Truth Wanted

Latest Episodes:

Truth Wanted 04.12 03-26-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and P*ck Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

Hello all and welcome to this week's episode to Truth Wanted. Tonight, our hosts ObjectivelyDan and our favorite piece of vulcanized rubber P*uck are going to be fulfilling all your truth seeking needs.
First up on the docket is Lucas from Texas! The caller comes from a very religious family, they’re all preachers, and they are the only Atheist. Your safety and well being are the top priority, and we’re glad you have found other outlets to at least mentally escape from your situation. Thank you so much for calling Lucas!
Next up is Roberto from Texas who wants to get into activism, but is overwhelmed by the number of subjects they are passionate about and the ever expanding amount of misinformation out there. Don’t worry about whether people will listen to you, they will. Over time, you will find an audience who appreciates your goals as an activist. As for choosing a subject, focus on one that you are comfortable with and naturally branch out from there.
Third up is Michael from Germany who is wondering what theists are objecting to when they say something can’t come from nothing. We don’t need to assert that something can come from nothing to reject the claim that everything came from God. Many of the “gotcha” attempts made by apologists are one sided, over-simplified statements that can be confusing to outsiders and do not necessarily address the actual positions held by non-believers.
Next is Keith from Florida who wants to continue the conversation from earlier on religion and racism. The caller provides an example of a Pagan organization's explicit racism outlined on its website’s “values page.”
What a show! I mean what a show! If you agree, please give the episode a big like! As always, we at the ACA hope you continue to stay safe! See you next week!
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Truth Wanted 04.11 03-19-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and SMiles Lewis Mar 20, 2021

Show notes

Hello and welcome to another fantastic episode of Truth Wanted! This week, our in-house truth seeker ObjectivelyDan is joined by SMiles Lewis!
The first call of the evening is Phil from Texas who wants to talk about the possibility of other intelligent beings beyond this planet. While it is true that we only have our own species as a data point, we cannot draw conclusions about the limitations of other intelligent life if it does indeed exist. Great call Phil!
Next up is Phil from Ohio who asks, assuming we have been or are being contacted by aliens, how we can account for the massive technology gap between us and them. Like in the last call, since we have a sample size of one, us, when it comes to a civilization, and we don’t have evidence that we have encountered alien species, any assessments we make on the situation would be answering one unknown with another.
Next is Sven from Washington who is wondering if our attribution of the building of ancient structures to aliens is rooted in racism tropes, or mere semantics (gods being replaced by aliens in modern times). There are definitely racist themes in some if not many of the ancient alien analyses as they imply the inferiority of ancient cultures– specifically that these cultures or races wouldn’t have otherwise been able to accomplish what they did without the help of other, superior beings.
Our final call for the night is from Keith in Maine, I mean Florida! They want to know what the most compelling evidence SMiles has for the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. Sorry to disappoint you Keith, but we don’t have much! Thanks for calling!
That was an amazing show wasn’t it, we sure thought so. If you haven’t already, please consider giving the episode a like. Finally, while we are beginning to approach the end of this pandemic’s title, we’re not there yet. From everyone here at the ACA, please stay safe out there.
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Truth Wanted 04.10 03-12-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Dr. Josh Mar 13, 2021

