.) Matt hangs up on Shannon with a soundboard button of his own voice. She asked for it. Literally.Matt answers more postcard prayers!We’ve been having calls pop up every now and then recently about Catholic miracles. Tom in Canada wants to ask if the hosts have a natural explanation for Our Lady of Guadalupe.Mike in Vermont gets hung up on pretty quickly. Don’t come on the show to complain about how long you were on hold… It’s quite rude, and you’re not owed our platform. Next.Alex in Australia asks what to do about the fact that he and his wife share different religious views, and how to make sure his wife helps him raise their children secularly. Dr. Darrel Ray provides great answers about honest communication and setting of boundaries.Our final caller, David in Arizona, thinks he can prove God doesn’t exist...with math! He doesn’t. But he really tries!Please check out The Atheist Experience at https://www.patreon.com/TheAtheistExperience, subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast app, and check out our merch at https://www.tiny.cc/aenmerch! Please check out Recovering From Religion at https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org, or call their hotline at 1-84-I-DOUBT-IT (1-844-368-2848). Thanks for checking out our show! Join other fans at Discord at https://www.tiny.cc/acadiscord.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:00:00 Introduction00:03:03 Daniel - MN: I Want to Believe in An Afterlife, but I'm an Atheist00:10:40 Alex - CO: A Rational Person Can Use Faith, & Faith Can Be Rational00:24:09 Mark - ME: The Koran/Quran is More Accurate than the Bible00:35:47 Dalton - NJ - Used to Be Christian, Now Hindu but Doubting...What Do I Do? 00:44:35 Joshua - NY: How Do I Come Out as an Atheist to My Family?00:54:37 Joseph - NY: People Misunderstand the Zodiac Signs (Astrology is Real)01:01:05 Shattered - OR: Personal Experiences Are Reliable for Personal Beliefs01:10:43 Samuel - GM: Star Wars is a Religion01:19:53 Mark - FL: What is the ATHEIST AGENDA? (Guy tells US what WE believe.)01:33:05 Julian - WA - Are Atheists Willing to Abandon Christian Morality?01:47:17 OutroSHOW NOTESToday we’re hosted by Don Baker & Jenna Belk, who spare no time in getting straight to calls!Our first caller, Daniel, is an atheist who wants to believe in an afterlife. He describes his discovery of Carlin as his first steps toward being an atheist, but seems confused about gods and related topics.Alex in Colombia thinks that a rational person can use faith, and that faith can be part of a rational worldview. Jenna and Don explain that rational people can use non-rational tools, and get a little into epistemology with Alex.We get a rare sort of call with Mark in Montenegro, who wants to defend the Koran/Quran is more accurate than the Bible because we’re closer to it in time, know that it hasn’t been changed as much, and is written in a living language rather than a dead language. Don & Jenna explain some of their issues with the book, and the caller continues attempting a defense of the book.Dalton in New Jersey is an interesting case. He started years ago as a Christian, is currently a Hindu, but is doubting his beliefs. He seems to be headed down a road of skepticism, and Jenna gets to throw him Street Epistemology as a recommendation for his topic.Joshua in New Jersey is a deconvert of only 4-5 years ago, and calls to ask the question so many of us have dealt with in the past: how do I come out to my family as an atheist? Specifically, Joshua is concerned about coming off as an “angry atheist” and “without being flashy.” We get to go over that with him, and also get a little into death and grieving as an atheist.Joseph in New York explains to us that zodiac signs and astrology are actually reliable, but people mis-apply them by using the sun sign...which is correct in its own way? Uh, vaguery is fun, I guess.Shattered in Portland, OR is a pantheist. He doesn’t offer up a defense or justification for his belief, but instead tells us that personal experience is reliable for personal beliefs, but can’t be used to convince people. The question is, why is such reasoning reliable for oneself but not for others?Samuel in Germany thinks that Star Wars has a cult-like following and fascination because people dress up and get upset when movies “violate canon” and similar issues. Does this guy know about the actual Jedi religion? Someone should tell him.Mark in Florida tells us that all the atheists he’s encountered are aggressive anti-theists to point out that we’re more than “just” agnostic atheists...people telling us what we believe is always the best.Here comes a Pordan B. Jeterson fan to ask if “atheists are willing to abandon a Christian morality.” Apparently we’re actually Christians. At least he didn’t call us murderers...actually, never mind, he does say something about Pol Pot.Now, it’s meatloaf time. Goodbye! Join us at tiny.cc/acadiscord, and support us at patreon.com/theatheistexperience. Check out our merch at bit.ly/aenmerch.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:00:00 Matt - TX - Epic postcard reading by Matt00:16:55 Jonathan - KY - Is there a moral question about slavery?00:27:07 Walter - MI - Proof of God because of a NDE00:38:07 Jonathyn - AZ - Can believe in something and not know it/be aware of it.00:50:58 Jonathan - AL - How to create a secular community when in a hostile area.01:05:39 Kevin - TN - Agnostic theist, believes in emanation01:25:03 Keith - OK - People in prison are better off with religious belief.01:27:20 John - TX - Evolution points to theismSHOW NOTESWoooot! Your normal notes writer is back in the writer’s chair. Just kidding, there is no writer’s chair, it doesn’t exist. In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jim Barrows. Does Matt have more postcards to read? (Oh yes he does and it is EPIC!) Who is this Jim Barrows character? Does God exist? Stay tuned to find out all this and more!