The Atheist Experience

Show notes upon receipt

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To be added.

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Recorded in front of a LIVE studio audience in Austi, TX!

Join The Atheist Experience with Jamie Boone and Christy Powell and work through issues, lack of evidence for god, and religious trauma challenges. 
Caleb in OH, believes the Big Bang is evidence for god, and asks the hosts if atheists believe there is no evidence for god. Evidence that is meaningful, compelling or that stands up to scientific rigor has not been observed yet. The universe having a beginning is consistent with many religions. How is your religion any different?  Why would an all powerful and all loving god not show us something on this show? Call back with one good argument that is overwhelming. 
Yetmas in FL makes an analogy about god, people, and ants, and then asks why we are searching for god evidence when we have not even mapped 25% of the ocean floor. This is 25% more than before there was science. 
AJ in MN asks the hosts what they used to justify the Bible when they used to believe. Christy described having to read a chronological Bible that noted the numerical differences realizing it was not inerrant. Jamie never looked into the claims, and when he finally did, he became an atheist. How many talking animals do you need in a story before you realize it is not literally true? 
Terry in NY wants to know how to bat away the indoctrination and fear of hell. Why would we lose sleep over the Christian hell if we are not worried about the Hindu hell? Your nervous system does not need to be argued with and it is okay to struggle with this distress. Adult logic may not work with your first early childhood concept of hell. Recognizing this conflict is the first step to acceptance. Is it fear or is it guilt that is so scary? A book called, Leaving the Fold, by Marlene Winell is a good place to start along with Recovering from Religion where they are trained to help through this struggle.  
Jon in Canada says that the 10 Commandments are necessary for society to function and prove the existence of god. How can you tell me that they eradicated slavery? How do you explain the basis of Chinese civilization before the Ten Commandments?
Katie in OK is trying to determine if she has religious trauma or if it is being raised in a hetero culture. Living in a religious society is almost certain to cause cuts and scars. Having to pretend to believe in something you don’t believe in can be traumatizing. If it hurts, you are allowed to have compassion on yourself and do something about it.
Barry in GA says that faith is the basis for believing along with the word of god. Where does faith come from? What does it mean if something that you read moves you? What other creation stories from other faiths have you read? Why do you use faith for the Bible but not anything else? What would you say to someone that has faith in Allah?
Josef asks the hosts their opinion on the scriptures that condemn homosexuality. Jamie disagrees with the verses. Christy finds these verses to be a big problem and is what caused him to challenge Christianity. If you remove a person's exposure to a type of person, it is easier to make them hate that type of person. 
Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week: Missing from the Sermon on the Mount is, Blessed are the ___.

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Show notes upon receipt

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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.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai, Armin Navabi, and Seth Andrews sort through information that causes design as they dodge spiders with wings because Jesus just was not an apocalyptic creature.

Adam in England wants to talk about the relationship between information and design where the information needs a mind to exist and therefore the mind must be god. How is this different from the argument that says DNA is so perfect we must need a designer? Why do people have different understandings of words like “mind” and “freewill”? Where do we draw the line for what has a mind? Being too inclusive with how these words are defined cause them to lose their utility. What is one example of something that was chosen by god to be the way it is? Why add dead weight to the universe to try and explain it?

RJ in CO asks why spiders have not developed wings if evolution is real? If you are such a hard worker, why are you not blowing glass yet? Spiders have some terrifying ways of traveling through the air and there is just no reason to develop wings, just like not having a reason to blow glass. What are the benefits and cons of spiders having wings? Why would the wing mutations have any advantage over what spiders are now? Why would god create a spider to cause its prey to die so horribly? If your god is real, he is evil. Why would god punish a child that he designed for things a child does not understand?

Mikael in GA asks why atheists feel that Jesus is an apocalyptic preacher, when he presented himself as a peaceful Messiah. Why can’t Jesus be both? How do you reconcile the verses that suggest the second coming would happen within the lifetime of his followers? Was it right or wrong for god to forcibly impregnate a young girl?

Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: It is a bad idea to (blank) at church.

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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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Show notes upon receipt

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.

Show notes upon receipt

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.

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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.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forest Valkai and Johnny P. Angel works through issues of Genesis, Unicorns, suffering, reproduction and babies hating god.


Ray in WV says that asks if the hosts believe we evolved from higher apes He then states that god is sovereign and every human hates god when they are born. The scientific argument is not if evolution happened, but how and why. Why do you think there is a god? How does a baby know there is a god to hate? How can one hate something when they don’t believe it exists? How do you know that god exists? We feel the same way about Yahweh as we do other mythological villains and fictional antagonists. Our explanations for how the universe came about are based on evidence. How much time have you spent talking with people who don’t already agree with what you think? Being a Christian does not give you the ability to have a monopoly on goodness.


Camden in NC asks if the innate response of evolutionary reproduction compliments what god says in the bible. Reproduction is one way that we classify what is and is not alive. If something did not reproduce, we would not know about it and evolution is the logical outcome of reproduction. We did not suddenly jump from a worm with no eyes to a human with eyes. Once the earth cooled from this fiery hello, life appeared relatively quick, and this can show that it is possible for life to arise without needing a cause. There are certain biological constants throughout history that have been developed through evolution and can be seen in many cultures.


Andrew in FL says religion gives meaning to suffering and that atheism makes suffering meaningless. Atheism does not have the narrative that religion does, however humanism helps reduce unnecessary suffering. What is the issue with not seeing the meaning to human suffering or existence? Religion has been used by powerful groups to convince us that we should just accept that suffering has a greater purpose. What do you think about rooting out the causes of suffering and fixing it? The current work structure is not a call from god, it is a call from capitalism. If you did not believe in a god, and you believed this is the only life you have, what would you do for your life, family, and career?


CJ in KS references a previous call where he had evidence for Eve's creation from Adam’s rib and is calling to develop the conversation. He explains that the water mentioned in Genesis is a manifestation of Jesus. The writers of Genesis did not know there would be writers of John. The people who wrote the Bible had access to earlier writings, not the other way around. The later writing does not prove the book is true, but rather develops the theme. Why do you believe the Bible is not just a literary book? How is sin anything that causes death? What about children who die from SIDS? Do you believe in a literal hell?


Thank you for tuning in! Question of the week: What is an inappropriate thing to say or do at a holiday party?

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Armin Navabi and JMike exist only in god’s imagination as callers discover that you just can’t get to an all powerful god from the Kalem or patterns in books.

Peter in IL proposes that if god exists, then we are imaginary and are entirely within god’s mind. What is the reason that brought you to this conclusion and what argument do you have to support this? Describing more details is not the same as providing evidence. How do you know that other scenarios where god exists are not true? Are we being made imaginary to solve the problem of evil? What is the problem with two competing good things? Does god have reasons for evil to exist? It is important to spend time thinking of things that are real, and not just things that could be real. If you study how logical fallacies work and take some time to understand how the scientific method works it will help you build a stronger position.

James in MI claims there is evidence for god in the book of Numbers and that Christ, Jesus and Messiah are the three words that prove it. How are the three words evidence for your claim? How do you get from patterns in a book to an all powerful god that is the creator of the universe? If the Quran has patterns as well, why does that not make it the word of god? Why does this only work in English?

Robert in CA asks if Arabic has changed as much as English has since the sixth century, when the Quran was written. Early Arabic would be unreadable for Arabic speaking people today. The evolution of the Quran is more complicated than what Muslim narratives say, and it seems that some of it came from pre-Islamic periods and other languages than Arabic. The vast majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic and will need to read the translation of the Quran. There are many competing translators of the Quran and can be different from each other.

Roger in the UKasks why the Kalam cosmological argument is not taken seriously, and how to determine the difference between “no evidence” and “non convincing evidence". The difference resides within how language is used. No good evidence for something is essentially the same as no evidence. There is evidence for everything if bad evidence counts. Can you give an example of anything that has no evidence at all? What if someone dreams of a square circle and calls that evidence? What in the Kalam gives you the attributes and characteristics of god such as being all knowing? If you want to just call random things god, then anything can be god. Nothing from the Kalam will prove god based on your own definition of god.

Yeshua in the UK believes the universe only exists in the mind of god. How can you support this belief with a coherent sentence? Questioning the hosts does not support the view or produce an argument. Personal incredulity does nothing to support your claims.
Thank you for tuning in this week!

Prompt for the week is: Name a weird thing that god gets offended by.

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show notes upon receipt

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and JMike have fun with antinatalism, and most importantly, blasphemy!

Kirsten in TX asks about the benefits of religion providing community, and how secular communities can provide the same benefits. We now have many choices on social media where you just can find your community. You can even start your own group! You can use words like “critical thinker”. If we do not do this ourselves, it is not going to happen.

Samuel in Canada asks how to talk with a pastor that believes there is no evidence for creation or evolution and to just decide based on faith. There is more evidence for evolution than there is gravity. Everything in biology and in medicine is related to evolution. Changes in allele frequencies in a population over a period of time is already a fact that evolution occurs, and we haven’t even got to natural selection yet.

Jon in Canada believes that evidence for god is that people have faith. Does the number of people who believe something have any bearing on whether it is true? If we have evidence that god exists, we will believe in god. We do not have anything against something that does not exist.
Queue in IL asks about the hard atheist stance with the belief that god does not exist and needing to provide the burden of proof. You can give a strong inductive case of why god is not probable. Every theist tends to make deductive cases for their god. Every phenomenon that we know of has a natural explanation or we just don't know how it happens. Even in places where naturalism might be improbable, it is just as improbable under theism with extra ontological baggage.