Show notes

Hello all you truth seekers and welcome back to Truth Wanted! This week, ObjectivelyDan is joined by Dr. Josh.
First call for the night is Ally from GA who recently stopped believing in the supernatural and spiritual phenomena (such as crystal healing and tarot card reading), and wants to come out to their friends about it. They don’t want to make their friends who aren’t as skeptical think that they are being betrayed.
Next up is Jay from MO who is calling to share a personal experience with God through a dream he had. The issue with dreams is just how much they are affected by what is happening in our lives, so attributing naturalistic experiences to them can be potentially unjustified. The conversation also brings up the interesting perspective of how the pull to faith, and hope that our religious beliefs are true increases when we encounter tragedy.
Next up is Ed from DC who wants to talk about his research into the wife of God, Asherah and the connections between the story he pieced together from the Bible and current day.
Fourth up is a return caller from last week, Adam from IL. Adam wants to double down on his use of the “No True Scotsman Fallacy” from last week. The caller still doesn’t understand that people leave their faith for a wide variety of reasons, but that just because they stopped believing, that doesn’t mean that they never did believe or that their denomination is any less legitimate that another.
Our last caller for the evening is Michael from OH. The caller wants to know how we as a society can combat the rapid spread of conspiracies. One of the biggest factors in this fight is how we as a society handle free-speech on social media. Since these platforms are run by private companies, the best way to combat these beliefs that don’t conform to reality is to have conversations and guide people to ask why they believe what they believe and what made them hold that belief so confidently.
What a show! Thank you all so much for watching. Until we see you next week, stay safe out there!
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Truth Wanted 04.09 03-05-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Ross Blocher Mar 06, 2021

Show notes

It’s Friday which means another episode of Truth Wanted is hitting your screens right on schedule. This week, ObjectivelyDan is joined by Ross Blocher!
First up for the night is Will from TX. As a former Catholic, the caller is struggling to have a conversation with their still believing sister who is having personal experiences in the form of visions and dreams. One of the ways to continue the conversation is to not outright deny their experiences, but to insert a bit of gentle nuance into the discussion to possibly get them to ask some questions about their beliefs.
Next up is Joe from VA who wants to run some street epistemology on Dan. In the interview shown in the previous episode of Truth Wanted (Episode 04.01), Anthony Magnabosco is shown interviewing Dan back when he was still a believer. The caller wants to know what part of that conversation was most convincing to Dan.
Entering onto the field now is number 3, Adam from IL. The caller wants to know more about Street Epistemology and if it is just a tool to create more Atheists. SE is less about convincing theists that a God isn’t real than it is guiding people to questions why they believe the things that they do (not limited to a God belief). Also sidenote, the caller should familiarize themselves with the “No True Scotsman Fallacy.” It isn’t cool to dismiss other people’s experiences as Christians just because they don’t believe anymore, or when they did, they weren’t a part of your specific denomination. Instead, please potentially consider why there are so many different denominations with so many conflicting views.
That was a great show wasn’t it! We sure hope you thought so! If you want to see more why not check out some of the ACA’s other great shows? It’s still a crazy world out there right now so until next week, stay safe out there!
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Truth Wanted 04.08 02-26-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Reid Nicewonder Feb 27, 2021

Show notes

Hey there truth seekers! We here at Truth Wanted hope you are all having a very happy Friday, or Saturday if you live in the future. Today, ObjectivelyDan is joined by Reid Nicewonder!
Our first caller of the evening is Adam from IL who was thrown off by Matt’s definition of Atheism. Atheism is a very broad term that encompasses many different confidence levels when it comes to disbelief in a god. Because definitions are descriptive, the very fact that a person can find one definition of Atheism that says its a positive claim that God does not exist and another that is merely an absence of belief shows the glaring flaw in building an entire argument over specific definitions.
Next up is Keith from FL who is curious about the ethics of street epistemology and if it can be considered manipulative. SE is all about asking questions and having thought provoking conversations while keeping your own beliefs separate from the discussion.
Tom from Ohio wants to know how we and other life can come to exist without God. As we do not have evidence for the supernatural, the null hypothesis for any questions that science asks is natural. The burden of proof is on those claiming the answer was caused by the supernatural or God to demonstrate that they both exist and are capable of accomplishing what is being claimed.
Fourth up is our first ever caller from France! Please give a warm welcome to Gus! The caller is wondering if Reid has advice on how to stay motivated to keep practicing SE especially when having seemingly unproductive conversations or conversations with people who are convinced for less than desirable reasons.
Thank you all so much for watching this week's episode of Truth Wanted! We hope you enjoyed it. Until we see you next time, keep on wanting the truth and questioning every TikTok you come across.
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Truth Wanted 04-07 02-19-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Outcast X Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, our very own ObjectivelyDan is joined by Outcast X!
First up is a caller from last week, Al from Wisconsin! Welcome back! For clarification, Al identifies as an atheist, but still believes in some of the aspects of Scientology. Today, Al talks about his experiences using the famous e-meter. How can we determine whether what you are experiencing is actually a memory of a past life or a creation of your mind?
Next up is RJ from Texas who is another former Scientologist. The caller recounts his experience growing up under Scientology and the effects that it had on him and his parents. He also goes into detail about the highly manipulative tactics the Church of Scientology employs to keep its members in line and disconnected from the outside world.
Our final caller is Scott from Texas who wants to share a ghost encounter they believed they had, how this experience led to them becoming more skeptical. If you want to get involved in the skeptic community, don’t hesitate to put yourself out there or offer your services as a volunteer. There is always work to do!
What a show that was! Thank you all so much for watching tonight’s episode! As always, especially with what has been happening this week, please stay safe out there!
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Truth Wanted 04.06 02-12-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Almost a Doctor Matthew Rahm Feb 13, 2021

