The Atheist Experience

Welcome to The Atheist Experience! Matt is out sick today, Kenneth Leonard and Dave Warnock stepping up. All our thoughts and, no not that, goes out to Matt. We all hope you feel better. First up, Kameron in MD asks advice on finding a purpose in life after leaving her faith. We atheists have to find or make their own purpose. Atheists aren’t a monolith, we are just people despite our beliefs. Live your life, let people realize that atheists can be good people.Joe in VA asks if there is an objective right or wrong? If we make decisions on actions, we can likely arrive at objective morality. Let’s hear a good moral argument from a theist? We disagree that god is needed for anything moral, atheists can be moral without any god. If theists can’t agree on the character of god, how can that be THE moral grounding?Richard in NV argues that life can’t come from non-life and that if evolution is proven wrong, god is proven by default. Evolution is a mechanism from how we got from point A to B, abiogenesis is a separate field of study. You are shoehorning in god, if evolution is false you still have to prove god. Ahmed in Egypt claims that Allah is evident and the atheist position is untenable. The “look at the trees” argument you use to prove Allah is used by christians to prove their god, nature doesn’t prove god. If we can’t prove something, doesn’t mean you get to insert god there. David in CA argues that proof of Jesus is that he seems omniscient in the bible. You can’t use the bible to prove the bible, we need evidence that demonstrates the claim. If Jesus is an omni god, how can he allow rape and murder? We’re more moral than that god. Jeff in CA is upset that atheists don’t help more in social problems of the world? Some atheists do help, we aren’t a monolith. These examples are broad but there are atheists out there working on these issues. Kenny in OK asks how you quantify “extraordinary evidence”. Evidence just needs to meet the threshold of proving the claim, some claims are pretty extraordinary though. The majority of the people in the world are religious, so what? People believing is ordinary, but Jesus’ resurrection, and lots of other religious claims, is an extraordinary claim. You need to provide better proof than arguments from popularity. Lastly, Peter in TX asks what is the goal of our show? What is our ideal outcome? We promote positive atheism and the separation of religion and government. Atheists aren’t making a claim. We try to help people think critically because we’ve seen religious ideas damage people. Bring the evidence, we haven’t found it yet. Check out more from Dave Warnock at https://daveoutloud.com/ Please stay safe, wear masks, social distance, and get vaccinated.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to The Atheist Experience! Today we have Dave Warnock and Matt Dillahunty teaming up to tackle today’s arguments. First up, Xeno in NC is back to present evidence for a deistic god, primarily using reductio ad absurdum argument. If your deistic god doesn’t interact with reality, that means it's not detectable. If we can’t detect that god, it might be true that it exists, but how can you provide evidence of an undetectable god?Lisa in CO finds it atrocious that the bible barely mentions dealing with slaves that are beaten and more for decorating your tabernacle. We agree, the all-wise creator of the universe seems to care more about curtains than owning/beating people. We are glad you are seeing those red flags as the best way to make an atheist is to have them read the bible. Arnie in WA thinks there are preconceived notions that atheists or theists can't seem to get over. We were believers and approached the issue seriously and skeptically. When you make a claim that god exists and is involved with us, you are going to have to present incredible evidence. Why is there any ambiguity regarding god, couldn’t he clear that up?Sarel from Israel is an atheist and asks our opinion on spirituality and fears of falling back into religion. What does spirituality even mean? If you are finding comfort or pleasure in it, enjoy until you are forced to buy into the pseudoscience or woo. There is real benefit in secular meditation and exercise. Jacob in CT argues that god never encouraged slavery. God could have said to not own humans as property but instead chose to give instructions to buy slaves, etc. Why are you defending the bible’s grossly immoral point on slavery? Owning a person as property is wrong in every way. Walter in WA argues that we can’t logically derive moral oughts but we can infer them in a transcendental/objective way. Inferring moral oughts? How is that not just your opinion? You are smuggling in the ought and assuming the goal. You can not derive an ought from an is. Yeah, we don’t need to do homework after proving you wrong. Kenny in OK claims that the miracle Elijah witnessed in the bible addresses the issue of divine hiddenness and that god directs him to passages in the bible. We don’t believe god exists or that he has performed miracles. The issue of divine hiddenness applies to everyone, not just someone in the bible. Go ask god for a passage that will change Matt’s mind. Lastly, Richard in NV wants to talk about what is logically possible and illogical concepts, for example light can’t travel a light year in 6 months. It is 100% correct that if we proved evolution wrong, it would not prove a god exists. All that preamble to say evolution is wrong, therefore god. We aren’t out of the pandemic just yet. Please stay safe, wear masks, social distance, and get vaccinated.