Amanuel in TX says there should be a restriction on freedom of speech or expression because of an experiment of his that showed panic caused when some hosts tore up the scriptures. What kind of experience do you have setting up these experiments and was there a control group? How is bias not built into your study if these were people you knew? Stating a position of non god belief is not blasphemy or causing harm. Your irrational fear that should not be someone else's problem is used to justify atrocities such as gay conversion therapy. How does a blasphemous meme harm you? Look at how the Islamic world goes nuts for drawing on magazines. Restricting freedom of speech and what artists can portray is the totalitarian way and downright wacky.

Andrew in FL calls to state that atheists tend to lean towards antinatalism and how they are damaging the population. Where do you get this claim? If this is true, why is atheism the fastest growing segment? If correlation is causation, then the increase of ice cream would increase the crime. Up until the last 10 years, the US was 90% Christian. The No True Scottsman fallacy does not work with the Baby Boomers messing up the population.

Thank you for tuning in this week and the question of the week is to capture the image shown on the screen by giving us a caption!

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, ObjectivelyDan and Jamie the Blind Limey are live in studio wrestling with callers who believe the Bible is scientifically accurate and a progressive document.

Josh in FL asks about the Bible being taken literally. Do Christians literally heal people by laying on of hands? People make incredibly important decisions about their life, health and family by this flawed way of thinking. What positivity comes with prayer? How do you explain replacing people’s medical care with prayer? It is the secular values that have corrected Christianity, not the other way around. The atheists in this country did not fight to take away rights from people; can you guess what group has?

Somber in WA postulates that god is not real if the universe can be reduced to a non-dimensional point because there is no outside space and time for god to exist. A physical universe requires physical things to happen.

Sir Le Chef in Quebec believes the Bible is 100% true because there is nothing we can disprove that is in the Bible. How do you know this? Of course, he knows this because of the seven day week! You don’t get to just call into the show and say this without proving it; that is not how logic works. The seven day week existed before Jesus so we do not accept your premise. Is the creation narrative the word of god or not?

Rick in Canada says the Bible is 100% accurate because Jesus says that only the sick need a physician. How do you explain people who have cancer with no symptoms? If the disciples had magical powers, is every other Christian who claims to have these powers a liar because only the elite can do it? So the people who prayed for Jamie’s eyes(not faith) were not part of the special 144,000? There are people who pray to get better daily and we have never seen evidence that it works. Isn’t it interesting that cancer can go into remission, but blindness can’t? Can prayer regrow a hand that has been cut off? Can you find someone who can heal Jamie’s retinas through prayer?
Jose in TX says that god created a “snowglobe with a dome”, not the universe, and that theists try to make the myth work. Many cultures explained the world without knowing what was happening. The problems with Genesis are a mile high!

Andrew in FL says the Bible is a progressive document and just because it is not scientifically accurate that doesn’t mean god doesn't exist. We hope the god that inspired that book is not real because he is obviously not a nice person. Do you believe that god changes himself to suit the times? Does the Bible have literal falsehoods? Why do we even look at the Old Testament in the first place if it is so bad? Why should we care about Christianity any more than Islam or another religion? If cancer does not have intentions, why do you think it is evil? If you believe that god made us, why were we made with the capability of having cancer?

Thank you for joining us with these fun callers! The question of the week is: The hardest part about being an atheist is what?

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Johnny P. Angel and MD Aware work through questions from callers that range from evolution to morality.
Louis in FL says that scriptures are a revealed message from god to Moses that support evolution. How do you explain god creating plants before creating light? Call back when you are not driving or distracted.
Beast in CO describes how he was harmed by the church by sexual abuse among others, and how the pastor did not do anyting about it. What we end up seeing, is there are no reparations needed in this religion because of confession and the forgiveness of Jesus. Voices that report abuses are downplayed and diminished because the church has too much at stake. This is because if people start to ask if the church is wrong, then they will ask if its interpretations are wrong. Check out Recovering from Religion and the Secular Therapy Project for help and support.
Joseph in GA reads something to us that says atheists put too much trust and can limit the imagination. What do you think about how a healthy understanding of science can spark imagination? Imagination is key with science because we are trying to figure out the explanations for things, once we know the basics. If atheists are putting too much trust in science, what would be the alternative? How does atheism limit the imagination?
Ely in TX believes the historicity of the Bible is what makes it true. If the Bible is not true, does that mean that someone made it up? Could the people who wrote the Bible have been wrong? What is to be said about a useful character such as Jesus being used to tell stories that are trying to educate people about morality or ethics? We know that the Jewish people existed for a long time, but we don’t know that the fantastical claims such as the Red Sea parting happened. What evidence matters most and where is it found? When a book predicts something that happened that is in the same book, there is a problem. Are the witnesses that verified Joseph Smith and his magical seeing stones and golden tablets correct, are they mistaken, or are they liars? Just because brimstone is found in a location does not mean the mythical story is true. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Alok in CA says that the slow growth of atheism in the US is due to people on the fence not understanding where we get our morality, and people looking for some higher purpose that atheism does not offer. People made up the rules to both secular and Biblical morality. The spiritual journey that atheists sometimes pursue involves humans, animals, and plants and can take a lifetime.
Michael in FL asks if morality is supposed to be thought of in a social and psychological context, very much the same way we see health. Our sense of fairness, justice, and right or wrong has evolved with its base level in biology.

Thank you for tuning in this week! Our question of the week is: What do you think the last words of Jesus really were?

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, our hostesses with the mostess are Forrest Valki & Armin Navabi.

Let’s welcome our first caller is Alan from Wisconsin, who as an atheist, is dealing with the all too common issue of a theist’s view that bad things happen to people due to their lack of faith. He discusses wanting to have that frustrating conversation with as much respect and tact as he can. Our hosts share what has worked for them and how this is a common misperception.

Second caller up to the proverbial bat is Dave from Connecticut. Now Dave gives his explanation of why faith is the only access we can have with God and “smart” people know this where those of “less” intelligence cannot understand what faith is and needing it to access God. Does this sound a little bit egotistical? A mental gymnastic game? You are right! Let’s listen to Armin and Forrest break this down and how silly that is.

Caller number three gives a ring, his name is the Monkey King, and he doesn’t know anything.

Ohhh boy! Michael is the fourth caller and he tries to give God a pass on biblical slavery. Do you need any more detail than that? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Oh! And some antisemitism to boot!

Moving to a more productive topic, Carlos in Puerto Rico calls in dealing with the title of being an anti-theist. Forrest explains his hostility against religious teachings, the harm it does, and how he identifies as an anti-theist. Armin adds on explaining why we as activists, care for religious people as they are the victims of theism and pushing against the bad ideas that actively hurts our fellow human beings.

Caller number 6 comes from John living with our friendly neighbors of the north, Canada. Now John brings up Pascal’s Wager which is easy to refute, but then takes a hard right turn to God creating the USA, as the greatest nation? Dear reader, if you belong to another country, I do apologize for this idiotic opinion. Oh! And a touch of trans-phobia. This call goes a little all over the place.

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Today’s Atheist Experience is live in the studio with Forest Valkai, JMike, and Johnny P. Angel! They operate as a triple host power team to help us work through pubic angles, Biblical interpretations, more pubic angles, bad design, and casting off religious weights.

Evan in VA knows Jesus is true because the Bible says so, and asks the hosts how they know if something they believe is true. Simplicity works for philosophy and evidence works for science. If there is not a good reason to know something, we either stop believing, or look for evidence to see what we should believe. Functionality works if we are not trying to shoehorn something into our beliefs. The perceived reality that we live in has facts that are true and can be tested. Which version of the Bible is true? How do you know that the red lettering are the words of Jesus?

Amanuel in TX says that the teachings of the Old and New Testaments are consistent with each other. In Judaism, was the Messiah a concept of a dying and rising god? How do you know what parts to believe and what to not believe? Was there a talking donkey? Other than the book, what raises the probability that this is true? Do you understand the difference between something being evidence based and something being book based? What use is a mental model that will allow you to believe absolutely anything?

An audience member asks how we change our brain space to recognize our own power and ability to cast off religious weights. The biggest deconversion manual is the Bible. Exploring and analyzing your faith with a critical eye is a start.

Otari, in the nation of Georgia, asks how evolution accounts for bad design in humans like the way the fall of man does and why homosexuality does not lead to extinction. Recent evolution in humans explains this because we can make testable predictions. According to the Bible, god told the very first lie in history to explain bad design. The reason why homosexuality does not lead to extinction is because they are not 100% of the population. This has been observed in over 1,500 species and something that is this ubiquitous, clearly has some sort of benefit.

Jimmie in TX feels there is no contradiction in scripture, Forrest’s interpretation is outrageous, and we should listen to Joseph Campbell when interpreting the endemic myth. Do you have access to god’s intentions and know what he wants you to interpret? How do you know that god did not want us to interpret the Bible literally, or a different way? When you criticize another’s view, you have to beg the question.

Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: What is the best comeback for when someone says, “A fool says in his heart, there is no god.”

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show notes upon receipt

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Johnny P. Angel and Hemant Mehta work through calls of free will, the supernatural, and morality.

Art in PA says god is believable because people have seeked thousands of gods over thousands of years and you still have to believe in god to give up the Bible. Just because people were looking for something does not mean they were on the right track for what they are seeking. Wanting something to exist does not make it true. Why would an appeal to popularity make something true? If you care about truth, what is the best thing to do?

