I'm so glad you're around to help people. I spent so long being surrounded by believers, and keeping quiet about my disbelief. Your outspoken belief in yourself has helped a lot. I stopped 'believing' in religion when I was 14, at Bible Baptist Church Camp in Kansas. lol
Thanks to this episode, I just realized that my favorite sound in the whole world is the sound of a person with a thick Southern accent cheerfully talking about how he became an atheist. Faith in humanity +1.
"Do it my way or you will spend eternity in hell because I love you" ~ The Christian God "Kill anyone who is a nonbeliever by taking of their head during which time you will tell me how Great I am" ~ The Islamic God "Here is land I have reserved for you that will lead to thousands of years of war, strife and brutality, but take heart, you are my chosen people" ~ The Judaic God/The Almighty Real Estate Agent The 3 most popular religions on planet earth and it's the 21st century ...WTF! When will these people realize they are servile to something they can't reasonably say exists'! They use words like Sin, Faith, Spirit, Prayer ...all which have no real meaning outside a supernatural sandbox. I feel bad for those who don't know what it is like to be free from the mind fuck of a prison in which they live. Just to understand we are here on this tiny planet for such a short period in time ...makes life all the more wondrous and precious. *The need for a higher power has little meaning when you really think about it.*
Stick and carrot. Personally I think if the carrot isn't good enough, then no amount of stick will work. The instant you introduce an 'or else', you undermine everything else you say. The fact that these religions try and tell you their god is fatherly.. What kind of father says "Do the dishes and I'll love you, or I'll beat you senseless because I love you."
This is maybe my favourite of all your podcasts Seth. Please do more with other callers. Deconversion stories on RUclips are so great. It’s an eye opener for theists and it’s therapy for newly born atheists. Lindsey is my hero. I wish I was that together when I was 14 years old. Wow
This is going to sound nerdy but what really helped me with my de-conversion was Science fiction. When I was around 15 I started watching Stargate SG-1 and boy did it help me open my eyes. Basically the premise of SG-1 is this: Evil aliens pose as gods and enslave the people of the galaxy and force them to worship them. SG-1 was the spark that lit my thinking process, it did not de-convert on its own, reasoning and questioning did that, but it did lit the spark. Thank you Sci-fi :)
My mother is religious and has terminal cancer. She knows I don't believe in god. But every time she or other members of my religious family ask me to pray for her I say "of course I will". I never actually do. I mostly just think good thoughts for her and wish that the wonder of the universe will give her joy in the current moment. I tell her I will pray out of respect for the help and comfort she seems to get from her faith. It seems to be the best way to honor her while she's still alive.
I just want you to know that I saw you and the other speakers on youtube at the convention and it was wonderful experience for me. I found your speech to be thought provoking and eye opening. I loved all of the speakers.
Another fantastic podcast! As a former christian myself, the topic of church camps did play a crucial role in the continual nurturing of my faith. It would always be a roller coaster feeling with the faith. Low coming into the camp, high leaving, and the eventual decline as time and reality set back in. Looking back, youth pastors would teach that we needed to maintain this "church high" and that it was unpleasing in god's eyes to go through this decline. This fear instilled is repulsive.
Seth, excellent interviewer and articulate radio voice. Appreciate your talent and ability to focus on a very contemporary and up to date subject effecting us.
Thanks Seth; Steve was just awesome, he made my day! The young lady of 14 years was an inspiration, she gives me hope that America will yet be able to throw of its bronze age theocratic beliefs that it is currently mired in, and someday return to a new age of rational scientific enlightenment. It may take the demise of two deluded generations to achieve an escape from the approaching theocratic Tsunami.Building a wall of reason could yet save America from becoming a 3rd world theocracy.
Good for you. Kindness is never wrong. I would do the same thing. And if someone says they'll pray for me, I just say "Thanks" & count those sentiments as good wishes, which are never out of place.
Some years ago, I heard a retiring Salvation Army officer (pastor) say the most sensible thing about revivals. This was in the late '90s and revival meetings were happening all the time around here and had been for many years. She said that if these revival meetings did any good, they wouldn't be needed any more.
Got saved one Sunday a few years ago, I was so exicited, so filled with the holy ghost.. afterward, I went to my favorite resturant, ate the best sandwich ,drank beer all night..and got laid, Never went back..to the church that is....to much life out there! I've seen the light!