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to AXP! What’s that sound? Another Canadian invasion you say? Why yes it is, ShannonQ is back on tonight with Matt Dillahunty!First up, Joe in VA complains that Matt is the rudest person he has seen. If a caller refuses to ask a question, isn't that rude to the rest of the callers? Matt isn’t bullying anyone.Arnie in WA claims that claiming bible inerrancy is a form of idolatry because every interpretation is subjective. It’s not idolatry and we don’t care if something is idolatrous. How do you prove someone's interpretation of a passage is wrong? Sounds like you are coming from a place of assuming there is a correct interpretation.Jade in CO has come to realize religion is a placebo and since their cancer diagnosis and grapples with their mortality. You came to all this through a tremendous struggle, thank you for sharing. Knowing our lives are finite grounded us to be more responsible for one's actions.Xeno in NC asks if we are trying to prove god, what god are you rejecting? We’re atheists, we address the god claim the caller makes, our mantra is “what you believe, and why”. So you believe in a god that you can’t define, have fun with your irrationality.John in CT asks how the brain can see, taste, smell, etc. (Error dictating huge flow of science) Nothing about a soul has been proven to be anything other than functions of the brain. Consciousness is pure magic and has its own source?? You say the soul exists but you can damage a brain and change tons about how a person behaves.Samuel in ME argues that Christians are changing their doctrine to make the bible appear moral but slavery is wrong on all counts. We agree there are problems in the bible, this needs to be addressed to Christians though.George in Sweden asks if a god exists with infinite knowledge, wouldn't it have an infinite potential to know what is good and would we follow him? We can’t know if god has infinite knowledge. If the bible is accurate, we want nothing to do with him. Try a new question that doesn’t assume anything about god.Lastly, Penelope in OK updates us on their coming out atheist and their father claims he knows how they became atheist. Sounds like you are doing fine. Keep in mind that this interaction is not going to be like this forever, just be comfortable being you and set healthy boundaries.Please stay safe, wear masks, social distance & get vaccinated.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to AXP! Jenna Belk is back in the cohost chair alongside Matt Dillahunty to tackle all the calls.First up, Peter in England argues that convincing people atheism is correct is futile because books like the Bible don’t convince anyone. The Bible does convince people, even today. Some people might not change their mind, but the ACA has absolutely helped people find their way out of religion.Nicole in MD asks why we hate Jesus. We don’t hate something that there is no evidence it even existed, let alone was divine. We can’t tell if your experiences are from Jesus. Until there is evidence there is a god, we won’t believe.Alejandro in CA says atheism is just an opinion. No this is foundational, disbelief is the default until you’re convinced otherwise. We don’t just assume atheism. Convince us of your god or go away.Joe in WI asks how sound is the argument that Abraham made it all up, arguing there was not a monotheistic god until then. It seems it’s more henotheistic is the belief that there are other gods but ours is the greatest one.Michael in MI claims the rich history of theism in the history of western philosophy has been largely ignored. What? DMT? Hallucinogens aren’t a path to truth. Space & time can’t exist outside of the mind? Email us, this isn’t for the show.Sean in FL asks if we disagree there was a 50% chance the universe was created. Yes, but we are not saying it’s more likely than not anything. Why are you shifting the burden of proof? Defend how you can put a probability on god.Manuela in Brazil is frustrated that people don’t question religion more given that religion causes lots of harm. We respect people's right to believe but it is the single most important question. Indoctrination is powerful, some people may not see the harm done and can’t even question itLast caller, Lethe Water noticed recently that prayer never worked for him. The Bible says that 2 or more people gathered will get anything granted. So any 2 theists should get any wish granted. Prayer has done nothing except to make some people, in a study, do worse. If prayer works, why isn’t a god helping?Please stay safe, wear masks, social distance & get vaccinated.