David in Ireland asks how to deconstruct supernatural beliefs when using things such as Tarot cards or crystals. Going through a ritualistic process can put yourself in a different mental state of focus, but does not mean the items used in the ritual have any special powers. How do you know these items are helping more than any other practice? If all these tools you use disappear, would you end up in the same place? The power is within you and you do not need magical items.

Tyler in NC does not believe god exists, but is not sure about free will. The idea of free will or not free will is a false dichotomy. How can a circumscribed universe of limited choices be considered free will?

Sam in NY says that if people don’t pray, they are incomplete. Are people who believe in a different god from you incomplete? What is the feeling of the power of prayer? How did you become complete? Is god’s power limited to that of sight? Why do you believe the Bible is true? What if something is in the Quran but not the Bible? Are people who pray that use other books than the Bible or Quran?

Shinobi Sheran in the USA believes a woman should have the right to choose all around. Who should make medical decisions on people’s behalf? Once a politician starts making these decisions, it can be a slippery slope.

Jon in FL does not believe religion is needed for morality. Why do you believe this? Countries that have the smallest belief in religion are arguably the most moral. How do you define morality? If you Google Phil Zuckerman you will find some interesting information on this. It will be hard to find anything that shows religious people are more moral when the playing field is even. The differences between secular morality and religious morality reside in the goals of each.

Dave in India asks if god is the government’s way of controlling people and part of the military industrial complex. What version of these beliefs would get people to think a certain way? The belief in a higher power has been around before nations had militaries and leaders may sprinkle the fairy dust of religion on their mission. This does not mean it is part of a conspiracy. When politicians use religion as a weapon, it backfires.

Thank you for tuning in today! The question of the week is: What is the weirdest Bible story?

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity(a.k.a. "Schmike") and Jmike get philosophically fun as callers discuss deconstruction and free will.

Devon in CA calls to discuss how worshiping in two religions at one time does not make sense. Some religions have beliefs that are mutually exclusive, but there are also some that are not. How often do you run into people who have dual beliefs? When you see this, analyze the two and compare the contradictions. What is the criteria used to pick these two different beliefs? It is important to have consistency to help not hold two contradictory beliefs.

Austin from TX informs us that Alex Grey is building a Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in NY, and this work of art encompasses all the theist ways of being. How do you arrive at this being what your religion is about? What are they doing to demonstrate their truth claim of there being a god? How do you determine what is true from religions to incorporate into your world view? How would this be independently verified?

Alan in TX believes we have choices with consequences so therefore we all have free will. Do you believe that if you were given the ability to rewind life, that you would not make the same decision you did five minutes prior? If you chose A over B, is there something that explains why? Are there agents in your brain that can break the causal chain? Where does the free will sneak in? How do you demonstrate that free will exists without referring to things that are predetermined? Do you think your thoughts before you think your thoughts?

Jason, a former megachurch pastor in CA, asks how to latch on to something larger than the self to find new purpose when in the state of post deconstruction. Secular Rarity explains there is nothing that is needed if one already knows how to connect with other people. There is no space to be filled because all you have is the beauty of the world around you, and no longer have the need for added magic. There are lots of systems out there that are incredibly worthwhile in terms of understanding the world and giving us a framework of what we should be doing next. When you step away from the supernatural, you get to discuss the big questions in life. The Clergy Project and Recovering from Religion are two great resources for people that are deconstructing. Love and grace from some religious communities might be conditional.

Dustin in WI believes we have free will because language informs decisions. Free will is not defended by being defeated. How do you demonstrate that something does not work out the same way if we go back in time? Just stating that you can move your arm, does not tell us that the movement was your own free will. Where does the free will come from if it exists?

Thank you for tuning in! You are pre-determined to consider the question of the week: What would be a red flag on a religious dating app? We will see you next week because you don’t have a choice in the matter.

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Today’s Atheist Experience has Objectively Dan and Christy Powell in the studio take audience questions in between wrestling with concepts from callers.

God’s Sign in CA calls to say that Christianity is not immoral because it teaches one to be selfless. Why does this need to be Christianity and not the Boy Scouts or some other organization? Many people have a moral problem with the scriptures, including the words of Paul from the New Testament. If Jesus was god, was the crucifixion really a sacrifice? How do you feel about the extortion threat of hell?

Gene in TX brings up Matthew 10 where Jesus tells the disciples to not preach his message to anyone but the people of Israel, and that some of them will still be living when he returns. There are weird differences in each of the gospels. Gene also tells us about Southern Baptist groups called the Royal Ambassadors(RAs) and Girls Auxiliary(GAs) that seem to be somewhat of a mystery.

Lee from the audience asks why it takes some people longer to figure things out with their beliefs. It is not the individual brain power; it is about how you grew up. Being smart and believing in god are not mutually exclusive ideas.

PG in TX wants to know why it seems like atheists switch from the supernatural god to the god state because they leave religion and become authoritarian. People are leaving Christianity often because of political issues. There are a lot of atheists who lean left, but why do so many people on the right have a god belief?

Omar from the audience asks if there are Bible verses or ideas that contradict the possibility of aliens. This world was supposed to be for people made in his image and if it is only 6,000 years old, aliens don’t factor into that.

Jay in IL claims that god is life and life created everything. Is cancer in children and war from god too? Why should we believe the Bible is true without using the Bible as a reference? If we all have “common sense”, why do we need the Bible? Would you have the same notion of god if you have been born in Japan where less than 2% of people believe in god?

Figgy in NY brings up that sometimes callers are questioning their beliefs. If your belief system can’t hold up to scrutiny, that is something you need to be questioning.

Jose in Honduras asks the hosts what caused them to lose their faith. Christy explains the reasons as logical errors in the bible and how LGBTQIA people would be rejected by Christ. Dan realized there were man made parts in the Bible and god has never contacted him.

Robert in TX has a dilemma because science can’t really explain the origin of things. There is a human desire to fill in any question we don't have an answer for with something else. Have Christians proved the origin?

Thank you for tuning in! The question of the Week: Where did the Catholic Church really get all their money? (Wrong answers only).

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Welcome to The Atheist Experience! Our hosts Secular Rarity and David Warnock are looking for proof of God. Or Allah. Or Jesus. Or even Thor. Will they get it? Probably not, but you will be entertained!

Peter from MA wants to talk about blasphemy, having humility, and where does that come from. Our hosts discuss how human beings need to be “checked”. That science shows us where we are wrong and to learn from being wrong. We all have limits in our knowledge, and that’s a good thing. We are all human after all.

Mason from Florida is asking why we care for animals, children, each other, etc? Unless some God or other outside entity gives us that love? Does this sound like circular reasoning? Yes reader, you are correct, it is.

Lisa from CO is on the journey! YAY! And like many, has had these thoughts, moments, feelings that feels “outside” their own thinking/experience/perspective. So, how do we differentiate between what is our own minds and something “outside” of our minds? The hosts walk through the philosophy and the psychology of how we process information, how we learn, and how it manifests into our consciousness. Our brains are amazing! (though very flawed)

Yoel from NY tells our hosts what he believes. Now, can God be the creator of everything and be everything? Confusing isn’t it? Listen in folks, this is gonna be good!

Ultimated Judeo Christian from Australia calls. He is saying words about his belief in his God and wants our hosts to convert. How does he do this? This show notes’ writer is not sure, as he sounds like a random word generator. The hosts tried to get UJC to make sense. They tried.

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Let’s welcome our first caller Michael, whose limited understanding of quantum mechanics somehow equals consciousness and that leads to God existing. Now, if this seems like a leap in logic, well because it is. This also has something to do with abiogenesis and life wouldn’t be likely without a God? Well dear audience, this seems a bit confusing & a bit of a gish gallop. Let’s watch our hosts walk Michael through the flaws in his thinking shall we?

Hey Arnold from Texas! Our number two caller brings to our hosts the probability of God due to the predisposition of human beings to believe in a God. Emma gives a great response on the flaws in evolution, animals having supernatural beliefs, and how socially we used religion/beliefs to form cultures still doesn’t prove a God/Gods.

Jimmy, our third caller from the great state of Texas asks our hosts, does rationality lead to an atheistic perspective? The hosts argue that rationality and intelligence does not mean atheism comes afterwards, nor is it a perfect tool, and in some cases may lead to flawed thinking and logic. Jimmy also explains how a “spiritual” experience informed his beliefs and our hosts question how that proves a God exists.

John from Canada calls to argue (terribly) for the “merits” of being anti-choice. Though he agrees the government shouldn’t be involved in making decisions when it comes to his own body, but if you own a uterus? Nah! Hypocritical much? This show notes writer could go into why this is silly, but our hosts do a fantastic job. Listen in!

Otari from Georgia wants to have a conversation about how it seems illogical to think the Universe came into being without a creator. Johnny and Emma bring up certain logical fallacies such as the entropy principle and the randomness of the universe as a way to counter that thinking.

Nick from New York calls in asking for help and a new perspective on the gospels, specifically that the authors would knowingly lie to say salvation comes through Jesus. Emma and Johnny bring up that the Bible can be used as a historical and mythology book for the people at that time, but still cannot be used to prove divinity or anything supernatural. This moves into a conversation of morality, God’s role to the believer, and the arguments how God, even if he existed, is not needed for morality.

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show notes uploaded when recieved

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In today’s episode of The Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows wrestles with multiple callers that trigger the best Forest Valkai science rants ever.

