WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:09.599 Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol, an 2 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:14.720 idea. The population of atheists this country is going through the rule, rejecting 3 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:19.879 faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I tell the truth, 4 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.960 it's because I tell the truth, not because I put my hand on a 5 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:29.320 book and made a wish and working together for a more rational world. Take 6 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:33.640 the risk of thinking, feels so much more happiness. Truth Usian wisdom will 7 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:41.320 come to you that way. Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. 8 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:56.880 This is the Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. Hey, my 9 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:03.480 friends, I am unable to stream this out to Facebook directly because I have 10 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:08.959 been banned, well not banned, I don't know, every eighteen months or 11 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:17.799 so Facebook and I go around and I get some of this because with billions 12 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:23.599 of users, Facebook cannot review or see the context of everything that is posted. 13 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.519 And there's so much insanity and hate and discrimination and bigotry and misinformation. 14 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:30.719 How do you begin to keep up with it? You're going to have to 15 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:36.920 put the bots on it somehow. But the fact that Facebook does not or 16 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:45.719 cannot see context makes me crazy. I had posted something a refutation because some 17 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:53.120 apologist armchair apologist had found my page and they were talking about how well atheists 18 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:59.159 are responsible for the most heinous atrocities in the history of history. And you 19 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:04.959 know, they're going through all these dictators and tyrants and genocidal maniacs, and 20 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.080 of course they're all atheists. They're all atheists. And this is what atheistic 21 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:14.960 people do. They murder, They have no moral center. And you and 22 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:16.719 I rolling our eyes, going you gotta be shitting me. Some of the 23 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:23.240 most peaceful nations on earth are the most secular and the most warlike Middle East, 24 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:29.639 right, Gaza Hummas. I'm sorry, the most many of the most 25 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:35.039 warlike are highly religious. That somebody invoked Hitler, and you and I have 26 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.719 to dodge the Hitler grenade from time to time, and then we pick it 27 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:40.199 up when we throw it right back at him, and we say, actually, 28 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:45.400 no, Hitler was not an atheist, nor was he motivated by atheism. 29 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.280 Hitler was raised Catholic, embraced Christianity. He invoked God often, including 30 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:59.280 in mind come. He believed he was doing the work of the almighty Creator, 31 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:02.680 and in fact, I think he actually used the words almighty Creator. 32 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:09.400 And I posted a quote from mindcomf and it had an image of Adolf Hitler 33 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:16.000 speaking, which is probably what happened. I think some image recognizer saw Hitler 34 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:23.599 and thought uh uh, and I got a strike. This is a violation 35 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:28.479 of Facebook policy of I don't know, promoting hate. I forgot exactly what 36 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:32.520 the phrasing was. We do not allow this. Please take a look at 37 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:36.199 our guidelines for use. And I'm like, well, hang on just a 38 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:38.919 second. I'm not saying but I support what he said. I'm just laying 39 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:43.479 out a fact. This is what he said. Would you like to have 40 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:47.120 this submitted for review? Yes, I would like it submitted for review. 41 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:53.159 Click. Three minutes later it says, we have reviewed your post and stand 42 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:58.240 by our decision. If you do any more shit like this, your whole 43 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:08.039 page runs the risk of being unpublished. What what recourse do you have, 44 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:13.960 like the fact that context is not understood. Let's say that there was a 45 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:19.199 human being who was reviewing it at some point. If you are not looking 46 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:24.160 at context, if you're browsing a squillion of these posts a day, and 47 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.639 you just see a quote from mine comp under a picture of Adolph, yeah, 48 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.800 you might need jerk yourself into saying uh uh right, nazi bad, 49 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:39.639 click ban or restrict. In fact, my account is restricted somewhat. I 50 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:42.720 can't do this and I can't do that. I can't stream live, I 51 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.160 can't promote in certain ways. My reach is now limited. It's limited my 52 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.920 audience. These are punitive measures supposed to teach me a lesson. And the 53 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:57.839 whole time, I'm like, I am just stating a fact. I'm not 54 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:02.319 pro Hitler, I'm saying that, but I am convinced he was a sincere 55 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:08.240 believer. He was doing God's good work. Of course, he had weaponized 56 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:12.399 the name of God and religion, used his ties to the Catholic Church to 57 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:18.800 help consolidate power and excuse his atrocities. I'm not denying the political advantages of 58 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:24.399 saying that you are divinely appointed. And of course the Christians are all like, 59 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:27.920 well, he wasn't a real Christian, which is so convenient, isn't 60 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.839 it. Like all of the people who go out in their benevolent and generous 61 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.079 and charitable and kind and all these wonderful things, well, man, they're 62 00:05:35.079 --> 00:05:39.560 good. They're the authentic, right, that's an authentic Christian. And you 63 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.399 go over here and to go like, oh, hang on, just a 64 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:46.079 second, so and so invoke the name of gods while they raped and tortured 65 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:51.759 and conquered and enslaved. Well nn, that wasn't true Christianity. They weren't. 66 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:58.879 That wasn't. In fact, I think they were a theist super pretending 67 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:03.160 to be Christian and they were imbued with Satan. How convenient is that? 68 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:06.839 I mean, there's no way to pin them down. The goalposts are always 69 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:13.399 moving. It's just so frustrating. Anyway, Thanks Facebook, there's like some 70 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:17.639 third party review thing that I was looking at. I can't I don't have 71 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:25.480 it pulled up right now, but apparently you can submit this to arbitration board 72 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:29.720 of some kind and they look at a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of 73 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:35.600 these protests and claims and they're supposed to get back with you within three months. 74 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:40.639 I am not holding my breath, and I honestly think one of these 75 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:47.040 days I may log onto the world and Facebook has fucking deleted the entire thinking 76 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:56.279 atheist online community. You know what I'm saying, How many hang on? 77 00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:00.399 How many users? How many users would that affect? And I know people 78 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:04.319 don't you know, they don't log on every day and they don't get everything 79 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.519 in the feed. But let's just take a look. Okay, we have 80 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:12.920 two hundred and seventy four thousand followers, So two hundred and seventy four thousand 81 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.519 people. Any one of those people might log on and all of a sudden, 82 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.639 I'm just gone, just gone. I can't even log on to tell 83 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:26.399 you I'm gone, And then what, I don't know. It's frustrating. 