SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, Richard Gilliver and Doctor Ben take on callers with a broad spectrum of topics. First caller is Erin in FL who views god pragmatically, does not believe Occam’s Razor is a great argument when uncovering the truth, and believes the idea of an afterlife is good. It is not always a good idea to use Occam’s Razor because we need to be aware of unlikely things. Could you see some problems with someone believing in an afterlife that doesn’t exist? Could this belief be used to avoid making real life decisions? The time to believe something is when we have sound evidence for it. T in MO would like to talk about how the atheist response to the look at the trees argument validates any presumptions that theists might have about atheists being mean spirited people. Sometimes, the people who use this argument don’t realize how poor the argument is and in those cases, it is a good methodology to meet them where they are at. Most of the time, those who use this argument are practiced apologists who are using sleight of hand to dismiss any atheist response which is why you see the hard push backs from atheists against these arguments. Not everybody that wants to work together to discover the truth and there is a time and place to use aggressive responses. Ray from IN wants to explain energies and let us know some secrets that we were all once great warriors that cycled through heaven because the devil made it to where death could come through heaven. Where do you find out about these things? Why do you think the Illuminati are fallen angels and what evidence do you have that they are not human beings? Phoebe Rose in England has a friend that wants her to officiate their pagan handfasting wedding next week and as an atheist has no idea how to respond to this friend. Do you feel like you want to do this regardless of their beliefs? As long as you are comfortable doing this, there may not be a need to draw a hard line. John in MT describes a study that shows how brain chemistry can influence every decision that we make and is evidence against the existence of the soul. If someone is claiming that the soul is supernatural and has influence on the natural world, there would not be unaccounted for brain chemistry. Having a debate on souls to begin with is granting far too much. Zak in OK recently came out to their coworkers via email as trans. Some of the kids still use the term “miss” and draw Jesus symbols to place right next to the pride flag that was a gift from another student. The most fair thing to do is to leave up both symbols without letting the student gain control of everything. Thank you for tuning in this week! The question of the week is: I know we aren’t intelligently designed because______.

show notes updated upon receipt

In today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, Secular Rarity and Christy Powell are live in studio to see if anyone can convince them of the existence of God. Michael from MI is the first caller who asks what can be done to implement the tools gathered from shows like this and if we should be putting up billboards. You can always start little groups in your area or find things that you care about to support that are not necessarily atheism, but still support related causes. Being part of an atheist organization is not the only way to get the needs met. You can always find new ways for activism. Justin in CO observed a disc shaped flying saucer using his telescope one night. There are many potential explanations that are more plausible than aliens. There are many opportunities for the image that you saw to not be what you saw by the time you are able to communicate how that image appears. Be careful not to believe everything you think. Be suspect of your own singular experiences.Evan in WA who talks about how science can explain consciousness through proprioception, which is an electrical chemical reaction. We are newly aware of how the nerve system communicates. We may be able to use science to fully explain consciousness in the future. The more we look into this, the more we will figure out.The first audience question is Jamie from TX who shares a relationship experience where there had to be someone to answer to that made him feel healthy, and asks about the safety of taking someone out of a religion. We have the tools needed to offer people the things that seem to be missing when leaving a religion.Brad in NJ who brings up a past call that was morally bankrupt. It amazes us there needs to be a threat of eternal torture for us not to be murdering people. Somehow we manage to be good people without some ancient book telling us how.Triston in TX wants to know how to bring up religious topics to children. Acknowledge that lots of people believe lots of things, and let your child know they get to be somebody who gets to decide what to believe and why. It will work out as long as you are not shoving your beliefs down your child’s throat and not lying to them.Carolina in TX calls to clear up some misinformation about how people think the Space Program is not important. The Space Program is important to humanity because not only is it cost effective, but it drives the education and training to communities of people that support economies. Everything that is done in space is brought back to benefit the people on earth. Thank you for tuning in everyone! Remember the essential workers! The question of the week is: What is the first thing you would do if you saw all Christians get raptured?

SHOW NOTESIn today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, Katy Montgomerie and Student Doctor Ben amaze you with their switching of accents, knowledge of innate beliefs, genomes, what makes a person trans, the blind intelligent designer, and general purpose of the show. Vaclav from CZ describes a study claiming children have an innate belief in a prime mover that is one god. How do you get a control group for this with the children never having been taught anything prior? It is interesting that many societies have come up with some kind of god but there are huge differences between these gods. Many cultures also got to a flat earth model. If god were real, why would some cultures be given wrong information? Billy in TX presents the following syllogism: The genome contains algorithms and these algorithms require intelligence so therefore the genome requires intelligence. Where in this process do we obtain the code and how is this code processed? What is the difference between the most basic chemical reaction and DNA? Chemical reactions and almost everything could be described as algorithms. What forces are in play that cause DNA to follow a pattern? Calling the genome a code is an oversimplification. Otavio from France would like to know what makes people trans. If we do obtain this knowledge, where do we go from there? This can end up gatekeeping people, because if someone does not meet the criteria for trans, we may end up not giving them the support needed. There could be horrific results of obtaining this knowledge because there are a lot of people with power that are invested in creating a world without trans people. The important thing to remember is even if being LGBTQ were a free choice, it is still morally neutral. Tibor in NY wants to know what the purpose of the show is. We are not just debating the people who call in; there is a whole side show. Doctor Ben shares that he deconverted as a result of these shows. Working with all these topics can help give the audience develop critical thinking. We are also showing other atheists that we are here taking on callers head on. We provide a community to people who don’t know any other atheists. There are people out there that support you. TYmm in WA calls to say that it seems like the intelligent designer is blind. If you are an all powerful being with infinite powers, why would you put together something as sloppy as a human? Adam and Eve could have been millipedes. Maybe there is a team of engineers designing humans with a committee that can’t agree on anything. Thank you for tuning in this week and please remember our essential workers. For the question of the week, fill in the blank: I made a deal with the Devil, and all I got was______.

In today’s episodeHello of the Talk Heathen, Secular Rarity is joined by Richard Gilliver who will sort through topics of Jesus proof, gravity not existing, giving up god for Lent, theist-atheist relationships and wokeism. First caller is Clark in CA who claims that necessary conditions can’t be accounted for under naturalism because there are conjunctions with two inconsistent propositions. That natural world is what we have and what we can measure. Do you have a demonstration of your system that counters the natural world? Why should we accept idealism as the alternative? What is the relation of idealism to reality? Premises like this need supporting evidence, not just assertions. Mark from TX asks the hosts what evidence would be required for atheists to believe in Jesus. It is first important to understand that not everyone in the world has the same systems. We must establish if god is possible, and then which god. Sufficient evidence that is not necessarily specific, is what would be required. We would like to see the best piece of evidence. Chuck in HI claims that whatever holds the universe together is scientific proof of god, and there is no such thing as gravity. There are physicists that can explain the collection of matter and what makes up the universe. Before dismissing something you don’t understand, take a closer look at the science you don’t agree with, and call back. Hannah in PA is a Sunday school teacher that is considering giving up god for Lent as she goes through the deconstruction process. This could be a chance to soften some of the crucial elements that cause harm. You are not responsible for these young people, however, if you are questioning your faith, you don’t want to put yourself in a position of culpability by placing seeds of doubt to the children. You must care for yourself first and foremost and can benefit by contacting Recovering From Religion. Shawn in MO is an atheist who feels that a theist/atheist relationship would be uncomfortable. Relationships of all kinds are not perfect in every circumstance. If you meet someone that happens to be religious, just be honest with that person to begin with. It is okay to have a different preference than somebody else because it is a partnership between the people involved. If you meet someone that is super hot and find out they are religious, so what? Alok in CA believes that wokeism overlaps with atheism. When people stop passing laws that put people in jail for drag shows, then we will stop talking about it. Hearing the word “woke” now usually comes from people who want to attack others for their identities. Caring for people is not woke; it is simply caring for people.

In today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, Richard Gilliver and Nikki (Beat The Cult) wrestle with everything from Volvos containing hell to objective morality.First caller is Anonymous from the USA who proposes that the universe might be god. Nikki asks the caller how god is defined before technical issues ended the call. Branson in NC sees the Western world as interpreting spiritual practices literally and because it is so symbolic, many have turned away from these teachings. What is the purpose of using the word, “spiritual”, and how is it defined? It is important to understand the difference between colloquial theories and scientific theories. Why use religious symbols instead of science? Is symbolism an accurate representation of the universe? It helps to look at the academic work around symbolism rather than esoteric books.Jeff in OH rules out natural causes in the world before having a reason to believe in supernatural causes. How would one detect the supernatural? If there is no interaction with the natural world, then why do we accept it?Wesley in WV describes hell as seven years on earth, the lake of fire is a bunch of nuclear bombs because scripture describes it as a fire folding within itself and says he has seen this as a nuclear device in a Volvo. This is a show where we talk to people about what they believe and why they believe. It is not a show where people tell us what to believe. Wesley in MA reminds us that the idea of a loving god creating a place where we burn forever makes no sense. Some people think it makes sense because they believe god is justified in harming people if they do not continue to pray and please their god. The issue is Christians do not read the Bible; some may be afraid of the questions this will generate. Atheists want Christians to read the Bible and read the whole thing. Rick in Canada brings up how fossils form within days after Mt. St. Helens erupted, so the Christians and Atheists must meet in the middle when it comes to belief in the global flood. Where is the evidence for this flood? How do you think a global flood physically happened? Where is all this water now? Is it possible there are biological reasons for mental health issues? When mainstream science does not support your belief, where do you get your information from? Pick up some geological journals, search them for past events, and come back with that information using the actual science. Jeffrey in GA has decided that well being is a terrible way to base subjective morality. It is not an individual that decides this but society as a whole. Well being is not considered the same thing by everybody. Thank you everyone! We appreciate the essential workers and the viewers!

In today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, ObjectivelyDan and Kara Griffin will wrestle with lots of global floods, humans made from sand, the real Jesus, and aggressive persecution complexes. First caller Kenneth in GA mentions how there has been a great flood in every ancient myth that points to a world event. Notice there are also dragon myths in many cultures, and there are major differences between all these myths. A flood is a big deal to many agricultural societies. Why do we privilege the Christian story of the flood? How did the ancient people know if the floods were global? Why do you think the majority of scientists dismiss the claim of a global flood? Outside of the stories, there is no evidence of a global flood.Darick in Canada asks the hosts what part of evolution made humans advanced. He then talks about how we are made up from sand like it says in Genesis and there must be a creative force. The larger cranial capacity is what some will say caused advancement, others will attribute it to agricultural developments, and even our relationship with dogs. Just because we are made from natural materials does not mean we are made of literal sand. How and why does creativity of humans lead to a god or higher creative force?Rick in Canada also thinks the global flood is real and the supporting evidence is a boat structure in Turkey. We need to see evidence more than a video or documentary that are not scholarly sources. How does something that looks like a boat on a mountain lead to a global flood? Mt. Ararat could be a million different mountains. We are struggling to see how this structure is convincing. The existence of this structure is not remarkable because this is common and is even refuted by Answers In Genesis (AIG). The image shown on the screen of the ark was a lump of earth. Jesus in Germany wants to prove the Bible is a hoax and 2,000 years ago he was gay. If he time travels with the powers he has now, there will be god attributes. We try to stick to the topic and this is in another dimension. Thank you Jesus for talking to us. Nate in Ohio is upset about what is happening with the aggressive religious right having this persecution complex. There is value in having conversations rather than just yelling back and forth. Sometimes you have to let it happen naturally and it can be a hard relationship to balance. Thank you for tuning in this week! Please consider the following question: What is the weirdest reason to pray for someone? Remember our essential workers and see you next week!