First caller is Art in PA who says that atheists are quitters because they skip a step. We are at a point where the god explanation is no longer needed. The first attempt to explain the natural world is oftentimes the worst attempt. Atheists have one less assumption than theists do.

Mikal in CO asks how to reply to someone that says atheists must have faith for what they believe. Faith and belief are not the same things and we proportion our beliefs to evidence. Not believing someone does not require faith. Atheists do not have the TV on any channel; it is simply off.

Elias in TN asks how to respond to people when they claim that sex is binary since gametes production determines sex. What if someone does not have gonads? Does that mean they do not have a sex? This is not new science and is undergraduate level stuff. This has only recently become a hot topic issue that is controversial. The model of sex is useful and helps explain nature, and nature does not care about our explanations. Binary for lack of a better word, is just not good enough.

Dan in Canada asks why the Laetoli footprints were huge when Lucy was supposed to be small, and not bipedal. No part of Lucy’s skeleton tells us she was ever a knuckle walker. The size of the foot does not change much about the big picture or disprove evolution. What the footprints tell us is that 3.5 million years ago there was something like us walking in this area. It is recommended you go to https://humanorigins.si.edu/ to learn more. Humans are apes, primates, mammals, and animals! Do you believe any part of the Bible is wrong? Were humans created before or after animals? In the Book of Genesis, is Chapter 1 correct or is it Chapter 2? When you try to justify the many things in the Bible that are not true, it is like carrying around a miltone. Would you use faith based thinking for anything else? Why would you not use faith to start your car?

David, an educator in AZ, asks how to respond when students ask about his beliefs. When in a public setting, it would be unethical to talk about religion or politics in any capacity to a captive audience. This would be a misuse of public funds and trust. Answering these questions will change the way the students see you and can take away their objectivity.

Thank you for tuning into the show and never stop learning! The question of the week is: What did the caller say to make Johnny P Angel look distraught?

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SHOW NOTES
Today’s Atheist Experience is the “show of hair” with Jmike and Secular Rarity. They sort through philosophical naturalism, because morality changes when god creates evil that is spoken through the unfalsifiable Quran and the all inclusive Catholic Church.

First caller is Matt from CA who tells us about The Secular Student Alliance Convention. Vist Secularstudents.org to register before it closes on Wednesday.

Rogue Show in SC calls to clarify Jmike’s position on philosophical naturalism. Natural sciences exhaust natural reality. The simplest theory is the one with the least amount of axioms, commitments, and predicates. Unjustified assumptions do not hold up to stacks of evidence.

Kevin in GA asks why we think we do not get morality from god and if morality changes over time. We see more benefit and less harm when looking at other moral systems compared to god’s system. Do you think that what is good is in virtue with god’s commands? Will the basics of mathematics be the same in the future?

Slave of Christ in TX asks about the problem of evil and says that god is all good for only the chosen ones. Does god intend there to be evil? How do you believe in an irrational god that creates evil? Either god permits the impermissible or there is not anything that is impermissible. How do you resolve this contradiction? Why would you take commands from a villain? If a view is contradictory, would you agree that the view is false?
Jamal in Ca does not know if the hosts are really atheists, and asks the hosts what proof is needed to believe god exists. How is what the Quran says about embryology true? There is nothing in this book that is novel. We are going to be tortured in hell for eternity under Allah’s view and so will you unless you can provide some evidence to convince us because our sins are yours now. The Quran places other people’s burdens on you.

Mary in FL asks about the difference between ought and is and had some general questions about logical fallacies. Ought and “is” are unrelated except for when the premise contains both an “is” statement and a value. Descriptive premises do not follow value statements, and we can’t get prescriptions from descriptions. There must be more work put in to fill in the gap. Search for intro books about logic, inference rules, formal and formal fallacies, and propositional logic.

Xavier in FL wants to know what is wrong with the Catholic Church. The church puts aside money that is specifically used for fighting against holding people accountable for abusing children. Enough said.

Thank you for tuning in everyone! The question of the week : If it weren’t for ____________, I would still believe in God.

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show notes upon receipt

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jmike and Doctor Ben die for Jesus so immorality won’t cause riots from atheists with meaningless worldviews after disconnecting emotionally from religion.

Davis in CO wants to know why people would die for Jesus if it was not true. What does the psychological state of your reasoning have to do with whether it is true or not? When death is the gateway to getting to a better existence, and people honestly believe it, they will embrace it. Huge amounts of people believing in something does not have any bearing on its truth. People are willing to risk their existence for smaller things than a reason for eternity.

Patrick in AR experienced his wife having a vision after dying in his arms. After she was revived, he was told her recovery was miraculous. The treatment used at the facility such as epinephrine and CPR increase the chances of survival. We don’t know medically why someone survives in this state for so long, but we also don’t have a reason to believe it is supernatural. Statistically, the outlier events are going to occur, and there will always be someone who asks why that happens to them. Hug the people around you and love them.

Trevor in MI has some questions about Biblical interpretations when having conversations with his dad. If you want to be correct about something, then you need to have a principle and intention of what was said. How do you validate anyone’s interpretation? You could follow a weird train of interpretation to the original which turns out to be a different denomination entirely. God is seemingly the author of confusion.

Jon in Canada says that god is necessary for morality, and immorality is what causes riots. How do you explain wrong things that occur in god’s world? Can people do good things for bad reasons? What evidence do you have that supports the claim that people being immoral are the cause of riots?

Icon in Canada presents a thought experiment where we attach reasonableness to time, where a belief is reduced by a percentage slowly over time. What metric would we use to assign the percentages?

Adam in Saudi Arabia finds it unattractive to accept life being meaningless as part of atheism. If an intrinsic value is not forced on something, does that make it any less valuable? If everything has a purpose, then can we agree there is a reason for all events, good and bad? When babies die suddenly, are we going to say they need to die as some sort of a sacrifice for whatever a deity needs to prove? It makes no sense to simultaneously have evil and good if evil is the thing that leads to the good.

Shi in the USA asks how to disconnect from religion emotionally after already disconnecting intellectually. What does emotional disconnecting mean to you? You may not need to entirely disconnect in that way.

Thank you for tuning in this week! The question of the week is: What do you think is the weirdest prayer god has ever heard?

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows and Christy Powell are live in the studio! They will discover different economic systems through absolute morality before performing a thought experiment with god as the arbiter of morality. This god is responsible for the high level grammar of the Quran and the fine tuning of the universe. We know this because we can’t replicate abiogenesis and the messianic prophecy is all we need for proof of Jesus.

Julia in Florida would like to hear input on other gods that we have in our society such as different systems. Economic systems can be one of these things. Look at what you are willing to do to support what you believe.

Audience Question- Kathy wants to know about absolute morality. Morality is a judgment of behavior. How do you prove that an animal is acting out of forethought and no instinct?

Michael in GA presents a thought experiment. If there was a god, then that god must be the arbiter of all morality. The god of the Bible is not only imaginary but also sounds like a narcist.

Omar in CA presents the Quran as the highest level of grammar and is a sign of the original being preserved. What does the highest level of grammar mean? How is the Quran different from any other book? Before voice recordings, how do you prove the voice vocalizations are the same? Why is the Quran superior?

Frank in NC asks what the hosts would accept as proof for god. We don’t know what that evidence would be exactly. It is frustrating to see people indulging in antidotes that don’t work in place of real life solutions. What is the evidence for the god you believe in? If we talk about probability, there is a problem with sample size and inherent sampling error. The problem with fine tuning is we only have one universe to draw samples from. If you don’t know what something is, how do you know that it is fine tuned?

Mike in WA asks if we have ever been able to replicate abiogenesis. Just because we can’t replicate this, does not mean that it did not happen. Not knowing the answer to something does not prove that something else exists. Over the last 3,000 years, we have no new evidence for the existence of god, and no phenomena has been proven to be supernatural. Are you trying to make the watchmaker argument from design? This will not work for people who think critically.

Anthony in MA brings up the Messianic Prophecy argument. If there are a number of books in a series, and the first book is true, how does that make the other books true? There are a number of stories in the Bible that we know did not happen as written. The people who wrote the gospels knew of the prophecies and they were more interested in theology than they were history.

Thank you for being here everybody! Question of the week is: If god is so powerful, then why hasn’t she___________?

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show notes upload upon reciept

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show notes upon reciept

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Welcome to this week's episode of The Atheist Experience. Host Jim Barrows is joined by Talk Heathen regular Secular Rarity. It's going to be a great show, so let's get onto the calls.

Unbeliever discusses the difficulties and the benefits of coming out as an atheist in a Muslim family. How do we navigate these conversations and in the long run, is it worth having?

What does an open or closed universal system show there is a God? Our hosts and John debate the flaws in this concept, that solipsism cannot be proven or disproven, and adding assumptions where we don’t have answers doesn’t solve anything.

Caller Roland asks if having faith in a God the more reasonable explanation for everything vs. the skepticism atheists have. Does existence have a purpose?

Romeo is curious, have our hosts heard any “good” arguments for God? Romeo,Jim, & Secular Rarity discuss what is convincing evidence for a God and how does one move from being an atheist into a believer? Are those reasons valid? Ehh, probably not. Also, an evolution argument..again!

Science Time! Eli calls in and asks “where does energy and mass come from?” Jim patiently explains the science and how to avoid the argument from ignorance fallacy. Eli admits to having some doubts as well while our hosts how we become more skeptical.

Ni and the hosts explore what absolute truth is, the standard for it, scientific proof, and what standard of evidence would be sufficient to prove God is real.