84 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:30.000 I'm sorry. I'm just going on and on. Moving into the holiday season, 85 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.160 we're gonna have to do a show or at least take some calls talking 86 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:39.480 about family in the coming weeks. I'm gonna have a special guest, Marlene 87 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.120 Winnell, who has a great line that she had used in an article recently, 88 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:48.600 and the line was outgrowing your family or out growing your parents. And 89 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:54.519 I thought, oh, that's such a good line, because I think we 90 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:59.480 have to outgrow our parents in a great many ways. My mother had a 91 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.680 birthday lunch recently. My siblings reached out love to have you. Given that 92 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:09.399 my mother and I do not speak, you know, I say this has 93 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.040 cause and effect. After all this time, I set a boundary. I 94 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.279 said, if you violate this boundary, there will be consequences. She immediately 95 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:20.519 violated the boundary, the consequence kicked in. We do not speak, everything's 96 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.199 blocked. We are totally separate, and so they were like, would you 97 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:30.040 like to come and have a birthday lunch with your mother? And of course 98 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.720 I'm just looking at the text, going, I'm sorry, what's that even 99 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:39.799 look like? Well, you don't have to sit next to her? I'm 100 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:43.639 sorry, how do I celebrate that? Well, she's eighty five, you 101 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.519 don't know how many years we're gonna have left. And of course I'm made 102 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.600 to feel like the bad guy, and I'm just like, I just I 103 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:56.320 did not go. But you know, we've been having that conversation about family, 104 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.360 Like with Thanksgiving coming up, I don't know what's Thanksgiving gonna look like? 105 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.440 Do I go? I don't want to go Christmas? Can I just 106 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:07.120 do it here with my people my way? Do I have to worry about 107 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:11.159 going and being in the same room with somebody who's just been so toxic? 108 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.960 And then if we don't hang out, I'm in a different part of the 109 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:20.759 house, and then we're sort of avoiding each other that self consciously, and 110 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.080 if we do bump into each other, what do we even say? Oh, 111 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:31.679 anybody else go through that? Anybody else anyway, if you have an 112 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:37.039 opinion, a perspective on the upcoming holidays, how you're going to deal or 113 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:41.000 not deal, especially with people who have been boundary violators, I'd love to 114 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.440 hear from you. You can just call an event. I mean, even 115 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.799 if you don't want to give advice or a perspective, just let me have 116 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.600 it. Let me know what your situation looks like. I am looking. 117 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:54.519 We just crossed. I'm sorry, I'm just doing some laundry here at the 118 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:00.200 beginning, some laundry list. Rather, we just cross seven hundred thousand and 119 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:05.799 downloads on True Stories with Seth Andrews, my second podcast. We're up to 120 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:11.320 over two hundred shows and it's getting noticed slowly. It's not taking off quite 121 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:16.320 as quickly. It's this very slow, incremental thing, which I guess is 122 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:20.720 probably a healthier way to grow. Right If you immediately spike, maybe you're 123 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.240 a flash in the pan and you're gone. But I'm getting a lot of 124 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:26.279 good reviews on it. If you have not subscribed, I would ask that 125 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.480 you do go and subscribe. On all major podcast apps, five minute vignettes 126 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.360 about pretty much anything and everything that released three times a week. I'm going 127 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:39.840 to set up a Patreon for that. That's not it all required, but 128 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:46.440 I'd like to see it maybe produce some revenue for all the work that goes 129 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.360 into it, because to prepare true stories, it's not just knowing the story, 130 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.720 but it's getting the details and then you go fact check the details, 131 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:58.759 and you know, for those of us who feel like fact checking is important, 132 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.639 takes a long time. I am pretty much a staff of one, 133 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:11.759 so I'm doing all that. I am speaking in Springfield, Missouri, Wednesday 134 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:16.480 night, November fifteenth. I would love to see you there if you want 135 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:22.320 tickets and details Seth Andrews dot com slash Events. The link is right there. 136 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.159 It's a Wednesday night. We start at seven point thirty. We'll just 137 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:31.399 hang out. I've got a great presentation about why I think I would be 138 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.600 better than God as an intelligent designer. And this is a fun one, 139 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:37.919 but there's a lot of science in it. I'm standing on the shoulders of 140 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:43.600 a lot of experts and citing their research. But you know me, I 141 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:48.399 mean it's flashy and it's fun and you're gonna have a good time. Springfield, 142 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:54.399 Wednesday night, Seth Andrews dot com slash Events. Okay, so I 143 00:11:54.440 --> 00:12:01.120 saw something online that cracked me up, and it had to do with those 144 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:07.240 Florida Man memes, I guess, or the idea. We always see the 145 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:13.759 hashtag Florida Man because for some reason it seems like Florida has some of the 146 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:20.240 most batshit headlines in the country. Somebody does some bizarre thing, you know, 147 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:26.480 Florida man tries to impress girlfriend by sticking head in alligator's mouth, dies 148 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:30.799 horribly, that kind of thing. Florida Man walks into traffic wearing a diaper 149 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:33.159 holding a Trump song. I mean, I don't know, it could be 150 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:37.600 anything. So there was a post and it said, my kid just said 151 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:43.840 a lot of Bible stories could double as Florida Man headlines. We've been laying 152 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:50.519 here thinking of the best. It's hilarious so far. The best was Florida 153 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:56.919 Man threatened to cut baby in half to stop two women from bickering. And 154 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:03.480 then come the comments. Floraida Man finds out wife is pregnant, she claims 155 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:09.720 the father is God. Florida Man summons bears tomall children who laughed at him 156 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:16.799 for being bald. Oh it's beautiful, that's beautiful. And so I was 157 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:26.279 thinking about some of my favorite Bible stories, and I have Florida manned them, 158 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:28.480 and they can be God, or they can be a character in scripture. 