The first story hit home. My Step Father is currently in the hospital with Brain Cancer, and it's likely he won't survive. A pastor came to visit him and essentially told him he wasn't religious enough and now he has to be just in case he's not saved. It made me so angry that when he's his most vulnerable that's when the evangelists swoop in. Now that I'm less angry now I feel just disgust with these people. Leave us alone in our crisis and don't try to impart your guilt on him NOW of all times.
(MT) faith is motivated more by fear than belief . The truth for me was that I knew I was a wannabeliever ( a phrase I had assumed I had coined myself until recently ) . I didn't believe , just wanted to and I realized it was primarily from fear . Its not that the idea of Heaven ( the popular notion ) sounds so bad , its that I just don't see a rational reason to believe . Fear is not a rational reason to believe . If ever science can quantify and measure the existence of God , then I am all ears .
I went looking and I can't find him. There's a cartoonist (Steven D) and a musician (Stevie D) and DJ Steve-D ... but nobody that sounds like this guy whose channel fits the description he gave. Sad. :(
The first story reminds me of when I had my child in a Catholic hospital (there are no non-religious hospitals in my town). Here I was in the worst pain of my life, and there was this dead-man hanging tortured on the wall beyond the foot of my bed. I had it taken down. Someone put it back up in the night and I had to get my hubby to take it down again. I was bringing life into this world, how could I bring my child into this world underneath a dying man.
My D-conversion: Raised Congregational. Spent much of early teens seeking incl non-christian. I was arguing with someone over religious issue. When I asked for a stop to the discussion it was agreed. In response I said "Thank God." the other person said "You said thank God!, You said thank God!". Then I said "Holy Mackeral." It was enough. I have never denied my atheism since.
More than 25 years ago, while in high school I had a crush on a girl who was very, VERY religious. I still have no idea the reason I did because I've never believed in any religious nonsense even though I at one time believed in the existence of a god who was in control of it all (heaven and hell included). ANYWAY, one day she talked me into attending a revival at her church and I accepted the invitation. If it'd been any other girl, any other person, I would have told her "fuck no," but I was infatuated lol. My infatuation led to my having to sit through an evening of people shouting "AMEN!!" as some old man stood up at a podium tellin' us all how anybody not there in that church was gonna go t'hayell!! (Midwestern/Southern for "to hell"). She asked if I wanted to go the next night and I politely declined. I never have understood the attraction to an organized religion and church. Even while I was a believing in a fantasy/afterlife, churches just gave me the creeps.
i think i heard Aron ra tell it like this, a type of rhyno with only one prominent horn on it's nose was actually classified as a unicorn in the literal translation of the word.
I love the entrance so much! :3 "Assume... nothing! Question... everything! Open your eyes Challenge the opposition and start... thinking!" Oh my God! I could hear it a thousand times :P
It's obvious from what many of your callers say that your work and that of the many other dedicated and outspoken atheists here on RUclips is filling a gap which very much needed to be filled. There has been a dearth of reasoned discussion on this topic and it seems that no matter how many vids are produced the public's appetite is insatiable. I appreciate your kid's gloves approach. It's not a battle. It's a debate.
My De conversion: Raised Lutheran, spent sixteen years going to church like a good little "lamb"...honestly, I just got tired of the bullshit. I got tired of being told some lightning flinging cloud giant gave a damn about what I did with my life. I started questioning everything, and the answers I got were always the same religious rhetoric and crap...so I gave it up. I left the church and never looked back.
In your speech at FreeOK, you mentioned that your deconversion happened, in part, because you saw the marketing behind these beliefs. That's pretty much what happened with me. I was raised a Lutheran in a moderate/liberal tradition, truly giving myself to Jesus at the age of 8, when my grandfather died and I had a dream of him in blindingly white robes. I read the bible in middle school and preached to my classmates (I was more annoying than effective), and then entered my confirmation class.
@JaviFairground He said - By George the goddamn rollbar is what saved 'em. A rollbar is a metal structure usually put in off-roading vehicles to help prevent the car being crushed if it gets in an accident - aka rolls over on an excursion =] Greetings from Seattle!
@TheThinkingAtheist By the same standards you use you couldn't call Nazi's in Germany evil. They believed what they were doing was moral, and for the greater good. Most of the young by 1940 knew nothing different. Do those facts earn them the title "good people"?
I never worried that my "being saved" didn't take, but since my deconversion, I've often wondered hat the various churches position is on those who stop believing after formerly "accepting Jesus into their hearts". It could be argued that it doesn't matter what you say, it's all about sincere belief, OR that once saved, you're saved forever, no matter what else you say or believe. (Just a question of dogmas out of curiosity rather than a "worry".)
