
The Atheist Experience
The Atheist Experience is a weekly show in Austin, Texas geared at a non-atheist and atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.We define atheism as the lack of belief in gods. This definition also encompasses what most people call agnosticism.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.
Latest episodes

Feb 26, 2024 • 1h 37min
The Atheist Experience 28.08 with Secular Rarity and Jmike
In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity and JMike float above their bodies as they look at the chat in order to prove they exist as an all knowing god does illogical things with free will. Jeff, with no location disclosed, believes in Jesus because he experienced floating above his body right before someone took him to church. Why does this give you creedence to believe? How do we justify this content in your head? What does “demonstrated by love” mean? Asking questions does not mean we are disrespecting you, it just means we want to understand the methodology used to arrive at your beliefs.George in TX asks the hosts if they can see the chat. And then he just left with a classic troll mic drop of running away. Ali in VA asks the hosts if they can prove that they themselves exist. Available views can be compared to demonstrate how we exist and views that have less explanatory power lose out on justification abilities. Of the two following questions, which will have more justifications in the answers? “Why am I seeing a tree rather than anything else?” Or “Why am I seeing a tree rather than not a tree?” If you received words from Allah directly, would you accept that is Allah speaking? Abe in NJ asks the hosts about god being all knowing and having free will at the same time. It feels like these ideas clash with each other hard. An open theist might say that knowing the future is not a propositional attitude. This contradiction can reveal some theological and scriptural concerns. Thank you for tuning in today everyone! Question of the day is: Name a time that god had not chills. Put your answer in the comment section.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Feb 19, 2024 • 2h 51min
The Atheist Experience 28.07 with Forrest Valkai, Armin Navabi and Seth Andrews
Exploring topics like information needing a mind to exist and the relationship between DNA and design. Debating on the idea of spiders evolving wings, the benefits and drawbacks of such mutations. Discussing the implications of God's design in nature, the fairness of punishment, and the concept of sin. Delving into debates on free will, morality, and religious dogma, challenging blind acceptance of suffering and punishment.

Feb 12, 2024 • 1h 40min
The Atheist Experience 28.06 with JMike and Jim Barrows

Feb 5, 2024 • 2h 11min
The Atheist Experience 28.05 with Secular Rarity and Jim Barrows
In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity and Jim Barrows walk callers through logical fallacies, getting out of faith mindsets, and ways to learn more about evolution. Luke in AZ states that the existence of god is a rational necessity because everything will be meaningless if god doesn't exist. Why does some god’s opinion of what is meaningful have anything to do with anyone else’s? Lack of knowing what is behind everything does not mean there is a god and shows the fallacy of incredulity. Do you accept this same reasoning for anything else in the world?Art in PA regards god as the ultimate ground of existence. How do you define the “ultimate ground of existence”? Does existence have to exist and is pure philosophical nothing possible? If there was a number other than 17 frequencies to use, what does this do for your concept of god? What do we care about what theology says about science? If your god is the same as “existence”, how does calling “existence” god not lead to problems? What is the difference between Spinoza’s god and a hurricane?Jack in MD argues that the universe was created because it needs an uncaused cause, and free will is the only uncaused cause. We have not been able to rule out all the potential causes so therefore this is an argument from incredulity. What is an example of free will existing without a brain and how do you get to this being an uncaused cause? Does someone with a traumatic head injury that has lost their ability to eat have free will? We do not need to assume free will to make progress, but we do need to assume logic. Patrick in SC would like to know how to get out of a faith mindset. You ask yourself how you know things and why you think they are true. This is not done overnight but is constant because we are always learning new things. Ask yourself if you could get to any conclusion using the same method you use to get to god. Olivia in NJ asks if god was created to cope with the uncertainty of death and to explain what we don’t know. We need to make sure we are not presenting this as if the first believers were doing this maliciously. Humans like telling stories and we need to assign agency to random events. Adam in TX is looking for hardcore evidence for evolution. Start by defining what evolution is, and then must prove that either genes don’t exist, or must prove their frequency does not change over time. Watch the science journals for all the ways that evolution happens. Check out the content by Erika Gutsick Gibbon and Forrest Valkai for helpful information. You can also check out Crash Course for bit size chunks that will help broaden your understanding. Denny in MI went through conversion therapy that did not work and is considering telling his parents who he really is. Your safety and security needs to be weighed along with how hurtful it may be to your parents. Contact Recovering From Religion for help with ideas on how to deal with this. Thank you for tuning in folks! Question of the week is: What is an example of god’s sense of humor?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Jan 29, 2024 • 1h 34min
The Atheist Experience 28.04 with JMike and Jim Barrows
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.

Jan 22, 2024 • 1h 41min
The Atheist Experience 28.03 with Secular Rarity and Armin Navabi
Secular Rarity and Armin Navabi discuss practicality of turning the other cheek, consequences of coming out as atheist to Muslim parents, concept of hell as a threat, defining atheism as belief system, effective communication tips for callers, challenging assertion of eyewitness accounts, limited edition t-shirt announcement, pursuit of higher understanding in atheism.

Jan 15, 2024 • 1h 42min
The Atheist Experience 28.02 with Johnny P Angel and JMike
Show notes upon receiptBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Jan 8, 2024 • 2h 10min
The Atheist Experience 28.01 with Forrest Valkai and Armin Navabi
Show notes upon receiptBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Jan 1, 2024 • 16min
We Asked; You Answered
Happy New Year from The Atheist Community of Austin! This year we began a new segment called “Share Your Experience,” or as we generically referred to as “question of the week.” This segment is only as good as the comments we get to respond to, and you, the viewers, really rose to the challenge! Here is a compilation of our ten favorite questions and answers.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Dec 25, 2023 • 1h 43min
The Atheist Experience Top 5 Calls of 2023
Dive into this year's best, most viewed calls of The Atheist Experience with 'The Atheist Experience Top 5 Calls of 2023.' Forrest Valkai, Seth Andrews ( @TheThinkingAtheist ), Johnny P. Angel, Jmike, Kenneth, and Dave Warnock in thought-provoking conversations that challenge beliefs and promote critical thinking, and in rare cases, change minds. We're giving our valued hosts, guests and crew this holiday season off, but we still want to be able to bring you some of the moments that have made Season 27 one of the best ones so far! So from all of us at The Atheist Experience and The Atheist Community of Austin, we wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. Join us in January when we resume our live productions.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.
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