159 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:33.320 Just a few of my own offerings. Florida Man offers virgin daughters to 160 00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:46.440 sex mob. Florida Man has long conversation with burning shrub. Florida Man splits 161 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:52.360 the ocean with massive sneeze. And you may not realize that, but if 162 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:58.080 you go to Exodus chapter fifteen and it talks about God parting the red seat, 163 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:03.799 he does so with blast of his nostrils. Florida Man splits ocean with 164 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:13.639 massive sneeze. Totally fits. Florida Man denies people with damaged testicles to enter 165 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:18.759 his house. Of course, we're talking about the Old Testament tabernacle. Remember 166 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:22.440 that's a whole series of requirements people who have a you know, like a 167 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.639 cleft palate, or you've got an amputation, or you know, I don't 168 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.720 know. There's all kinds of crazy stuff that if you have a physical blemish, 169 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:35.480 including damaged balls, you're not allowed to go into God's house. It's 170 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:41.799 just totally jacked up. Florida Man catches three hundred foxes, ties their tails 171 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:48.960 together and sets them on fire. That's a real Bible story Judges, Chapter 172 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:58.639 fifteen, the story of Samson, Florida man dismembers sex worker and mails the 173 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:07.399 parts to twelve different towns. Remember that guy cut up the prostitute and he 174 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:13.000 mailed pieces of her. He dismembered her and mailed pieces of her to the 175 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:20.120 twelve tribes of Israel. That's in Judges. Florida man lies on one side 176 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:30.960 for three hundred and ninety days and cooks food with his own feces. Oh, 177 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:37.759 it's a real story. Zdekil lies on one side for over a year 178 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:45.080 and uses his own excrement as fuel for the stove. So to speak. 179 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:52.360 Just bizarre, but it's a great Florida man story. Florida man asked to 180 00:15:52.519 --> 00:16:02.639 leave town after pushing ranchers pigs over a cliff. Jesus drives the demons into 181 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:04.919 like two thousand pigs, I think, and this poor guy who owned the 182 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.320 pig, right the pig rancher, he's over there, probably going what the 183 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:14.639 hell? Because Christ, he doesn't just banish the demons back to Hell. 184 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.480 He doesn't kill the demons. No, no, no, I got to 185 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.720 go from the possessed man into like two thousand pigs and then he has to 186 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:25.279 drive them over the steep embankment. They go off into the ocean or river 187 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.840 or whatever it was, and they drown. And you know, the pig 188 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.480 ranchers going, thanks a whole lot for nothing. Jesus, how much freaking 189 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:38.200 money did you just cost me? Florida man commands children to eat him. 190 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:48.759 Communion. Florida man handles venomous snakes. Florida man drinks poison. Florida men 191 00:16:49.480 --> 00:17:00.519 rise from their graves and parade through down Remember Matthew twenty seven, Jesus dies 192 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:06.279 on the Cross. The saints come up out of their graves and they parade 193 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:12.240 through Jerusalem, and no contemporary historian thought it was notable enough to document. 194 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:23.039 By the way, Florida man digs inside fish mouth for tax money that's in 195 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:27.119 Matthew. Go to the sea and cast a hook. Take the first fish 196 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.640 that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a coin. 197 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:38.279 I'm sorry, it's bizarre people read this show. I'm convinced a lot 198 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:41.039 of people just don't know it's in there. They're so busy reading John three 199 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:45.759 point sixteen in the Roman Road and the Love Chapter, and you know, 200 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.279 I just don't think they know this, they don't go They haven't gotten to 201 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:57.559 the seventeenth chapter of Matthew Florida. Woman cuts sons foreskin and throws on husband. 202 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.319 That's out of Exodus chapter four for some reason, and even the apologist 203 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:10.599 don't know why. But Moses is about to go on this amazing quest to 204 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:15.359 liberate the Israelites, right, but then it doesn't even say why. God 205 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:22.200 gets pissed at Moses. He's so mad he wants to kill him pre mission 206 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.319 like pre liberation of the Israelites. He decides, I'm gonna kill this mon. 207 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:33.640 And what does Moses's wife do to save him? She grabs her son, 208 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:41.440 she slices off his foreskin, and she throws the fleshy skin on Moses's 209 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:47.559 feet. And this, for some reason, appeases Yahweh's Oh wow, you're 210 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:51.480 gonna put penis skin on his feet. I guess I'm gonna change my mind. 211 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:56.319 It's good thinking. That's clever intervention, Missus Moses. I mean, 212 00:18:56.519 --> 00:19:06.319 somebody explain it. Betty Bowers posted one Florida man celebrates his wife turning into 213 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:14.240 a kitchen condiment by having sex with both of his daughters. Leviticus has a 214 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:18.039 great when Florida man banishes wife for a week. During her period. There 215 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:23.640 was a guy on Twitter called outraged Academic. He said, Florida man murders 216 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:33.279 wait Florida man to murder son until voices say to stop. I'm amazed at 217 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:38.440 people who love the story of Abraham. They worship a I mean, they 218 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:45.680 practice an Abrahamic religion. That's how important he is to the faith. They 219 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:52.720 love Abraham. This guy heard voices, a voice, and for that reason 220 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:55.920 was going to go and drive a knife into the chest of his own son, 221 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:03.400 and only the angel staying his hand it from going down, kept him 222 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:11.799 from going through with it, saved the boy's life. People love the guy. 223 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:17.440 If you had read that headline Florida man headline man attempts to murder son, 224 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:22.799 has knife taken out of hand by I don't know, neighbor, stranger, 225 00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.119 whatever, we would think that guy needs to be locked up for his 226 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.599 son's safety and perhaps four hours and his own. You read about it in 227 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:37.680 the Bible and people are like, it's a beautiful of obedience to God. 228 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:42.799 Oh. I will ask believers sometimes if God came to you and he asked 229 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:47.240 you to execute one of your sons, they don't like the word execute, 230 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:49.079 so I'll change it. If God came to you then and ask you to 231 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:55.119 sacrifice one of your sons as an act of obedience, would you do it? 232 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:59.279 And almost universally people say, hell, no, I wouldn't do it. 233 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.680 I'd rather be by God. And I always say, congratulations, you 234 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:06.759 are more moral than yahweh. And by the way, you just made a 235 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:14.000 moral judgment outside of the Bible, meaning you came to an ethical conclusion outside 236 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:18.480 of the book that people are telling us we must have to be ethical. 