The Atheist Experience

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of The Atheist Experience. This week, Shannon Q is joined by the one and only Forrest Valkai!First up is Anthony from VA who is calling to argue that the body of God is the universe. The argument is founded on the idea that complex arrangements of atoms can lead to consciousness, and solar systems look similar to atoms and they might be the atoms of God?Next up is Noah from CA, a deist who claims that we are born and are currently living in hell. They abhorrently suggest that all of the sufferings that occurs in the world is just the waiting room to get to the perfect place, and is something that we can all laugh about later once we get to the other place after spending years being hazed by this bully of God. Piss off!Next up is Jeffrey from PA who believes that God created two genders. The idea of two genders is a very antiquated western viewpoint that is not reflected by other cultures. Thank you for being a great caller Jeffrey.John from Canada is the less plea

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by @Paulogia!First up is Issac from Israel who presents an argument for the truth of Judaism and its version of God by using the continued existence of the Jewish people.Next up is Clarence from OH who is confused about the laws of identity, non-contradiction, and excluded middle.Kevin from NY has a claim that will help our hosts find God. What’s the claim? The book of Enoch apparently describes supermassive black holes, but only if you interpret the text correctly. Whatever you say dude...Next up is Jonathan from CO who questions why Atheists would choose to help others and make the world a better place if there is no God to motivate them. Please keep believing in a God.Up next is Shiela from KY who had a recent confrontation with a family member who used their husband’s declining health as leverage to bring the caller back into religion.Next is Mercy from China is wondering what Matt’s position on assisted suicide and death with dignity

Welcome to another episode of The Atheist Experience. Today we have Apostate Prophet in the host chair alongside Shannon Q, this is going to be a good one!First caller Gregory in AZ asks how to talk with muslims about hijabs and other face coverings as he feels it’s outdated. We mainly have a problem with islam societies mandating wearing hijabs. Try arguing against the idea that it empowers women.Eric in NH claims god exists and is the foundation for all reality and is an omnigod, and other word salad. How can one summarize this call when Eric can’t seem to agree on his definitions. Yeah no, lucid dreaming is not a pathway to understand physics or to prove god. Ahmet in OH continues on the hijab call claiming it’s a human rights issue. We agree people can wear what they want but we disagree with making it mandatory. Some muslim women feel it’s subjugating and not actually a choice. Ben in AK believes god is the universe and we have to forget everything we know about the universe. God, a young solar system, S

Welcome to another episode of The Atheist Experience. This week, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Dave Warnock!First up is Aiden from IL who is calling to update our hosts on their life since their previous call about dying with dignity.Next up is Cody from TX who wants to talk about the importance of the Secular Student Alliance and its role in normalizing atheism and providing opportunities for atheists to find community.John from Canada is calling to express their opinion on the overturning of “Roe vs Wade.” Your opinion has been noted; we thank you for your business. Next customer, please.Art from PA is calling to present an argument that Jesus isn’t actually God. Flawed premises equal a flawed conclusion.Oh, Mykil from Canada is mad. Really mad.Next up is Tory from IL, an ex-Jehovah's Witness who lost everything when they departed the organization.Up next is Victor from TX who claims that God cannot be demonstrated by using reason, but can be using intuition.Next is David from AZ who is apparently super pro-

Welcome to another episode of The Atheist Experience. This week, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Forrest Valkai!First up is John from Georgia, who has been asked by others in their community the classic question, “If we came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” The caller wants to know if our hosts have a better response to that question than they do.Next up is John from CO who is wondering how Matt could have possibly lost faith when the truth of the Bible is apparently as obvious as math.Dan from FL believes that abortions are murders and that there should be a penalty for those who get one.Joseph from the UK believes that mathematics provides evidence for a creator through the use of probability calculation.Next up is Tony from CA, who is wondering if biological evolution has any connections to societal evolution and the widespread tribalistic polarization we see today?Next is John from the UK who engaged a creationist on a forum, and has questions for our hosts regarding abiogenesis and the origins of

