Talk Heathen

Latest Episodes:

Talk Heathen 07.04 1-29-2022 with ObjectivelyDan and Kelley Laughlin Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, ObjectivelyDan is joined by Kelley Laughlin live in the studio!
Rick in OR says DNA is scientific evidence for a creator and does not understand why the hosts don’t subscribe to intelligent design. Why is DNA evidence of a creator? We go to where the evidence and data leads us which is away from a deity or creator. Is any scientist 100% accurate with what they do? The caller stated that all the big bang predictions are wrong because galaxy clusters go against the model. Sigh. We are still waiting for specific proof of a creator. Why should we believe that the universe is a giant prokaryote that will expand until it goes “bang” and splits? There should be a Nobel prize for this.
Freyja from TX updates the hosts on her decoversion from young earth creationist and is told she will receive her atheist card in the mail soon. She describes how multiple religions have some source of prayer and through meditation, there is a feedback loop where you can give yourself hallucinations. We as humans like to attribute something that we don’t know as something that is divine. Pentecostals have practices that can make the participants feel as though something is happening, like the holy spirit speaking. Many things can cause this such as human to human connection and live concerts.
Nate from TX mentions theists who used philosophical arguments to justify their conversion from atheism and asks if pure philosophy has any merit. Empiricism is saying that knowledge is derived through observations and experience. Rationalism is a philosophy where we gain knowledge just by thinking. It may seem that empiricism rejets rationalism at times and this is a difficult question. We can’t just solve any kind of argument with science. We would not have the scientific method if it were not for epistemology and other thinking methods.
Jason in the audience asks if the belief that rocks have magical properties is harmful. Kelley explains how this can cause people to not obtain adequate health care and therefore this can be immensely harmful. This can also cause other people to not be healed who see this, causing more harm. It is despicable that people profit off of this.
Jonah in MO says that atheism has intertwined itself with left wing politics by doing things like identifying with LGBTQ rights. Religion and politics are absolutely braided. The church has been responsible for laws that destroy LGBTQ communities and prevent them from having the rights that others have. If you don’t have a problem with the LGBTQ community, why would you have a problem with us advocating for their rights? Sorry to break the news to you, but TikTok is not supporting evidence.
Thank you for tuning in to this exciting show! Remember to thank the essential workers and see you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 07.03 01-22-2023 with Johnny P. Angel and ObjectivelyDan Jan 22, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, ObjectivelyDan and Johnny Perceval Pursable Angel sort out questions of wars, existence, biblical criticisms, and solarpunk future.
Connie from Canada is our first caller who believes the events occurring today have been predicted in the Book of Revelation. Can you name a time when there was not a war or rumor of a war happening? If the wars in the book are true, does that mean everything else in the book is true? Who are we to say that wars that affect certain cultural groups are less important wars than others?
Mark in NY says the universe is contingent on something to exist and that must be god. The caller asks if nothing is a possibility instead of a universe. There is nothing that we can observe that suggests design has to be part of the universe. Maybe it was started by an outside force, but defining what that force is takes us far from theism. If the universe is contingent on something that kicks it into motion, how do you explain the exemption of the prime mover? Why does this prime mover have to be a god? It is okay to admit that we just don’t know.
Daniel from SC asks what the criticisms atheists have of the living Bible. Is it your understanding that the Bible is a collection of stories that provides guidance but is not divinely inspired? How is divine inspiration that allows us to own others any different from just owning people? Kindness, compassion, and cooperation speaks to us being human, not Christian. Why is faith a virtue?
Gabriel in Canada educates us about how solarpunk puts an emphasis on secular spirituality, and asks what communities and spiritualities would look like if solarpunk were to happen. Environmentalism has existed as a spiritual practice for decades if not longer. It is important to keep individual rights as a priority and not let them be forfeited for the greater good.
Thank you to all our viewers and supporters! We want to thank all the essential workers. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 07.02 01-15-2023 with Katy Montgomerie and Student Doctor Ben Jan 16, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, Katy Montgomerie and Student Doctor Ben will discuss the Bible proving the Bible, atheism as a religion, why communities exist, the ethics of using charity to spread religion, and if historical Jesus is important.