237 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:23.559 And then they tilt. Well, you know, it's complicated. It was 238 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:27.319 the Old Testament. It's context. It wasn't actually a sacrifice. Well, 239 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:32.759 Isaac would have gone to heaven. God would never ask us to do that 240 00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:37.480 kind of thing. Today you can see them spinning themselves into oblivion. If 241 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:41.599 you have a Florida Man that you want to tie into a story in the 242 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:48.960 Bible, I would love to hear what you have to offer. Your calls 243 00:21:49.119 --> 00:22:02.599 and more Florida Man coming up next. Just an extra broadcast here for the 244 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:10.160 month of November. Thank you so much for listening. I've got three zero 245 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:15.200 one is it Ray? Ray? Thanks for calling. Let's talk what's on 246 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:18.319 your mind. First, let's get the Florida man thing out of the way. 247 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:23.160 Florida man loses argument with Donkey. Of course, we're talking about Baalim 248 00:22:23.559 --> 00:22:29.440 having a fight with an animal that speaks Hebrew in the Book of Genesis. 249 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:32.960 What a lovely story, good one. What else you got, Well, 250 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:38.000 I had not a Facebook experience, but a YouTube posting got canceled. There 251 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:45.680 was a debate going on between a spokesperson for GAZA and a spokesperson for Israeli 252 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:49.880 government or an NGO. I forgot which, and I posted a comment about 253 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:55.799 the debate where I said about the spokes Christon from Gaza, did the quote 254 00:22:55.799 --> 00:23:00.640 from Islam about you kill one person's like killing all mankind able in persons, 255 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:03.599 like saving all of humanity. So I posted, well, there's a verse 256 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:08.519 after that that says if you mess around with Mohammed or Allah, you'll be 257 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:15.720 subject to crucifixion, dismemberment, death or exile. And I put in the 258 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:22.480 exact quote. So I wrote that maybe the Hamas terrorists we're looking at that 259 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:29.839 one, although they did some ad living with the immolation and right, because 260 00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:34.799 that wasn't in there. And somebody complained, and I got a message from 261 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.960 YouTube saying I violated community rules, and they took it down, and I 262 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:45.880 said, well, I think it should be re evaluated because I was using 263 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:49.119 the language that they were using in a quote from the Corona. So I 264 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:53.759 put it back, but I took out the words hamas terrorists. I took 265 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.720 out any of my own commentary. I just left it as well, she's 266 00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:00.400 got this quote, but it'd be just for clarity. You should look at 267 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:06.160 the following verse and they can plain they left it up. It is a 268 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.920 sort of an increasing level of restriction. At first, they're like, I 269 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.200 think, I, oh, you know what I did. I did a 270 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:15.759 series of reviews of the Thief in the Night series, thinking I could get 271 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:21.279 away with playing clips from the movie in an editorial sense, and so I 272 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:23.599 went through. There was I think I did three or four. It took 273 00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:29.559 me forever, and I went through and did commentary on a Thief in the 274 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:32.960 Night, Distant Thunder, Image of the Beast, and I forget what The 275 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:37.119 fourth movie was, Prodigal Planet, I think, and I put all this 276 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:42.839 work into it with commentary, and within three weeks the producers found out. 277 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:48.880 They filed a copyright complaint and YouTube came after me and said, you screwed 278 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.319 up, and here's a strike, and if you do it again, we 279 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:56.240 may delete your channel. So they kind of incrementally do it. I still 280 00:24:56.279 --> 00:24:59.759 think it should fall under editorial, right, I'm giving a review and a 281 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:04.079 but whatever. You know what, educational, It was educational. But I 282 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:08.240 do admire the fact that you've got the reaction from the producers instead of just 283 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:14.680 a Willie Millie person on Facebook complaining. I think you've made an accomplishment there. 284 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.920 Do you think that a lot of it is just a mob mentality. 285 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.680 It's not the algorithm. But you find a lot of sort of tissue skinned 286 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:25.039 religious people who are like, oh, yeah, we'll show this atheist and 287 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:27.160 then they just go and I hate the word false flag, but you know 288 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:30.880 what I mean, you think that happens a lot. Yeah, yeah, 289 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.359 I think it's reactionary. I think the algorithm helps the reactionary response by the 290 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:40.440 way, the seeking of the attention of the people who respond. Well. 291 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.079 I appreciate the Florida Man input, and you know, I'm sorry for your 292 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:47.160 troubles on YouTube. I guess this is the nature of the beast on social 293 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:49.640 media. It's all first world problems. I just I hate the idea that, 294 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:55.799 you know, a page that's been around for I think fourteen years is 295 00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:00.400 being said, Well, if you screw up again and we subjectively decide you 296 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.680 may show up one day and the whole damn thing is gone. That's a 297 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:08.759 little terrifying, So Matt, and there's no way to communicate with them in 298 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:14.519 a meaningful way. Yeah, okay, bro, hang in there. Appreciate 299 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:18.519 you. Yes, what would you? I mean, if you had a 300 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:22.799 social media platform that had that many users, how would you manage them? 301 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:27.359 I think Facebook has two billion accounts. Let mean look that up. Hang 302 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:40.359 on? How many Facebook users worldwide? Three billion? According to Statista, 303 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:44.200 that's almost half of the globe. So I get it. How would you 304 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:48.319 manage? How would you monitor? I don't know. It still pisses me 305 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:55.240 off. Jenny at two zero nine, are you there? Yes, I'm 306 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:57.960 here. You were talking about the holidays, and I just wanted to let 307 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:03.799 you know that there are alternatives that you could make your holidays much more enjoyable. 308 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.400 There were things dysfunctional within my family, so I decided to do a 309 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:14.519 Christmas brecky, which I invited to friends that I wanted to have over, 310 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:18.640 and I'd make a nice breakfast, and I have my kids here and we'd 311 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:22.720 do mimosas and everybody would, you know, have a nice chat in the 312 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:29.400 morning and have some nice food, and then by two o'clock in the afternoon, 313 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.480 everybody's gone to do their Christmas dinner and you can enjoy the rest of 314 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:38.119 the day. That sounds nice. I've had people here for four or five 315 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:41.759 hours and then they will go. Or if I wanted to do a special 316 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.960 dinner, I would have something like premate or whatever and just have a couple 317 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.359 of people wanting to game or something like that, you know, later in 318 00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:53.960 the day, so we could do something fun. Sounds pretty good. Thanks 319 00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:59.559 for the suggestion, and hang in there. You're welcome and keep going there, 320 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.119 Seth, Thank you much. We'll see you. Of course, the 321 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:07.559 Christmas holiday has to bring on some more Florida Man headlines wrapped around the Jesus 322 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:18.799 myth. Florida man blames girlfriend's pregnancy on ghost. Florida man becomes midwife in 323 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:26.200 horsebarn. Jesus born in a manger or in the stable, and there's disagreement 324 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:32.000 on that. Theologian still can't decide was he born in a stable or a 325 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:34.640 barn or was it the house of a peasant or somewhere else. This is 326 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:41.119 comical. The experts can't even decide how the start of the Christ story begins. 