Slave of Christ explains what sin is and how it is a “good” standard of immoral acts. Our hosts pushed back against this argument followed with a discussion of ethics, morality, and the areas of gray the bible does not provide answers for. Also biblical slavery defended again—ugh!

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai is joined by Jmike!

Frank from the USA claims that if you don’t believe in God, your life is meaningless. The first premise of this fallacious “argument” is the existence of objective morality. Here’s my advice, slow down and think this through.

Chris from SC wants clarification on the difference between sex and gender.

Cliff from Canada wants to ask, eventually, why we ought to worship God assuming it is real.

Mr. Warlight is calling in with an argument for the supernatural that our hosts just CAN’T HANDLE.

Abhishek from India wants to know why it’s so important to question religious beliefs and focus on its problems when it does have benefits.

Andrew from Canada’s argument for God is the same processes science textbooks go through when they are updated. Why revamp the bible? If it’s outdated in terms of its conclusions about reality, why would it be useful to go back and rewrite it with our current scientifical findings integrated when the bible has nothing to do with modern science? Instead of having a story with inaccurate claims about reality, you now have a story with some inaccurate carry-overs, because they have to be there for the bible to still be the bible, with some modern scientific understandings sprinkled in.

Chuck from HI believes that matter, space, stars, and Earth are all eternal. Oxygen is as eternal as everyone’s excitement about Marvel’s Eternals.I would add more, but anything I say would detract from whatever just happened.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Johnny P. Angel is joined by Seth Andrews!

First up is Mr. Warlight from AK who believes that the hosts whom they’ve previously debated on the show have been closed-minded to their arguments.

Mike from WA claims that naturalist claims about the origins of life are irrational. Where have I heard this argument before?

Daniel from WI asks the hosts how serious they are about actually finding the truth. The proof for the truth of a global flood is wherever Daniel is.

Felix from FL claims that exorcisms are evidence of the existence of hell. There are quite a few sub-claims that need to be justified before we can get to that conclusion.

Clark from CA believes that there is a separation between the mind and brain. The claim is that the mind is immaterial and doesn’t need to be connected to a physical form and that this somehow points to the existence of God.

David from NY is calling to discuss the book, “The Late Great Planet Earth,” which the caller claims predicts many recent events.

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Welcome back to the show! Please welcome today’s hosts of the Atheist Experience, Johnny P. Angel and ObjectivelyDan!

Dave from WI wants to know if our hosts believe that there is any validity of prophecy. The caller seems to think so.

Jon from Canada claims Atheism is a religion because they are woke and believe in things that are based on their own ideas. So is being woke at all relevant? So does that mean that Christian fundamentalist denominations are not actually religions?

Frank from NC asks what our hosts think of the idea that God is actually source-energy that jumpstarted the big bang.

Michael from UT has faith that aliens exist but in a super unexciting way. We have an example of a planet that can sustain life, therefore it is possible that another planet somewhere in the universe might have life of some variety on it.

John from IA had a mystical (hallucination) experience that lead them to agnostic atheism.

Pablo from Spain asks why finding the truth is important. Why hunt for the truth when the search for it might negatively impact humanity in the process or disrupt the status quo?

Jonah from TN wants to know if reforming the church is an attainable goal. It's one of those things that as an institution will always be lagging behind, but I’d rather work to reform it and get half of its followers to fight for progressive issues than not and have all of them work to maintain injustice.

Kennedy from CA asks if became possible for us to scientifically investigate the possibility of life after death, would that sway people away from religion?

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Welcome back to the show! Please welcome today’s hosts of the Atheist Experience, Kenneth and Jmike!

Mr. Warlight from Ak claims he can prove the spiritual form of Jesus Christ and even better can do so on the show! No, he can’t.

Clark from CA has a transcendental argument for God and asks if moral statements are propositional.

Kevin from GA claims that traditional Christian values produce the most moral society. Why are we in such a rush to toss those society-shaping rules aside?

Amunuel from TX wants to discuss Kenneth’s position of free will when it comes to the proposition that God created people. Apparently, god created some people to be saved and others to be sent to hell and punished. What an immoral thug that God is.

Jon from Canada is back, again. Today he asks what evidence would convince our hosts. Listen to Kenneth’s fantastic reframing of this question.

Zach from D.C. asks if Atheists have an argument against Islam. Apparently, Atheism is just doubt and arrogance. If it is arrogant to admit you don’t know something, then I’ll take arrogance any day. “Beware this boy.” - Dickens.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Johnny P. Angel and Phoebe Rose!

Scott from (PL) has a justification for biblical slavery and genocide because morality is subjective. Kill or be killed, I guess?

Tommy from AL is calling to explain how the Fibonacci number sequence is evidence of intelligent design. How would conclude that this sequence is evidence of an intelligent creator and not just a coincidence in nature?

Gary from MD asks why so many people are convinced that they will continue on in an afterlife when they die given that we don’t have any experience with non-existence.

Tim from D.C. asks why atheists bust on God and Jesus instead of just accepting God and freeing themselves. Loving God is the only thing that matters. How exactly is that freedom if there is only one acceptable action you can partake in and it's based on the demands of an unsubstantiated god?

Mike from WA asks if the formation and combination of 300 amino acids in the “correct” order to form life were caused by random chance.

Mack from CA is an atheist who has a Mormon friend who is being abused by their religion and church and doesn’t know what to do to help them.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai and Johnny P. Angel!

Frank from the USA is calling to teach us atheists that God is real and how we are leading ourselves away from salvation. Turns out the evidence is the spirits we met along the way.

Mark from NY wants to talk about the great ostracization of Intelligent Design “theorists” by the scientific consensus and mainstream, accredited scientific journals. ID isn’t a theory. It's creationism with a gilded scientific paint job that started peeling off on day one because ID isn’t the same base layer as properly conducted science.

Mike from FL is calling to prove the existence of God and ask why our hosts would still refuse to believe in the Christian God even if they became convinced he was real.

Emery from CA is non-binary and is wondering if science can explain why a person might identify as non-binary.

Chris from NY wants to know if Forrest has any sources that can give help them explain the steps from the Big Bang to life as we know it now. Forrest recommends Astrobiology Primerby Nasa.

Amanuel from TX claims that everything written in scripture is ethical. That’s it, I have nothing else. What could you possibly add to that?

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, JMike is joined by MD Aware!

Nicol from Armenia is wondering how atheists organize their marriages compared to that of biblical Christians.

Joe from KA is calling to express frustration with atheists’ answer to Christians with regards to God creating a world where humans can perform evil. Why would God create a world where evil can take place?

Hay Z from LA is calling in to discuss evolution. The caller is having a hard time understanding how the world can be so orderly and a perfect fit for us if God didn’t create everything.

Kevin from WI wants to discuss science and the assumptions that scientists make prior to doing the work. Can you trust the findings if said findings are based on unjustified assumptions?

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai is joined by Dave Warnock!

Our first caller of 2023 is Greg from TX who is wondering why it would be useful to prove the existence of God? What is the purpose of the “why” question that is always asked by host’s on this show?

Carlos from Argentine is calling to discuss the rise of Christianity in the Argentinian government and how the caller was persecuted for their activision the separation of religion and government.

Rick from Canada believes that the theory of evolution is full of many holes including that Forrest can’t disprove talking donkeys, horses, and snakes. Interesting hole you’ve found. The evidence indicates that it is of the rabbit variety.

Bill from IL recently deconverted from their religion and is looking for advice about how they are going to tell their wife?

Sir Delicioso from Canada has an argument for why the God of the Bible is good. Get ready for this tapdancing defense at justifying genocide.

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The Midshow Promo clips. You like them! You love them! You want more of them! Well, consider your prayers answered, because we present some of the best moments from our past season. The video elves have been working overtime to bring you this collection of some of the funniest, most intense, and overall best segments.

We’ll be back to live production in the new year, but for now the hosts, crew and volunteers of The Atheist Experience and The Atheist Community of Austin wish you all the best for this holiday season and in the new year to come. We’ll see you next year!

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As we wind down 2022, we wanted to take a look back at all the best moments of the current season, and we've chosen the Top 5 calls, as determined by your viewing. Relive some of the most memorable and favorite moments from this past year of The Atheist Experience.

We are also compiling this collection so that we could give you something interesting to watch over the holidays, but also give our hard-working hosts and crew some time off to spend with their family and friends.

The ACA wishes you all the best for 2023, and make sure to join us in this coming year for more of the stuff you love!

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows is joined Student Doctor Ben at the Freethought Library!

Kevin from GA disputes the reliability and double standards of social constructs. From a social perspective, the caller asks why it isn’t acceptable to kick down someone’s door to steal food from others if we are hungry? If humans are animals and other animals will take drastic action in the name of self-preservation, why is this any less acceptable?

Jon from Canada has ultimate proof of God. It's the force. Jon, are you 100% sure that it isn’t the Schwartz?

Paul from Canada is calling to ask about what the terms: gnostic, agnostic, theist, and atheist mean, and how and when to use them.

Seth from ID believes that atheists get the meaning of separation of church and state wrong. The caller claims that the statement was to prevent a specific sect of Christianity from becoming the dominant faith in the United States, not that religion and government should be separate. Oh boy...
Olivia from IL has some beef and feedback for the show. Gotta shut down the theists at the name of their God.

Audience Question One asks how certain anti-choice individuals who also believe in free will get around it when it comes to situations involving for example, rape, something that clearly violates the mother’s free will.

Brittany from GA is a questioning Christian who despite discovering holes in the faith they were indoctrinated to believe, is still struggling to cope with the fear of a Christian hell.

