The Atheist Experience

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.

In today’s episode of The Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and Armin Navabi challenge religious claims and societal norms. They confront CS Lewis's flawed logic, dissect the reliability of religious texts, and explore the deep-seated reasons why beliefs persist, even when unsupported by evidence.Becky in CO asks if gospels are firsthand accounts, prompted by her granddaughter's reaction to religious imagery. Jim and Armin explain historical methods, citing differing writing styles, manuscript comparisons, and late authorship attribution. They discuss how memories fade and stories evolve, much like a "game of telephone." Why do religious narratives receive such uncritical acceptance?David in WA, a gay man, calls to discuss Jim’s past comment regarding homosexuality not being "natural." He highlights its prevalence across animal species, but more importantly, the political weaponization of the "unnatural" argument to deny LGBTQ+ rights. Jim clarifies his views have evolved, affirming support. Armin asks if "naturalness" should even matter if no harm is done. The conversation emphasizes the terrifying political climate.Chris in NC describes being socially ostracized in his hyper-religious town after his ex-spouse outed him as an atheist during their divorce. His neighbors, for whom he'd performed medical services, now avoid him. Jim suggests secular support groups, while Armin recommends a "charm offensive" to normalize atheism and change perceptions in the community. How can individuals navigate such intense, localized religious intolerance?Guo in CO defines God as the "laws of nature," such as physics and entropy, arguing they are real and we are forced to live by them. Jim and Armin clarify that while these laws exist, using "God" for them causes communication issues, as the common definition of God implies a conscious, willful creator. They liken it to calling a cat "God." Does redefining common terms clarify or obscure understanding?Dawn in CA seeks recommendations for anti-theism studies, logical fallacies, and constitutional law, questioning the reliability of gospels and societal "retrogression." Jim suggests Andrew Seidel's books on church/state separation and studying religions to combat them. Armin emphasizes learning logical fallacies and recommends his book "Why There's No God." The discussion also touches on Bart Ehrman for biblical contradictions and the general regression of society.Carson in OK struggles with religious terminology in sobriety groups, feeling alienated by the constant talk of a "higher power." He seeks secular alternatives for community and support, finding Buddhist meetings more palatable than AA. Jim suggests seculartherapy.org, recoveringfromreligion.org, and online communities. Armin proposes starting a secular group. Can one reinterpret "higher power" or is a fully secular approach necessary for atheists in recovery?.Marco in Holland asks why belief persists if God was conceived from a lack of scientific knowledge. Armin explains religion often serves as a "membership card" and identity, making deconversion scary due to loss of community. Jim adds that many see science as explaining how God created things. Marco also notes religion’s universal "solution for death" as a powerful meme for survival. Thank you for joining us this week! We will see you next time!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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

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.

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.

In today's episode of The Atheist Experience, Johnny P Angel, JMike, and Kelly navigate contentious claims about biblical translations, the deeply ingrained nature of religious habits, and the ill-defined concept of eternal souls. They also grapple with the profound question of why life's meaning persists for atheists even in the face of cosmic impermanence.Mike in GA calls to clarify that the Hebrew Bible says "flying creatures," not "birds," addressing a perceived biblical error. Hosts Johnny, J Mike, and Kelly question his methodology, scrutinizing his belief rooted in his father's coma experience with an angel. They challenge the selective need for evidence, comparing it to fantastical claims, and emphasize the unreliability of trauma-induced accounts. Why demand evidence for a pterodactyl but not an angel?Mory in Brazil, a new atheist, expresses guilt over continuing "believer things" like praying, due to her deeply religious family. The hosts explore the comfort and habitual nature of rituals, noting it's common for those distancing from faith. They advise against guilt, emphasizing personal autonomy in belief and the importance of finding community that aligns with her evolving worldview.George in Europe asserts humans are "Eternal souls" inhabiting physical "suits," existing in infinite universes as a family of non-physical minds. The hosts rigorously challenge him to define "soul" and provide evidence, repeatedly asking "how do you know that?" George offers only assertions and refers to YouTube sources, leading to a breakdown in communication as the hosts emphasize the need for verifiable, foundational proof beyond metaphysical baggage.John in SC asks why it matters if people believe in God, especially if atheism is true and the universe faces heat death. The hosts explain it matters due to the societal imposition of beliefs, the potential for harm, and the intrinsic value found in human interconnectedness and experience. They argue that meaning isn't contingent on an afterlife or cosmic relevance beyond our momentary existence.Thank you for joining us this week! We will see you next time!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Welcome to 2024! Let’s kick it off this new AXP with Forrest Valki and Armin Navabi!Well, we are starting off this show with a doozy! Ronnie from Florida (why is it always Florida?)  gives Armin and Forrest a call to talk about how aliens could be an explanation for angels. The key words are “could be”. Though Ronnie would like it to be true, as Forrest points it, we don’t really know. Admitting gaps in our knowledge is true intellectual honesty which our hosts try to guide Ronnie to consider.Howard from across the pond (England) calls to ask why atheists ignore “empirical” evidence for God? We want to sin, duh! ;) Though Howard claims he has arguments atheists cannot refute according to him) that does not lead to atheists denying God. We cannot have a fear of God if we don’t believe in one. Also, there is some discussion on the scientific method and problems with flat earth claims. I just write the notes folks.Third caller in line would be Xavier from Ohio asks Armin and Xavier that if he doesn’t believe in God logically, why does he still feel His presence? Indoctrination and the brain tricking itself. Psychology, nature, and indoctrination play a three way part in this feeling which each of the hosts dive into. Feelings are not fact and it is okay if people have not let go of the emotions or sensations of belief even though logically, they know it’s wrong. Jess from Iowa is our last caller this week who is a trans-woman having to deal with her religious family members still not accepting her gender identity and laying down an ultimatum of acceptance. She asks our hosts how to have a difficult conversation with family members without being confrontational. Forrest lays down some bio-science as well for not only for Jess to use, but anyone can benefit from when discussing this issue. Armin offers perspectives on how to prioritize what your values and boundaries are and what you are willing to do/not do. This is a valuable tool for all of us to use when making decisions and finding out our motivations.Call the show on Sundays 4:30pm-6:00pm CT: 1-512-991-9242 or use your computer 💻 http://tiny.cc/callaxp and tell us what you believe and why!We request pronouns as part of the call screening process on our shows, and we display the pronouns our callers provide. If you see a caller with no pronouns indicated, this is because they chose not to provide us with any, and we respect that decision.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

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

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

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