327 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:49.440 Florida man hunts babies. Of course we're talking about Herod. Florida man 328 00:28:49.880 --> 00:29:00.880 spends thirty years preparing for suicide by making furniture. Christ is born, big 329 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:06.319 production. There's the announcement and the Angel, and there's the wise men, 330 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:11.319 and there's whether it's the manger or the house, and there's lights and harp 331 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:15.720 lisses and confetti falling from the sky, and it's also beautiful. And then 332 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:22.000 the Gospels decide to say nothing about Jesus for almost three decades of his life. 333 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:26.440 There's just nothing. So I'm thinking, well, he was going to 334 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.240 be a carpenter, so he's just making ottomans and shit, ah, Mom 335 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:34.160 needs a stair railing. I guess. Before I spend just a few years 336 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.839 preaching here and there and a tiny, tiny, tiny little blip of the 337 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:44.039 planet, before I'm turned into a bloody meat puppet to rescue people from the 338 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:48.720 hell that I created, I'm going to go build a lazy Susan for Mom's 339 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.000 mini bar in the corner of the hut, you know. I mean, 340 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:59.359 I'm a carpenter. I'm gonna go carpeent until I am until my destiny kicks 341 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:07.359 in. Florida man plans own kidnapping. Florida man uses body holes as party 342 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:12.799 trick. Jesus shows up and he shows him the nail holes. Hey, 343 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:17.200 everybody check it out, pulls out his cell phone, sticks it on one 344 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:19.480 side so you can see the light coming through his palms. That's nifty. 345 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:23.599 I don't know, sorry, Florida Man back to the phones. Five six 346 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:29.119 ' one. Hi? Who's this? Paul Krueger? Hi? Paul? 347 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:32.079 What's on your mind? Brother? Hey? Pretty good? I had the 348 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:36.279 same exact situation you're going through. Happened to me and my political group. 349 00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:41.000 What happened? I was on Facebook and we had it up there and my 350 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:48.319 account was deleted for seven years. I just got it back. How did 351 00:30:48.359 --> 00:30:52.319 you get it back? Did you have to sign up with a different email, 352 00:30:52.359 --> 00:30:56.400 completely different email? Yeah? I actually got my political group back, 353 00:30:56.440 --> 00:31:03.119 which was the Progressive Network, just now, maybe two months ago. Once 354 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:07.799 you were deleted seven years ago, did you attempt to create a new account 355 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:11.880 with a different email straight away? Not at that point, because it was 356 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:17.000 all gone I was wiped out after the election from running that political organization. 357 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:19.400 I was like, well, I guess I'm just off the Internet. I 358 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:25.680 was wiped out, including all my communication, family, photos, everything. 359 00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:30.799 Yeah, that's an interesting angle for those of us like I don't have I'm 360 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:37.079 trying to think of. I have folders with photos, but I'm terrible at 361 00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:41.359 archiving them. I feel horrible for anybody would ever have to organize them. 362 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:48.880 And I think that the most comprehensive database or archive or album I have for 363 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:56.119 my entire life is Facebook. So if Facebook dumped me, how much of 364 00:31:56.200 --> 00:32:00.480 the record of my life would disappear? That's an interesting angle I hadn't really 365 00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:05.359 thought of. Yes, it's not even really that, it's all the other 366 00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:09.240 accounts to that are hooked to your Facebook because they're doing that social integration log 367 00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:14.400 in. So he didn't just hit me there, hit me on like every 368 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:19.200 other site that I couldn't log into. Suddenly, Now, are you also 369 00:32:19.319 --> 00:32:23.039 saving all your photos to a local folder? Yeah? Well, now that 370 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:27.559 I've gotten back in there, I've sort of rebuilding everything, But I mean 371 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:34.480 a lot was gone. Luckily those groups shockingly stayed up. Well, I'm 372 00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:38.039 glad you're back. Glad your page is still up and I'm glad you call. 373 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:47.799 Thanks very much. Keep man Florida. Man assembles web militia declares war 374 00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:57.559 on coherent sentences eight five zero. Hi. Who's this? Hi? This 375 00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:00.200 is Susie. Nice Susie, thank you for what do you want to talk 376 00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:07.039 about? Well, I'm a humanist and atheist and there's a story recently that 377 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:13.319 came out and it really broke my heart. Did you hear about the guy 378 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.440 that was a pastor as well as a mayor in a small town. Tell 379 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:20.559 everybody what happened. There are going to be some people listening who aren't familiar 380 00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:22.839 with this story. So do you want do you want to lay it out 381 00:33:22.920 --> 00:33:27.079 or would you prefer me to do it? What do you want? Well, 382 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:30.359 you go ahead and do it, and then I've got some things to 383 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:36.240 say about the paper that released the information. Okay, this guy, pastor 384 00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:43.240 al Baba Copeland, he was pastor of the first Baptist Church of Phoenix City 385 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:50.200 and that's Phoenix phe Nix, Phoenix City, Alabama. Forty nine year old 386 00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:54.920 father of three and on the side, unbeknownst at the time to his own 387 00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:00.359 congregation and to anybody other than his wife. He like to dress up in 388 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:06.319 his wife's clothing or women's clothing and put on makeup. And he had this 389 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:09.679 online persona. This is something that he did as a personal expression. He 390 00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:15.679 did it to the stress. He wasn't hurting anybody. But eighteen nineteen News 391 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:23.079 found out about it, and they published the story and a series of photos 392 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:29.119 that he'd posted under his alternate persona on Instagram or whatever. Now, his 393 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:34.280 pastor was not trans, He wasn't seeking to be trands. He just liked 394 00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:39.360 to dress up in women's clothing and makeup. Okay. So the Alabama Babtist 395 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:45.519 State Convention and the Alabama Babtist State Board of Missions came forward and said, 396 00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:52.960 oh, oh, this guy is acting unbiblically. We are certainly very concerned 397 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:58.800 praying for the leaders of the church family as we seek to determine the truth 398 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:06.039 of these accusations. And this pastor actually took to the pulpits the Wednesday after 399 00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:08.719 the story broke and he said, look, you know, I'm being attacked 400 00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:13.519 on the internet. They're coming after me. This is not who or what 401 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.599 I am. I didn't mean to embarrass anybody. My life's not going to 402 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:22.400 change I'm still devoted to my family. This is just an expression something that 403 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:27.760 I do. And this guy was well liked. He was a public servant, 404 00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:32.239 his congregation loved him. He was reelected as mayor in twenty twenty. 405 00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:38.199 But the public pressure and shaming was so intense that he recently killed himself. 406 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:45.719 His life is over, and in the wake of that, these Bible banging 407 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:53.000 moralists who pretty much ruined his life are offering condolences and thoughts and prayers to 408 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:59.719 the family during a difficult time. Yes, he liked to dress and drag 409 00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:04.599 in the privacy of his own home. And I think he was in the 410 00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:10.079 social group online of other drag queens and shared photos and whatever. And his 411 00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:15.800 wife knew of that that he did that, you know, So this Christian 412 00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:20.679 newspaper they outed him and he called. He knew it was about to come 413 00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:22.639 out, and he called him and asked him not to do it, and 414 00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:28.400 they did it anyway. And then when he killed himself, the cops had 415 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:32.840 pulled him over because his wife had filed a missing person you know, could 416 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:37.079 be in danger. And the police pulled him over on the interstate and he 417 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:40.079 got out of his truck and he shot himself right there in front of the 418 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:47.440 cops. But what makes me so mad is that this Christian paper eighteen nineteen, 419 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:54.920 they didn't apologize afterwards. They sent his family and his congregation in his 420 00:36:55.159 --> 00:37:05.360 victims thoughts and prayers, and they said and victim. He didn't victimize anybody. 421 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:10.840 He was not in his church criticizing LGBTQ community, So he wasn't a 422 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:21.079 hypocrite like many creatures. And I'm a soft hearted person, and the cruelty 423 00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:28.440 and judgment of that eighteen nineteen rag of a Christian paper to be so cruel 424 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:31.320 to one of their own. I would like to be a fly on the 425 00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:36.960 wall to hear some internal conversations on that side, like is there anybody there 426 00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:39.880 who was like, we killed this man? Or are they well he was 427 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:45.159 in rebellion against God and couldn't live with the guilt once it was known, 428 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:49.440 and it was his sin and rebellion that killed him. I would be curious 429 00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:52.599 to see if there's anybody there kind of a no shit moment. Yeah, 430 00:37:52.760 --> 00:37:58.920 I'd have to hear and believe it and see that if they quit the rag 431 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:02.320 they work for, you know, because I'm sure they're saying, oh, 432 00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:07.159 well, good he's gone, you know, I mean, oh, thanks 433 00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:10.760 for bringing the story up, because I think it provides a tragic example of 434 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:15.199 how these sort of purisan police, this moral panic, drives people out, 435 00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:21.079 It shames them into deep depression, makes them feel like in many cases they 436 00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.480 have no options. And it's honestly, it's unconscionable, but it needs to 437 00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:28.400 be talked about, and I appreciate you bringing it up here. Okay, 438 00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:32.840 thank you, Sam. People have good work. Thank you, see you. 439 00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:39.760 You and I both just get so exasperated at those people who cruelty is 440 00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:47.440 their crusade. I've seen a split among many American Christians, another split beyond 441 00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:52.199 the thousands of denominations that all disagree on the basics of their faith. But 442 00:38:52.760 --> 00:38:59.920 over here there's like a humanistic, progressive Jesus would never hate you or judge 443 00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:04.039 you. Jesus would never make hell. Jesus loves everybody as they are. 444 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:07.880 LGBT or if you want a dress in drag or whatever your color or culture, 445 00:39:08.199 --> 00:39:13.239 if you take the Bible literally or don't blah blah blah that Jesus he's 446 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:17.440 here. He's awesome, right, and I'll take it. If you read 447 00:39:17.480 --> 00:39:22.639 the Bible that's not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus is well. He 448 00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:29.679 did not come to bring peace but a sword. He came to pit families 449 00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:31.960 against each other. He told them, you got to be prepared to hate 450 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.960 your mother and father and siblings for my sake, because this is a popularity 451 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:44.000 contest. And that is the flip side of the other culture. That's a 452 00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:52.320 hard line war on the evil ones culture. And everybody apparently is evil everybody. 453 00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:55.159 You got to be shitting me. In a world where real dangers exist. 454 00:39:55.639 --> 00:40:01.760 These Bible banging hatemongers are going after drag queens. You're threatened by a 455 00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:07.159 skirt and earrings and heels and makeup. This is the evil that has come 456 00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:14.360 to your children. Meanwhile, we just had another headline in my home city 457 00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:20.840 of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a guy accused of two counts of sexual assault. 458 00:40:21.239 --> 00:40:29.800 Oh look a pastor. October two, Tulsa police arrested Matthew Martinez after an 459 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:37.119 investigation revealed three years of inappropriate behavior with a young girl, starting when she 460 00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:43.599 was fifteen. He sexually abused, kissed, and groped her, and then 461 00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:49.400 threatened her not to tell anybody. Don't look me in the eye and tell 462 00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:54.960 me that the drag queens are the danger, and stop trying to construct this 463 00:40:55.239 --> 00:41:04.239 one note homogeneous, bland, little relieve vanilla culture where everybody validates you so 464 00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:09.280 you never feel uncomfortable. Give me a choice between that and Pastor Copeland, 465 00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:17.920 who honestly didn't appear to be hurting anybody anywhere. I'll take Pastor Copeland speaking 466 00:41:17.960 --> 00:41:22.719 of the moralists, and I think the hypocrites. This new speaker of the 467 00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:27.760 House that we're stuck with, Mike Johnson, isn't he a piece of work, 468 00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:34.199 the darling of Bible banging moralists and Christian nationalists. I mean, the 469 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:39.119 first thing he does once he becomes speaker is he and some other guys kneel 470 00:41:39.239 --> 00:41:44.280 in front of the podium there in the Congressional hall, and they say a 471 00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:50.199 Christian prayer because they are so holy. And you and I are thinking about 472 00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:53.320 that verse in Matthew. And when you pray, do not be like the 473 00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:59.440 hypocrites, or they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street 474 00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:02.320 corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have 475 00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:07.599 received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, 476 00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:12.880 close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen. This 477 00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:17.480 is performance, it's not prayer. They're marking territory anyway. Once he became 478 00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:22.519 speaker, Internet sleuth's began to dig into his past. Who is he, 479 00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:27.480 what does he think? What has he been preaching? Turns out his wife 480 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:31.480 had either written a blog or preached a sermon which was on their website saying 481 00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:39.400 that LGBT people were essentially like those who participate in Best Reality. And that's 482 00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:45.960 been scrubbed from the website. Fortunately, the Internet never forgets and it's in 483 00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:52.760 the archive. Mike Johnson he had uncovered and I think he tried to delete 484 00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:57.960 this a sermon where he was telling his congregation or the audience about how he 485 00:42:58.079 --> 00:43:02.639 stays morally pure when it comes to porn. He and his son both use 486 00:43:02.719 --> 00:43:08.079 this program called Covenant Eyes. We talked about this one on the Nanny Software 487 00:43:08.119 --> 00:43:13.000 show a while back, and he was telling everybody, Okay, we keep 488 00:43:13.079 --> 00:43:15.280 each other in check, we keep each other accountable. So if you know 489 00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:22.079 I was to look at porn, my son's app goes ing. Dad is 490 00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:28.519 watching porn. And if my son watches porn, my phone goes off. 491 00:43:29.960 --> 00:43:34.679 I know my son is watching porn and you and I are thinking the same 492 00:43:34.800 --> 00:43:37.920 thing. Is this a problem for you? Like, is this a temptation? 