The Atheist Experience

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 ca

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 t

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 hum

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

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 authorita

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 unive

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

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 everyon

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, d

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 t

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.Al

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

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

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 g

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Jim Barrows is joined by Kenneth Leonard!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 t

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 f

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 f

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