Bernard in NY is our first caller and has evidence of god’s existence! The proof is that the Old Testament says it would be accepted and it was accepted. Does having people accept a text make it true? Could a person write something that is partially true and partially false? Is it possible that god is lying? Do you know everything about this god? How do we know god told Moses to write this? The caller creates the best circle we have ever seen by stating that the people must accept the text first.
Malachi from AR perceives that atheists seem religious because it leans left like the religious community leans right. We agree the community should not have political leanings. In many countries, religion is not a driving force, but in others, it is a huge deal to come out as an atheist. When this happens, the community wants to support freedom of religion or lack thereof. Ben’s family was more willing to accept coming out as trans then they were coming out as atheist. The caller goes on to say that both the gay community and the black community are preposterous. Communities prevent civil rights from being removed. Adding rights to these communities that other people already have, is not taking away any rights.
Prasad in India says that charity is a good thing and asks why it matters if this charity is from a religious group. When the underlying motive is to convert, it is not fair to the recipients because it teaches people to rely on religion and authority to eat. This works for conversion and the religions know this. People who truly believe they are doing the right thing with good intentions can still cause harm. If schools are created that teach religion in a place that does not have schools, indoctrination happens.
Last caller is Evan in CO who asks if the hosts believe Jesus is a historical figure. It does not matter because we don’t accept that he did what the Bible says he did. Even if we accept this as a premise, we don’t need to care about it. It is interesting to see how ancient people lived, however, it is unacceptable when religious people exclaim that morality has changed because it was a different time. Either it is made up garbage, or god is not moral, or objective morality has changed.
Thank you for tuning in and watching us talk to callers who believe in circular reasoning! This is your community!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 07.01 with Secular Rarity and Blatant Blatheist Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, Secular Rarity is joined by BlatantBlatheist and will wrestle with slavery, trans issues, and immorality.
First caller is Grant from ME who suggests we talk about morality in a different manner; an action is immoral only if it causes greater suffering. Do certain actions lead to greater suffering? Is the desire to minimize those actions coming from outside the person? Be careful not to try and define something into existence.
Alok from CA says the ACA goes too far with trans issues. He is concerned about being called a transphobe when he questions the issues and 72 pronouns. What are you doing at that moment to be called a transphobe? Trans people are being heavily targeted at this time and we can never talk about human rights too much. If we don’t have these discussions, how are we going to educate people about it? Bigotry is background noise baked into society. We can always take an opportunity to be better.
Amanual in TX says that people don’t understand Biblical slavery and it is not the same as was practiced in modern times. If the creator of the universe tells us that we are supposed to obey our master, the answer is going to be no. If you were the most powerful being with a message, would you say, “Slaves obey your masters” or would you say, “Don’t own people”?
Jamar in PA asks if blacks should receive reparations. The best way to do this is through systemic reparations because it is difficult to prove lineage. When the system is fixed, everybody benefits. If reparations are monetary, the money will not come because the ancestry has been purposefully erased. How do you prove something when the records have been destroyed? Look at how redlining alone has destroyed the schools in inner cities.
Bar in TN finds that people are always giving thanks to god for mundane things like finding their keys. They think about the good that happens to themselves but ignore all the bad things this god allows. Does it get more self centered than thinking the creator of the universe helped you find your keys? It is hard to see people we love put things on god when they can do things themselves to improve their situations.
Cynthia in IL and from the Non-Prophets provides some facts about reparations and proving lineage. Slavery was a capitalistic institution where money was gained. If only labor is viewed, 6.9 quadrillion dollars would be the value after inflation. No reparation program in the U.S. happens without monetary compensation. There may be a lot of barriers, but it is not impossible. The majority of people that were born prior to 1965 came through chattel slavery. Lineage can be traced in a short period of time with the right tools.
Thank you for tuning in this week! Thank you to essential workers! See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