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Jonathan from Kentucky. He is wondering if there has always been a moral question regarding slavery. What about prisoners of war? He claims that in history, it was more moral to have slaves than now because of tribal warfare. That’s not an excuse. Walter is next up calling in from Michigan, claims to have met God after a very violent car wreck. He experienced a near death experience and saw the light! People convinced him that it was all God’s doing. Sadly, he doesn’t provide any evidence though, except “look at the trees.” Oh and science isn’t real.The following caller named Jonathyn from Arizona is wondering about the argument that folks can believe in something and not know it. He queries Matt on it and Matt responds in kind. Tune in to watch the salad spin!Jonathan from Alabama is next, he is calling in about how to create a community when in a hostile and possibly violent area to secular/atheists.Next up, Kevin in Tennessee has an argument he’d like to share. He believes and is an agnostic theist and that this reality we deem as real is only a small part of something greater.Afterwards we have Steve from Canada. He is an Atheist turned Catholic and is wondering if there is purpose or point in life if you don’t believe. Why does it matter if anyone benefits he asks. It absolutely matters to those around us. C’mon dude, a scribe?!Keith in Oklahoma would like to discuss how prisoners are better off religious. This was a speedy call and Matt definitely disputed that. Might want to watch it to capture more than I did. Our last caller of the day, John in Texas claims that evolution is linked or tied to theism. Um, nah. Natural selection is random and is all about time. Thank you very much, Goodbye!Whew! And that’s it! See you all next week!Send your prayer postcards for Matt to answer on the show to 1507 W. Koenig Lane, Austin, TX, 78741. Otherwise...goodbye!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:00:00 Introduction00:07:50 Hermer-NY: The Bible Supports Science00:18:01 Yoel-NY: I Can Convert Everyone!00:43:39 Brant-CA: Native American Church Member’s Peyote Path to God01:00:34 William-NE: Deductive Proof of NO God01:12:36 End of Show AnnouncementsSHOW NOTESMatt and Jenna are back to experience being atheists, and we’re starting off today with some shenanigans! Matt Dillahunty answers prayers sent in on postcards, including a miracle healing of a hen! Jenna has some Christian music looping in her brain today, and has a thought about why this music is such an effective indoctrination tool.Hermer calls us from a cavern deep inside the Earth, approximately 5 meters from its core, and explains to us how the Bible says, “Avoid opposition to science.” He somehow completely misses the fact that the Bible is loaded with scientific inaccuracies. He proceeds to justify Lot’s wife turning into salt because sweat tastes like salt. (“I Tasted Lot’s Wife and It Tastes Like Sweat | Hermer - NY | Talk Heathen 03.51” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE5RxZzVKHw) Also, everyone who has ever seen Hermer’s face believes in God! Wow! How does he know this?Yoel from Brooklyn calls in to give us PROOF of God that will turn all of us into believers! Pack it in, folks, the Atheist Experience is over. What will I do with my Sundays now? At the end of the call, it appears that Yoel has some trouble constructing proper syllogisms...while discussing this, Matt demonstrates a concept by eating crickets with Jenna. Ew.Brant presents a case for his Native American Church beliefs, which involve a peyote path to God, because we all know altered brain states are the way to truth!After all this life-altering proof God DOES exist, William is able to provide us with deductive proof that NO god exists. Matt expects to disagree with him just as much as the “proof of god” callers...let’s see if he’s right.Send your prayer postcards for Matt to answer on the show to 1507 W. Koenig Lane, Austin, TX, 78741. Otherwise...goodbye!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Hi friends. I'm not your regular audio editor for today's show, but I am the guy who agreed to do show notes and then got caught up in modding the live chat and grabbing live clips and neglected to do show notes. Get out your flogging equipment, I'll wait here.Also, sorry about that...Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

ATHEIST EXPERIENCE 23.03 for 2020-01-19 with Matt Dillahunty & Jenna BelkSHOW TIME-STAMPS00:06:57 Christian - Denmark - Further discussion about antinatalism00:34:39 Kayla - CT - Caller update: Has deconverted and hiring a humanist celebrant for her wedding.00:51:23 Alan - CA - Afraid of not having a “guide” that would intervene at the last moment01:00:28 Cory - NY - Would like to talk about biblical slavery, oh he gets mad.01:03:55 David - KY - Clarity on the position of what is life and if it is precious01:20:38 Michael - AZ - Is both a believer and a non-believer, but how though?01:21:50 Mike - Toronto - Is struggling with helping as many animals as possible and there is still suffering.SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jenna Belk. It’s going to be a great show!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is a returning caller, Christian from Denmark. He is still struggling with antinatalism (arguing it’s morally wrong to have children because they would possibly suffer in life and the afterlife) and would like to continue to talk about it. Next up, Kayla from Connecticut has an update on her deconversion and her wedding. They have decided to have a humanist celebrant. Congratulations Kayla! We are so happy for you! (Love Rings!) Keep being your awesome sassy self!The following caller named Alan from California is afraid of not having a “guide” that would intervene. Jenna provides some amazing advice, surround yourself with others where they can help if you stumble. Listen in to hear more!The next caller in the queue is Cory from New York wonders if God has the moral right to endorse slavery. Oooooh, one of Matt’s “favorite” topics. Listen in to hear Matt show how immoral slavery is. Next up, David in Kentucky is seeking clarity on what value we assign to life and if that life is precious. Tune in to hear Matt and Jenna talk through this topic.Afterwards we have Michael from Arizona. Claims to be a believer and non-believer. HOW THOUGH? We don’t get to find out… goodbye Michael. Don’t call back.Our last caller of the day, Mike from Toronto is calling about how he and his family are struggling with how to help animals and others who are suffering in the world. What can we do to help? Yes there are bad things that happen, a good response is how can we prioritize how we help out. Keep saving those older and elderly kitties Mike, they need all the help they can get.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