Welcome to another episode of the Atheist Experience! This week, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Shannon Q!First is Larry from VA who is curious to know what parts of our brain are utilized when a person speaks or listens to someone speaking in tongues?Next up is Rosalind from FL who doesn’t understand how Atheists can be moral since their morality can be anything.Next is Anthony from VA who says you can still have Christianity without Christ.Up next is Mark from PA who believes that theists are mentally ill and that society should not be tolerant of them. Take it away Shannon.Next is Jay from MO who asks if Atheism is a mental illness, among other enlightening questions.Next up is Gary from CT who asks what makes a real, “insert group label here,” and what type of evidence is acceptable.Next is Luke from FL who believes that xenophobia and racism don’t occur naturally, but are generated through science.Our final caller is Victor from TX who seems to have invented their own God with their chosen qualities, but c

In today’s episode of The Atheist Experience, Matt is joined by Everyday_Atheist to see how capable callers are answering questions this week.First caller is Dane in KS who is suggesting that a bracelet that dates back to the 14th century BCE is proof that the Bible is true. How does this bracelet confirm the Biblical stories in a way that proves god? In 2,000 years, when NY City is dug up, will it confirm that Spider Man is real?Next caller is Jamaal from CA who believes that our consciousness is our soul since we don’t have a scientific explanation for consciousness. He believes that consciousness can affect the brain state and that the supernatural explains experiences. If we don’t have an explanation, you don’t get to make something up. Labels that religions tie to a soul are emergent properties of the brain. You can’t solve a mystery by appealing to a bigger mystery. Can you prove that consciousness is magic and that it exists? How do you know that consciousness is a soul?James in SC brings up how othe

Welcome to another episode of the Atheist experience! This week, Jim Barrows is joined by Forrest Valkai!First up is Alex from Israel who wants to talk about lucid dreaming and its possible naturalistic explanatory power for out of body & near death experiences.Next is Nate from CA who identifies as an atheist, but takes a 50/50 confidence stance on the true/false claim that a God exists.Next is Brett from MO who asks us if Atheism is an objective position or subjective?Up next is Matthew from SC who doesn’t understand what makes someone biologically transgender, versus someone just “choosing” to identify as a sex they weren’t born as.Next up is Theodore from PA who reasons that after death, our consciousness continues onward via the consciousness of others. So is consciousness like an organic version of distributed computing?Next up is Jay from TX who claims to have had a near death experience, and believes it to be evidence of the afterlife.Finally, Jay from MO is calling in to present the standard “it’

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Shannon Q!First up is Dominic from CA who claims to be able to prove the existence of God using the concepts of “Objective Morality” & “Karma.”Tim from CA is calling to see if our hosts agree with their assessment that religious belief is a psychological disorder.Next up is John from Sweden who wants to know what motivates someone who does not believe in a God or afterlife, why care about creating a better world if we are just going to die and not get to experience it?Isaiah from NV is calling to present a definition of spirituality. I am convinced that spirituality is necessarily first person at this point because I’ve yet to hear a single, consistent definition for that word. “The Mind is everything...” O_oNext is Anthony from VA who wants to take a crack at arguing for intelligent design via a hypothetical, and an appeal to probability.Anthony from FL is calling to argue that there is a proto-consciousness within all matter in t

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Apostate Prophet!First up is Samuel from UT who is calling to suggest that Matt’s chess model of secular morality is incomplete and needs to be expanded on.Anthony from VA is calling back to present a new and “improved” argument for intelligent design.Next is John from Sweden who wants advice from AP on how express their dwindling faith in Islam to their close family.Javier from IA calls to ask our hosts why they are called transphobic & islamophobia by others. I think we can figure out why.Next is Nikki from OR who was formerly an Atheistic Jew who found Jesus, but won’t tell us what the experience was or at least where Jesus was hiding.Henri from Estonia believes that God doesn’t physically exist, but exists metaphysically within humans?Patrick from FL claims that Matt caused them to develop faith, but they don’t know what the God they believe in actually is.Jacob from TX claims that they were once an Atheist, but was convinced l

