Atheist Experience 24.38 2020-09-20 with Matt Dillahunty & Hector Garcia

Hello all you atheists (and theists) out there! The hosts of today’s Atheist Experience are Matt Dillahunty and Dr. Hector Garcia! Hector is an author, podcaster, and youtuber. Heh has been spending his Covid time making a new YouTube channel, shout out to Genetically Modified Skeptic.

Our first caller, Jonathan in the UK wants to know how to help his believer wife without challenging her beliefs. Tough request Jonathan. Is the belief of a punishing god damaging to begin with? Be honest, come at with concern and let her know this is you and you are not taking away her beliefs. Reach out to Recovering From Religion.

Shawna in NY asks what to say to people that say consciousness is proof of god. There needs to be more to the argument, a statement is not enough to conclude a god exists. The brain is malleable, it can be altered and fundamentally change the person affected.

Dean in CA argues that wellbeing is not robust enough to base morality on. Dean argues coronavirus harms our wellbeing. We agree but there are forms of wellbeing, like societal wellbeing. In discussions of coronavirus we are always talking about wellbeing, not personal preference.

Brian in CA asks about Pascal’s Mugging, a thought experiment on probability of return on investment and risk versus reward. We would want more evidence to believe someone would return any money given. Way too many factors to consider.

Rick in MI thinks Matt is wrong that slavery is in the bible. Rick agrees with Matt that slavery is outlined in the bible but its immoral to own people. Matt points out the bible advocates for something we agree is immoral.

Ron in FL asks how to combat the argument that his brother needs to power through mental health problems. You can research barriers to mental health and help direct him. It’s not a failing on his part and one can’t necessarily pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Mark in NM asks if atheism creates a contentious point for people arguing new theological ideas. Atheism is merely a response to a claim. We are unsure of what you are asking.

Nathan in LA feels people are agnostic because we don’t know where people came from and feels there has to be a force controlling evolution. Look at the trees… Abiogenesis deals with where life came from, not evolution. No creator required.

Michael in AZ thinks god is a paradox. A paradox implies that something doesn’t exist, a god can’t both exist and not.

Last caller, Vernaz in the UK asks why does god have to be connected to religion and feels god has nothing to do with religion. Some religions don't have a god belief. Email tv@atheist-community.org, we would love to hear more.

Thanks for tuning in, we are so glad you joined us today. You can find more from Hector at www.hector-garcia.com. Stay safe and continue wearing masks out there.

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