Talk Heathen

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Talk Heathen 05.48 11-28-2021 with JMike and Matt Dillahunty Nov 28, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode of the Talk Heathen, our host JMike is joined by Matt Dillahunty who is eager and ready for theist calls.
Our first caller, Cambo in IA, has an opinion on one party rule being a problem with communism, not atheism as Christians tend to believe. First of all, communism is not morally bad and secondly, atheism does not lead to communism. Outside of regimes where religion is banned and the state is the official religion, communism is more of a boogeyman than anything else.
Next is Kevin in NY who wants to discuss how biblical scholars have omitted information such as the authors borrowing from other sources. For instance, as one reads through Peter II and Jude, some of the verses fit together. That is just your opinion; where is the evidence? Thinking something is not justification for it being true. When you read a text, it can be interpreted a number of different ways. If somebody else uses a different method than you, and comes to a different conclusion, how do we know who is right? We are not interested in a book report but rather knowing if god is real.
Next we have Leon in the UK who is thinking about the definition of agnosticism reflecting high level skepticism resulting in flip flopping on the god belief. Agnostic doesn't mean you waffle and this is not what is meant when academics use the term. Leon also does not want to donate his body after death because that would be the only part of him left and he wonders if on some level, he still believes in the afterlife. If you are dead, you are not going to know what happens to it. Would you donate a kidney to a sibling when you are alive?
Tania in TX would like to know if the hosts or other atheists hold any supernatural beliefs. People come to her with problems because they think she is psychic. Put your foot down with these people and let them know you can’t attribute your ability to help to anything supernatural. We live our lives by inference and induction and that is how “intuition” is trained. ESP, a testable thing, has never been demonstrated to exist. Before we can worry about whether something is natural or not, we need to first learn if there is an effect. Atheists who claim these things have bad standards of evidence. What can be used to prove these things independent of the claims?
Christina in LA was a Pentecostle who is now an atheist and calls herself an angel who has raised the dead and read minds when she would speak in tongues. Matt pulled a card from a deck and asked her what card it was. She guessed a black queen card but it was a nine of spades.
Thank you viewers for tuning in today and thank you to the paramedics and front line workers. The variants are changing! Take care everybody!
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Talk Heathen 05.47 11-21-2021 with Johnny P. Angel and Apostate Prophet Nov 21, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens! Happy Faithless Forum Weekend to all the folks who were able to go this past weekend. Hope you all had a grand time! (I’ll be able to attend next year!) In the meantime, today’s episode of Talk Heathen is hosted by Johnny P. Angel and Apostate Prophet.
Let’s get to calls! Max from Israel would like to address about how Islam has culturally appropriated ancient sites, particularly ones in Israel. Apostate Prophet gives his perspective and gives a fascinating quick look at the history of the region.
Rami in Massachusetts is up next, he has faced pushback from others on Islam. Most often being faced with “that’s racist” as a response when he attempts to talk about it and his thoughts on it. AP again explains beautifully how interwoven this is within a society and culture, and how they also attempt to be virtuous and impartial.
Araan in Germany would like to explain why he converted from Islam to Christianity. He goes on to talk about how horrible Islam is and how great Christianity is. Is it though? What about Christianity solved your material problems? Old books from the Iron Age (and before) aren’t really the best source to get ideas from though.
Zion in California would like to talk about the land that was taken by Muslims that was originally Ancient Jewish land. Why are we criticizing Israel for doing this? Again, Apostate Prophet provides an amazing look on what is happening and explains his view on it.
The Humble Servant in Canada is wondering what our best objections are to Christianity. Johnny starts by talking about magical thinking and how it is interspersed within it’s epistemology and how it interacts with the secular world. AP agrees with this and provides his own; simply no convincing reason he would believe, Christianity has disputed historicity with no ability to truthfully verify it’s claims, and he simply does not believe in the spiritual things and supernatural beings. The caller responds to this and goes back AGAIN to how the 7 day week is a miracle and inspired by God. Oh this guy again! He is very persistent!
That’s our show for this week, please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and please please PLEASE get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!
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Talk Heathen 05.46 11-14-2021 with Kenneth Leonard and Lloyd Evans Nov 14, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens! Wow, we are in the middle of November already! Whew, time flies. In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, baby faced Kenneth Leonard is joined by smooth talker Lloyd Evans. It’s going to be a great show!
Let’s get to calls! Ofir from Israel is a nihilist and would like to talk to us about it. Lloyd asks a couple questions about life having meaning. But if there is any personal meaning to life, then nihilism is a moot point. (There are different “flavors” of Nihilism, but most subscribe to the idea that life has no meaning.)
Aaron in Australia is up next, he is wondering what causes someone to convert to Atheism. He knows it’s a process and there is usually not one argument to make this happen, but is there something at the end that really pushes folks to deconvert. Lloyd puts a pin in it and explains it further.
Returning caller Setuf in Spain wants to talk about abortion and bodily autonomy. Sigh. Again. This has been the 3rd week of them talking about this topic. They keep turning it into a moral issue. Kenneth explains in a good and general way what bodily autonomy is and how it’s applied and he tries his best to further explain the situations that a person would look into terminating a pregnancy. Setuf just doesn’t want to listen because it doesn’t adhere nor fit their narrative. OH! They are a presup! They continue to talk past Lloyd and pretty much ignore everything said! Listen to Lloyd Setuf, he is fantastic.
Rick in Arizona’s family is voicing concern about his soul after coming out as an Atheist. Kenneth dives in and talks about how it opens the door for further conversation depending upon how questions are asked.
LeChef in Canada is wondering what our objection is to Christianity. They also changed their topic from the objection of Christianity to the 7 day cycle and lied to the call screener. Don’t do that. But anyway, he goes into his spiel and Lloyd gets to hear it for the first time. He devolves the conversation into condescension and his reliance on the claim that the 7 day cycle is exclusive to the Bible is laughable. “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” -Stephen Hawking.
That’s our show for this week, please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and please please PLEASE get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 05.45 11-07-2021 with JMike, Kenneth Leonard and Nate Smith Nov 07, 2021