ATHEIST EXPERIENCE 24.02 for 2020-01-12 with Matt Dillahunty & Don BakerSHOW TIME-STAMPS00:15:25 Joe - NY - Would like to talk about how bad behavior is caused by atheism. 00:24:02 Matt - MI - No true believer would knowingly lie to create Bible stories.00:47:40 Ralph - FL - What is our criteria for evidence of claims for the existence of God.01:01:51 Ryan - FL - We can come to God through skepticism01:30:48 Ken - PA - Incredibly freeing to become an atheist, is becoming despondentSHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Don Baker. Great to see you Don! We start the show with Don’s list of Failures. Today's topic is “God’s Anointed Leaders.” Ooooh, fun.Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Joe from New York. He would like to talk about how bad behavior is caused by atheism and lists off a couple bad actors/leaders from humanity’s past. People doing bad things who happen to also be atheists does not mean all atheists are bad. Matt moves in to dismantle his arguments quickly.Next up, Matt from Michigan would like to talk about how extraordinary resurrection claims could have happened and continued to talk about how religious people did not knowingly lie to tell a story. Tune in and watch Matt walk through his claim and show how it is untestable and logically unacceptable. The following caller named Ralph from Florida would like to discuss the criteria for evidence of claims for the existence of God. Also is it absurd to believe the Universe is God? Ummm, yes it is and this is broaching the topic of some sort of designer in creator of the Universe. Watch Matt and Don dispute these claims.The next caller in the queue is Ryan from Florida wanting to discuss how we can come to God through skepticism. Claims to have been an atheist until 3 years ago. Turned to a church because of their willingness to say “I don’t know” and became a believer again. Listen in to hear Matt unpack this. Our last caller of the day, Ken in Pennsylvania would like to talk about how freeing it is to become an atheist, and has started to lose the drive and ambition to continue his activism. How do we continue doing what we do? Knowing we make an impact on their journey, we are convinced that not doing it will lead to a worse life. Plus be satisfied with planting seeds of doubt in others and not seeing it fruit. People can change their minds and these seeds can potentially help.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

ATHEIST EXPERIENCE 24.01 for 2020-01-05 with Matt Dillahunty & Jen AldrichSHOW TIME-STAMPS00:06:55 Adam - MN - How can atheists be moral and have a system of morality?00:19:49 Elaine - IL - Shot 9 times, only wanted to speak to Matt, Nah. Goodbye.00:23:42 Nick - OR - Recently out, struggling with family and pastor friend knowing.00:43:32 John - TN - Using science and logic to prove a creator exists.00:57:53 Alonzo - VA - Tries to make the argument that the supernatural exists01:18:01 Theo - IL - Believes God communicates through feelings and emotions.01:31:25 Joseph - NY - Reacting to his previous call and to discuss near death experiences.SHOW NOTESHappy New Year everyone, it’s the 24th Season of the Atheist Experience! Time flies when you’re debunking theists. In today’s episode, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jen Aldrich. Jen Aldrich is one of the new hosts of Godless Bitches 3.0, together with Vi La Bianca & Jenna Belk. She's had her own atheist podcast before, called Not Another Atheist Podcast. Google it and enjoy! Welcome to the co-host chair Jen, are you ready for round 2? This is different from Talk Heathen a bit!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Adam from Minnesota. He would like to talk about the atheist morality system and how there can be one. He claims that atheists don’t have morals and only have likes and dislikes. Um, that’s wrong. Tune in and see Matt try to show him the truth.Next up, Elaine from Illinois earns the title of quickest hangup ever of 2020 (so far). Calls in to dictate how we run our show after emailing a couple times. Um no, you don’t get to dictate who speaks during the shows. Goodbye!The following caller named Nick from Oregon is concerned about how to come out as an atheist to his fundamentalist family and close friend. We can definitely relate, approach them gradually and respectfully, you’ll be ok. The next caller in the queue is John from Tennessee wanting to discuss how science and logic point to a creator. Uses a laundry list of scientific discoveries and tech to “prove” a blueprint. No no no, that’s not how science works! Bring in Dragnauct, we need his expertise! Next up, Alonzo in Virginia tries to make the argument that a supernatural god exists. Presupposes that powerful being could exist because of lack of understanding. Tune in to hear Matt break it all down.Afterwards we have Theo from Illinois. He believes God communicates only through feelings and emotions. How do you know and why do you believe that? Watch and see Matt and Jen work through this with him.Our last caller of the day, Joseph in New York would like to discuss how atheists can’t understand him correctly and he also would like to talk about believing in near death experiences. Listen in to hear Matt and Jen explore this topic.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:07:30 Matt - MI - Investigating miracles and claiming they are supernatural00:30:10 Gregory - MA - Would like some helpful clarity on his desire to return to religious life.00:44:37 James - NC - Wonders how we feel about scientists who are banned by the community for their social gaffs.00:52:07 Valued Customer - Raising kids in religion as atheists, is struggling with being outed by their kids.01:06:41 A. Radical - Believes there is a mind/conscious creator behind the creation of the universe.01:29:06 Otangelo - Brazil - Happy holidays, it’s Otangelo. Goodbye01:31:50 Brett - WA - Claims the Earth cannot be here by natural means.01:33:45 Jon - Arguing about the laws of logic and using reason to justify worldviews.SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Dragnauct Sylvas. Welcome to the co-host chair Dragnauct! We are glad you are here to join us!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Matt from Michigan. He would like to explore the validity of miracles and backing up their claim of being supernatural in origin. Listen in to hear Matt refute these claims. Our first hangup in a while, tune in and see Matt use the magic button!Next up, Gregory from Massachusetts would like to talk about how he is feeling the need to return to a religious life. He is feeling challenged and uncertain about his lack of belief and needs some help and clarity on it all.The following caller named James from North Carolina would like to talk about scientists who have been banned by the scientific community due to their inaccurate opinions on social constructs. And... he dropped the call, Dragnauct says James should go back to biology class!The next caller in the queue is “Valued Customer” wanting to discuss raising their kids in religion and is concerned about them outing them while within a hostile and religious area. At some point, they will need to explain to their kids why they have lied and move forward. Next up, “A. Radical” believes there is a mind behind the creation of the universe and claims there is empirical evidence there is a conscious creator. Has a list of premises to back up his claims. Listen in to hear Matt and Dragnauct rebuke these premises and claims.Oh boy, Otangelo in Brazil would like to discuss a previous closed conversation between himself and Dragnauct… The conversation was closed, so it’s done. GOODBYE! (Good to have you back in the host’s seat Matt!)Matt’s on a roll, next up, Brett from Washington would like to discuss his paper that the Earth could not have formed due to random chance/natural means because the probability is way too high!Our last caller, Jon would like to talk about the laws of logic and how to use them to justify a specific worldview. He also claims you couldn’t have the laws of logic without God. Nope, wrong goodbye!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:14:33 Ray - MI - Struggling with family, longing for acceptance for her son 00:29:19 Charlotte - CA - Questioning their faith, is wondering if it’s difficult to not believe.00:55:49 Danny - London, UK - Mocked for beliefs? Is persecution justified?01:15:40 Joseph - NY - It’s story time!: Turning to God after traumatic encounter at the gym.SHOW NOTESHi everyone! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, we have the dynamic duo as host and co-host today, Matt Dillahunty and Jenna Belk. Before we get to calls, Jenna has a couple things she’d like to talk about from previous calls in previous episodes. Let’s get to calls. The first caller is Rae from Michigan. She is struggling with family and longs for acceptance for her son. Her son is also living with Asperger’s and she is trying her best to shield him from fundamental ideologies. Next up, Charlotte from California would like to know if it is difficult to not believe. She is also slightly fearful of accepting the ‘Atheist’ label and the consequences of doing so. Listen in to hear Jenna and Matt help her out.The following returning caller named Danny from London, UK is concerned about being mocked and persecuted for their beliefs. Some discussion about a variety of topics occurred, including prophecies and proof of God. Sorry Danny, your word salad isn’t very palpable and is quite bitter. We’re moving on. It’s story time! Our last caller of the live show is Joseph from New York. He has a story! He begins to tell a convoluted tale about going to the gym with his brother at the age of 22, a strange character who may have assaulted him, and then going swimming… Jenna and Matt get to the lesson/morale of this story and recommend a few resources.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:02:55 Vanessa - MA - Wondering about compromising with Santa.00:06:10 Ryan - IN - Would like to talk about why atheists don’t believe. 00:25:38 Michael - TX - Has the BEST argument for the existence of God.00:33:08 Bree - WA - Attended grandpa’s funeral and received the fire & brimstone talk.00:39:02 Dean - NC - Using ancient documents, why can’t we use them as historical evidence.01:02:19 Nick - NY - Has the greatest evidence that Catholicism is the truest religion.01:13:11 Danny - London, UK - Would like to talk about Exodus01:24:45 Levi - WA - Living as an atheist in a religious household.SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Don Baker is joined by Jenna Belk. Are you all ready for Don’s laugh? I am! Let’s get to calls.The first caller is Vanessa from Massachusetts. Wonders if it is ruining the magic of Christmas if they tell their young children about the myth of Santa Claus. Jenna and Don help her through this. It’s ok to pretend for a little while, but keep an eye on it.Next up, Ryan from Indiana would like to talk about why atheists don’t believe in a God. Jenna explains her history and her journey from Catholicism to being an atheist. Ryan also claims atheists are miserable. Oh that’s a stretch, we are all pretty happy at the Freethought Library. Listen in to find out how Don and Jenna unpack his arguments.The following caller named Michael from Texas has the BEST argument for the existence of God. First he defines the God he believes in, which is good, and his argument is fine-tuning and the multiverse hypothesis. Listen in to hear Don and Jenna break it all down.The next caller in the queue is Bree from Washington wanting to talk about her experience at a very religious funeral as an out atheist. I’m sorry you experienced that Bree, you have community with us here!Next up, Dean in North Carolina would like to propose that because the documents that make up the Bible are ancient due to when they were written, we should be able to use these documents as historical evidence. Sorry, confirming historical documents as evidence doesn’t work that way.Afterwards we have Nick from New York. He has the greatest evidence that Roman Catholicism is the one true religion. He also wants to fix the Church’s problems by writing and visiting Pope Francis in the Vatican. Also claiming that by believing in something it makes it true. Jenna provides some great resources for him.Wooo, after that interesting caller, we have Danny in London, UK. He would like to chat about Exodus and its historicity. What does it mean if it is true? Why should we care? He should talk to an Egyptologist about this. This one was interesting as well.Our last caller of the day, Levi in Washington. He is questioning his family’s religiosity and how to best approach them. Listen in to hear amazing Jenna’s advice.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:04:26 Gohan - TX - Invited call from Talk Heathen, would like to discuss pro-life/abortion.00:19:15 Richard - Malaysia - Would like to discuss intuition and how that figures into belief.00:36:19 Caleb - PA - Recently deconverted, wife is religious, how to approach this with her.00:47:35 “Canadian Catholic” - Canada - How his view on religion changed after being an atheist.01:08:26 Richard - AZ - Makes the argument that God/Gods will exist01:15:00 Guillermo - CA - Do you believe in faith?01:19:20 Tony - NY - Doesn’t believe in traditional religion, but believes God communicates through Math.SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jenna Belk. Welcome back to the co-host chair Jenna!Let’s get to calls. The first caller is a returning caller, Gohan from Texas. He was invited to call in during Talk Heathen to discuss abortion, pro-life, and body autonomy. He uses a conjoined twins analogy that is rife with flaws and inaccuracies. If using flawed analogies doesn’t get to solutions, don’t use them!Next up, Richard from Malaysia would like to talk about intuition and how it figures into belief. Tune in and watch Jenna and Matt walk Richard through using logic to reach conclusions. The following caller named Caleb from Pennsylvania is concerned about his life as an atheist married to someone religious. Jenna offers some great recommendations to moving his relationship forward.Oh, you’ll love this… The next caller in the queue is “Canadian Catholic” from Canada wanting to discuss how his view changed from “inner circle atheist” to deeply devoted Roman Catholic. He also presents a hypothesis on consciousness. He called last week, you may recognize his voice. Next up, Richard in Arizona has an argument he’d like to share. He provides a science fiction argument that through current trends, AI will become “god-like”. Um, sure… no.Afterwards we have Guillermo from California. He wonders about atheists and their use of the word faith. Atheists tend to use the word faith as way to describe the trust they have or the confidence they have in certain things. Faith to believers is definitely used differently. I think he learned something. Yay!Our last caller of the day, Tony in New York would like to discuss how God communicates to humans through math. The equations in this argument and formulas are just not adding up here. (Math is not God btw.) Matt goes on to recommend watching Donald in Mathmagicland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ZHsk0-eF0 Which ends with this quote by Galileo: “Mathematics is the alphabet/language with which “god” has written the universe.” As a metaphor, that is a beautiful concept.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

The Atheist Experience 23.48 for 2019-11-17 with Matt Dillahunty & Don BakerSHOW TIME-STAMPS00:23:32 Brian - OH - Has proof god exists, it’s Tim Tebow.00:27:04 Charles - TX - Historical events caused by Jesuits? No.00:27:53 Joel - AL - Claims to have proof of reincarnation00:31:23 Patrick - FL - What is sufficient evidence for the existence of god.00:37:52 Paul - UK - Has definite proof that all the gods don’t exist00:47:12 Jonathan - AZ - Claims to have found a false argument by Matt 00:58:46 Jeroen - Curaçao - Invited a missionary in to discuss miracles, they deconverted.01:11:31 CC - Canada - Has evidence for god and he reconverted to Catholicism01:21:08 Eddie - NY - Believer who has doubts, needs help with understanding.01:32:20 Rick - Canada - Proof the Big Bang is in the bible and science is in the bible too.SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by one of our favorite co-hosts, Don Baker. Don is back with his list of Christian Failures. This week, Don continues to talk about souls for the 3rd time. He talks about where the soul goes when you die, spoiler alert: the soul doesn’t exist and it doesn’t go anywhere. If you’re following along and keeping track, this is topic #69.Let’s get to calls!The first caller is Brian from Ohio. He claims Tim Tebow is miraculous, it’s also a miracle that he wore 3:16, and everything lined up for a win 7 years ago. Ummmm… No. How do you determine it’s a miracle and how does it translate into proving a god.Oooh, this one is quick. Charles from Texas lists off historical events and claims it was all caused by the Jesuits. Nope, goodbye! The following caller named Joel from Alabama has a bald assertion that the soul is reincarnated through universal awareness. Instincts do not relate at ALL to reincarnation. There is also no evidence for this. The next caller in the queue is Patrick from Florida wanting to discuss why atheists don’t believe that god is the universe. We aren’t trying to redefine the universe as god. What attributes or properties justify putting a god label on the universe? (Answer: it’s not worth it and makes you seem ridiculous.)Next up, Paul in London, UK has proof that no gods exist. This assertation needs to be under the same scrutiny as the claim that there is a god. The burden of proof is on Paul here due to his claim. Afterwards we have Jonathan from Arizona. He called in to talk about Matt’s argument that alien abduction is more plausible than god and how that argument is false. It actually is plausible and could happen because it wouldn’t be a supernatural event. You do not get to assert that it is supernatural.Subsequently, Jeroen in Curaçao feels guilt about deconverting someone who he invited into his home where they discussed and dismantled miracles and other religious ideology.Next up, Catholic “Clearly” Canadian in Canada definitely has evidence for god. It’s why he reconverted to Catholicism. Where and what is your evidence, eh? Next caller, Eddie from New York is disgusted with immoral believers and is troubled by what he used to believe. He is having a really tough time, hang in there Eddie, you have community with us here. Please contact the kind folks at Recovering from Religion. They can help: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/Finally, we have Rick from Canada. Claims the big bang is in the bible along with scientific facts. Sorry, science doesn’t work that way.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:16:35 Jim - CA - How to shield his child from JW propaganda 00:24:09 Alexander - Germany - Knowingly deceiving self into believing due to fear of death00:37:44 Tyler - MO - Shunned by JW community for 3 years, should he fade or disassociate.00:45:47 John - GA - Believes atheists all have faith and why we have a negative view on it.01:05:20 Kenny - OK - Why must Christians provide extraordinary evidence for their god01:17:00 Steve - WA - Concerned with believing science can explain everything. 01:23:49 Kevin - AK - Why is the Damascus road experience good enough for Saul but not us?01:37:50 Anonymous - TX - God definitely definitely definitely exists and has the proof.01:39:19 Rob - Quebec - Noah existed and so did the ark, it’s in TurkeySHOW NOTESWelcome to The Atheist Experience! In today’s episode, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Lloyd Evans. (Matt’s back, we missed you!) Lloyd runs a YouTube channel (John Cedars), wrote an amazing book (The Reluctant Apostate), and a website for ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses (www.jwsurvey.org) providing resources to those JWs who are seeking help getting out. After a couple announcements and some chat about yesterday’s talk in Arizona, they begin taking calls. The first caller is Jim from California. He would like to talk about how best to approach and shield his child from JW propaganda. Lloyd explains how to best go about handling this, tune in to see his response.The next caller, Alexander from Germany would like to discuss how he is afraid of death, and is deceiving himself into believing so he may enjoy an afterlife. The following caller named Tyler from Missouri is an ex-JW and wants to talk about whether to fade (aka slip off the radar) or disassociate (aka be excommunicated). Lloyd has a couple recommendations and resources for him.The next caller in the queue