Seth is aware of the ads, but there's nothing he can do about it. RUclips probably detects words like "religion" and "chistianity" in his video titles and descriptions, and automatically puts "related" adds. Actually it's pretty useful for the cause, because Seth receives funding for having these ads in his videos. Also, I don't really think that a 15 sec ad could look any more than ridiculous before an hour of secular discussions.
Awesome show. These seem to be getting better and better. And don't take that as me saying your first show sucked, because I didn't even hear that one yet. But I will.
@MultigrainMuffins Great! Would you say that the show is worth a watch or is it all stuff ive heard before? I expected the show to be a bunch of scientist people saying IDK and believers pretending to know.
If you do end up podcasting the talks, you could ask the speakers to send you their power points as pdfs and attach these to the podcasts. Just an idea.
Just an interesting thought as I reflected on the various religious backgrounds of relatives and former believers, you can sort of choose the brand of therapy that a person needs based on their brand of religious choice (for the few who had a choice rather than being arbitrarily brainwashed into a belief system by well intentioned relations). LOL. I think of my mother who went from non-practicing Lutheran to Catholic. I wonder what the emotional need is that drove her to select this new faith?
47:30 that's what my dad says, that it makes him feel like a failure. I explained to him that it was actually a parental success, because he gave me critical thinking skills at a young age. I am 15, grew up in a Christian family, and never believed in God.
I had a good friend who had leukemia and when she was in the last few weeks of her life and on all sorts of very powerful pain drugs, she would tell us friends who were visiting her in hosp., "Get that cat off the bed!" or she would ask "Who is that old woman ?" (pointing toward an empty chair). No cat , and no old lady, but she really believed they were real.
27:00 This guy is fantastic. I struggle a bit with stereotyping and that accent, but he's a great example of why such stereotypes are bullshit. Sounds like I'da liked his dad too. More of these. We definately need more people like these. More Steves!
@TheThinkingAtheist I apologize if I came off as ill-informed or rude. Would you kindly reitorate your point? Perhaps there was something I missed. I do not wish to cause a dispute of any kind. I am a person who learns by reading, and would find your point more clear in that form. Thank you for responding, and I hope that I did not appear combatant.
Since no one apparently followed scripture, I concluded that there must be some reason for that, and a closer examination of the Bible led to the idea that it is self-contradictory and therefore untrue. I think that further study has only strengthened the various arguments I have with religious belief and introduced a variety of new ones to me. I have yet to find a single piece of evidence for the existence of any entity which performs any function of a deity, much less the Christian God.
Got saved one Sunday a few years ago, I was so exicited, so filled with the holy ghost.. afterward, I went to my favorite resturant, ate the best sandwich ,drank beer all night..and got laid, Never went back..to the church that is....to much life out there! If I'd stayed at church a few minutes longer I would have never met the babe I went home with...I've seen the light!
@TheThinkingAtheist Couldn't agree more with this sentiment. We need room to make mistakes, to learn some things "the hard way" to really grow. I may not be the wisest guy around, but what I've got I earned!
I grew up in "rapture ready" Tulsa in the 1970's. (I graduated from East Central High in 1978). I wish I could have joined an atheist group back then just to have some sane people to talk to. From hindsight I even wish I could have grown up as an atheist like some fortunate people I know; to me they seem characters from an advanced civilization out of science fiction.
@Prplfox Same here. I've only gotten remarks like: "You don't really not believe in god!?" , or ""You're just mad at god, you'll come back to him one day, everyone goes through doubts" .
@POC777 My point was you can't know and have faith as you said you had both. I'm going to go ahead and say I don't know if my house is going to collapse, I don't claim it will not without evidence. I will get my house inspected for problems and draw conclusions from evidence that supports it , not the absence of it. Pilots don't go flying planes by faith they get inspections based on evidence.
@glennheston "I don't care if there is, or isn't, a god." Isn't a positive or negative statement. It's a lack of statement. An agnostic person is someone who simply says: you cannot know if there is or isn't a god - ever. A gnostic person says the opposite: it is possible to know if there is or isn't a god. A(n) (a)theist sets the balance one way or the other. Whether or not you know it is possible to prove there is a god, you make the claim it exists or you do not claim it exists.
A question for atheists: It just dawned on me: the brain functions a lot like a computer. It can store, retrieve and process information. However, 100% of the interpretation of all the data ultimately occurs at the computer monitor by an entity completely outside of the computer (a human being). All files communicated/transmitted by the computer are meaningless without interpretation as an end result. So this begs the question, where and how does the brain interpret all of the data it transmits?