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to AXP! Matt Dillahunty is joined by our special guest Ian Rowland. Ian is and expert on cold reading and has written several books on the topic.First up, Joey in The UK asks about the basics “building blocks” of reason and how to argue with presuppositionalists. Reason is the tool that we use to evaluate claims and thoughts. It’s tough, Presups tend not to change their mind, they presuppose a necessary thing that grounds all of reality.Xeno in NC argues for the existence of god and claims he gets signals that prove his god. Is there a way for anyone to detect these signals? It’s not the same thing as a blip on a radar, we can demonstrate that. You need to prove these claims rather than trash talk.Cristian in CO claims that the improbability that whatever universe does exist is a life permitting one speaks to design. Is this the reason you believe? Life is inevitable given unlimited attempts. We can think of a better version of this existence and write a better bible, backed by evidence, than this god.Herman in VA if there is no god, how can people not perceive it? It is possible for people to believe things that are not true. We can imagine a winged unicorn horse but it’s not real.Mini in Canada argues for god's existence by refuting darwinian evolution. Evolution is the cornerstone of biology and you could disprove evolution and it wont disprove god. Personal testimony isn’t evidence of God, resurrection, or the supernatural. Stop reading to us on air, we want a conversation.Jules in The UK has seen evidence for god and thinks Matt wouldn’t believe if god came down and revealed himself. No, we have said we would believe but not follow or worship that god. If there is evidence, we would believe. Bibliomancy does not prove god and we can’t believe this wasn’t impactful enough to remember the verse.Tom in MO concluded that something way beyond anything we can understand exists that created this. You can’t just declare something is an indisputable fact. Abiogenesis has been proven to be possible, molecules for life can arise from inorganic material.Please stay safe, wear masks, social distance & get vaccinated. Ian has challenged that next week's callers present arguments in rhyme.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to The Atheist Experience. Today’s show welcomes back the man, the myth, the legend...Dave Warnock!!! Oh and Matt Dillahunty is here too, I suppose. First up, Dean in CA presents the argument that people deserving to go to hell, eternal punishment, is incoherent. We don't subscribe to an afterlife, sounds like you need to bring it up with theists. Frank in Canada argues testimonials might make Jesus’ resurrection more reasonable. No amount of testimony is good enough for us. We have no good evidence to confirm ANY resurrection but we “need” to believe this 2000+ year old myth. Steven in CO claims we are “all creators” so that proves a creator. You can’t argue that all humans are creators of something, then there is a creator of everything. It’s a waste of time to argue with fallacious arguments.David in GA claims that atheists require evidence for claims but hold a claim we don't have evidence for. Our position is I don’t know. We don't spout a god claim, we simply reject your assertion on god.CJ from the US claims we are going to “outer darkness”, a giant snake that circles the earth. Oh, it's on the internet.Paul in the UK says there is a difference in implicit/explicit atheism. You might imply a baby is an atheist but we are explicit atheists. We are able to process a god claim and so far, every god claim has not met their burden or proof. Armond in GA asks us to explain why we aren’t absolutely certain about anything. We can’t be 100% sure about anything, even reason, so we couldn’t be sure about anything derived from reason. We are all as confident as possible that 1+1=2. Mr Delicieux in Canada claims the 7 day cycle proves Jesus is god. That only proves the popularity of the 7 day calendar, it doesn’t come close to proving Jesus is god. Regardless, you can’t use the bible to prove the bible. Ahmed in OH claims Matt causes him to believe in Islam more because Matt has disproved the Christian god to him. You don’t have to pick any god. There needs to be evidence of Allah, especially if he designed anything. Life makes more sense when you don’t attach a god to it.Helen in NC asks where is the proof that there is a common ancestor between apes and humans. The fusing of chromosome 2 is practically undeniable. Go study the science, this is not a controversy to atheists. Scientists simply follow the evidence rather than starting with a fixed position. Can’t you just take anything on faith? Joshua in ID asks about our stance about not being able to prove anything. On an earlier call, we were talking about the resurrection claim. However, some biblical claims we can accept, others we need evidence.Jason in TN asks if visibility is required for a god to exist. No. Air is not visible but it's detectable. Sorry I couldn’t document more of your Christian talking points, we’re out of characters…Stay safe, wear masks, & get vaxxed.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to The Atheist Experience. For today’s show, we have Mandisa Thomas joining Matt Dillahunty to field your calls.First up, Frank in Hong Kong asks advice about lying to family about his religion, he is ex-Muslim and has a strained relationship with his family. We encourage all atheists to come out, only if they are comfortable and safe.Jedidiah in WA argues god exists because concepts in your brain exist in reality. Have you heard of equivocation fallacies? There exists a concept of a unicorn in my mind, but unicorns don’t exist in reality. You are confusing the map for the place.Jake in TN argues that Christianity is a reasonable belief to hold. He goes on to claim the bible is “100% god breathed”. Uh oh, the “context” argument for slavery. Stop listening to apologists and read your bible, start at Exodus 21.Chris