Show notes

Greetings heathens! Please welcome our host Jmike who transformed into Kenneth Leonard and is joined by Nate Smith!
First up is Artie from NC who perceives atheists as being wishy washy when challenged on various shows by not being able to address questions of morality. It seems to him that atheists are giving ground in this arena. It is easy to get a theist to agree on something that is amoral. When we ask questions that show the theist is a slave to what the book says, there is no losing ground.
Next we have Marlon from the Philippines that believes his prayer of financial assistance has been answered. He prayed right before going to bed, an earthquake happened, and there was a 1,000 peso bill under his bed when it was over. He has a video to prove this and will email us. Is it more likely that a god put money under your bed than you misplacing and finding this bill? He also claims to pick winning lottery tickets, and to never have lost a carnival game. Marlon, why are you struggling financially if that is the case? We will talk once we see the video.
Michael in CA is looking into having more effective conversations with theists about faith not being useful. First find your definitions and go from there. We can get them to agree on believing true things and this will become an opening to understanding skepticism. If there is no evidence of the earth’s shape, yet you have faith that the earth is round, you are hanging your hat on nothing. However ,you don’t have to be certain to know something.
Next is Charles in TX who proposes that morality evolved through natural selection thus putting pressure on altruism. If a person has greater altruism, then there is more morality. If people only took care of other people, and never did anything for themselves, things would fall apart quickly. When we define morality, the golden rule does not always apply. Be careful not to equate “what is” with “what ought to be”. Just because something is natural, does not make it good.
Setuf in Spain would like to know why abortion is moral. We can address this by running a test of the trolley problem. How would killing five people instead of killing one person have a higher moral outcome? If you have the ability to divert the trolley to killing only one person instead of five, and you chose not to do anything, you have still made a choice and are equally responsible for those five deaths. There are all kinds of situations in society where we recognize that terminating the life of a being, is the right thing to do. Why is it okay to be responsible for the termination of five beings in the trolley problem yet you are not cool with the termination of a fetus?
Jmike, our initial host in GA, wants to know what is objectively wrong about his ability to morph into Kenneth after using the bathroom.
That is it folks! Thank you for joining us today for this oasis of reason in the vast desert of non-sense. See you next week!
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Talk Heathen 05.44 10-31-2021 with Kenneth Leonard and Johnny P. Angel Oct 31, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens and Happiest of Halloweens to you all! In today’s spooky episode of Talk Heathen, the Ghoulish Kenneth Leonard is joined by Devilish Johnny P. Angel.
Let’s get to calls! Marlon from the Philippines claims that Dreams (and out of body experiences) are a bridge to the Afterlife. He goes on to provide a personal anecdote where he fell asleep, had a dream, and woke up with a Mountain Dew next to him. Cool story bro, prove it!
Paul in the UK is up next, he is having difficulty with spotting his own biases when meeting new people and interacting with them. He finds folks to be more approachable when they feel comfortable enough to swear around him.
Setuf in Spain is calling in wanting to know how abortion can be moral. Oh fun, an abortion call. Kenneth and Johnny both talk about the importance of bodily autonomy and how people with uteruses should be able to consent to pregnancy. Apparently, he speaks for the zygotes.
Kevin in New York is calling in claiming there is a book of spells (aka a grimoire) that proves the supernatural. Ooooooh, just in time for Halloween! This grimoire has 3 different authors and the book’s title is: The 72 Demons of the Ars Goetia. Ummmm…. Yeah, we aren’t going to take your calls anymore. (At least Kenneth won’t.)
Hugh in New Zealand is telling us we should take the next step and say that religion is imaginary and hold the line! He is rather forceful in the conversation, he must be real fun at get togethers and parties. But there is nuance to this Hugh. You are overstating things and shifting the burden and being rather condescending.
Alex in Texas says people with uteruses should take more personal responsibility when it comes to getting an abortion. Yes, another guy calling about abortion. Sigh. And again, does consent to sex mean consent to being pregnant? For those in the back, getting an abortion is NOT avoiding personal responsibility. It is making a life changing decision and shouldn’t be reduced to less complex thought experiments and “contracts.” UGH
Scott in Texas is an atheist who wants to talk about the Kalam Cosmological Argument. He goes on to say there aren’t any good points to it and is sorta ridiculous. Yes! We agree!
Greg in CA wants to talk about biblical reasons for getting vaccinated. Interesting. Unfortunately though, the Bible is hugely interpreted in vastly different ways and he may find trouble in convincing some Christians about this.
That’s our show for this week, please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and please please PLEASE get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week! Now get out there and get some candy!
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Talk Heathen 05.43 10-24-2021 with Katy Montgomerie and MD Aware Oct 24, 2021