@thatguy0810 I've been an atheist since I was 14 but I didn't tell my mom until I was 17 and my dad still doesn't know, I think everyone needs to go at their own pace. I made it clear to my parents that I was never religious and they know not to take me to church and stuff, but it seems like conversationally there's a huge difference between being "not religious" and an "atheist." I use the word with my mom (and brother who is also an atheist) but not my dad just yet.
That was great advice given to Lindsey... I can't imagine what a better, happier world we would have if we all were encouraged to question everything rather than except the social norms. Not only are there myths out there regarding "gOd", but all institutions - our education system, legal system, government, and on and on... Oh yeah - And lots of myths and indoctrinations about how and why we justify using nonhumans too. You did say question everything right??? Thanks for your voice of reason!
Regarding 29:00, I've wondered why Jesus' miracles of healing and resurrection didn't stick. What did it accomplish for Jesus to heal someone of leprosy, for example, if the guy would just die from cancer a few years later? And what did it accomplish to raise Lazarus from the dead? It seems cruel and pointless if he just died later, otherwise we'd have to postulate that Lazarus in his deathless body walks the earth in 2011 like a character from "Highlander."
I had a friend who was forced to go to a christian summer camp after she became a "Satanist" by her crazy religious mother. When she came back she was a wiccan and then went and moved in with her Atheist father.
30:00 Great caller from Tennessee! "I hope there is a god, and that he takes questions"! That should be every atheist's response to the question "what will you do if you do meet god?" - "Oh I'd have such a good time, I have so many questions to ask him!"
I am so so so glad I have raised my child agnostic atheist. She is a strong, self confident, beautiful, caring teenager....and she openly tells her peers that belief in sky daddies is hilarious.
The cleared road is the evidence and the foggy road is faith. Faith because you put your trust on the road even though it is foggy and drove without fear. So you don't need evidence each time!
@BlueShark20201 The competing hypotheses surrounding the expansion of the universe are pretty much at the cutting edge of fundamental physics, and I would not feel confident enough in my own understanding of their principles to attempt any kind of coherent explanation in the limited space allowed in a RUclips comment section. I would suggest that you read Stephen Hawkings "Brief History of Time" to gain a basic understanding, but it is difficult stuff to comprehend fully.
Steve got lots of shout-outs and cool messages to his profile on youtube, I wish they had given Lindsey´s channel-name too. I would like to say to her that she is awesome too.
I think it's hilarious too -- and, actually not really so inappropriate since the objective of this site is to sort out just those kids of deep questions. I find that such ads reaffirm my atheism.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Oh man, Steve was a treat. That was hilarious.
About halfway through Steve's call I suddenly think out loud, "Holy shit, I love this guy!"
FrankLightheart i
Had me choking trying not to laugh too loud at six in the morning, slapping my knee. We need more Steves.
I'm so glad you're around to help people. I spent so long being surrounded by believers, and keeping quiet about my disbelief. Your outspoken belief in yourself has helped a lot.
I stopped 'believing' in religion when I was 14, at Bible Baptist Church Camp in Kansas. lol
Thanks to this episode, I just realized that my favorite sound in the whole world is the sound of a person with a thick Southern accent cheerfully talking about how he became an atheist. Faith in humanity +1.
Steve sounds like an awesome person to hang out with.
I'm 6-7 years late to this show, lol. Still was a great listen.🛀
Don't feel bad....I just got here 2021
2023 for me
Steve at 25:05 is awesome. I love to hear an atheist with a Southern accent. And so funny! He should do standup.
I hate that I have to turn this off when my husband walks in
"Do it my way or you will spend eternity in hell because I love you" ~ The Christian God
"Kill anyone who is a nonbeliever by taking of their head during which time you will tell me how Great I am" ~ The Islamic God
"Here is land I have reserved for you that will lead to thousands of years of war, strife and brutality, but take heart, you are my chosen people" ~ The Judaic God/The Almighty Real Estate Agent
The 3 most popular religions on planet earth and it's the 21st century ...WTF! When will these people realize they are servile to something they can't reasonably say exists'! They use words like Sin, Faith, Spirit, Prayer ...all which have no real meaning outside a supernatural sandbox. I feel bad for those who don't know what it is like to be free from the mind fuck of a prison in which they live. Just to understand we are here on this tiny planet for such a short period in time ...makes life all the more wondrous and precious. *The need for a higher power has little meaning when you really think about it.*
Stick and carrot. Personally I think if the carrot isn't good enough, then no amount of stick will work. The instant you introduce an 'or else', you undermine everything else you say. The fact that these religions try and tell you their god is fatherly.. What kind of father says "Do the dishes and I'll love you, or I'll beat you senseless because I love you."