in OK asks if we believe the apostles were martyred. Someone dying for a belief has no bearing on the validity of that belief, just that someone was willing to die for that belief. We don’t have a way to assess their beliefs. It’s just a story from a book passed down through copies and translations. The story doesn’t make sense, why can’t god appear and clear all this up?Zander in OR wanted to talk about the Dawkins tweets. Matt has covered the topic, today’s not the day for that.Michael in FL argues the bible is a good educational tool mainly because it uses poetry, analogies, and metaphors to convey a topic. The perfect word of god should be clear, not full of parables and analogies? If man wrote the bible, how can you tell what is from god or from man?John in CA argues he could solve any “stumper” we have with Christianity. Why won't god reveal himself. Yeah...we’re not accepting that humanity has to end before that happensEvelyn in OR asks why we lack beliefs in any gods. Simply put, we haven't seen any good evidence for gods. We’ll believe once there is evidence.Jude in TX claims the bible doesn't condone slavery. We cover this topic a ton and we are past time, sorry.Lastly, Phee in GA asks if there are circumstances where tactful discrimination is warranted for people that are religious, anti-humanist, and/or detrimental to humanity? There are times where you may need to exclude people from groups but not to just discriminate out of hand. We would be open to conversing, arguing, or presenting evidence. However, there should be consequences if they are a danger to other humans.Continue to stay safe, get fully vaccinated, and wear those masks so we can see ya next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to The Atheist Experience. We had a last minute host changeup. Today we have Jenna Belk hosting and Kenneth Leonard’s first appearance on AXP! Welcome Kenneth, happy to have you as our guest!Up first, Arnie in WA asks if you want to believe something, are you choosing your beliefs? When some atheists leave their religion, they can WANT those beliefs to be true but not actually believe they are true anymore. Self deceit and brainwashing is a real thing, you may not realize you are “choosing” to believe without knowing why.Michael in OR is frustrated that biology is often left out of the conversation of if it's good to be alive, citing Matt and Jordan Peterson’s chat. Michael argues that there are biological drives to pass on our genes, so it's good to be alive. Some may not be well versed in biology, so they may not go there in a conversation.Kurt in OR had a falling out with a friend over his religion, citing an argument over proving god or slavery. Oof, we lost him...call back Kurt! Relationships can change over time, you may have to remind them your friendship isn’t affected by beliefs or argue and find some common ground.Martin in SC found Christianity to be negative and asked what atheists think of Buddhism. Well you can be an atheist and buddhist. However, it’s going to depend on the individual you ask. You might have to agree on definitions when talking to non believers. How do your beliefs/feelings reflect reality? Check out our facebook groups or discord!Joe in VA asks our takes on morality, claiming there is no right/wrong in atheism. We are very pro morality, you just have to define what is moral. We, the human race, define morality. We disagree there needs to be something “beyond us” for there to be moral actions.Sven in WA finds it hard to believe that atheists don’t comprehend what people mean by a soul (consciousness). It’s such a nebulous concept that people define it differently, we try to have them define what they believe. Fauna on Earth is super diverse, there are tons of driving forces behind evolution. How does skepticism lead to nihilism??Wayne in OR can prove there is a god, claiming revealed prophecies. Prophecies are subjective and no, we don’t believe in miracles. How can you discern something you have no explanation for and a miracle. Uncommon events happen ALL the time, they are not miracles.David in WA argues there is some spiritual being because billions of people have been religious. Appealing to popularity is a fallacy, we can’t know something is true based on popular belief. We can’t jump to a being, god, or anything spiritual existing “outside ourselves”.Lastly, Harry in Canada claims Jesus is god because he has power over all humanity. You need to define your god before you can prove it. How can Genesis 1 prove a god, the Bible is the claim for the Bible. 7 day weeks do not prove god, you need to back up that claim with something other than the Bible.Stay safe, get vaccinated, and wear masks so we can see ya next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to The Atheist Experience. Our special guest is Andrew Seidel with Matt Dillahunty hosting. Andrew is a constitutional and civil rights attorney, activist, and author. Make sure to visit andrewlseidel.com Up first, Chris in OK speculates that large developmental leaps/inspiration might be linked to divinity. It doesn’t seem that anything human is tied to anything divine, you are skipping lots of early human development. God should have created us with that knowledge. John in TX argues that Matt uses the argument for incredulity when talking about whether god reveals himself versus if he exists. God exists or not but talking about a god revealing himself