493 00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:43.800 Is this something that you think about so much that you need a paid 494 00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:49.000 service like I think Covenant Eyes is what one hundred and fifty bucks a year, 495 00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:52.599 something like that. Oh, I have come to the point when I 496 00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:58.480 see somebody who is preaching over and over and over about a specific carnality or 497 00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:02.360 sin, I watch that pastor very closely because there's a real good chance that 498 00:44:02.400 --> 00:44:07.440 they are doing the shit they're telling everybody else to avoid. Oh no, 499 00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:20.079 Now I think Mike Johnson is secretly poaching the egg. He's polishing the banister, 500 00:44:21.480 --> 00:44:29.079 he is lone rangering, he is finding nemo, chucking the corn, 501 00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:35.880 badgering the witness, defragging his drive. That's what I think he's doing. 502 00:44:37.519 --> 00:44:43.920 I would be surprised if it doesn't come out. You'll pardon the expression Florida 503 00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:53.199 man performs with pant puppet. Pant puppet just makes me, just makes me 504 00:44:53.280 --> 00:45:00.280 smile. I'm sorry being based my fault. Jennifer at seven to seven zero, 505 00:45:00.599 --> 00:45:02.679 Are you with me? Yes? I am. What's on your mind? 506 00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:07.880 So I was talking to my boyfriend the other night and he brought up 507 00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:10.960 the term new atheists, which I actually hadn't heard of. Basically, he 508 00:45:12.039 --> 00:45:16.119 described it as the atheist like Richard Dawkins or Peter vas Bill Maher, the 509 00:45:16.119 --> 00:45:22.320 ones who aren't just atheist but are really more anti theists, of trying to 510 00:45:22.679 --> 00:45:28.400 take religion out of the mainstream and just make people basically calm down with their 511 00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:30.960 faith. And I kind of told him, well, yeah, who'd you 512 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:37.000 think you fell in love with? But the difference is is his family was 513 00:45:37.079 --> 00:45:40.239 religious, but they were good. They took care of his friends from school, 514 00:45:40.280 --> 00:45:45.199 things like that. Meanwhile, I grew up in the Deep South where 515 00:45:45.280 --> 00:45:51.360 religion was used as a justification for beating children and just disrespecting women. And 516 00:45:51.840 --> 00:45:54.079 we even had a city council member that was an open member of the clan. 517 00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:59.519 So how do I get forth that? I think the more a whole 518 00:45:59.559 --> 00:46:06.360 atheist like me, we're bred by seeing the ugly underbelly of religion versus the 519 00:46:06.599 --> 00:46:10.320 oh community helping one another. We saw the really gross part of it. 520 00:46:10.639 --> 00:46:15.519 So how do I go about explaining that that? Look, you may think 521 00:46:15.559 --> 00:46:19.480 we're the jerks, but I think it's kind of justified. Well, the 522 00:46:19.519 --> 00:46:22.119 new atheists and I'm not a fan of the term, but they're talking about 523 00:46:22.159 --> 00:46:25.920 a period of time around two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight, 524 00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:31.000 two thousand and nine, when we saw a surge in conversations about atheism, 525 00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:37.840 anti theism, the criticisms of religion. We did see Hitchens and Sam Harris 526 00:46:37.880 --> 00:46:40.559 and Dan Dennett, Richard Dawkins. They were kind of adopted as the four 527 00:46:40.639 --> 00:46:45.679 horsemen. They never anointed themselves or appointed themselves that way, but they were 528 00:46:45.719 --> 00:46:49.360 the people who were on everybody's lips. They were the ones people talk about. 529 00:46:49.400 --> 00:46:52.960 Those were the books that were being read and the videos being watched. 530 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:55.199 But honestly, there was nothing new about what they were saying. Mark Twain 531 00:46:55.239 --> 00:47:00.000 had been saying it, George Bernard Shaw had been saying it, Robert Ingers 532 00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:04.800 had been saying it back in the eighteen hundreds. So this idea that it's 533 00:47:04.920 --> 00:47:07.760 new, I think they're just talking about the fact that it was in the 534 00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:14.039 public consciousness. They were certainly, you know, they were pretty hard edged. 535 00:47:14.079 --> 00:47:19.559 Maybe not Denett, but I myself, I don't think you are going 536 00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:22.960 to change the world by being a jerk. Yeah, I mean, I'm 537 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:25.800 already like you know, because his parents are still religious I'm good about that, 538 00:47:27.800 --> 00:47:31.239 but I see just constantly every day these people being dicks about it with 539 00:47:31.280 --> 00:47:37.159 their religion, and I just I can't help but not be frustrated about it. 540 00:47:37.280 --> 00:47:39.480 And when he starts insulting like anti theists and things like, hey, 541 00:47:39.519 --> 00:47:43.800 now come on, that's you know, that's my people, I can't help 542 00:47:43.840 --> 00:47:46.719 but be a bit more extreme than him. And I think it is just 543 00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:51.159 whenever we see that stuff, when we see the extremes, it's kind of 544 00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:53.280 hard to not be extreme. But yeah, I had never heard that title 545 00:47:53.320 --> 00:47:59.360 before either. I'm angry that the injustice is done. I'm angry. I 546 00:47:59.360 --> 00:48:02.239 feel angry that you were damaged, that you were targeted, that you you 547 00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:07.079 carry those scars and maybe open wounds with you. And I think that's valid. 548 00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:09.360 I mean, I think what you're feeling, the anger is justifiable. 549 00:48:09.800 --> 00:48:14.119 Yeah, And that's I guess that's the core question is how to deal with 550 00:48:14.199 --> 00:48:17.960 that kind of resentment towards religion, towards you know, the people that are 551 00:48:19.039 --> 00:48:22.440 using it to make horrible decisions and ruining other people's lives. How does one 552 00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:27.840 deal with that kind of resentment. It's hard to not be an asshole about 553 00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:30.800 it, and I would never tell you who to be. I mean, 554 00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:35.719 that's not I'd just give you a perspective because I'm I was pissed off and 555 00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:39.159 angry for three four years coming out of my faith. I'd wasted time. 556 00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:44.000 I was being shamed and targeted and everybody's point of finger and my you know, 557 00:48:44.079 --> 00:48:46.400 my circle O. Poor Seth. He's going through midlife and he's uh, 558 00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:49.920 you know, he's the prodigal we need to bring him back. He's 559 00:48:49.960 --> 00:48:52.639 broke and he just wants attention whatever. And I, you know, I 560 00:48:52.639 --> 00:48:55.519 was sure. I was pissed off about all the anti science I was taught 561 00:48:55.559 --> 00:49:00.920 and all the bigotry that was programmed into me. Resentment is I think it's 562 00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:06.760 natural, it's understandable. But after a few years I realized that as much 563 00:49:06.760 --> 00:49:12.480 as I was lashing out, I was really starting to die inside. My 564 00:49:12.599 --> 00:49:16.800 heart was becoming scar tissue. I wasn't gaining any ground, and so I 565 00:49:16.840 --> 00:49:21.519 still feel that resentment. I've got a speaker of the house right now as 566 00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:25.480 a Christian nationalist who has promoted conversion therapy and thinks that my gay best friend 567 00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:30.960 might as well be having sex with animals and wants to turn the entire country 568 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.679 into fucking Gilead. Yeah, I resent that, I'm angry about it, 569 00:49:35.400 --> 00:49:39.079 but I'm not driving out. Yeah. I mean, do I want to 570 00:49:39.119 --> 00:49:43.320 go up to his house and scream into the windows. Yes. Have I 571 00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:45.480 