This is maybe my favourite of all your podcasts Seth. Please do more with other callers. Deconversion stories on RUclips are so great. It’s an eye opener for theists and it’s therapy for newly born atheists. Lindsey is my hero. I wish I was that together when I was 14 years old. Wow
Steve! :D By George, the roll bar saved them!
Yes, Steve from Tennessee! As a fellow out of place atheist from Tennessee, he's my all time favorite caller.
This is going to sound nerdy but what really helped me with my de-conversion was Science fiction.
When I was around 15 I started watching Stargate SG-1 and boy did it help me open my eyes. Basically the premise of SG-1 is this: Evil aliens pose as gods and enslave the people of the galaxy and force them to worship them.
SG-1 was the spark that lit my thinking process, it did not de-convert on its own, reasoning and questioning did that, but it did lit the spark.
Thank you Sci-fi :)
My mother is religious and has terminal cancer. She knows I don't believe in god. But every time she or other members of my religious family ask me to pray for her I say "of course I will". I never actually do. I mostly just think good thoughts for her and wish that the wonder of the universe will give her joy in the current moment. I tell her I will pray out of respect for the help and comfort she seems to get from her faith. It seems to be the best way to honor her while she's still alive.
I just want you to know that I saw you and the other speakers on youtube at the convention and it was wonderful experience for me. I found your speech to be thought provoking and eye opening. I loved all of the speakers.
MORE STEVE!!! MORE STEVE!!!!
Another fantastic podcast! As a former christian myself, the topic of church camps did play a crucial role in the continual nurturing of my faith. It would always be a roller coaster feeling with the faith. Low coming into the camp, high leaving, and the eventual decline as time and reality set back in. Looking back, youth pastors would teach that we needed to maintain this "church high" and that it was unpleasing in god's eyes to go through this decline. This fear instilled is repulsive.
Seth, you're my favorite! One of my goals is to wake up early enough on a Sunday to catch a live show. It'll be a magical adventure, I'm sure :)
"Mmmm, by George, it was the roll bar that saved em."
Great story, great caller!
Seth, excellent interviewer and articulate radio voice. Appreciate your talent and ability to focus on a very contemporary and up to date subject effecting us.
Goddamn. That dude from Tennessee needs to get makin videos. I'd sub.
Thanks Seth; Steve was just awesome, he made my day! The young lady of 14 years was an inspiration, she gives me hope that America will yet be able to throw of its bronze age theocratic beliefs that it is currently mired in, and someday return to a new age of rational scientific enlightenment. It may take the demise of two deluded generations to achieve an escape from the approaching theocratic Tsunami.Building a wall of reason could yet save America from becoming a 3rd world theocracy.
Good for you. Kindness is never wrong. I would do the same thing. And if someone says they'll pray for me, I just say "Thanks" & count those sentiments as good wishes, which are never out of place.
Some years ago, I heard a retiring Salvation Army officer (pastor) say the most sensible thing about revivals. This was in the late '90s and revival meetings were happening all the time around here and had been for many years. She said that if these revival meetings did any good, they wouldn't be needed any more.
Got saved one Sunday a few years ago, I was so exicited, so filled with the holy ghost.. afterward, I went to my favorite resturant, ate the best sandwich ,drank beer all night..and got laid, Never went back..to the church that is....to much life out there! I've seen the light!
The first story hit home. My Step Father is currently in the hospital with Brain Cancer, and it's likely he won't survive. A pastor came to visit him and essentially told him he wasn't religious enough and now he has to be just in case he's not saved. It made me so angry that when he's his most vulnerable that's when the evangelists swoop in. Now that I'm less angry now I feel just disgust with these people. Leave us alone in our crisis and don't try to impart your guilt on him NOW of all times.
LOL "an adventure to kill zombies" made me laugh so hard!
(MT) faith is motivated more by fear than belief . The truth for me was that I knew I was a wannabeliever ( a phrase I had assumed I had coined myself until recently ) . I didn't believe , just wanted to and I realized it was primarily from fear . Its not that the idea of Heaven ( the popular notion ) sounds so bad , its that I just don't see a rational reason to believe . Fear is not a rational reason to believe . If ever science can quantify and measure the existence of God , then I am all ears .
Steve is fabulous. If he's now got his own channel, I want to know lol
I went looking and I can't find him. There's a cartoonist (Steven D) and a musician (Stevie D) and DJ Steve-D ... but nobody that sounds like this guy whose channel fits the description he gave. Sad. :(
@@Luubelaar steved8878
Sadly he has been unactive for several years
The first story reminds me of when I had my child in a Catholic hospital (there are no non-religious hospitals in my town). Here I was in the worst pain of my life, and there was this dead-man hanging tortured on the wall beyond the foot of my bed. I had it taken down. Someone put it back up in the night and I had to get my hubby to take it down again. I was bringing life into this world, how could I bring my child into this world underneath a dying man.
Steve was awesome. I want to find his channel.
My D-conversion: Raised Congregational. Spent much of early teens seeking incl non-christian.
I was arguing with someone over religious issue. When I asked for a stop to the discussion it was agreed. In response I said "Thank God." the other person said "You said thank God!, You said thank God!". Then I said "Holy Mackeral." It was enough.
I have never denied my atheism since.
More than 25 years ago, while in high school I had a crush on a girl who was very, VERY religious. I still have no idea the reason I did because I've never believed in any religious nonsense even though I at one time believed in the existence of a god who was in control of it all (heaven and hell included). ANYWAY, one day she talked me into attending a revival at her church and I accepted the invitation. If it'd been any other girl, any other person, I would have told her "fuck no," but I was infatuated lol. My infatuation led to my having to sit through an evening of people shouting "AMEN!!" as some old man stood up at a podium tellin' us all how anybody not there in that church was gonna go t'hayell!! (Midwestern/Southern for "to hell"). She asked if I wanted to go the next night and I politely declined. I never have understood the attraction to an organized religion and church. Even while I was a believing in a fantasy/afterlife, churches just gave me the creeps.
i think i heard Aron ra tell it like this, a type of rhyno with only one prominent horn on it's nose was actually classified as a unicorn in the literal translation of the word.
Steve's story from Tennessee was amazing!!!
I love the entrance so much! :3
"Assume... nothing!
Question... everything!
Open your eyes
Challenge the opposition
and start... thinking!"
Oh my God! I could hear it a thousand times :P
VERY INTELLIGENT GIRL, ATHEIST WITH ONLY 14 YEARS, BRAVO, BRAVO!!!
It's obvious from what many of your callers say that your work and that of the many other dedicated and outspoken atheists here on RUclips is filling a gap which very much needed to be filled. There has been a dearth of reasoned discussion on this topic and it seems that no matter how many vids are produced the public's appetite is insatiable. I appreciate your kid's gloves approach. It's not a battle. It's a debate.
This was a Great podcast! Thanks Seth!
What a fantastic episode! I don't think I've really listened to much of this show. I'll have to listen to more!
This was a great show. Keep it up thethinkingatheist!
My De conversion: Raised Lutheran, spent sixteen years going to church like a good little "lamb"...honestly, I just got tired of the bullshit. I got tired of being told some lightning flinging cloud giant gave a damn about what I did with my life. I started questioning everything, and the answers I got were always the same religious rhetoric and crap...so I gave it up. I left the church and never looked back.
In your speech at FreeOK, you mentioned that your deconversion happened, in part, because you saw the marketing behind these beliefs. That's pretty much what happened with me. I was raised a Lutheran in a moderate/liberal tradition, truly giving myself to Jesus at the age of 8, when my grandfather died and I had a dream of him in blindingly white robes. I read the bible in middle school and preached to my classmates (I was more annoying than effective), and then entered my confirmation class.
Excellent podcast, Seth. Man, that hour went quick.
i have been told that this one is amazing. expecting a lot from this episode.
Hooray. Been dying for another one of these.
25:02 - 38:10 was a great caller.
@JaviFairground
He said - By George the goddamn rollbar is what saved 'em. A rollbar is a metal structure usually put in off-roading vehicles to help prevent the car being crushed if it gets in an accident - aka rolls over on an excursion =] Greetings from Seattle!
Thank you very much for doing these podcasts.
@TheThinkingAtheist
By the same standards you use you couldn't call Nazi's in Germany evil. They believed what they were doing was moral, and for the greater good. Most of the young by 1940 knew nothing different. Do those facts earn them the title "good people"?
@TheThinkingAtheist
Amazing podcast Seth. Keep up the great work.
I became an atheist at around 13 years old. If I was an agnostic, it was for such a short time I can't recall going through that phase.
Steve was wonderful. You should link his channel in your description box. I could not find it.
The rollbar thing just killed me. I laughed so hard.
I never worried that my "being saved" didn't take, but since my deconversion, I've often wondered hat the various churches position is on those who stop believing after formerly "accepting Jesus into their hearts". It could be argued that it doesn't matter what you say, it's all about sincere belief, OR that once saved, you're saved forever, no matter what else you say or believe. (Just a question of dogmas out of curiosity rather than a "worry".)
Seth is aware of the ads, but there's nothing he can do about it. RUclips probably detects words like "religion" and "chistianity" in his video titles and descriptions, and automatically puts "related" adds. Actually it's pretty useful for the cause, because Seth receives funding for having these ads in his videos. Also, I don't really think that a 15 sec ad could look any more than ridiculous before an hour of secular discussions.
Awesome show. These seem to be getting better and better. And don't take that as me saying your first show sucked, because I didn't even hear that one yet. But I will.
@MultigrainMuffins Great! Would you say that the show is worth a watch or is it all stuff ive heard before? I expected the show to be a bunch of scientist people saying IDK and believers pretending to know.
If you do end up podcasting the talks, you could ask the speakers to send you their power points as pdfs and attach these to the podcasts. Just an idea.
Just an interesting thought as I reflected on the various religious backgrounds of relatives and former believers, you can sort of choose the brand of therapy that a person needs based on their brand of religious choice (for the few who had a choice rather than being arbitrarily brainwashed into a belief system by well intentioned relations). LOL. I think of my mother who went from non-practicing Lutheran to Catholic. I wonder what the emotional need is that drove her to select this new faith?
47:30 that's what my dad says, that it makes him feel like a failure. I explained to him that it was actually a parental success, because he gave me critical thinking skills at a young age. I am 15, grew up in a Christian family, and never believed in God.
"If you don't believe in the talking snake around here, you're the one with the mental disorder." - Steve. I live in Nashville, this is so true.
I had a good friend who had leukemia and when she was in the last few weeks of her life and on all sorts of very powerful pain drugs, she would tell us friends who were visiting her in hosp., "Get that cat off the bed!" or she would ask "Who is that old woman ?" (pointing toward an empty chair). No cat , and no old lady, but she really believed they were real.
i just want to say - great work, more interesting stories/perspectives. thankyou.
27:00 This guy is fantastic. I struggle a bit with stereotyping and that accent, but he's a great example of why such stereotypes are bullshit. Sounds like I'da liked his dad too. More of these. We definately need more people like these. More Steves!
@TheThinkingAtheist I apologize if I came off as ill-informed or rude. Would you kindly reitorate your point? Perhaps there was something I missed. I do not wish to cause a dispute of any kind. I am a person who learns by reading, and would find your point more clear in that form. Thank you for responding, and I hope that I did not appear combatant.
@POC777 I'm sorry... that was all.
Point being; your analogy can be used to show the benefit of using evidence and the flaw in using faith.
Since no one apparently followed scripture, I concluded that there must be some reason for that, and a closer examination of the Bible led to the idea that it is self-contradictory and therefore untrue. I think that further study has only strengthened the various arguments I have with religious belief and introduced a variety of new ones to me. I have yet to find a single piece of evidence for the existence of any entity which performs any function of a deity, much less the Christian God.
Got saved one Sunday a few years ago, I was so exicited, so filled with the holy ghost.. afterward, I went to my favorite resturant, ate the best sandwich ,drank beer all night..and got laid, Never went back..to the church that is....to much life out there! If I'd stayed at church a few minutes longer I would have never met the babe I went home with...I've seen the light!
This guy is too funny! I wanna hear more stories.
Steve 🤣👍What he said in 2011 is still on point in 2023.
Good show and please bring back the "good old boy".
"You can't really talk, can you?". Best line ever.
It is september 5th, and no new episode. Strange
@TheThinkingAtheist Couldn't agree more with this sentiment. We need room to make mistakes, to learn some things "the hard way" to really grow.
I may not be the wisest guy around, but what I've got I earned!
I grew up in "rapture ready" Tulsa in the 1970's. (I graduated from East Central High in 1978). I wish I could have joined an atheist group back then just to have some sane people to talk to. From hindsight I even wish I could have grown up as an atheist like some fortunate people I know; to me they seem characters from an advanced civilization out of science fiction.
@Prplfox Same here. I've only gotten remarks like: "You don't really not believe in god!?" , or ""You're just mad at god, you'll come back to him one day, everyone goes through doubts" .
@POC777 My point was you can't know and have faith as you said you had both. I'm going to go ahead and say I don't know if my house is going to collapse, I don't claim it will not without evidence. I will get my house inspected for problems and draw conclusions from evidence that supports it , not the absence of it. Pilots don't go flying planes by faith they get inspections based on evidence.
@glennheston "I don't care if there is, or isn't, a god." Isn't a positive or negative statement. It's a lack of statement. An agnostic person is someone who simply says: you cannot know if there is or isn't a god - ever. A gnostic person says the opposite: it is possible to know if there is or isn't a god. A(n) (a)theist sets the balance one way or the other. Whether or not you know it is possible to prove there is a god, you make the claim it exists or you do not claim it exists.
@POC777 You're avoiding the question how can you know and have faith? Belief is not the same as knowing.
A question for atheists: It just dawned on me: the brain functions a lot like a computer. It can store, retrieve and process information. However, 100% of the interpretation of all the data ultimately occurs at the computer monitor by an entity completely outside of the computer (a human being). All files communicated/transmitted by the computer are meaningless without interpretation as an end result. So this begs the question, where and how does the brain interpret all of the data it transmits?
"Submissive to something that wasn't there."
"MMMM mmmm..Bye George....That roll bars whats saved them boys life."
The best quote ever.
@thatguy0810 I've been an atheist since I was 14 but I didn't tell my mom until I was 17 and my dad still doesn't know, I think everyone needs to go at their own pace. I made it clear to my parents that I was never religious and they know not to take me to church and stuff, but it seems like conversationally there's a huge difference between being "not religious" and an "atheist." I use the word with my mom (and brother who is also an atheist) but not my dad just yet.
That was great advice given to Lindsey... I can't imagine what a better, happier world we would have if we all were encouraged to question everything rather than except the social norms. Not only are there myths out there regarding "gOd", but all institutions - our education system, legal system, government, and on and on... Oh yeah - And lots of myths and indoctrinations about how and why we justify using nonhumans too. You did say question everything right??? Thanks for your voice of reason!
Regarding 29:00, I've wondered why Jesus' miracles of healing and resurrection didn't stick. What did it accomplish for Jesus to heal someone of leprosy, for example, if the guy would just die from cancer a few years later?
And what did it accomplish to raise Lazarus from the dead? It seems cruel and pointless if he just died later, otherwise we'd have to postulate that Lazarus in his deathless body walks the earth in 2011 like a character from "Highlander."
I had a friend who was forced to go to a christian summer camp after she became a "Satanist" by her crazy religious mother. When she came back she was a wiccan and then went and moved in with her Atheist father.
I remember my time as an atheist. I used to lie straight to the stubborn faces that I love.
30:00 Great caller from Tennessee! "I hope there is a god, and that he takes questions"! That should be every atheist's response to the question "what will you do if you do meet god?" - "Oh I'd have such a good time, I have so many questions to ask him!"
@POC777 How can you know and have faith they're mutually exclusive.
@FalseProphet501 and i go to a catholic school, my dad tells me im stupid and confused because im atheist, and says i over think everything
@erdal0 no hooks in the eyes? cigarette burns on eyelids? just "hanged by genitals"? pity......
I am so so so glad I have raised my child agnostic atheist. She is a strong, self confident, beautiful, caring teenager....and she openly tells her peers that belief in sky daddies is hilarious.
Great show, congrats.
The cleared road is the evidence and the foggy road is faith. Faith because you put your trust on the road even though it is foggy and drove without fear. So you don't need evidence each time!
22:40 This is very true. I was just thinking about my own experiences with this in my own life when you started saying it.
@BlueShark20201 The competing hypotheses surrounding the expansion of the universe are pretty much at the cutting edge of fundamental physics, and I would not feel confident enough in my own understanding of their principles to attempt any kind of coherent explanation in the limited space allowed in a RUclips comment section. I would suggest that you read Stephen Hawkings "Brief History of Time" to gain a basic understanding, but it is difficult stuff to comprehend fully.
That steved guy is AWESOME. I like him a lot. And I just subbed to him.
@ShockWave270
Life is its own reward? What kind of answer is that?
Steve got lots of shout-outs and cool messages to his profile on youtube, I wish they had given Lindsey´s channel-name too. I would like to say to her that she is awesome too.
I think it's hilarious too -- and, actually not really so inappropriate since the objective of this site is to sort out just those kids of deep questions. I find that such ads reaffirm my atheism.