First up is Mark from PA who recently lost a loved one and is struggling with the typical Christian belief that God is loving when such suffering is allowed to persist. Next up is Anthony from PA who claims that intelligent design is philosophically sound. Can the caller demonstrate the truth of intelligent design without being fallacious? Find out now! Next is Bob from TN who calls to read us bible verses, specifically John 4:10, that somehow demonstrate the truth of...itself? Start the clock. Tru from TX is calling to ask for advice on dealing with extremely religious family members who act hurtfully whenever the topic is broached. Next up is Patrick from FL who wants to know why many skeptics deem extrasensory perception as “hooey” and dismiss it out of hand. Next up is Matthew from England who believes that explicit (capable of assessing evidence), weak (not claiming certainty) atheists have a burden of proof. How? Next is Jack from FL who presents a “simple” syllogism to prove God. Typically, syllogi

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Apostate Prophet!First up is Padraic from Ireland who calls in to claim that belief in a god is more reasonable than atheism. A great many claims are made...Next is David from AZ who wants to convince the hosts to adopt their theology using “logical” premises only. Oh, if only that were true.Joseph from MD calls into ask what motivates an Atheist to act morally without a God? Queue a presentation on secular moral systens.Next up is Abu from England who was kicked out of their home and lost man family connections when the deconverted from Islam. The caller wants to know if something similar happened to our host AP when they left.Next is Noah from OR who believes that the laws of logic and nature were created, much in the same way that societal laws are created, and that this is evidence of a creator.Next is Patrick from FL who called to ask why our hosts are atheists rather than pantheist. While the caller’s audio dropped, our hosts pro

Join us today with the fun dual of Shannon Q and Phil Ferguson who will be looking for callers to finally present the proof of god.Clarence in Ohio would like to talk about the arrogance of anthropocentric religions leading to dangerous consequences. His perspective is that secular humanism tends to be this way where pantheism does not. This is more of a philosophy than a religion. Is there a specific list of rules with scientific pantheism that needs to be adhered to? And what did the people who made these rules call themselves before the rules were made?Next up is Shane in GA that is going to lay some math on us. He is fixing to show us something that is irrefutable. He starts with Revelations and then Daniel. He talked about Mohammed dying in 632.5. And then we are supposed to go forward 1335 years and to 1967. Abraham has two sons going back to Genesis. His feelings got hurt and started yelling and cussing. Still no math.Kevin in Canada believes miracles are proof of god because god is the only one that

Welcome to another episode of The Atheist Experience. This week, Jim Barrows is joined by JMike!First up is Mark from Australia has faith that we are living in a situation. It doesn’t matter if you would prefer to have evidence and not employ faith, if you admit that you can’t back up your belief, why continue to believe it?Next is John from MO who proposes that it is reasonable to pre-suppose a God because we don’t have any other explanation and therefore we should employ common sense. The caller argues that rationality is only possible if we have enough information to examine a claim.B from VA asks who gets to name a group of people. The members of the group get to determine what they want to be called, not outsiders. It is disrespectful and offensive, especially if they continue to ignore the preferred label.Kevin from WA is calling to compare humans eating animals is akin to slavery. Factory farming does contain traits that parallels slavery, but eating animals itself isn’t on its own slavery.Next is Vict

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Dave Warnock!First up is Charles from GA who wants to argue that scientists and their dating methods are incorrect. Does the caller present evidence? No. Does the caller understand the science they are proposing is incorrect? No.Next up is Brian from NY who worships demons and claims that they are supernatural gods, and that there are demonstrable mechanisms to make them manifest. The caller submits that the spirit box is one such method, but fails to demonstrate that it is at all reliable in doing what it claims it does.Next is Andrew from ME who calls to propose that everyone worships something, even Atheists. While the caller admits that they don’t claim to know what any specific individual worships, they do claim that everyone does to what they value most.Next up is Alex from Canada who objects to religious teachings that advocate for its followers to abandon all pleasures and enjoyments in life. The caller is starting to question