The Talk Heathen 2022 Midshow Megaclip Episode Jan 01, 2023

Show notes

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 Talk Heathen 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!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

The Talk Heathen Year End Top 5 Calls Countdown Dec 25, 2022

Show notes

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 Talk Heathen.
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!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 06.51 12-18-2022 with ObjectivelyDan and Student Doctor Ben Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, ObjectivelyDan and Student Doctor Ben are live in the studio handling both audience and caller questions.
An audience member, Jaime, kicks off the show with a reminder that Christians do not have a monopoly on Christmas. It is okay for Atheists to celebrate! The holiday was hijacked from pagans anyway.
Our first caller is Michael from Ohio who wants Christians to explain why the second coming of Christ is the best thing that can happen. Christians seem joyful whenever there is a disruption in the middle east. These beliefs can have dire consequences for the world. Many people have rapture anxiety. People always expect the special things and end of the world to happen when they are still alive.
Hayley from DE, wants to convert one of the hosts to Christianity since Christians have lots of denominations and atheists only have one, Christianity must be true. We believe this is a troll.
Zach in TX sees misconceptions about morality. Even if god created everything, this is still not an objective morality because god would be a subject. Christians want this so they can have the ability to legislate people’s lives. We want a morality that cares about human beings.
Tim from the audience asks if we could find an objective moral obligation, if we would then be required to create a legal obligation. Just because something is objective does not mean it is something we should follow.
Jasmine in Canada wants to discuss how religion has entered into politics and the heartbeat bill in Texas causing the underground abortion pill trade. What does abortion have to do with atheism? People who have passionate views about taking abortion away, have religious reasons for it. Abortion being denied results in an entire population being denied medicine that is necessary.
Jessica from UT asks if she should just let people be religious when there seems to be benefits to that person. Would they just suddenly become an amoral person if they are no longer religious? Even though there are benefits, there is real world harm that happens on the institutional level and that is why we talk about the issues.
Connor from the audience is from the Baha'i faith and believes the second coming has already happened in 1844. If it was supposed to have happened on a day in the past, can we just name anyone as the messenger? We want to know as many true things as possible and if what this faith teaches is true, we want to know about it. What about this belief convinces you of its truth? We are atheists but that does not mean we are not open to new ideas and learning new things.
Thank you for tuning in this week! We will see you next year.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 06.50 12.11.22 with Student Doctor Ben and Richard Gilliver Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, Student Doctor Ben and Richard Gilliver work with topics of miracles, Islamic claims, magical rituals, Ten Commandments, the second coming, and godfather issues.
First caller is Vaclav from the Czech Republic who wants to know what evidence we need to prove miracles have happened. If you could demonstrate causality then that could be convincing. How do you rule out a deity and deal with all the variables? When speaking of miracles, not only is it necessary to prove that a deity was the cause, but it also must be proven that the event happened at all. There are no situations that we can see where a supernatural event can be attributed to a god.
Phil from Barbados is next and has some questions about the claims of Islam. Richard explains how Islam has borrowed many arguments from Christianity. Now we see Christian apologists using some of the Islamic arguments such as the Kalam. When people try to define their supernatural claims, they tend to stack claim after claim on top of each other. Single lines will be taken from the Quran to show scientific prediction. These are post ad hoc fallacies and found among adherents of many religions.
Saul in MO brings up that we need better evidence than just the Ten Commandments. A theist might have a claim that god is just a recluse and does not want to deal with us. We need to be careful not to make the same problematic arguments that we see on the other side.
Lester in El Salvador feels that magical rituals are crazy, but the points of view of the practitioners are interesting. He asks if we are blocking ourselves from other forms of reality. If there is intervention with the physical realm, there will be something that is affected and therefore can be justified or measured. What would convince you that magic is real? How do you know if your belief is real?
Wesley in WV believes the Second Coming has happened on January 4, 2003 where Baal(Satan) imitated the words of Jesus and everyone felt a spiritual rain from the sky. He saw his body burned and as ashes during a vision one night when homeless in Chicago. What parts of this experience could have been influenced by other variables, such as hypothermia? We need evidence besides the experience for this.
Cameron, an atheist in MN, has been asked to be a godfather to a baby by a close friend. His friend insists that he is a believer. Is there a way to talk about core values that might overlap when asked to speak to the family about your role as a godfather? It would be good to take some time to think this through and sort out what you want to do. Recovering from Religion is an excellent resource for situations like this.
Thank you for tuning in this week, and always treat the essential workers well. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 06.49 12-04-2022 with Secular Rarity and Johnny P Angel Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, we have the tag team duo of Secular Rarity and Johnny Angel hosting to answer all the caller’s questions and concerns.
First up, Phil in England says that we are mocking god all the time and asks how do we know god isn’t gonna get us. Of course someone can come up with lots of “what ifs”, like god is an alien, but there is no reason to believe any of it. You have to have good evidence to believe these outlandish claims.
Rick in Canada claims to have scientific evidence of a soul then references what God is described in the bible. The bible is not scientific evidence of anything, especially a soul. Sadly, neither is word salad. Sure, energy is real…but doesn’t prove any kind of a soul.
Tom in Michigan claims Occam’s Razor gets you 75% of the way to a monotheistic god because humans haven’t found signs of life on Mars. Not finding evidence of life somewhere other than earth can’t lend any credence to a god. This is so confusing… How does lack of evidence of Thing A mean that Thing B is real???
Thank you everyone for tuning in! We will see you next week and try to be decent human beings!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 06.48 11-27-2022 with Johnny P Angel and Katy Montgomerie Nov 27, 2022