is John from Georgia wanting to discuss why atheists have negative views on religious faith and genuinely believes that all atheists have faith. Et Tu quoque? Next up, Kenny in Oklahoma is wondering about extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence. The fact that religion is common and people believe in a god isn’t extraordinary, it’s the claim there IS a god, that is extraordinary and requires evidence. Matt is back!Afterward, Steve from Washington talks about how he is concerned about using science to explain things and is it credible enough. Uh oh, he doesn’t believe in outer space, whoa we might have a flat-earther. Goodbye, you’re done.Subsequently, Kevin in Alaska would like to discuss why atheists don’t believe in god revealing himself to Saul. Matt explains how if god was wise and real, he would reveal himself to everyone. Kevin responds by saying he saw god in his cereal. One of our super quick calls, Anonymous in Texas definitely has evidence for god. It’s the 10 commandments… Lloyd’s first hangup! Congrats Lloyd! You’re a pro now!Finally, Rob from Quebec has proof that Noah and his ark existed and they used steel cables to construct it. It’s in Turkey. (Sure it is.)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

The Atheist Experience 23.45 for 2019-10-27 with Jenna Belk & ObjectivelyDan SHOW TIME-STAMPS00:03:45 Kenny - OK - Doesn’t believe that it is an extraordinary claim that a god exists.00:32:08 Chris - TN - Is there something greater than us that created the Universe?00:50:45 John - TN - Losing religion was like losing a horrible part-time job.01:04:55 Jarrod - FL - Possibility of a creator based on science.01:09:42 Dean - NC - Accepting the Big Bang model as beginning of the known universe.SHOW NOTESWelcome to Truth Wanted, the show were we explore and debunk myths and try to get to the truth! In today’s episode, ObjectivelyDan talks about... No, wait. It’s Sunday, not Friday. Did the crew mix it up? VERN OR MARK, HELP, YOU’RE MY ONLY HOPE! Jenna to the rescue, it IS the Atheist Experience with Jenna Belk and ObjectivelyDan! Let’s jump right into calls! The first caller is Kenny from Oklahoma. He would like to talk about how Christianity or a monotheistic god shouldn’t require extraordinary evidence. Tune in to see Jenna and Dan work through this ad-hoc rationalization. After some discussion, we take the next caller, Chris from Tennessee. He would like to discuss the idea of intelligent design. Listen in and find out how Jenna and ObjectivelyDan offer a different perspective on this.The following caller named John also from Tennessee wants to talk about how losing one’s religion is like losing a horrible part-time job. Listen in to hear ObjectivelyDan help him through this conundrum.The next caller in the queue is Jarrod from Florida who believes we could be code within a quantum computer or mainframe. Why would he believe this? He may be a solipsist… this is an interesting call, tune in to find out what happens.Our last caller of the day, Dean in North Carolina is asking about using the Big Bang model as a way to explain the beginning of the known universe and if it relates to a god. Tune in and find out how ObjectivelyDan and Jenna expand and unpack this question.Be sure to check out Truth Wanted with ObjectivelyDan Fridays at 7:00pm central timeYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/truthwantedAudio Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/truthwantedBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

The Atheist Experience 23.45 for 2019-10-27 with Matt Dillahunty & Don BakerSHOW TIME-STAMPS00:09:00 Jerry - MN - Questioning the end of life of a religious relative00:19:00 Christian - Denmark - Is it immoral to have children if you believe they’ll end up in Hell?00:36:00 Nick - OK - How to encourage a thriving atheist community in your area00:52:00 John - GA - Could the universe really have happened by random chance?01:07:00 Maurice - TX - Is death really and truly the end?01:20:27 Jamie - AR - Troubled with honoring her atheist daughter’s last wishes.01:37:22 Mike - AZ - Why did you choose Atheism over Agnosticism01:40:12 Gman - NJ - Has proof that god exists, and no he doesn’t really.SHOW NOTESIn this episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by the most fabulous Don Baker! We begin this episode with Don’s failures. This week’s topic is: Soul scams used by religions. For those following along, this is topic #68.Afterwards, they begin taking calls. The first caller is Jerry from Minnesota. He would like to talk about how to approach a religious relative’s end of life beliefs. As someone close to death, she may be embracing religion out of fear, perhaps a gentle touch is a good idea. The next caller, Christian from Denmark would like to discuss the idea that it is immoral to have children and believe they might end up in Hell. Listen in and find out how Matt and Don approach this idea!The following caller named Nick from Oklahoma wants to talk about his atheist group and best practices to encouraging and revitalizing a thriving atheist community.The next caller in the queue is John from Georgia wanting to discuss if the universe really could have happened by random chance and probability. Tune in to hear Matt’s explanation and debunking yet another ad-hoc rationalization.Next up, Maurice in Texas is asking about using circumstantial evidence to prove the existence of the afterlife and therefore God. Tune in and find out if the evidence provided is good enough for Matt and Don!Afterward, Jamie from Arkansas talks about how to truly honor her daughter’s wishes in death, Jamie is a Christian and her dying daughter is an atheist. This is something worth listening to as well as visiting Grief beyond Belief: http://griefbeyondbelief.org/Subsequently, Mike in Arizona discusses why we chose atheism over agnosticism. Guess what Mike, they are not mutually exclusive nor are they absolute as you claim. One is about belief and the other is about knowledge. That was a short call.Finally, Gman from Arizona has proof a god exists. Go ahead and prove it and don’t use circular arguments or rationalizations. We're still waiting… annnnddd.. you’re done!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