Hank from TX argues that slavery is a part of what makes humans special compared to other species. Why do humans only take moral issue with humans enslaving humans and not humans enslaving animals?

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, JMike is joined by Dave Warnock!

Davis from CO is calling to ask about what God or what kind of God atheists are rejecting. The caller states that they do not have enough faith to ascribe to “the atheist worldview” whatever that is.

Julian from FL has a question about Job 38:16 and how it predicted the recently discovered geysers in the sea. How did we get to that out of this vague verse?

Bear from WA claims that God’s glory is indirectly derived from permitting a world, he created, where there is both good and evil. If he is either capable of creating a world where there is no evil or stepping in when evil is being committed for the sake of his own necessary glory, why should anyone think of this God as a self-centered, pacifistic thug? And unfortunately for you, without evidence to support the existence of this God that would otherwise act as your ideology’s meat shield, your beliefs Bear, are abhorrent and disgusting on their own merit.

Johan from FL presents a two-pronged argument that people should just support the broad concept of well-being, regardless of religious or non-religious belief. There needs to be a specific definition in order to actually assess the concept because well-being as a term is far too vague to make any judgment call. Well being for whom and based on what?

James from AZ asks if science or atheism requires faith. Science is based upon evidence and testing and therefore doesn’t fall into the same category as faith as its used when theists talk about God. Previous determinations of science do not become pseudoscience because they are proven to be false. They just are no longer the current determinations for a particular scientific field. Pseudoscience differs in that is not falsifiable (i.e. psychics).

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai is joined by JMike!

Muhammad from CA wants to discuss their views that naturalism takes away the characteristics that make humans unique. But a lack of uniqueness and predetermined purpose doesn’t necessarily correlate with value or worthiness?

Sheep of God, because why not, from TX is calling to defend the claim that secularism is a form of faith. The more atheist shows SoG watched, the more they learned about their doctrine and the more their faith strengthened.

Brian from Canada asks that given many atheist’s don’t believe there is substantial evidence for God, what kinds of evidence are our host’s looking for?

Mark from NY believes that evidence exists that leads to the conclusion that god is more probable. What is this evidence you might ask? It’s that atheism failed to provide answers to some of the caller’s questions. Just because something claims to have answers in no way means that those answers are true, and atheism’s lack of explanation to said questions doesn’t equal evidence against atheism.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Student Doctor Ben is joined Adam Elmasri!

Jon from Canada is calling to ask what is one’s purpose in life if the person doesn’t believe in God or if there isn’t a god? And also education about trans people is apparently the equivalent of genocide, and no they won’t defend that.

Jaime from TX wants to know how to criticize Islam without coming off as Islamophobic especially with the history of that in the U.K. Make it general about the core foundation of theism, and engage specifically only if the conversation shifts to a specific religion. Even then, don’t attack the religion or its culture but instead, focus on getting them to defend the claims made in the book.

Rick from Canada is just calling to tell us that if we don’t agree with God’s genocide of the Canaanites and Amalekites or else were the evil ones? Because inbreeding? Whaaaaaaaat, why? Lot of genocide talk so far today.

David from Romania is calling to talk about how their mother claims to have seen God and offers the follow up question of how our hosts would react if they found themselves in her position.

Michael from GA wants to ask if God was determined to be real, does their existence correlate to the validity of their moral pronouncements? Is what the God says objective, or is it just another slew of subjective moral judgments but this time being made by someone who is potentially smite happy.

Henry from Estonia is calling to present an argument that pulling people away from religion is causing harm. Specifically, the caller saw read some articles and watched a video saying the religious people live longer than atheists, but didn’t read the actual studies.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai is joined by Christy Powell!

First up is Damien from WA who wants advice on how to explain to their family that they don’t enjoy the religious inquiries and love, and that their non-belief is not an attack on them.

Jay from IA asks why Atheists feel the need to talk about their non-belief and tell others God doesn’t exist all the time. The answer varies from atheist to atheist based on their own experiences. But don’t worry, the call doesn’t stop there so be sure to keep watching and listening?

Next is Bear from WA who is presenting personal testimony about how they experienced problems with their life, but that these problems resolved themselves after seeking out God.

Eric from WI is calling to tell Atheists that God doesn’t send them to hell, but that we send ourselves. Theists have had 12 years to make the choice to revise and rehabilitate this argument before calling in again, but they haven’t.

Next is Nicole from Armenia who is wondering if the Bible is a good guide for having successful relationships & marriage?

Teo from Croatia wants to talk about how its ridiculous that people judge people who have not read the bible or believe in a God in ways they wouldn’t judge others.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai is joined by Dave Barrows!

First up is Victoria from Chile is wondering if religion or religious practices, given their predominance across modern cultures, may have first formed prior to the emergence of homo sapiens.

Next is King from AK is calling to present evidence, that at least to their friend, that Atheists converting to Christianity such as C.S. Lewis and Anthony Flew is evidence for god. The evidence would be based on their reason for the conversion, not merely that they became Christian.

Joshua from NC believes that gender and sex are the same for biological reasons. Forrest can explain this far better than I can even if I had an unlimited character count so listen to him. Jim’s Recommended Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.3988

Frisco from AZ is working hard to figure out the mind-state of Atheists, but not too hard because we’re weird and the worst of human beings. Yes. We are laughing.

Amanual from TX is calling to address the constant atheist question, “why won’t God reveal himself to us?” Why would anyone worship and follow the rules attributed to something whose existence is not at all demonstrable?

James from OH is calling to present the biblical prophecies as physical evidence for God. Even if the prophecies appeared to have come true, that doesn’t evidence that these said events were caused by a religious reason, a God.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Kenneth is joined by the one and only Dave Warnock!

Michael from CA is calling to claim the prophecies in the Bible are in fact accurate because the Euphrates River is drying up, waters in China are turning blood red (not actually turning to human blood.) and that there are wars and rumors of wars.

Jay from NY presents the double slit experiment and the observer effect in order to demonstrate that conscious observation actively affects the particles of our universe.

Drew from CA claims to have biblical evidence that the Bible is true, specifically that the New Testament and Old Testament stories align and fit with each other.

John from CA comes fully loaded with threats about our going to hell and a claim that the bible is smarter than you about deciding who is saved or not. Lots of preaching with this one.

Diana from CA wants to point out the correlation from the psychological tactic of love bombing to some of the methods used by religions to gain and maintain the interest of children through tactics such as gift giving.

Jaime from TX is calling to ask if there is ever a situation where any books should be bad. Books, even if dangerous, should be allowed to exist with the hope that the “bad” books should be critically analyzed with the intent of education and learning on why the bad ideas presented are in fact detrimental. But banning is a slippery slope based entirely on the dominant ideology in power.

Amanual from TX claims the New Testament apostles were credible...because they died brutally? Doom Guy brutally rips and tears through the demonic armies of hell. Does the gruesomeness of their deaths portrayed in DOOM in any way prove this demon army exists?

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows is joined by Johnny P. Angel!

First up is Kevin from Canada who claims that there are other dimensions, among many other claims. So. Many. Claims.

Next up is Sarah from Belgium who is beginning to question their faith, and asks out hosts if there is any truth to Judaism. Historically speaking regarding the Israelites, definitely. With regards to the religious beliefs and stories, likely less so.

Connor, TX from the audience asks our hosts what their opinion is on having nuanced rules for taxing churches based on size (i.e. Megachuches versus small community congregations.) The answer may surprise you.

Max from TX was a theist, but after listening to the show they are starting to question whether they are still a Theist.

William, TX from the audience continues the conversation started by Connor by asking if the hosts are concerned that gauging the tax status of churches based on how much they benefit their community opens the door to excessive proselytizing?

Patrick from FL is an agnostic who disagrees with the definition of agnostic on google and wants the hosts to convince them to be an Atheist.

Allen from Jamaica is calling to ask why God decided to hold off on creating a woman, Eve, rather than just create her with Adam. Just another thing to add to the nonsense list of the story I guess.

Bill from TX is calling to ask why there aren’t atheist churches, and why doesn’t the ACA create one. Bill sees the growth of the “Nones” as an example of a group of people who need accessible groups that mirror the community-building aspects of religious organizations but are secular. This way these individuals don’t come out of religion into an unfamiliar social void.

Jon from Canada is calling to tell us that removing God from the United States is causing the moral decay of society. Which society? All of it presumably.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, JMike is joined by Jim Barrows!

First up is Kevin from GA, a theist who disagrees with slavery in the Bible, especially the constant Christian defense. The issue is, the caller also admits that God’s commands are perfectly justified and should be followed, therefore contradicting their own moral judgments.

Aman from TX doesn’t find owning another human being as property to be moral but also doesn’t find their god who supports slavery to be immoral.

Charlie from FL argues that the tree of knowledge of good and evil is evidence that humans shouldn’t be allowed to follow a moral system that deviates from God’s own. Why is God punishing humans for falling for a trap that he set up?

Tyler from IN is calling to recount the time they found themselves indoctrinated into a cult and their path to getting out.

Duane from WV is calling to draw a comparison between the tenets of narcissism and the Christian God. Needless to say, a ven diagram between a human narcissist and God would be very large in the middle section.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Shannon Q is joined by Kenneth!

First up is Mark from CA who wants to write a letter to their young relatives who have been raised in a fundamentalist environment and would like advice from our hosts on what to open the letter with.