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Jim Barrows!First up is Kevin from Canada, who believes that coincidences are God’s way of anonymously interacting with us and therefore are convincing evidence for God’s existence. Typically, the word “coincidence” corresponds to one not having an explanation for an occurrence. Arbitrarily assigning an explanation does not make it true.Next up is Charles from GA who wanted to present historical evidence of the bible. Apparently, Noah’s Ark is in Turkey and has metal that’s only been developed in the last century. This finding by Ron Wyatt has been debunked repeatedly, and even if what was found was indeed a boat, that does not mean that it was Noah’s Ark nor is proof of God.Next up is Jon from Canada who argues that God is required for moral guidance. They claim that we are in a state of chaos because we as a society are ignoring God’s commands (i.e. rampant racism, apparently being gender non-conforming)... because those two are appa

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Apostate Prophet.Our first call for the day is King from AK who recently had a conversation with a theist regarding prophecy and whether it can be proof of God. The fact that something may have happened doesn’t tell us why it happened.Next up is Aaron from FL who wants to know if telling those struggling with severe mental health issues that God wants them to live is a beneficial technique. One of main issues with this is that their reason for living is not tied to reality, and if their belief wavers they are back to where they started or worse.Next is Jacob from NJ who wants to pick a fight with Apostate Prophet. Is this relevant to the truth of Islam? No, it's petty and fallacious.Next is Joel who believes that the universe was created by God. Since no one has an evidence based explanation yet for the cause of the universe, any conclusion is premature and unfounded.Up next is Kerim from Turkey who is concerned about Turkish Muslims w

This Sunday’s AxP has Matt returning, alongside crowd favorite, Shannon Q!First up is Hank, who says without precreation, there’s no point to life. He gets cut off after an inappropriate comment, but Shannon and Matt offer MANY reasons why life matters without babies. Keep it PG Hank.Kevin in Canada thinks scientists believing in gods is proof of their existence, and also believes in Intelligent Design. Shannon points out that many biological systems are clearly not designed well, and Matt doesn’t care what some people, scientist or not, might think. That's not proof of anything!Bob is next, who is off like a rocket with his background story of being an agnostic atheist with autism. He wants to know if folks on the autism spectrum are more likely to be non-believers. Our hosts aren’t aware of any statistics on the topic, and think it may be more an issue of visibility than tendency. I would love to have a beer with Bob.Patrick identifies as an atheist, but thinks the universe is… conscious? And also, t

In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Matt Dillahunty is joined by Dr. Darrel Ray!Starting off is Kyle from NY who believes that they hear spirits talking to them when they pray. How do you know these are spirits? Just because you don’t have an answer to the question “what is it?” doesn’t mean that you are justified in calling them spirits. For all you know it’s a manifestation of Agent Smith trying to control your life from the shadows.Next up from KY is Eric who is calling to talk about upcoming Recovering From Religion Foundation events and volunteer opportunities! Thanks for calling Eric!Up next is JR from AR who claims to have figured out a way to detect the presence of a spiritual world using a pendulum? Why does it seem like every time one of these “techniques” is presented, they always seem to develop a humanesque performance anxiety.Next is Jessica from UT who believes Atheism is a privileged position. There is nothing necessarily privileged about asking a question or holding a belief, it's t

Welcome to another episode of AxP. Matt and Jim are back together again!First up is Mr. Warlight, who claims to have a test for souls. Sadly, it involves desecrating a statue in a cemetery, so we’re gonna move on.Mike in Texas has More (-mon) bad arguments for God. The universe is a big place, and therefore, a universe creating entity is possible. Matt and Jim point out that possibility is not probability, and this is as good an argument for gods as it is for butt monkeys. Just listen, it’ll make sense.Next is Jasmine who’s going to take us from the Bible to… entropy? Jim reminds us that the Bible is the claim, not the evidence, and gives our caller a quick lesson in thermodynamics. Matt points out that just because order came from chaos, that doesn’t mean God did it.Brazilian Bruno is next, who takes a very long time to say… God could prevent evil, but doesn’t, so HIS God is a neutral one. Jim gives a great Hell metaphor, and Matt tries to show Bruno where he’s erred.Lightning round with Earl, who ha