The Atheist Experience 28.04 with JMike and Jim Barrows

Jan 29, 2024

JMike and Jim Barrows discuss atheist communities and the role of oral traditions in religions. They also explore the concept of gravity and its existence. Other topics include the need for evidence in god claims, finding a community for Jewish atheists, the reliability of human thinking and reasoning, and the power of fairy tales and movies in teaching concepts.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The Effectiveness of Punishment and Rewards

02:14 • 2min

Comparing the Beatles and Taylor Swift

04:27 • 12min

Announcements, Brick Fundraiser, and Advertisements

16:49 • 3min

Building a Community for Jewish Atheists

19:21 • 19min

Different Types of Atheists and an Ad for AXPTV and HeathenTV

38:24 • 4min

The Reliability of Human Thinking and Reasoning

42:19 • 29min

Guest Appearance, Super Chats, and Objective Morality

01:11:17 • 5min

Anti-Realism, Listener Donation, Planet Fitness Ad, and Origins of Religion

01:15:51 • 3min

The Power of Fairy Tales and Movies

01:19:10 • 19min

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and JMike find Jewish atheist communities to help not trust their brains for the truth while they travel into the past to discover that oral traditions are partly the root of religions and to finally confirm that gravity is real.

Chuck in HI is that humans are here to provide a dwelling place for Jehova and gravity is not real. If he is omnipotent, why can’t he provide his own dwelling place? How would he be omnipotent if he does not know who he is dwelling in? Where do you get your god claim if we do not have the sensors to detect him and you do not have evidence? Whining about things that fly in the face of science does not meet the criteria to make them true. Try and bring your A game next time.

Richard in NY is looking for a community of Jewish atheists. Jim points out that both Judaism and Islam are as much a culture as they are a religion and how people have a hard time accepting that. Mike mentions that it is not that weird to grow up never thinking about god. There are many social media platforms available, and if you don’t find what you need, you can create one.

Katelyn in WA asks why we should trust our brains for truth when the basis is to survive. Jim explains how we know that our thinking is faulty with the pattern recognition leading to cognitive bias. This and the need to reason better is why we developed science. We build machines that do better things than we do and see that god’s design is flawed. We are most fascinated about why you believe in a god; what is the reason? Why does god not stop suffering or allow us to survive off just sunlight? Why does god not have the ability to make a world where people do not choose evil? Would the most important message in the world be shrouded with ambiguity?

Colin in the USA wonders if the religions made laws because they were easier to remember as stories through oral traditions prior to the written word. We like tales and stories, but this is not the only reason why religions made laws.

Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: Name one of god’s unpopular opinions.

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