Next is Troy from WA who doesn’t necessarily believe in a God, but is convinced that there is a high probability of other life in the universe and that one of these other intelligent organisms created us in their image. Basically, the caller went to the “Alien: Covenant” school of intelligent design.

Next is Aaron from WY who is curious as to why the human brain appears to be wired to jump to unfounded conclusions, i.e. spiritual thinking.

Dmitry from MA recently read a book that introduces mathematics as the foundational truth of the universe, and that the Bible spirituality is a corruption of this truth.

BenDan from WI will return later...

Michael from GA has a question on how to go about conversing with theists and helping walk a theist through the problems with their methodology and the derived conclusion.

BenDan the “Researchur” from WI is back to tell us that the soul is the part of the mind that moves on after death to be judged. Prepare yourself for warp 10 analogies!

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Forrest Valkai is joined by Dave Warnock!

Charles from TX is calling to claim that Revelations 17:5 is the reason for all of the evil done in the name of Catholicism.

Next is David from Australia who after decades of indoctrination is hit head on with the prospect of the religion not be true, or worse manipulative. The caller is struggling with pushing past their fear of hell from their lifetime of it being used as a tool to keep them in line.

Luke from CA has a five premise argument to make God exist in our world. You could use this argument to make any literally any fantasy character exist in our world...doesn’t mean they do.

Believer in God (BIG) from WA isn’t convinced that Atheists are actually real and those who claim to be Atheist are actually pretending Theists. They believe this because polygraphs.

Diana from KS doesn’t believe that Atheists cannot judge morality because they lack an objective moral standard. Appealing to an authoritarian moral framework can be nice because its easy to judge right from wrong, but it doesn’t necessarily align with what might actually be right and what might be wrong in specific situations, especially if no justification is given or justification in the form of faith based threats of punishment.

Ruben from TX doesn’t think it is okay for Atheists to use the Old Testament, specifically verses regarding slavery to argue against modern Christians because apparently slavery was okay back then.

Finally, Kyle from OH views the world as a complex puzzle, and if the pieces weren’t placed in the perfect order and location, then life wouldn’t exist. Therefore there must have been a creator because there needs to be an intelligence capable of solving said puzzle, but only here, not Venus.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jim Barrows!

Mr. Warlights from AK starts off the show by accusing Matt of secretly believing in spirits because Matt is just a normal human like the rest of us, and regular humans all believe in spirits. You know, as opposed to all of the not regular humans who don’t?

Next is Isaiah from Korea who is calling to talk about the parental reaction to deconversion, or not sharing the religion of their parents, and why some parents react so harshly compared to others.

Kevin from CA is convinced that a God exists because they encountered portal spirits who showed them a plane of existence that mirrors our own reality.

JB from CO calls in to present problems they see with any reliance on naturalism regarding answering questions about our perceived reality.

Next up is Jeremy from Fl who asks our hosts if a coincidence would ever be enough to convince our hosts that there is a god or supernatural power controlling the universe.

Darius from CA claims to have an argument that will prove that no one really believes that a God exists. Care to explain how you managed to get into every person’s head?

Paul from PA doesn’t understand why Atheists get to ask Theists for evidence supporting their beliefs, but Theists can’t do the same for Atheists. Effectively, why don’t Atheists have a burden of proof?

Chris from Sweden proposes the Hitchens razor, “what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence,” and attempts to nullify it with a weird example of Matt questioning his mother about who his father is.

Phillip from PA asks how someone would be able to discern the universe of some cosmic being sending you a message, or just something fabricated by your own mind.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Andrew Seidel!

Dustin from TX is calling to ask Matt what his stance is on the claim that they “choose to believe” in a God. How can you choose to be convinced? You either are or you aren't.

Next is Jaime from the audience who was called something unfortunate after stating they were an agnostic, and are curious if agnosticism really is just sitting on the fence.

Thomas from KY is calling to ask how Christianity is attempting to weaponize the religious freedom outlined in the first amendment within US legislation.

Pedro from Ireland has an argument for God that requires God to be undeniable and necessary. What a great, absolutely unhelpful definition.

Next is Mark from AL who claims to have an answer to the question of divine hiddenness.

Next is Seth from TX who asks for the legal standing on the more creative, rebellious signs being donated in response to the “In God We Trust” signage law.

Peter from Canada claims to have irrefutable evidence. Apparently evidence = Gish gallop. This call feels as chaotic as the Mt. Saint Helens eruption.

Patrick from NY believed in a God because they believe they have experienced answered prayers.

Trent from OH is wondering if one of the driving forces behind many religions is death denial, or at least serves as an attempt to add meaning to life when there may not be one.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Shannon Q is joined by Dave Warnock!

First up is Philip from Canada who is calling to answer this weeks poll question “Is the Holy Spirit something that is experienced outside the brain?” Why did God reveal himself to you and save you from overdose and abandoned others in your same situation.

Next is Michael from KY who claims to have evidence for the existence of God which is apparently hidden in the “Book of Eli” with Denzel Washington, no doubt hidden in the secret number code Michael was transmitting throughout the call. Also Michael is God–the caller, not the Archangel.

Next is Steven from AZ who brings up their experience of wanting to return to religion after suffering a near-death experience, and is wondering if the hosts have any experiences of their own or advice for dealing with this pull?

Robin from DC is going to overturn our trailer for the show with a transcendental argument for the existence of God. God’s revelation to everyone supports premise one for the argument that God exists. This sounds like an elliptical argument at best.

Kelly from CA is calling to present an argument for the existence of God through an appeal to the physical, aka an argument from contingency.

Zeleni from Europe continues the conversation of the previous call to pose the question if it is even possible for God to have the trait of pure benevolence. Thank you for calling!

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jmike!

First up is Tyler from TX who is an Atheist who is calling to explain the better reason for why God condones slavery in the bible. But why tho?

Next up is Aaron from IL who believes that Catholicism is absolutely factual and their God is the one true God. The caller is very adamant in telling us what they believe but is incapable of actually explaining why they believe.

MacGruber from Canada is calling to present a presuppositional argument to demonstrate that God has revealed the truth of Revelations to all of us.

Next is Erik from MI who experienced something they can’t explain, but doesn’t want to label as supernatural. The caller wants advice on how to go about determining the cause of said experience.

Next up is Kevin from Canada who is a former Christian who has now transitioned to Daoism. The caller mentions that Daoists didn’t have a problem with him when we were Christian, which begs the question, does Daoism care about the truth of one’s beliefs?

James from NM is struggling with family after the death of their brother. The caller is an Atheist but their immediate family is fundamentalist and is threatening the caller’s well-being and assistance with alcoholism if the caller doesn’t participate in their fundamentalist rituals.

Kyle from TX recently discovered the subject of synesthesia and is curious if it has anything to do with certain individuals having the ability to see auras.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jim Barrows!

First up is James from Canada who supposedly has scientific evidence that supports Jonah’s ability to survive in a whale’s mouth. Except it wasn’t a whale's mouth, but the stomach of a fish.

Our first audience question of the show asks what the host’s opinion what the weirdest Christian denomination is.

Next is Sean from UT who criticizes referencing the harm caused by Christianity throughout history because they don’t believe those who carried out that harm truly understood the bible’s teachings.

Next is audience member James from TX who asks if the same criteria used to determine which books to include in the bible can be used to exclude certain books.

Bob from VA thinks Atheists won’t accept that God does all of the miraculous things the caller claims he can because they willingly don’t understand.

Roy from IL presents an argument for the exodus story and how this is evidence for biblical truth and the existence of a messiah.

Next is Kevin from GA who believes Matt holds theists to a different burden of proof than he does himself.

Kai from Israel asks how atheists can evaluate something as immoral without an objective moral authority, and if they can, why should anyone care or respect their subjective moral opinion?

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, JMike is joined by Forrest Valkai!

First up is Charles from Canada who is calling to present a bible quote that supposedly supports the truth of evolution. What about all of the other verses that do not?

Next is Luc from Canada who disagrees that Atheists can have an objective moral system without belief in a God. There are objective facts about our reality that we can form a morality around. Chopping off someone’s head objectively damages someone physically, so we can then objectively evaluate the action of head-chopping and come to the exact same moral conclusion.

Antonio from AL is calling to argue that the Bible is the evidence for God and that Atheists are unfairly throwing out the Bible because science can’t yet explain all of the claims. The caller also believes that Adam and Even were literally formed out of dust and a rib respectively, and cites modern science and medical procedures that vaguely align with the claim to support it.

Alcibiates from FL thinks that we ignore science when it comes to gender identity. Also, vaccines aren’t necessary because they didn’t get vaccinated and interacted with old people and they didn’t get sick.

Next is Henry from Estonia who claims that since religious people are as a collective happier, therefore it’s better to be religious than Atheist.

Tyler from IN is calling to discuss the typical theist rebuttal, “Everybody knows there was a historical Jesus.” The caller dug into finding evidence for that claim and like most of us, couldn’t find anything. Even if he did exist, a historical Jesus in no way supports the magical aspects claimed in the Bible.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Shannon Q is joined by Secular Rarity!

Our first caller today is Charles from Canada who claims that the big bang model is consistent within the story of Genesis.

Next is Kevin from NV who is very persuasive in converting people to their beliefs, but is concerned about bigoted acts being committed by these people after deconverting.

Bob from VA is convinced that “all” Atheists are just making arguments from personal incredulity. Your definitionally significant God is realistically insignificant and has zero explanatory power.

Next up is Emily from MA who is wondering if mental illness increases the likelihood of a person becoming religious or increasing the religiosity of an individual.