Show notes

Happy Friday and welcome back to Truth Wanted! Today, Almost A Doctor: Matthew Rahme is joining ObjectivelyDan to carry out their weekly mission to take your calls and seek out the truth!
First up tonight is Al from Wisconsin who tells us his story as a former member of Scientology. Despite leaving the church, he still holds onto some of the teachings such as people having past lives. How can we demonstrate that we have actually lived past lives rather than it just being a trick of the mind?
Next is Scott from California who is calling to see if our hosts can help clarify the concept of event ontology. While we can demonstrate that time is experienced differently depending on its location within space, GPS and Atomic Clocks play a big role in testing this, our hosts are unfortunately not equipped to fully help our caller. Thank you again for your call Scott!
Mike from Washington wants to know how we can hold individuals accountable for perpetuating unfounded claims and if we should. One way is to have conversations with these individuals and work through the claims. Unfortunately, because it is unlikely that people will change their minds after a single conversation, it can be difficult to maintain a continuous dialogue. Therefore it is much more effective to present peer reviewed evidence as refutation and get them to reach conclusions on their own, rather than levying consequences for their past claims.
Journey from North Carolina is calling to present evidence of chemtrails. He proposes that an experiment has been conducted that has detected harmful chemicals and materials in the trails left behind the jet. One of the biggest questions is how accurate these measurements were considering the already difficult task of testing single elements in a much slower and controlled environment than flying behind a jet.
Our final caller is Matt Dillahunty from Austin Texas! Catch Matt & Dan on The Atheist Experience on February 21st!!!
That was a great show wasn’t it! We sure hope you thought so! If you want to see more why not check out some of the ACA’s other great shows? It’s still a crazy world out there right now so until next week, stay safe out there!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

Truth Wanted 04.05 02-05-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Kenneth Leonard Feb 07, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back truth seekers to the first episode of Truth Wanted for the month of February! It's sunny outside and 70 degrees and don’t you dare question that! This week ObjectivelyDan is joined by Kenneth Leonard!
First in our lineup tonight is Paul from MN who wanted to share his experiences and frustrations as a questioning Christian. Our hosts share their own experiences to show how widespread these experiences are for so many. If you are questioning your faith and feel like you are on this journey alone, know that there are others who have walked that same path who are ready to help guide you.
Next is Allison from Canada who claims that her mother dreamed of drowning at the pool when after a near death encounter. She believes that this may have been a telepathic connection with her mother due to their closeness. We don’t have the technology to assess telepathic experiences, especially dreams, but we do have evidence that our brains react and form ideas based on a collection of information and biases.
Third on the list is Phillip from Australia. If you call the show with the intent of making a formal argument for God, please make sure that the questions are organized and coherent rather than spending 20 minutes defining obtuse terminology.
Next up is Carpe Diem from CO who is wondering about the correlation between belief and sacrifice. Sacrifice isn’t necessarily tied specifically to the religious as an Atheists can choose to make sacrifices for all sorts of causes, from pushing against societal prejudices of Atheism to any other personal causes that an individual finds important.
Our final call of the night is Will from OK who is wondering why anything matters if people don’t have a common sense of morality. Moral systems that are from an authoritative source such as a god do not recognize nor account for the foundational goals that a community may share. Secular moral systems on the other hand are much more flexible in their ability to be shaped to fit the will of the community, and acknowledge that humans are going to be the ones who have to find ways of living together.
That's it for this week; we hope you enjoyed today’s show! See you all again next Friday right here for another great episode of Truth Wanted!
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Truth Wanted 04.04 01-29-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Joey Krieger Jan 30, 2021