Show notes

Greetings heathens! Time to get down with our host Katy Montgomerie and special guest MD Aware.
First up is Logical Apostate in MO that wants to understand how trans rights are impacted by religion. People tend to react to trans people the same way they would react to gay people because they look to the closest language to trans mentioned in their scriptures that would be considered an abomination. They use that as justification for their bias. The actual law of the religion is often not the driving force of prejudices.
Ameet in NY is next and is asking about how the alkaline diet is purported to kill cancer cells. The pH of the body is extremely controlled. If the pH drops below 7 or rises up to 8, it is a sign of demise. Pushing these limits can be fatal. Whenever someone says “blank” kills cancer cells, remember that bullets do the same thing. Any normal alkaline diet can not significantly alter the body’s pH, and if it did, it would probably kill the person as well.
Mike from WA belligerently tries to argue with a real scientist that information contained in DNA must have come from somewhere and that there was no natural selection. Mike, ad hominem attacks do not change the fact that DNA are chemicals and are naturally selected according to physical and chemical laws. This is a physical process and is not the same as information nor is it a recipe. DNA is a chemical that self replicates under the correct conditions.
Ron in Canada believes the Bible is entirely true and contains an ancient wisdom that has revolutionized Western Civilization. When asked what makes the Bible true, his answer is the same that Muslims give about the Quran. And that is that he believes the Bible is so great that it could not have been written by man. This is a false dichotomy because there is no evidence that a supernatural entity exists to have written the Bible as opposed to human writings. The claims in the Bible can’t be used to prove itself; we need evidence. We are not convinced that what the people wrote in the Bible were inspired by a god.
Finally we have Allison in CA who grew up in a cult and now considers herself an atheist but wants to understand why we need to use the atheist label because it feels limiting. The label is there and roughly describes what is believed. An atheist just means we are not convinced of any god claims. Descriptions are interesting to humans and communicate topics. More importantly, we need to address the struggle against atheist rights, and using the label assists with this.
That is all for today folks! Thank you for tuning in to the show and we will see you soon!
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Talk Heathen 05.42 10-17-2021 with JMike and Kenneth Leonard Oct 17, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens! In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, JMike is joined by Kenneth Leonard. Congratulations on your recent wedding Kenneth, glad you’re now not living in sin.
Let’s get to calls! Charlie in Texas would like to talk about how or why the scientific method is properly scientific and how it can be applied to accepted theories including natural selection and evolution. This should be an interesting call, though it sounds like he’s trying to dismantle established theories and pick holes in them. Maybe call upon some biologists next time?
RJM in Massachusetts is up next, he wants to address what our epistemologies are in regards to being atheists. He does try to insert a deity or designer into the discussion of evolution and natural selection though. This call is frustrating because RJM doesn’t want to listen and sounds eerily similar to other presups and their scripts. Why is he dodging and deflecting our questions and getting upset?
Meshulam in Jerusalem is wondering about if there can be moral facts in a purely Atheistic world. Can moral action and facts exist in this Atheistic Universe. Um, why not and why wouldn’t there be morality? He continues to beg the question throughout this call, it’s worth listening to though, because JMike.
Queer Atheist in Illinois is wondering what theistic arguments are the best out there. Can we extrapolate and discuss them? Oh, that’s a tough question, because most theistic arguments tend to bring up more questions than providing solutions. Theist arguments have a tendency to appeal to emotion and tend to bend the truth too much. As a skeptic, it is difficult at best to find “the best one.”
That’s our show for this week, please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and please please PLEASE get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 05.41 10-10-2021 with Johnny P. Angel and Katy Montgomerie Oct 10, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens! We hope to be a sanctuary for you in this chaotic world. In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, the angelic and at the same time devilish, Johnny P. Angel is joined by the always incredibly knowledgeable and lovely Katy Montgomerie.
Let’s get to calls! Joseph from Ohio would like to talk about mythological gods and if we are 100% certain that they don’t exist as well. Johnny was very excited to talk about Anubis and Odin and whether we can be certain they don’t exist during this call.
Mike in California is up next, he believes if humanity as a whole would reject religion completely, that it would be anarchy and chaos in the world. He goes on to say that the fabric of society would be more fractured than it is now. Show us the evidence this would happen Mike. Hmmmm… Along with Katy, we just aren’t convinced of this.
Returning caller Kevin in New York, is calling yet again wanting to discuss how the Earth and the Solar System is made especially for humans. What about the oceans and other inhospitable areas like the top of Mt. Everest Kevin, or the vacuum of space? C’mon dude, think about it for a moment. Wonder what his next topic on his next call will be… perhaps the apocrypha?
David in North Carolina is calling about deplatforming evangelical extremists and charismatic Christian bigots in politics. What can we as atheists do to help with getting them out of office and maintaining momentum to continue.
That’s our show for this week, please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and please please PLEASE get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 05.40 10-03-2021 with Lloyd Evans and ObjectivelyDan Oct 03, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens! Hope you are all well! In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, smooth talking nutter squasher and master of metaphors Lloyd Evans is joined by the always wonderful and wondrous ObjectivelyDan.
Let’s get to calls! Robin from DC would like to talk about why atheists are critical if things can not be 100% defined or proven to be impossible. Yes, he’s a presup and yes gets aggressive if we don’t follow his “script.” There is talk about an egg on Lloyd’s desk and we don’t get an answer as to why Lloyd has an egg on his desk.
Michael in Colorado is up next, he is wondering how to get JWs to stop visiting, stop writing him letters, and stop calling him. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a way to fully stop them as they have changed their strategy due to the pandemic. Here we find out that Dan wants to engage and talk with JWs. You put it out there Dan!
Returning caller Kevin in New York, is calling yet again to discuss what he brings to the table when he calls and how his methods of debate are similar to a courtroom. Lloyd doesn’t quite agree with this premise, but it’s different from his normal call about the apocryphal texts… oh wait, spoke too soon.
DJ in Oregon has an observation and a question for Lloyd and Dan. He has observed how we speak in philosophical terms with presups and how they are there to obscure facts and try to get folks to say specific and ridiculous things. Matt Dillahunty (in chat) said it best, we shouldn’t assume or accuse what’s in people’s heads. So keep asking questions.
Michael in Florida is asking how anyone can prove the God of the Bible exists when it’s so contradictory. Good question, it’s something we constantly are up against and working on.
Sheri in Ohio is wondering about folks putting stickers on the Gideon bibles (or Book of Mormon) within motel/hotel rooms. What do we think about this practice? Erring on the side of caution, it might be best to place flyers or bookmarks in them instead of adhering stickers to them because this may do more harm to the movement than good.
That’s our show for this week, please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen 05.39 09-26-2021 with Katy Montgomerie and Jmike Sep 26, 2021