Aaron from IL claims to have a clear argument with straight forward evidence for the claim that God, a supernatural being, is biologically natural.

Our final caller Andrew from ME wants to tell us that there is an equal amount of evidence for evolution as there is for creationism. Is the caller well read on the theory of evolution? That is up for you to decide.

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Welcome back to the show! In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Kenneth!

Our first caller today is Michael from MI who believes that mathematical imaginary numbers can prove the existence of well– their definition of God at least.

Denver from VA wants advice on how to introduce skepticism to their very unskeptical girlfriend who believes in significant amounts of woo including astrology and alternative “natural” medicine. While the caller doesn’t want to interfere with their right to do these medical procedures on their own body, they are concerned about the future if they happen to have a kid.

Ralph from FL is calling to demonstrate the existence of a God but claims that you must accept it first then look for evidence. Alright then, the initial singularity that the big bang originated from was actually a hot dog, just accept it. I don’t know what goes into modern hot dogs, maybe this one contained all of the matter in the universe, trust me.

Tyler from MD asserts that because we can’t know everything or have evidence for every claim, that faith is somehow a viable alternative.

Khan from India is calling to make a case that Atheists have a faith-based position because they claim to know no gods exist. No, we don't.

Eric from NY is calling to present an argument from complexity and modified watchmakers analogy, but with atoms and smartphones and beavers so it's cooler.

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Welcome back to the Atheist Experience everyone! Today, here to kick off our first episode back in the studio are your hosts, Jim Barrows and Christy Powell!

Our first audience question is from Aaron from TX who is wondering how our host’s ended up volunteering here at the ACA?

Rodney from MI is calling to prove the existence of the Christian God. Their evidence is that they believe in Jesus and his life story, and the likeness of the near-death experience accounts.

Next is Gohan from TX who wants to know when it is ok to force someone else’s to use their body without their permission? This person is like the magic eight ball of anti-abortion arguments, always wrong.

Next is Andrew from TX who asks why theist apologists continue trying to use the non-interactive deistic “nothing” god as a stepping stone to get to their own interactive god.

Up next is Vàclav from the Czech Republic who is calling to tell us about the biblical stories and mythological claims that convinced them in the past.

Next up is Larry from TX gets annoyed when people tell him that Atheism is just another religion and is wondering if the host’s have any advice for how to respond.

Nancy from TX points out that Austin is known as a beacon of blue in a sea of red, and is concerned about how the insane governmental decisions are going to affect that “balance.”

Steve from FL is grieving a loved one, and despite recognizing the irrationality of believing in a God without evidence, they still feel a pull towards it due to the hope it gives of seeing them again. The caller is wondering if our hosts have any advice for how to sequester this feeling of hope.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows is joined by Kenneth!

First up is Kevin from FL who compares our relationship to God, as a child’s to their parents. From this, the caller claims that God’s past actions and “rules” about morality are disagreeable to us because we are incapable of understanding his reasoning in a similar manner to how a child doesn’t understand why playing video games all day can be detrimental.

Marcus from KY apparently has a miraculous survival story after getting attacked by a black bear. What about the story indicates a miracle occurred?

Jay from MO asks our hosts about evil atheists and if they would want to live in a sin filled, evil atheist world filled. I’m not necessarily saying the framing of the question is underdeveloped, but, I’m definitely saying that.

Jody from DC is coming in with a plan to prove God’s existence with metaphysics and ontology. I am looking for an oasis of a single relevant point in this expansive desert of ideas.

Next is Mohammed in the United Arab Emirates who is an Atheist parent with a child entering the school system soon, and doesn’t want to outright tell their kid that God is made up, but also doesn’t want their child to be pressured into Islam by those around them.

Next is Rich from GA who asks our hosts if they would think getting cast into hell by God is unfair because they maintained their skepticism and didn’t accept God prior to their death? Well yeah, obviously.

Up next is Michael from FL came out of religion and became a skeptic relatively recently, and explains that when he hears personal religious anecdotes, they feel like they have to actively hold back their years of indoctrination that draws them to those claims, but recognizes that just “tuning it out” is no longer skepticism.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Dave Warnock is joined by Forrest Valkai!

First up is Devon from CA who asks our hosts why tragedies, big or small, influence people’s position on the God belief either one way or the other? Why do bad things happen to good people, and vice versa?

Next up is Daniel from NJ who recently had a conversation about evolution with their creationist father, and felt scientifically unequipped to rebut the creationist claims. Creationism itself is a claim that requires evidence, and the truth of evolution is entirely irrelevant to proving creationism.

Gabe from KY acknowledges that since their deconversion from Mormonism, they have struggled to put the magical thinking they utilized while religious behind them and engage in critical, skeptical thinking. The caller wants advice on how to rectify this, and apply skeptical thinking practically.

Patrick from FL claims Atheism is a faith. Is it faith to say “I don’t believe you,” to a claim? Patrick sure thinks so.

Next is Timothy from FL is calling to ask our hosts when they think a fetus gains the rights of personhood, and what the evidence for that timeframe is?

Rob from CA is calling to claim that science no longer supports evolution, and provides examples of naturally “unexplainable” phenomena to support this. Turns out, they are explainable. Oh yeah also, God flooding the world was 110% justified!

Next is Joseph from TN believes that since we cannot know anything with 100% absolute certainty that we must need faith.

George from NY who wants advice on how to converse with people who make unjustified claims, and are obviously unwilling to move their position even a little?

Finally, Paul from MN asks our hosts if they have ever considered using Numbers 5:20 against Christians “pro-lifers.” As we have learned today, and almost exert episode, most Christians don’t know their own bible, and those that do and hold that position will find ways to ignore specific verses that are inconvenient.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by JMike!

First up is John from CA who says that there are multiple pathways to reaching the truth about God’s existence, and that a pathway available to one person might not be accessible to another.

Next up is Dean from CA who believes that science doesn’t require methodological naturalism, but does require philosophical naturalism. So scientists get to use unmeasurable supernatural phenomenon to create new theories? Seems legit.

Questioning Theist from WA finds the host’s arguements for God relatively convincing, but doesn’t think their credible due to the caller’s disagreements with the host’s other positions. So if we both agree that the sun causes skin cancer, but you don’t like my position on a women’s rights to bodily autonomy, therefore you won’t be a pro-sunscreener like me? Wut?

Next up is Brandon from WA who claims that the time doesn’t exist in the subconscious, and uses the perceived time before death as evidence of this.

Serge from Australia is calling to ask why Atheists are asking for evidence and why Theists would want to present any. Why do beliefs require evidence?

Next is Jonah from TN who is wondering if our host’s think that this show and other like it have opened the floodgates for the online platforming of evangelicals or presups like Darth Dawkins?

Next up is Mike from WA asks if naturalists have proven the natural origin of life. As the caller doesn’t believe in naturalism, they conclude that Theists must have proven it by default.

Next is David from TX is calling to argue that differences in epistemology allow for different standards of acceptable evidence and arguement. I mean sure, but that doesn’t mean they should be accepted or be convincing.

Tom from the UK is calling to present an arguement that can somehow disprove every God, Theist or Deist, regardless of their respective properties.

Seth from CA from is calling to say that porn has perpetuated a bad perception of women, and therefore God exists? How did we get here?

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Forrest Valkai!



First up is Christian from the UK who has a hypothetical argument for the existence of a God or a divine being.



Next up is John from India, who has found a connection between Anti-Natalism and Anthropodicy and has concluded that the only justification for having children in this imperfect universe is universal salvation.



Next is John from TX claims to have scientific, historical, and testimonial evidence for God. When the hosts push for the scientific evidence, the caller continually wants to return to their personal testimony instead.



Declan from Australia is calling to ask why atheists don’t believe in the Christian God when he’s made the caller’s life, and apparently everybody’s life, better?



Alex from CA is a deist who believes that a non-interactive intelligent creator-God can be demonstrated through perceived coincidences? Wouldn’t coincidental creation imply that things weren’t intelligently designed?



Mr. Warlight from AK says Matt is a Gothic Preacher. What & Why?



Our final call is Andrew from ME believes the supernatural is a requirement for the first two laws of thermodynamics to be true.

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In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secularity Rarity is joined by Apostate Prophet!

First up is David from Canada who is calling to argue for a necessary uncaused first cause for the universe, ie a creator god.

Next up is Kevin from UT who is calling to ask for advice on how to help comfort religious family members who are grieving the death of a family member. The caller is out as an atheist, so they are unsure of how to approach them without potentially triggering a confrontation.

Ben from AK makes an argument for something, in theory about a necessary first cause being. If anyone watching can piece this puzzle together, please let us know on the Facebook group.

Next is Kevin from GA who is against the support for trans individuals because they don’t understand how someone knowing their trans is any different than someone claiming to have spoken with God in the bedroom.

Up next is Ahmad from WA is calling to talk about the anchor point for objective theistic morality, and the lack of one when it comes to Atheism.

Next up is Timothy from CA who wants to talk about what the Hadith says about abortion, specifically that Allah gives a fetus a soul after four months. AP breaks down this statement and points out the inconsistencies between Islamic culture and the schools of thought therewithin, and what is stated about abortion.

Next is William from FL who is calling to ask our hosts how we know 100% that other humans exist. Apparently, our hosts know humans exist with 100% certainty because we have some sort of soul knowledge and that is somehow proof for God?

Daniel from MD is calling to ask if religious indoctrination, e.g. inducing fear of hell, child abuse and if so where should that line be drawn between the two?

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