Show notes

It’s that time of the week again truth seekers for another episode of Truth Wanted! This week, ObjectivelyDan is joined by Joey Krieger!
Our first caller of the evening is Laurie from OH who is calling to talk about the secular perspective of karma. While there isn’t evidence to support the claim that the supernatural is responsible for any acts of “karma,” there is evidence supporting that our actions have consequences. For example, if you generally treat people poorly, those same people may be less inclined to treat you well in the future.
Next is Carpe Diem from CO calls in to finally give ObjectivelyDan what he has been wanting, a conversation about QAnon. The caller draws a parallels between the way people within the cult of Q and devout theists draw conclusions about reality, and is wondering how we can effectively push back against those beliefs to minimize the dangers they pose on society.
Isaiah from HI calls in to talk about the events that possibly led to the creation of the prominent myths found in various religious texts around the world. How can we accurately determine which event influenced which story, or if a myth formed separately?
Our last caller of the show is Mark from NC. He states that while we have the right to free speech, you do not necessarily have the right to be heard. One of the main issues with that statement is that those who have the power to enforce that right shifts over time. For example, when segregation was legal, a sign could be placed that discriminated against an entire group of people and those with power wouldn’t step in. Today a sign like that would be removed almost immediately in most places and those who made it would face legal ramifications.
Unfortunately that’s all we’ve got for this episode, but rest assured, we’ll be right back here again next week! Until next time, stay safe out there everyone!
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Truth Wanted 04.03 1-22-2021 with ObjectivelyDan and Bridget Bradshaw Jan 23, 2021

Show notes

Happy Friday truth seekers and welcome to another episode of Truth Wanted! Today, ObjectivelyDan is joined by Bridget Bradshaw!
Our first caller is Carpe Diem from CO who asks why someone would investigate something they don’t believe in? He also asked whether Bridget actually believed in Ghosts or wanted to believe in Ghosts? While Bridget did believe that Ghosts were possible during her time, she wouldn’t assert certainty in either direction and was open to the possibility that they either did or did not exist.
Our next caller is Will from AL who is wondering what Bridget thinks of claims of physical assaults from Ghosts at haunted properties. Our hosts bring up the point that many of these places profit from these anecdotes and reports and that they are a vital part of their business plan.
Omniskeptic from Canada asks how Bridget’s team of paranormal investigators came to an explanation of events after an investigation? Was it organized? According to Bridget, there was a set procedure where the different members or smaller break-out groups would all individually come up with their own conclusions before sending them to a designated team leader who would then create the official report.
Next is Marcia from AZ who calls to tell our hosts about her time in Sunday School. She explains how her teachers would threaten her and other students with the possibility of being haunted by demons if they stray from their faith. While she is an Atheist now and has moved on, she still notices habits stemming from that class.
Keith from FL calls in to ask how a paranormal investigator can determine the real paranormal activity from the false positives as was seen in the video footage shown earlier in the show. You can’t, at the end of the day it’s always a personal anecdote that’s unfalsifiable.
Well that’s it for this week, we hope you enjoyed the show! If you did, why not check out some of the other great shows that the ACA produces! Also if you thought Bridget was fantastic, you can find her at Facebook & Twitter at the links below!
Bridget Bradshaw:
Facebook - APOPHENIA666
Twitter - @APOPHENIA666
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

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