Show notes

In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, Katy Montgomerie and Johnny Angel will work through caller questions of Sharia Law, pronouns, god creating chaos, and judgemental atheists.
First up is Brett in CA who describes a study in Islamic research that showed that 70% of moderate Muslims support Sharia Law. He is concerned about how many people believe it is okay to kill apostates or those who leave the religion. These findings are not surprising; we know that some of these places are not great for human rights. When anyone gives a number that is just percentages, it is easy to conceal the big picture. Progressive minded folks tend not to focus attention on Islam since it is not the dominant religion in the U.S. However, as humanists, we need to care about these things.
Carlos in OK who askes about atheists that appear to be forcing their gay, transgender, and pronoun views on others. Katy explains that the pronoun thing is quite easy because you just address the person by what they request like you would their name. Sometimes when people get misgendered, they just want to make sure the person knows and move on. We don’t know what a person has been through on a particular day or why they would react in different ways to an inadvertent misgendering. The trans person is not trying to force their beliefs on you, but just wanting to be treated like a person. Treat trans people with the respect they treat you with. What is the point in being disrespectful or impolite?
Amanuel in TX says that maybe all religions have it correct since they all say similar things and when bad things happen, we can trace it back to God. What happens when religions make claims about each other? Can they all be right? Why is god not a monster for creating the laws of nature, Covid, and childhood cancer? Why is scripture the ultimate authority? If you choose not to take a risk, why are you not afraid of sparking the wrath of Allah? How do we know which scripture/religion is right and where to spend our time? How will one survive in heaven and not always be on pins and needles with the possibility of a Luciferian thought? Did god create non-believers with the purpose of not believing in order to burn in eternity? If god exists, why should we worship this immoral monster?
David in CA says the atheist community is judgemental. People in the comments and live chat call him stupid. That is not cool, and we do not like this! People on the internet can be horrible, and that includes atheists. Atheists may be judgemental, but they are not uniquely judgemental or abusive. It is not judgemental if we ask you to bring something to the conversation other than giving us homework.
Thank you everyone for tuning in! We will see you next week and try to be decent human beings!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected