How Can ANYONE Be An Atheist? | The Atheist Experience: Throwback
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- Опубликовано: 15 мар 2024
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WHAT IS THE ATHEIST EXPERIENCE?
The Atheist Experience is a weekly call-in television show in Austin, Texas geared at a non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.
The Atheist Community of Austin is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization based in Austin, Texas. The Atheist Community of Austin is dedicated to promoting atheism, critical thinking, secular humanism, and the separation of religion and government.
We define atheism as the lack of belief in gods. This definition also encompasses what most people call agnosticism.
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TheAtheistExperience is the official channel of The Atheist Experience. "The Atheist Experience" is a trademark of the ACA.
The views and opinions expressed by hosts, guests, or callers are their own and not necessarily representative of the Atheist Community of Austin.
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She seemed like a real sweetheart. Whether or not she is able to move past her faith, I wish her the best.
Her grandson had a tumor (according to God's plan)
seconded emphatically
Even as a filthy liberal, but also a southerner, I say to you ma'am Bless your heart 😂
yeah, the real sweethearts are all gobbled up by religion. It just sounds so good, and there's no time to check the fine print.
@@akunog5143 I like how you're basically admitting that atheists and agnostics are all assholes.
The more logical question is how can anyone still be a theist in 2024 🤣
They think it’s a prophecy, that this would happen.
@@omerta5591 I was being facetious , to me it’s so illogical to still believe in anything supernatural when , as many have pointed out, there is zero evidence for except anecdotal ‘evidence’
Years and years if indoctrination and cognitive dissonance
What goes in someone's head to believe a bloke from 2000 years ago will one say descend from the clouds will always baffle me. I find it absolutely mind blowing to be honest.
@@nathanmckenzie904 Yet others like me were able to use critical thinking to let go of the dogma . It’s just sad . And I don’t really care unless it twists into white Christian nationalism that wants to tell us how to govern and what we can and can’t do with our own bodies
Manda’s last line: “I’ll pray for you - that was a joke.”
She listened.
She’s respectful, and good humoured.
This was a great call, I wish her all the best.
When I was a kid if somebody said to me, "I'm going to remember you in prayers tonight." I would have thought that that was very nice." Now, if somebody says that, it sounds comical. It sounds like a joke.
@@bmoshareholderappleshareho855Exactly.
@@AtheismPoisonsEverything Womp womp
@@AtheismPoisonsEverything Yeah, like the pdf file priests who insist they need to remove the foreskin of children to appease a magic man in the sky. Or the ones who actively diddled children which the active voice of God allowed and hushed? Or the books that say its okay to take children as wives....
Crap, I'm getting all confused now... what was your point again?
@craigyoung8008 - It seems like Manda will at least think about the conversation for some time even it ultimately doesn't budge her needle. I could scream at that unfeeling priest, though!
This woman sounds like such a wonderful person. I'm really glad to have seen the very gentle way you had this conversation with her. This was some of your very best work, thanks for sharing it.
She sounds like a less intelligent version of my mother. But my mother (surprisingly) quit believing in her 70s. Her reasons were partly logical, but primarily emotional. The logical part of her realized many years earlier that this made no sense, but my older brother Bill died within hours of being born, and she never got to hold him or express her love, and she needed to believe she would see him again. But her three surviving sons are all atheists, and she prayed for decades for god to "show us the light" with no effect. Eventually she was faced with the grim truth that if her beliefs were correct, she might see that baby again, but the three sons she shared her life with would all be in hell. And no amount of religion in the world could make her think that her babies in hell could be a good thing.
@@pdoylemi It's such a terrible thing for good people to be caught up in such a terrible belief system. And teaching a child they are wicked? No, not acceptable.
As for the woman in this video? She sounded a lot like someone that never questioned her faith or challenged her own beliefs. I'm glad they kept he on the line to speak to her after the call because she definitely needs some strategies to help her that aren't only about her faith.
@@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable Christians making up stuff about Dawkins is what is wrong with Christianity.
Richard Dawkins is in no way an atheist "prophet". Your absurd statement tries to sneak in the idea that atheism is a religion. It isn't. There are roughly four thousand gods and goddesses currently being worshipped on Earth. You know those 3,999 gods and goddesses you don't believe in, and their versions of heaven and hell? Well atheists just don't believe in one more "god" , and one more version of heaven and hell than you. As for Dawkins, his ideas about human biology are stuck in what he learned in school 50 years ago, and he uses that to malign trans people. He absolutely refuses to incorporate into his thinking what various sciences have learned about human biology in the decades since he went to college. Science is constantly discovering new things and advancing human understanding, for those who are willing to learn. That's why I, and many other atheists, don't want to hear one word that comes out of his mouth. People steeped in decades old information which they continue to preach at every opportunity, even when it's been debunked over and over is how we end up with Dawkins (on human biology as it relates to gender) and to most theists In relation to religion..@@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable
@@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppableI suppose you believe semon comes from your back and Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse too ?
How about apostasy?
Kill apostites right ?
This breaks my heart. This kind lady, just looking for comfort, who'd been misled her whole life.
Yeah. I would not call it "comfort" but I take solace in the near certainty that my dead loved ones are no more. I do not have to worry about their fate, or fear that they may be suffering or lonely, or whatever. And the same will be true for me.
@@pdoylemi Atheists are afraid to admit the truth that they have done wrong/sinned. That's why they want God/Jesus Christ out of the picture. The same reason the Pharisees had Christ nailed to the cross.
They hate the truth. That's why they mock, they are self-righteous, thinking they have never done wrong/sinned.
@@pdoylemi The.. the "Near certainty"?
Fuck me, bud, I'd love to check your math on that one.
The only sad thing is that this woman is just not very bright and it's impossible to reason with someone who lacks intellectual capacity.
@@erisdiscordia5429
Feel free. But if you want to bring math into it, you will need to propose some way that there even COULD be any continuation of human consciousness after death. Most attempts to make such things seem even slightly scientifically plausible would violate the known laws of physics, though I did come up with a very far fetched idea listening to Sean Carroll give a lecture on the impossibility of a soul, and speaking to him afterwards he was forced to agree that his disproof of traditional notions of a "soul" would not disprove mine. But the inability to disprove an unfalsifiable proposition doesn't make it reasonable to consider it as something remotely likely to be true.
All the evidence we have strongly indicates that everything we are is a function of our brain - period. Once it is dead, the thing that is us ceases to exist.
Walk down a ward of terminal children and try claim prayer works. No one prays harder and more selflessly than the parent of a dying child.
Better that they pray and "fail," because they will be surrounded by other grieving parents who can console them.
If they pray and "it works," they will celebrate the life of their child while all the broken families look on.
@@TheCrazydude17Why wouldn’t it work at a much higher rate? This god have something against little children! It’s much more likely that the god doesn’t exist.
@@paddlefar9175 Right?
@@TheCrazydude17 absolutely! It’s so obvious!
When I was a kid, I read this very sad story in a magazine. The headline read, "I Will Never Pray To God Again." It was about a woman whose young daughter was going to have major surgery the next day. She said that she prayed and prayed and prayed to God to save her little girl. What happened? Despite the doctor's best efforts, the little girl passed away on the operating table. Even though her mother prayed all night to God.
Imagine telling a grieving child that their sister was in hell because they killed themselves! Just shows how religion can make someone a complete piece of shit…
Yeah, feelings are way more important than facts. God shouldn't give people facts, he should lie and make them feel better.
God damn you people are dumb.
to hear that as a child and still spend your life worshipping the god of hell baffles me. this trend of religious people being okay with revenge and torture is quite strange
@@jay_344 So you think we should get rid of jails? I'm with it, let's make it happen.
step 1: recognize the draconian systems your life was built on, including your weird need to insult religious people just being different.
Step 2: lol you'll never get past step 1
@@jay_344 I'd pay good money to see you assholes stop sucking your own dicks.
@@erisdiscordia5429what??? 😂
It’s crazy to me that people can go their whole lives and NEVER question these things. Like, really? Not ever?
I was a Baptist in my teens, the only one in my Catholic family. My belief then was that I find it incredible that Catholics call themselves Christians when majority of them don't read the Bible. I was that kind of a fundamentalist, and the shocking part was I was the Science-loving bookworm of the family. I was my own personal opposite. The thing though is that I compartmentalized my own conflicted beliefs. My motto is do what is right, do your best, and God will take care of the rest. (Turns out, I put my faith on the line every time things become a matter of chance but didn't realize it all these years till now.)
Then my father died. That event changed my life forever because I was already in emotional pain, now nothing is holy to me. If it didn't make sense, it is wrong. When I was a teenager, the idea in my head is that the ultimate test of your faith is convincing an atheist. And apparently I was correct.
A year after my Dad died, I searched for atheist content here in RUclips and found the Atheist Experience, Talk Heathen, Aaron Ra, The Thinking Atheist, etc. But mostly with The Atheist Experience, I've watched every Christian apologist call and none of them ever presented an intellectually honest argument. None of them presented proof of a god.
So I now have a dilemma. I no longer believe in anything supernatural, and that includes an afterlife. And that includes all the people I've lost. When I finally acknowledged that I'm an atheist, I mourned a second time and this time it was harder.
This is also why I haven't told my family that I'm an atheist. I don't mind my siblings, but I don't want anything to spill to my mother especially now that in her old age she lost my dad (and just recently, her first born son) and I didn't want her to go through the same grief that I went through. Losing my brother hit incredibly hard as I don't have a way to process his loss. I have a ton of regret especially towards him, even if we were in good terms.
So yeah. the Afterlife is a touchy subject to a lot of people.
We were told to never question. Never doubt. Because to do so was to let the devil in.
The first story in the Bible after the creation story was about Eve who doubted the word of her creator and listened to the devil. And how that all worked out for the humans who came after her.
They do imo, they just don’t change their mind. Churches address concerns lack of faith or belief in God
Fear of hell kept me in church. It starts when you're young. You go and get saved at a young age. Eventually you sin one day. Then you can't even question it because all that goes on in your head is "Jesus could come at any moment, and everyone finds out about your sins, then hell." When your saved you don't question it either because all that goes on in your head is "am I saved?", "can I make it to heaven", trying desperately to not sin. The preacher called it "mind battles" but I know now it's brainwashing. Everyone else in my family still go to the same church. That brainwashing is some serious stuff. Especially when you are distracted by going to the church all the time and not interacting to anyone else with a different view. No TV/Internet either so ZERO outside influence.
By the sounds of her, she hasn’t thought about or questioned much in her life
i didn’t cry until the very end when she said “i’ll pray for you, that was a joke” because it made me realize that her initial question of “how can anyone be atheist?” was answered.
she realized that her beliefs while they are real in her mind don’t need to be real for every one else, she separated herself from her beliefs to make that joke. she put herself in the shoes of an atheist and realized how that would sound to us. i loved this lady
@WoodenHouseayylmao - Yes. She will think about the conversation for quite a while.
One person survives a plane crash, afterwards is interviewed, and says he prayed for God to save him. I guess no one else on the plane said a prayer.
Had an HR lady put pamphlets in the break room one November stating how hard it was for the pilgrims, but with prayer they made it through. I sat during my lunch and wrote, "God said fuck all them bastards who didn't bow before me." on every one I could find. My next trip to the break room had no more pamphlets to read.
I like when there is a sole survivor who thinks God saved them because he has a special plan for them to fulfill. It never occurs to them that God's plan was for them to die but it failed.
what a great father, abandons you on an island as a newborn and will only save your life in a plane crash if you guess his name correctly without ever having known him
Eh, I tend to word things, a bit more tactfully...
But yeah, I have done similar, oftentime.@@robertdrake1756
As infuriating and frustrating sincere theists' arguments are.
It's easy to forget that it comes from years/decades of religious indoctrination since childhood.
"An invisible man in the sky" is obviously absurd to those out of the Religion, but to them its normal.
How could anyone not believe in an invisible mass-murderer in the sky when it makes so much sense?
How can anyone not believe in Eris, when there is clearly so much strife in the world?
@@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppableAtheist Still have morals. Morality does nit come from christianity. If the only thing that keeps you from being s bad man like stalin is religion then you should be locked always
@@erisdiscordia5429Eris samaaaaa❤
@@erisdiscordia5429 - I would rather believe in Eros.
@@MossyMozart You might want to look into Eros. /yawn. He makes Eris look pretty tame.
Eris is a better match maker, just ask Paris and Hellen.
This discussion outlines the insidious nature of how religions rob believers, from childhood, the coping mechanisms for grief and loss.
Fuck me, trying falling into the ultra dogmatic youtube "Atheist" echo chamber for a while.
oooh wait, you're reading their scripts. You already did. Such a shame, another one lost to blind faith.
@@erisdiscordia5429Maybe try again, but this time form a coherent series of words.
@@ArtemisShanks URGH, ATHEIST BAD AT FACTS.
Have a good one, coward.
@erisdiscordia5429 according to the early christian gnostics, if you pray to Yahweh, you have supplicated yourself to a demiurge that hates you on a fundamental level and desires your suffering for his pleasure.
This interpretation of the Christian mystics is the only accurate understanding of why the material world is absolute crap and only the vicious and deceitful find wealth and control over the vulnerable.
That or there is no god.
Either works to explain the state of the world as the gnostics believe in the unification of all religions who worship a heavenly father rather than a Sun "god" demon who rebelled against his cosmic father and deigned to create an imperfect material existence, then proceeded to blame humanity because Yahweh is the ultimate moronic fail son.
@@erisdiscordia5429Blurt, babble, mumble incoherence...what? Try again!😂
With the knowledge we've gained over the last century, I don't understand how anyone can believe in a god anymore.
Yet lots of folks believe Nazis developed antigravity, aliens are kidnapping people daily, the Earth is flat and remote viewing is a thing. We are the most gullible ape EVEE!
There are still gaps to fill with goddidit.
The biggest gap is the belief that there "had to be" a prime mover, because they reject infinite regression. But there's no way of disproving infinite regression when you can't even define infinity.
@Connection-Lost and cause we miss grandpa
I'm curious, which "knowledge" is it you think disproves god?
@@erisdiscordia5429It's not about disproving, it's about proving.
The burden of proof is one the one making the claim. If you believe a god exists and want others to believe it as well, you'll have to prove that it does exist.
I'm just over here, not being convinced of that idea *because* so far no one has brought any "knowledge that proves god" to me.
She's a prime example of someone using religion as a crutch. Faith is emotional comfort food for her.
Sadly exactly yes.
The problem with crutches is, your legs stop working properly and you can't walk on your own without training those legs and using crutches only when you don't have any other choice.
yup..
Some people use religion as a support system.
@@bmoshareholderappleshareho855 the community, not religion
"We can hang out." Jamie is so good in situations like this.
If you look at Sweden that is 15% Christian and the US which is 70% Christian, there would be 5 times as many people praying for health yet the cure rate and health in the 2 countries is comparable. Americans spend twice as much per person for healthcare and pray 5 times as much yet have slightly worse health than Swedes.
This is the kind of meaningful conversation that plants a seed. Well said guys.
Atheism is the default in the UK. Its more common to query how can anyone be religious.
That was a good call.
it really was, it felt very heartwaming
I remember how my first viewing of the movie, Inherit The Wind, got me questioning my beliefs. Then I read the Bible for myself. Which made an atheist out of me.
Great movie. Good for you.
Unfortunately, most Christians don't read the Bible for themselves. They are content to let others read and interpret the Bible for them, whether it's in church, on the radio, on TV, or on the internet. There would be lots fewer Christians, and a lot more atheist, if people just read that horrific book for themselves. I mean read ALL of it, not just cherry picked parts like Psalms, or the nativity story.
I hear this story so often...
Like seriously, it's the most fucking cliché backstory ever. you people are like carbon fucking copies of each other, its god damned pathetic.
This woman is one prime example for the actual problem.
She seems to have had doubts about religion before she called, but she is so extremely afraid of dropping her religion that she rather keeps believeing, because dropping her religion would completely destroy the foundation she has built her life on.
Realizing you're wrong about everything you believe and turn your life upside down to match the new reality is such a hard task that many believers rather don't do that, even if they don't really believe in a god anymore.
This is so very true and it is the same thing for anything people might believe in as this will always be connected to how we treat others and ourselves. Having done terrible things to yourself and/ or others for a long time and then finding out it was not something you didn't have any control over but you yourself that's responsible... is really really hard. Doesn't even have to do anything with religion.
At five years old my Sunday school teacher told me the were no hotdogs in heaven. That's the day I became Atheist.
Hardy Har Har!
Google, in Heaven there is no beer.
What kind of absolute monster could ever do that? If I were a theist I'd believe there were hotdogs on tap up there.
@@patjacksonpodium If I'm to bet it's they have the belief that in the Garden (and consequently Paradise since they're both god realms) all animals including humans were herbivorous. You wouldn't have hotdogs because those are made of dead animals
Another gentle and good person who is deceived by religion!
I remember seeing this for the first time years ago, and to this date I still revisit this every now and then. I have the utmost respect for this lady here. She does an excellent job of trying to actively listen. I hope she's doing well now. Between all the nutjobs and arrogant "gotcha" theists, she's a real breath of fresh air.
I miss my grandfather greatly as he taught me what unconditional love is but I struggle to find anything religion has taught that I value.
Still one of the best calls in the history of the show.
I think I'm one of the main viewers of this show. I've watched regularly since 2012, while exercising, working, etc. I've seen every single one of these reuploads 😂
Anyways, I had brain surgery to save me from epilepsy seizures. My mom was praising god. While in the hospital, we heard a woman down the hall screaming. HER son didn't make it, but I did. That says a lot.
"Not thinking critically, I assumed that the 'successful' prayers were proof that God answers prayer while the failures were proof that there was something wrong with me."
[Dan Barker, "Losing Faith in Faith"]
I came across a Wiccan on facebook years ago that used similar logic. She liked to cast spells and when a spell didn't work she said that she must have done it incorrectly.
@@OfficialSeth I think sports teams are extremely selfish to be praying for a good game and another touchdown when there's other people suffering and waiting for their prayers to be answered.
@@AtheismPoisonsEverything "atheist religion"
Will we find that in the Kosher Bacon section, or the Not Restoring Hot Wheels As A Hobby section?
But hey, whatever helps you sleep at night, friend.
A born-again believer can never lose their faith because they never worked for it in the first place. True born-again believers are saved by grace through faith it is not of us lest any man should boast. It's a free gift, bought with the blood of Christ Jesus. If a man says he has never done wrong/sinned he is a liar, and the truth (Spirit of truth) is not in him. He is a self-righteous Pharisee. Just like the ones that had Jesus Christ nailed to the cross. They hated the truth, the message the Christ Jesus gave. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.
@@paulgemme6056 "Sin" has no meaning outside of a theistic context.
I wish I could tell Manda that death doesn't have to be the end of a connection with your loved ones... even as an atheist. I talk to my missing family members. I bring them close in my alone spaces and I share my sadness with them and work out my grief with them. I don't have to wait for an afterlife that doesn't make any sense to me know. I just embrace the emptiness and allow my love for them to start filling some of the holes. Yes... it still requires imagination... but I feel like it's a better coping mechanism for loss and grief and tragedy than a belief in an afterlife. It is. truly not as lonely than imaging them far away in heaven. I get to imagine them close. Big Difference. Thank you for this conversation. Gratitude from someone "well acquainted with grief" Ruby from Alberta Canada.
Speaking as an areligious person who leads a very spiritual life, I see a lot of sense in what you've described. The way I see the world, biological life is just one form of living. When we die, our consciousness and our thought life carry on in those we have affected. When you see something and think of your loved and lost, or enjoy something that your loved one introduced you to in life, you are continuing the living experience of two people.
Technically, far far more than two. Point is, we live on through those who have changed because of us. Better or worse, every shining influence and every horrible person leaves their mark on who we are and how we live, whether we embrace them or try our best to survive them.
She’s been through so much. This is why I ❤️ the show. It’s slowly showing us the truth
Funny how she believed her god healed the child, but not a thought that a child was forced to suffer a disease .so, was god powerless to act until the child was suffering? Did god give the disease just so he could fix it and get praise? They look at positives as being the act of god and ignore or blame negatives on other forces.
My tool for dealing with the loss of a loved one is to cherish the memories of the times we had together.
I have a gin and tonic on the patio on hot afternoons in memory of my father, pleasant memory at that!
@@stevepierce6467 - I eat coconut yogurt and think of Alice.
I watch this channel all the time and I have to say that this was the best episode. I appreciate how patient you were with the caller and it is very apparent that you have really given her some things to think about.
I've often been asked "why would anyone _choose_ to be an atheist". It's not a choice, so much as it is a result of rational thought. Just as Johnny Cash said he'd love to "wear a rainbow everyday", I'd prefer death not being the end. However, the concept of eternal life sounds frightening. Theoretically, every possible permutation of chess will happen (I think), and what do you do once you solve chess?
"Clarity is not born of logic." J.Krishnamurti
Yeah, you don't choose to be an atheist like you don't choose to think the sun exists.
I also find the concept of eternal life frightening, I think immortality is one of the worst curses you could think of.
How many years before you've seen and done pretty much everything? Eventually you'll get bored, and you'll have eternity to be bored in.
Not to mention some interpretations of biblical heaven where you "get" to just worship god for all eternity like a robot. Wow, no thank you.
If your "soul's memory" runs out at some point you could be in some kind of groundhog scenario where you don't have to remember yesterday. If you are lucky.
But I agree, heaven is the party you are not allowed to leave. Never. Ever.
That must be hell.
@@utes5532 and you don’t have the “free will” to say to god “you know what big man, don’t fancy this gig anymore, can I leave?” 🤭
@BobbyFriston "what does that mean?" F. Limerick
She was wonderful, and you guys were really good to her.
That was heartbreaking to hear. But it's great when they make some progress. I hope she's doing well.
This is one of my preferred call. There is a lot of respect and compassion from each one here.
I've watched a LOT of your videos - and I wholeheartedly think this is one of the best interactions ever. The approachability of the perspectives you presented was masterful. So clear and understandable. Thank you for the 10,000 arguments you've entertained - to refine these concise messages.
This was really interesting. You guys handled that call with love and respect. I feel sorry for that woman. I can totally understand why some people believe as a coping mechanism. It doesnt make it true though unfortunately.
Counterpoint to her anecdote about her grandson: i have crohns disease, a debilitating autoimmune disorder. There are many in my family that are praying for me, and yet i still have it. I wonder how the caller would react to that anecdote
Like they all react? Your family might not be praying sincerely enough. Or it doesn't fit gods plan. Or you have to be grateful for the role you are allowed to play. Or he works in mysterious ways. Or whatever irrefutable shit they come up with to deflect.
I just wish you the best life you can have.
@@landsgevaer in not so sure. This caller seems to actually care about the truth, and was incredibly honest, especially when compared to other callers
And thanks! I've gotten to a point where it's pretty well managed, but it's been a long road to get here
@sparki9085 - I hope things stay well-controlled for you. Regarding Manda, I wish they would have asked her what the medical team said about the child's condition. Surely they would have shared the medical information and not enabled this woman to go on attributing the recovery to phantasy.
As an atheist, thank you for being merciful like that.
I remember this show, a near perfect example of an arguments from ignorance "I don't know there for God or magic".
What a sweet lady, I hope the rest of her life is good.
She was one of the most honest callers I have ever seen in this show.
I can accept that she didn't have the ability to make arguments about her belief, but it's pleasant to hear an American christian talk to atheists and not tell them they're wrong simply because the atheists don't believe what they believe.
I was adopted by my grandparents, they've both been dead for over 30 years, when I think about them I sometimes miss being able to talk to them, especially my grandfather. Ignoring the changes in technology, he would be shocked at how different and totally unexpected my life is today compared to how he could ever have expected it to be. I would love to be able to tell him about it, but I don't believe that is possible.
I do thank them for the grounding they gave me, they didn't believe in a theistic god, if they believed in a deistic god they never told me about it, so I grew up in an environment where reality, often a harsh reality, and good sense was the way to approach life.
This woman sounded close to tears about the death of her sister, which I'm guessing happened at least 40-50 years ago, how awful it must have been for her to carry around the sorrow and hurt of that event for her entire adult life? I stopped feeling that kind of hurt over my grandparents at least 20 years ago, if religion couldn't provide a way to relieve that suffering for her, it has failed her. If religion provides anything it should provide comfort, and for her it has provided nothing.
Perhaps instead of trying to influence how their flock vote, or teaching their flock bigotry and intolerance of others, the ministry ought to remember the pastoral needs of the people and bring comfort to those who are suffering.
I resent the miracle claim. Why was her grandson deemed worthy saving by god but not my baby sister? I was extremely religious at the time as well.
I stand with you on this. My life is not a miracle, it was the result of two cells combining, which was the result of two animals following instinct and social pressures. If my life ends, that was not divinely appointed. I'm not that special. If my life is spared from ending, that too is not a miracle.
And everyone who celebrates a life "spared" while the next family over watches their child die, should read the damn room.
Yeah, it seems like God picks favorites even though he loves everyone. Kind of hypocritical, if you ask me.
Someone in another comment chain put it perfectly.
"A plane crashes, and only one person survives. When interviewed, they say they prayed, and God saved them. I guess no one else on the plane prayed hard enough."
@@TheCrazydude17 I am with you on this too!
I remember crying at my moms funeral and the priest told me not to cry because she was in paradise. I got so very angry at the priest but at the time I didn’t know why because I was supposed to believe the same thing. But now I know why I was angry because it was a very rude asinine thing to say to someone grieving. I think I knew deep down I wasn’t going to see her again. I am so much happier now that I can admit I’m not convinced of the supernatural
All things, good or bad, must come to an end. Everything you see and feel is truly fleeting and temporary in nature
This conversation proves how humanism IS the best way to deal amongst us
I’m reminded of a movie called Arrival in which Amy Adams played a linguist tasked with trying to communicate with aliens that just arrived to Earth. Once she figured out how to communicate with them the alien showed her her future in which her young, yet to be born, daughter would die of leukemia at a young age. She had the choice to change that future by not having a child but she decided that as Tennyson wrote “it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Once her daughter was born, she knew every moment with her would be precious.
Jamie made me laugh. Our family was always atheist, but the public schools in our area were awful, so I spent 12 years in Catholic schools. I never heard of anybody collecting rosaries, and nobody would have considered it "cool." In fact, I never knew anybody who even owned a rosary, except for the nuns and a handful of little old ladies who were so burdened with guilt that they attended church every day.
❤the occasional outbursts of laughter from other people off camera is 'the bee's knees'!
Easy 😊
As an atheist, I don't have to do boring AF God ritual activities like worship and prayer 😎
And a good Sunday Morning 🌞 AXP Fans and Theists ❤❤❤
Peace Love Empathy From Australia 🇦🇺✌️🤠🤘
I've heard that wherever you see 4 Episcopalians gathered together you'll always find a fifth.
I hear when you argue with an internet "Atheist", you get the same recycled bullshit talking points they've been using since the mid 90s. /yawn
I’ve heard that since a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, the value of the bush depends on the bird.
@@cullenjohnson0 You wanna take another swing at that, champ?
Do you actually want someone to knock that chip off your shoulder?
Honestly one of the best calls in the entire history of the show. Only positivity and understanding 💞
This is such a kind, well-thought out explanation. I really appreciated your patience with this caller. But, boy oh boy, the brainwashing
Enjoying my life without any biblical fear just feels right.
This show was really good. You showed compassion and gentleness with the caller.
I don't know how many times I have listened to this call over the years. Still hits deep. The ending still makes me tear up. I kinda got that lecture from my grandfather, when my grandmother died. I was just a child and saw him a few days later, going about his daily shores like nothing happened. I asked if he wasn't sad. "Of course I'm sad", he said, "but Springtime doesn't end just because a barn swallow dies". "No point staying in bed felling sorry for myself. Life goes on."
This was one of the more wholesome and good calls I've seen on the channel. It was very impactful and respectful, I wish Caller the best; she sounds very sweet
Because not everybody has a need for a supernatural daddy to face the day.
Riiiiiight, remind me why you're here again? Is it because you don't care? Or.. is it because you do care, but found yourself a new daddy to simp for?
I think most of us atheists are here to put our thoughts out there and be on record officially as being against the rising tide of evangelical fervor pushing for an anti-democratic theocracy.
Yearly spontaneous cancer remission cases: 12-24
Rate of spontaneous cancer remission: 1-10 out of every 1,000,000 cancer cases
Cancers most prone to spontaneous remission: Kidney cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma and neuroblastoma
Oh look, another "The world isn't exactly how I want it, therefore god isn't real" idiots.
You realize this is just you throwing a tantrum in the toy store because daddy won't buy you what you want. right? This is not a winning argument. This is just you throwing a tantrum because skydaddy didn't answer your selfish little prayers.
So gawd healed her grandson but he wouldn't heal me of my childhood disease? I begged my little butt off. What a jerk.
I genuinely think that this would be a great video to show theist when discussing loss and death of loved ones.
My mother told everyone this: don't mourn me, celebrate my life and live your life the way that makes you happy. I miss my mother and father and I will never stop loving them. And I use all the skills that they gave me, and that keeps them alive everyday. And I see them "again" everyday that I think of them and use those skills and love my wife the way I know is right and all of that is showing my love for my parents.
This is an amazing conversation
It's so simple. Nobody is born religious.
I'm 51 years old now and was never a member of any religious cult.
Im living in the Netherlands, and i do know only a very few religious people. One polish couple who are Jehova's, and the wife of our friend is Moroccan and practicing Islam a little bit.
People should learn that religion is something to practice at home or with your loved one's.
Living without a god is very healthy.
Beautiful, compassionate, even tear jerking, but truthful as always. Thanks for posting and I hope this caller has healed.
"Who knows where thoughts come from, they just appear."
I remember this caller, and i really feel for her
It is quite easy to be an atheist. Careful examination of religions reveal an entirely human-manufactured enterprise. Not ONE single deity has EVER been satisfactorily been demonstrated. Religion did and does serve human needs. People like myself rely on science, reason, and critical thinking to meet our "needs" that other people use Religion for.
Indeed!
Unfortunately kids die and fortunately kids survive tumors with or without prayer.
I think Manda was able to word why so many still cling to religion, the absolute fear of death.
I have been an atheist my entire life, the idea that there is a place where my conciousness continues would be an ultimate bliss.
The idea that this thinking pattern will stop at some point remains scary even 30 years into my experience here.
I wished for any religion to be true that I have prayed to every god, read every book that I could read.
Never so much as a whisper, fell into a deppression and only through my own strength and help from friends and family I returned to a productive life.
It has given in my own personal experience that any god that is claimed to want to be known, doesn't exist or isn't capable of showing.
Either way, not my problem anymore and I'll focus on living my best life.
MAnda sounds like a person filled with love and I hope that 6 years later, she's in a good place.
She was an awesome caller! Sounded like she was really absorbing what was being said. I hope she's doing well.
manda contradicted herself when she said ' i am trying to live as a good person and serve god' when her god dictates genocide, slavery, misogyny, ... you know all the 'good' biblical stuff ;-)
Feel free to point out the portions of the new testament, which Christians follow, that "dictates genocide and slavery". I'll wait. /yawn.
You idiots with your constantly incorrect and constantly recycled talking points.
Made me cry.
This sweet lady called in for grief counceling.
This was a sincere call and a breather from the zealot apologist trolls. Hope the best for her.
Yall notice how "i try to live my life to serve god and be a good person" -are two separate things
I have a close friend who lost a young child. When he approached me, knowing that I was an atheist, he stated that he would experience his child again in the afterlife, but further stated that his child WOULD experience me too. This, to me, clarifies the general position of Christianity, but it requires a desire to believe it. Who wouldn't desire to see someone that they loved who had died when they pass on? This religion, as well as others, play upon those desires, as we see in this woman here.
@@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable Reported for Hate speech or graphic violence.
A perfect example of emotional abuse. Telling someone that they will see a dead loved one again makes it impossible for them to move on. Even possibly seeing their life as a frustrating waiting game. What a total sad waste of existence. Religion is the worst kind of child abuse
One of my favorite AE calls of all time.
"How Can ANYONE believe in a OTHER god". They do not see it as a similar problem, don't they?
Of course not, they never apply the same reasoning to their own god
that they do for other gods.
"I know my god is real because he healed the tumor that he put on my grandson's pituitary gland."
Well they do say he giveth and he taketh away… 🤷🏾♂️
so the children who had cancer that died....I guess they didn't get enough prayers 😕 🤔
Said literally zero theists ever. But hey, strawmen make for great arguments when you don't have any real ones. /yawn
They are pointing out how the logic of prayers to god will heal a tumor also means that god let them get a tumor in the first place. It's not quoting theists 😑 @@erisdiscordia5429
@@erisdiscordia5429They don't say it because they don't think through the implications of their beliefs. They've been trained to thank their god for everything good and never blame it for anything bad, without realizing that an omnipotent being would be equally responsible in both cases.
This was an absolutely amazing conversation. The analogies offered were spot on!
This is one of my favorite conversations from the Atheist Experience. Thanks for reposting
This is so sad, people are really out here unable to deal with life because of religion.
Is this a re-upload? I’ve heard this caller before, she’s seems like a really nice person
You guys handled this in such a wonderful way
I think this was handled really well, and the guys were considerate of her feelings and level of understanding. Great to listen to. 👏
How can anybody be an athiest? It's dead easy, wake up and smell the coffee.
After a year+ living in Colombia, I wake up every day thanking the great coffee deity for my good fortune!
When a believer says "I don't understand how come you don't believe in God", it should be said "... why don't you believe in MY God", since him/herself do not believe in 1999 gods out of the 2000 ideas of god.
Agreed, and every argument an anti-theist makes should regard all religions when making it's claim. It's not "God it's real." it's "Gods aren't real".
When ever I hear the statement "What harm does religion do?" I think about this lady....
The harm is very real
This was one of the gentlest and kindest interactions that I've seen on this channel!
I’m really glad her grandson’s tumor went into remission and disappeared but if god healed him, there needs to be an explanation for why he doesn’t heal every child with cancer. A lot of kids get cancer and he lets them die.
Can't believe it's 2024 and people still believe in make believe.
Right? I mean, granted modern humans can't seem to agree that fascism is bad or that poor people shouldn't starve, but boy howdy are you "atheists" sure saving the day!
She seems so lovely, I wish her all the best in the future. I'm sure this call was tough for her but it's good to share coping mechanisms and emotional worries regardless of our beliefs ✌️
The sorrow we feel in the absence of a loved one gone is a reflection of how wonderful it was to know them.
That i am devistated at the loss ive experienced, as painful as it is, as hard to look forward and never see them again, i woukd not trade this pain for gentle numbness of indifference.
I am not indifferent. I lost someone special to me, and no one will ever take their place in my life in the same way again.
In this way my sadness is a celebration of the life that was lived, the love we shared and the meaning of our relationship, a reflection of the profound effect they had on my life that will never be forgotten.
When people pray, they are telling God that their plan is better than His. That’s very arrogant.
It may be arrogant, but it doesn't mean that it isn't true. Why would an all-loving, all-knowing god want his creation to suffer? There's no reason to believe that god is good let alone real.
When you pray to God, you are just talking into thin air.
How Can Today ANYONE Be A Believer?
Indoctrination, mostly, through the way they were raised, or by searching for something to believe in that seems to answer unanswerable questions or give them comfort about this life or what could happen after it... Not really an issue unless they're harming themselves or forcing their belief on others!
@@jeanhind8198 Aye, there is that one issue, forcing their belief on the rest of us.
Her joke at the end could not have landed any better.😂
To ask, "How can anyone be an Atheist?" is basically asking "How can anyone wait for proof before deciding to accept a fantastical claim as true and live every moment and aspect of their life as if it were true?"
To me, that is a ridiculous and insolent question.
I would settle for preponderance of evidence and consilience.