13 OCTOBER 2019 / 4:30-6:00 PM / HOSTS: Eric Murphy, Christy PowellSHOW ITINERARY0:00 Announcements & Updates.0:04 Richard from Malaysia, 0:19 Joel from Alabama, 0:24 John from NY, 0:54 James from LA,1:14 Ian from UK, 1:22 Marcus from Germany, 1:33 Lucas from South Dakota, 1:44 Alex from Hawaii,SHOW NOTESIn this episode of the Atheist Experience and continuing the day of Eric Murphy, we have as hosts Eric Murphy and Christy Powell. Christy is a host from Secular Sexuality and we are stoked to have him co-host AXP today. Should be a great show!After a few announcements, the first caller of the day is Richard from Malaysia. He claims that everyone experiences god and this god can be proven to exist. We now wait for Richard to prove it… We are still waiting Richard. Can Eric and Christy finally get him to prove it?The next caller, Joel calls in pondering about the soul/awareness and recurrent reincarnation. He claims the soul/awareness can be passed on and incorrectly asserts that evolved instincts are proof of this reincarnation. You know, badgering the hosts isn’t always a good tactic. Eric’s first hangup as host! Congrats!The call following is John from NY. He wants to talk about uniformity in nature, the laws of logic, and using the Christian worldview as a way to determine morality, logic, and intelligence. Will Eric and Christy find the right approach in dealing with this pre-sup?After some followup conversation because pre-sups can make your mind melt with their word salad, the next caller is James, a Catholic who wants to further the conversation about the laws of logic and how they can prove a god exists. He continues to talk about the miracle of Fátima and how this also proves god. Watch Eric and Christy debunk these assertions! Next up we have Ian from the UK, he humorously tries show the insanity of deathbed conversions. He posits that by using Pascal’s Wager and beating someone with grandma’s bible, the atheist on their deathbed will go to heaven due to being a martyr. Is this a joke? How does Eric respond?Afterward, Marcus from Germany calls in to talk about proving god through the Kalam cosmological argument. Can Eric and Christy unpack this to reach the truth? Tune in to find out!Next in the queue we have Lucas from South Dakota. He’s calling about how a cult he left is threatening him for standing up to them. It sounds like he needs some support and resources outside of the show. The hotline project through Recovering from Religion (https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org) is there for him. Calling 184-I-DOUBT-IT, Freedom from Religion https://ffrf.org, and the legal team at American Atheists https://www.atheists.org/legal/ can also help.Our last caller of the day is Alex from Hawaii wants to know our thoughts on religion in public school, forcing religious based education on children, and the legality of that. As always, if you need to, please do reach out to Freedom from Religion, American Atheists, and Recovering from Religion for help if you need them!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

SHOW NOTESIn this episode of the Atheist Experience, we have Matt Dillahunty and Don Baker as co-hosts. While this episode is not a milestone show like Talk Heathen’s 100th episode, this episode should prove to be just as memorable. Why? Because Don is co-hosting, we love Don! Also Happy Birthday to Matt’s dad!Before we jump into calls, a couple announcements and Don’s list of failures. Today’s topic: Ensoulment. Ensoulment and when the soul gets a body, it is nonsensical at best says Don. Theists and Christians say the soul is intentionally imperfect and created by God. But when do they get put into a body? Does it happen at conception or at first cell division? There are a lot of problems with ensoulment at conception, one being that 50% of fertilized eggs fail or don’t implant. Other problems include but are not limited to, science, chimeras, and developing identical twins! Does one twin go to hell without a soul? Do Chimeras have two souls? Our first caller of the show today is Sean in Nebraska. Sean wonders why we atheists don’t believe in god? Why or why not? He continues to ask about how the Bible claims to be the work of god, how do we demonstrate or prove that it is true? Interestingly he agrees at the ancient age of the Earth, but the “testimonies” of the people in the Bronze age should be accepted. Matt questions his belief in this line of thinking.Our next caller is Chloe from Maryland, She is beginning to have doubts about her faith after coming out LGBTQ. She also questions if it is normal to be angry after being challenged on belief? She is also struggling with the idea that after death there is nothing. Matt attempts to help her understand it’s important to live the one life we all have. (Carpe Diem Chloe!) https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org May help anyone who is struggling with similar issues like Chloe.Next in the queue we have Nate in Alabama. He asks about the laws of logic & science and how would an atheist explain their existence? Matt explains they are non-physical and descriptive. Don chimes in and says it sounds like there is a false equivalency happening due to a lack of context. Our next caller is Greg in Colorado. Whispers they can provide evidence for the existence of god and claims that 0 theists are arguing that god is physical and non-physical. Matt counters saying: Arguing for a conceptual god doesn’t mean that a god exists and the concept of a thing is not the thing. There seems to be a major conflict though, Greg is saying they’re an atheist, but is also claiming to be able to prove a god exists. Greg may be a bit confused, Matt recommends they collecting their thoughts and call back during another show.Next up, Vik in Indiana. Family claims to have experienced a supernatural event and he wants advice on how to approach this story when he visits them. Can Matt and Don provide best practices on how to debunk this and explore the available resources on being a skeptic? The caller following Vik is Stevie in NY. His questions were philosophical in nature. There are things we disagree about, but if there is an observable answer that we agree on, we should all get along. It’s not the topics we agree on that are troublesome, it’s the topics we disagree on where there are potential conflicts and pitfalls. Reminder to all though, don’t tell us what we believe, we will react negatively. AT-HEIST, phooey.Next up, William in Arizona. Has questions about intelligent design, may be approaching the blind watchmaker fallacy. Having one watchmaker make you a watch can be inferred that a watch you happen upon may have been intelligently designed and created, yes we agree on that. William continues, What happens when humans guide the evolution of things or artificial selection? Does it rule out intelligent design or a creator? Matt and Don answers: Nobody made a species in the same way we make a watch. Arguing by analogy isn’t a great way to explain things. Ready for some fireworks? Next we had Otangelo from Brazil. Oh boy. Questions why we answer “I don’t know.” Says “I don’t know” isn’t a justified answer due to the evidence provided. If you can demonstrate the truth of theism, then we can have a conversation. When Otangelo calls in, he claims god instead of “I don’t know” and says we lie about god when we say it. If we don’t know something, then I don’t know is the right answer and we don’t lie nor are we dishonest about it.Afterwards the next caller is Jeff in Florida. Has a 6 year old child and she mentioned her non-belief to a friend. Needs advice on how to encourage his young daughter to talk with him about her friend’s theism and negative reaction to his daughter’s exclamation of atheism. Matt responded People believe different things, and some believe so strongly they could be construed as being mean. But at no point should the desire for friendship override her happiness as a person. Dale McGowan’s book “Parenting beyond belief” may help him traverse this prickly situation.On deck, is Anonymous in Colorado. If I don’t believe in any theology, does that make me an atheist? Does the negation of theology make me an atheist? For some reason didn’t want to hear any answer from Matt and basically didn’t listen to Don. Quite a quick call… Shortest in AXP history?Our final caller is Nicolas in Norway. Has a question about morality. Matt explains how the rules of chess can be fairly similar objectively to the rules of morality. There are objective rules we can make in reference to morality. EXTERNAL LINKS (If needed or discussed during the show)https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org https://ffrf.org http://clergyproject.org https://www.seculartherapy.org/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In this episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty has a special guest, Gayle Jordan, on the show. Gayle is an Executive Director on the Recovering From Religion. In addition, she ran two-times as a Democratic candidate for a State Senate seat in a very red part of Tennessee but did not win. Not to mention, she won the American Atheist's Atheist of the Year Award this year! At the beginning of the show, Gayle discusses what she does at Recovering From Religion and building communities for nonreligious people.Afterwards, they begin taking calls. The first caller is John from Connecticut. He discusses the difficulty of leaving religion because he still believes in God at the back of his mind and asks Matt to help him out with that. Can Matt help him?The next caller, Aaron from Pennsylvania discusses his difficulties with the AA and its method. Is there another method to deal with alcoholism without turning to a higher power? Listen in and find out!The following caller named AC from Illinois claims to have a simple proof that shows that atheism is not possible by logic. Carl Sagan once said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Let's see if AC meets this requirement. Following a lengthy conversation, the next caller Ron from San Antonio, Texas discusses how the human body complexity is evidence for God. The classic Watchmaker Argument brought up again but debunked by Matt Dillahunty. Next on the list, Dale in Ohio steps up to the plate to discuss his "discovery" of the Garden of Eden? Is this discovery worthy of a Nobel Prize? Tune in and find out!Afterward, Mojo from the UK talks about how Intelligent Design is a scientific theory. Or is it? This is something worth listening to. Subsequently, Oliver in Washington discusses the difference between belief and knowledge. Do you know something or merely suspect something? Word choice is very important. Finally, Guillermo from California discusses if Atheists can use phrases such as OMG or Holy Cow. This is probably the shortest call you will ever see at the Atheist Experience.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

In this episode of the Atheist Experience with Matt Dillahunty and Don Barker, Don first discusses the Do No Harm Act. The Do No Harm Act clarifies that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) is intended to protect religious freedom without allowing the infliction of harm on other people. However, how far should religious freedom go? Afterwards, Matt and Don begin taking calls. The first caller is Michael from Maryland. Michael discusses how churches have the wrong description of Lucifer (the devil), and that he knows what the correct description is. Is Lucifer really Satan or is he actually Tom Ellis? Will the real Lucifer please stand up?The next caller is Karen from California. She discusses if sight and feelings are the necessary and sufficient criterion for believing in something or if there are other things necessary. In addition, Matt and Karen get into a heated debate about what it means to be a professional. A clip definitely worth listening to! The following caller is Justin from New Jersey. He claims that he knows the truth about how the universe works through observing purposes and designs. Is his argument worthy of a Nobel Prize? Listen in and find out! The next caller, Tasha from Nevada, claims that Jehovah's Witnesses have the correct doctrine of the Bible due to revelations by them. Maybe all that door-to-door business is not in vain. Or is it? Despite appearing exhausted at this point, Matt and Don continue the calls with Ellen from Michigan. Matt jokes at the start of call by talking about a commenter who said that the microphones were in the wrong place, because they wanted to see the hands of the hosts when they talk. Truthfully, they wanted the microphones moved down so they could see the cleavage from the female hosts. Afterwards, Ellen discusses with Matt how to plan a funeral with religious family members.Following the previous difficult conversation, a new caller, Doug from Ohio, discusses how people make ridiculous claims made about natural disasters being the result of unrelated things such as slavery. Another caller from Ohio, Mike brings up the Do No Harm Act that Don discussed earlier and how important it should be to protect individuals who are victims of religious exemptions such as children who are denied blood transfusions and those who are sent to conversion therapies. Afterwards, Mike discusses how Secular Charities are better than Religious Charities. One of the reasons is because religious charities don't have to reveal how much their income is whereas all other nonprofit charities have to. Scary right?Finally, the we wrap up the calls with Michelle from California. She discusses the difficulties that she went through during her deconversion process such as anxiety, PTSD, and even an attempted suicide attempt. Afterwards, she asks Matt how to deal with leaving religion.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Part 2 of the AxP Double Header!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.