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Reasonable Doubts Podcast — Other
Reasonable Doubts Podcast

Reasonable Doubts takes an informative and humorous look at religion from a freethinking perspective; offering news and commentary of interest to skeptics, atheists, agnostics, humanists, courageous religious believers looking for a challenge and freethinkers of all persuasions. In addition to interviewing the top minds in skepticism (former guests include Christopher Hitchens, Susan Jacoby, Paul Kurtz, Edward Tabash, DJ Grothe) RD offers regular segments on counter-apologetics, biblical criticism, creationism intelligent design and church state issues. RD also examines the psychology of religion, reviewing recent and exciting research you won’t hear about anywhere else. Tune in for a hard-hitting critique of religion balanced by plenty of humor, a fair-minded attitude and a commitment to critical thinking. Check out our website at doubtcast.org for information, episode links or to email questions, comments and challenges. Reasonable Doubts…for those who won’t just take things on faith.

Latest Episodes:

rd108 Post-Election Withdrawal Nov 20, 2012

Show notes

The doubtcasters collectively work through their post-election withdrawal symptoms by examining how demographic shifts are changing the American political landscape with special focus on how religious vs. secular polling locations influence voting. Also for this week's counterapologetics Justin Schieber presents a presuppositionalist argument for atheism developed by Stephen Maitzen.

RD Extra: Is Abortion Murder? (Debate) Nov 14, 2012

Show notes

Contrary to what we hear shouted from both sides of the pro-choice/pro-life divide, abortion actually is a complicated issue. Is it possible to make progress on an issue that seems to straddle the line of our deepest philosophical differences? If it is, it certainly won't be done with pictures of dead fetus' or insisting that a women's right to choose is the only morally relevant factor to consider. This RD extra is a debate between Justin Schieber and John Barron on the issue of abortion. John keeps a blog at Siftingreality.com. There John blogs about Christianity, atheism, gay marriage and, of course, abortion.

rd107 Are We Born Depraved? Oct 11, 2012

Show notes

The discovery that children have a natural inclination to believe in invisible, immortal, super-knowing agents has some religious apologists boasting that science has found the sensus divinitatis. Despite possessing this inner sense of the divine, John Calvin declared children to be morally corrupt by nature. This doctrine of total depravity has served as a justification for authoritarian child-rearing practices aimed at instilling obedience in strong-willed children. But a close look at the data suggests our theistic inclinations are byproducts of our cognitive development and not a special God-given faculty. Likewise, studies on the moral development of children reveal the foundations for empathy are present even at a young age. Authoritarian parenting may hinder that development and contribute to a variety of social ills.

rd106 Moonie Madness Sep 18, 2012

Show notes

The Unification Church was virtually unknown in America until the 1970's when concerned parents, anti-cult groups and members of congress raised alarm about the powerful "brainwashing" techniques used by "moonies" to lure new converts into their dangerous cult. Now that the self-proclaimed "messiah" Sun Myung Moon has died a group of sociologists are defending the Unification Church. While their beliefs and practices may strike most as odd they are hardly the predatory cult some have made them out to be (these sociologists claim). In particular, researchers of new religious movements object to the pseudoscientific notion of "brainwashing"--insisting that what compels people to join groups like the Unification Church amounts to nothing more than ordinary forces of group psychology at play in any religion. Anti-cult groups have fired back accusing these researchers of engaging in apologetics and secretly accepting financial kick-backs from the same groups they defend. What is a cult and how is it different (if at all) from a religion? Is there any scientific support for the concept of brainwashing? We will attempt to answer these questions and more. Also on this episode: violence across the Muslim world, blasphemy laws backfire in Pakistan, and Mark Regnerus' research on homosexual parenting is dissected for this weeks "God Thinks Like You"

RD Extra: The Problem of Non-God Objects Aug 29, 2012

Show notes

This RD Extra is a lecture delivered by Justin Schieber to CFI Michigan on August 22nd 2012 Discription: In this week's presentation, Justin Schieber will present - and defend from possible objections - an argument against a Christian view of the divine that insists upon God's perfection while maintaining that God alone is responsible for intentionally creating non-god objects.The Christian scriptures seem clear; John 1:3 says 'All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.' They are equally clear about this God's ontological and moral perfection. But, are these beliefs compatible with the existence of non-God objects?

rd105 Are We Born to Believe? Aug 10, 2012

Show notes

Some atheists have argued that children are naturally non-believers. Were it not for indoctrination at the hands of parents and clergy children would never pick up supernatural beliefs on their own and religion would wither and die. But a growing body of research in developmental psychology suggests just the opposite. Children have a natural inclination to believe in invisible, immortal, super-knowing agents who are responsible for design in the natural world. For this first part in a series on the evolved origins of religious belief the doubtcasters review two books (Justin Barrett's Born Believers and Jesse Berring's the Belief Instinct) which make the case that religious belief is not only natural--it is almost inevitable.

RD Extra: Polyatheism - Modern Lessons From Ancient Myths Jul 20, 2012

Show notes

This RD Extra features a lecture by David Fletcher, delivered to CFI Michigan on July 11th 2012 Lecture Description: There are many lessons we can learn from the myths of ancient and modern cultures, ranging from the profound to the absurd. In this presentation we will explore the mythologies of various cultures around the world and get to know some of the many gods and goddesses worth not believing in.

rd103 Snakes and TULIPs Jun 14, 2012

Show notes

Members of the Southern Baptist Convention are denouncing the aggressive "new Calvinists" who have infiltrated their ranks and insist on pushing the belief that God predestined some people to hell long before the first human sinned. You know what that means? IT's TULIP TIME! Join us as the doubtcasters give a skeptical overview of the five points of Calvinism (also known as T.U.L.I.P.) and explain why the SBC objects to these doctrines. But new Calvinists are not the only ones making news in the American south... hear from gay hating preachers, snake-handlers, and mega-church cult leaders for the first (and possibly the last) installment of a new segmentï¿½WHEN SOUTHERN PREACHERS ATTACK! Also, more on the link between atheism and autism, plus William Lane Craig grapples with determinism for this weeks counter-apologetics segment.

RD Extra: Debunking D'Souza May 30, 2012

Show notes

Last April, secularist author Susan Jacoby and Christian apologist Dinesh D'Souza debated each other over the question, "Is Christianity Good for American Politics?" While Jacoby's argument was more accurate, D'Souza employed a host of logical fallacies and historical inaccuracies to gain a rhetorical edge. For this RD Extra, doubtcaster Jeremy Beahan joins Ed Brayton of Culture Wars Radio for some in-depth post-debate analysis.

rd102 Skeptic's Psychology of Religion Toolkit May 16, 2012

Show notes

Over the past several years a number of studies have been published which purport to show the psychological benefits of religious belief. These studies are often plagued by shoddy design, inadequate controls and overreliance on self-report data--yet even the most careful skeptics can overlook these mistakes. For this episode Dr. Galen explains 10 of the most common errors to watch for in psychology of religion research. Also, for this episode we examine contradictions in the story of Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, and we take a look at Thor for another polyatheism segment.

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