is a different argument. If your god exists, why wont your god show himself? We aren’t going to believe first.Joel from AL argues that the US Navy confirms UFO crafts act in ways that can’t be explained, those creatures are practically a god. Unidentified means NOT identified. Don’t leap from UFO to aliens/beings. You aren’t justified in saying it’s aliens until proven wrong, you need to provide evidence of that claim. Marvin in WA asked god for a sign and an imprint of a cross appeared in the sky on a picture. Email a picture and try again.Jules from The Netherlands claims Pangea drove human evolution on multiple continents. As far as we know, human ancestry is traced to Africa. Pangea was 175 million years ago and pre-human hominids were 2+ million years, how can Pangea play any role? Mary in FL asks if the IRS is afraid of going after religious figures that engage in promoting a political candidate? Doesn’t that give access for christian nationalists? Christian Nationalists in congress gutted the IRS’s ability to take on religious organizations. Religious orgs don’t have to open their books to the government.Peter in India has evidence for the biblical god, born again won’t die, spiritually or physically. How can you tell if someone is born again or even that Jesus said anything about people being born again christians? Regardless, history has proven every human will die eventually.Brian in OR wonders why christians feel so persecuted, citing christians being upset about lead prayer being removed from schools. They had an unconstitutional right and got mad when it was taken away. States ruled that bible passages weren’t acceptable to be read in schools. The Government should not meddle in religious affairs. Arnie in WA argues that people that say the bible inerrant are saying their interpretation of the bible is incorrect. Even biblical scholars agree that the bible we have now is not perfect, there have been scribe errors/etc. Lastly, Frank in Belgium wonders why it took us so long to disbelieve, he read the bible early on and realized it was nonsense. The simple answer is indoctrination. Some of us were raised in the church, sometimes forced, and taught not to question or challenge your beliefs. Everyone, continue to stay safe, get vaccinated, and wear masks. We’ll see ya next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Happy Zombie Jesus Day!! Welcome to The Atheist Experience.Today’s show features Jenna Belk and Jim Barrows. Sadly, we couldn’t talk Jim into a bunny costume for today...Up first, David in CA is hopeful for a time where our show is no longer needed. While the goal is to make this show unnecessary, we definitely aren’t there yet. Believers born into a religion is an example of indoctrination and our show tries to help them out of it. Xeno in NC argues there is scientific evidence of god, saying you have to understand empiricism before you can get to god. If your senses can be fooled, how can you get to the “truth” with a flawed system. We agree the color red exists so colorblindness is an example of your senses being flawed. Mohammed in FL has proof that Muhammed never existed, arguing he was not mentioned in contemporary history. How can you begin to prove anything never exists? It sounds like the Jesus mythicist position. We aren’t looking to debate history, checkout facebook and discord.Ulrich in Mexico claims that we are all satanists, the AXP logo shows a broken cross, and we like satanists more than christian. If you claim that atheists deny god/satan, how can we serve satan? The “satanists” you claim we like are from the satanic temple, which are atheists fighting for separation of religion/government. Robin in DC asks if we are hard, or soft, atheist? He defines god as that which is the fundamental, personal cause, and grounds for all reality. Until you prove your god, the only rational position to take is I don't know. You can’t just claim there is no neutrality… We don’t flat out deny there is a god, but atheists aren’t a monolith. Both sides of the claim need supporting evidence, so one more time for those in the back….I DON’T KNOW is an appropriate answer. Justin in AL argues that there may be creatures in the universe that are more evolved that we are and may appear as a god. Given that claim, why would we call them gods? Just because it's possible, doesn’t mean that it's probable. Jo in Canada is a theist and is pro-choice, arguing that pro-life should mean promoting the wellbeing of life of everyone. No matter what, it should always be the woman’s choice to continue pregnancy. Why follow a religion that is unclear on terminating a pregnancy but is absolute that you can’t drink alcohol? At least you are honest in saying you don’t know!Zord in Sweden argues that if a god exists, it's more reasonable to listen to it versus another human. The problem is that we don’t know if a god even exists. How can you get to a being, let alone a creator god. We don’t have the time for more “what if” scenarios, sorry.Lastly, Michael in CT calls to falsify darwinism. Darwinism is just evolution. The scientific theory of evolution is pretty much set in stone, to overturn it would be wor;d view altering. So tell us, how did you overcome all the evidence of evolution??Hope you enjoyed today’s show. Everyone, continue to stay safe, get vaccinated, and wear masks. We’ll see ya next week!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.