Show notes

Greetings Heathens! Hope you are all doing well and staying safe out there. In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, Katy Montgomerie is joined by JMike.
Let’s get to calls! Vinay from India would like to talk about how we don’t have the answers to where the universe came from and deconverting. ‘I don’t know’ is a valid response to a lot of these questions and does not show weakness.
Robert in Sweden is up next, he would like to discuss false religions and starts out by setting the claim that all religions are about life after death. Ummm, no, not all religions exist purely for the afterlife and quite a few serve a lot of different roles. That’s a pretty broad blanket claim.
Mark in Canada is calling about being able to talk to spirit guides and is calling in about it. Ok, prove it to us on the show, that would be awesome! Though how do we test for this and replicate it? Hmmm... It seems like he believes it enough to sell this pseudoscience to gullible people.
Paul in North Carolina is asking and talking about transcendence and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, though the caller keeps calling it a pyramid and it is usually showcased as one. This is a theory in psychology consisting of a 5-tier model of human needs: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-awareness/actualization. How is this relevant though? Shannon Q where are you, we need you for this caller!
Stewart in the UK is calling in about teaching critical thinking and the scientific method to recovering mental health patients and their success with it. He also is calling about debunking mediums and folks who claim the channel the dead. They’re dead sadly, there’s nothing conscious to channel or communicate with.
Bonnie in Wisconsin is wondering about the resurrection and the afterlife and has something to say about Robert’s call earlier. Thanks for the feedback Bonnie!
That’s our show for this week folks! Please continue to be safe in your area, wear your mask, and get vaccinated if you can. The world is better with you in it. See you next week!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

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