come to a point where I think, you know, right now, I'm 572 00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:50.559 going to play a little bit more of a strategic game and be a little 573 00:49:50.639 --> 00:49:53.800 less about volume and more about content. That is where I've come. I 574 00:49:53.840 --> 00:50:00.400 don't have a perfect answer for you. If the goal is prote asked, 575 00:50:00.719 --> 00:50:02.400 if it's therapeutic, if you need to get it out, I mean, 576 00:50:04.039 --> 00:50:08.599 a raised voice may be appropriate. If the goal is to engage people, 577 00:50:09.559 --> 00:50:15.320 I'm not convinced asshole is going to accomplish anything productive. That's just me. 578 00:50:15.880 --> 00:50:19.360 All right, Well, thank you so much. You have a good day 579 00:50:19.360 --> 00:50:22.480 and a happy Thanksgiving? All right, see you later. Take care. 580 00:50:23.639 --> 00:50:29.000 And I'd never want to tell somebody else how they should feel about their own 581 00:50:29.119 --> 00:50:31.800 journey. That's a very personal thing. I don't want to be that guy. 582 00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:38.800 I have been accused in the past of tone policing. That comes from 583 00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:45.719 my own opinions about how we should approach other people if we want to be 584 00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:50.639 effective. And I'd like to think after all these years and after all the 585 00:50:50.760 --> 00:50:54.320 hundreds of shows and the conversations I've had and the experiences as an activist, 586 00:50:54.360 --> 00:50:58.480 I've got a little bit of equity to be able to render an opinion. 587 00:50:58.559 --> 00:51:00.760 You can take it or leave it. When I came out of the faith, 588 00:51:00.800 --> 00:51:05.440 I was coiled up like a spring. I would see the first stupid 589 00:51:05.480 --> 00:51:09.519 thing on social media and I would just jump right in and just say that's 590 00:51:09.719 --> 00:51:19.559 stupid. Was I incorrect? Nope? Did I gain anything except venting in 591 00:51:19.639 --> 00:51:22.599 the moment. And maybe that's all you need at the time. Maybe that's 592 00:51:22.639 --> 00:51:25.960 all people are trying to do, is just release pressure. But I didn't 593 00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:30.880 change any minds. Everybody squabbled and argued and escalated and blocked and carried on. 594 00:51:31.079 --> 00:51:35.639 Relationships were ruined. It was just, you know, and I wore 595 00:51:35.679 --> 00:51:38.400 myself out. I was just miserable, and it took me four or five 596 00:51:38.480 --> 00:51:44.559 years to finally just de escalate and calm down. There's some activist right now 597 00:51:44.599 --> 00:51:52.920 online and I had to unfollow or mute their pages. They are obviously justifiably 598 00:51:52.159 --> 00:51:58.480 angry at the injustices going on in the world, and we share that we 599 00:51:59.199 --> 00:52:04.880 have this in common. We are outraged at all of what is outrageous, 600 00:52:05.360 --> 00:52:09.320 and we want to speak to that and advocate for the marginalized. We want 601 00:52:09.360 --> 00:52:15.360 to debunk the bunk we share that. But our approaches are so different, 602 00:52:15.440 --> 00:52:21.480 and I'm not convinced that saying fuck you, you moron is a good look. 603 00:52:22.079 --> 00:52:25.000 Hey, dipshit, if they put your brain on the end of a 604 00:52:25.079 --> 00:52:30.199 razor blade, it looked like a baby rolling down a four lane highway. 605 00:52:30.480 --> 00:52:38.320 Ah come on, really, I get the anger. I'm not convinced the 606 00:52:38.360 --> 00:52:45.239 approach is healthy for anybody, including ourselves. That's just me, Okay. 607 00:52:45.280 --> 00:52:47.920 I want to do some more Florida Man headlines before we go back to the 608 00:52:49.000 --> 00:53:00.239 switchboard. We continue next hang on. If you are not a patron, 609 00:53:00.360 --> 00:53:06.639 please consider supporting me and this show as I'm kind of rebuilding in the two 610 00:53:06.719 --> 00:53:09.119 years after COVID. I know COVID is not over, it's still out there, 611 00:53:09.159 --> 00:53:13.400 but the temperature of the whole thing has changed a little bit, and 612 00:53:13.840 --> 00:53:17.440 I think the podcast versus getting back in the groove and I'm included in that. 613 00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:21.880 If you would like to support me, it makes a difference. Patreon 614 00:53:22.119 --> 00:53:31.159 dot com slash Seth Andrews More of my Florida Man headlines as filtered through the 615 00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:36.480 Bible. I'm guessing you could probably come up with a ton of creative ones 616 00:53:36.519 --> 00:53:39.079 that are better than mine, but just a few more that I came up 617 00:53:39.119 --> 00:53:49.559 with based on stories and characters in scripture. Florida man scene raging at figgs. 618 00:53:51.599 --> 00:54:00.559 Florida man threatens government with frog rain. Florida man fathers his own grandchildren, 619 00:54:01.760 --> 00:54:06.639 And of course that's the story of Lot right, the righteous man who 620 00:54:06.719 --> 00:54:12.480 was saved from calamity, and then his daughters take turns on him because they 621 00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:15.920 don't want to have to walk all the way to town to get pregnant. 622 00:54:16.599 --> 00:54:24.239 Florida man gives dad golden hemorrhoids. That one's in First Samuel, by the 623 00:54:24.239 --> 00:54:36.920 Way. Florida man calls wife's boobs the two Fawns Song of Solomon. Florida 624 00:54:36.960 --> 00:54:44.639 man loses sword inside fat man. And if you haven't read the story of 625 00:54:44.880 --> 00:54:51.280 Ehud and the King in Judges chapter three, the king's body goes and sucks 626 00:54:51.320 --> 00:54:57.119 up the sword. I am not making this up. Florida man seeks revenge, 627 00:54:57.920 --> 00:55:06.719 hires flying prostage. That's the horror of Babylon. Florida man survives on 628 00:55:07.079 --> 00:55:19.000 diet of falling sky bread. Florida man buys bride with penis flesh, David 629 00:55:19.039 --> 00:55:23.599 and King Saul Dowery of two hundred foreskins. I just think it's funnier if 630 00:55:23.599 --> 00:55:29.000 you say penis flesh. I mean, and that's what it is. The 631 00:55:29.719 --> 00:55:35.239 Old Testament. God especially has a fascination, a fetish with the foreskin. 632 00:55:35.360 --> 00:55:40.559 He is totally focused on penis flesh, and I do not understand why anyway, 633 00:55:43.719 --> 00:55:47.519 Mark seven seven three, are you there? I am, Thanks for 634 00:55:47.599 --> 00:55:52.679 calling. Mark. Let's talk what's on your mind? So a couple preliminary 635 00:55:52.760 --> 00:55:58.920 questions. I've been an atheist, admitted to myself for twenty five years. 636 00:55:58.920 --> 00:56:02.559 Now, how long have you it'd been an atheist. I first said the 637 00:56:02.599 --> 00:56:07.199 word out loud, admitted it out loud in two thousand and eight, so 638 00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:13.880 we're talking a decade and a half. Okay, So just over this amount 639 00:56:13.920 --> 00:56:20.400 of time, I've noticed myself going through several stages of my development as an 640 00:56:20.440 --> 00:56:23.199 atheist. And I think some of this is really germane to some of the 641 00:56:23.239 --> 00:56:30.960 previous discussions and arguments that we've heard, and aside from those like yourself that 642 00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:36.039 make a living or activist in the field, like those from the Freedom from 643 00:56:36.039 --> 00:56:39.679 Religion Foundation and such I was wondering if i'd get your thought on these stages 644 00:56:39.920 --> 00:56:45.480 of a development of an atheist. The first stage that I've got is a 645 00:56:45.519 --> 00:56:50.719 firebrand, and I also call that like the born again atheist, where it's 646 00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:55.840 just like every waking moment and every single thing like they've just come out of 647 00:56:55.880 --> 00:57:01.519 the matrix. They're attacking everything, and everything was a conspiracy before, but 648 00:57:01.639 --> 00:57:07.119 now they see the lights. And then they move on to the philosophical nit 649 00:57:07.199 --> 00:57:13.800 picker, and those are the people that discover the rules of logic, and 650 00:57:13.960 --> 00:57:20.639 I call that that I know how to argue stage, and then after a 651 00:57:20.679 --> 00:57:23.840 while you're doing that, and then you move on to the you're all idiot 652 00:57:24.079 --> 00:57:30.599 stage, and these people are just burned out and they just don't have it 653 00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:35.760 anymore, which leads to stage four. I'm not talking to anyone about this 654 00:57:35.960 --> 00:57:42.960 anymore, and those are what I call the Trappist monk atheists, and stage 655 00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:45.840 five, which is not the last stage, but this is where I'm at. 656 00:57:45.920 --> 00:57:50.559 This is the show me the money stage, or the show me the 657 00:57:50.599 --> 00:57:57.079 evidence, the Sherlock Home stage, Like I'm done with semantics, I'm done 658 00:57:57.119 --> 00:58:01.280 with philosophy, show me evidence or shut up. And then I hope to 659 00:58:01.320 --> 00:58:06.159 get to this last stage sometime, which is stage six, Like, please 660 00:58:06.280 --> 00:58:12.440 allow me to let you argue yourself into a corner, my friend or the 661 00:58:12.559 --> 00:58:20.960 Jedi atheist? Are you asking what my thoughts are on these six stages? 662 00:58:22.519 --> 00:58:28.000 Yeah? And am I missing anything? I don't know that everybody is going 663 00:58:28.039 --> 00:58:31.199 to have. It's like the stages of grief. Everybody grieves differently, people 664 00:58:31.280 --> 00:58:36.400 process things differently. Here I'm looking at my own life trying to think of 665 00:58:36.440 --> 00:58:42.119 what I would call that. I came out of religion and I was I 666 00:58:42.159 --> 00:58:47.719 was just enraged that I was mad at myself. Why hadn't I figured this 667 00:58:47.800 --> 00:58:53.480 out sooner? Why didn't I go and actually read Darwin's on the Origin of 668 00:58:53.519 --> 00:58:58.880 species instead of just knowing he was wrong? What's that about, Seth? 669 00:58:58.920 --> 00:59:01.719 You should know better, not stupid? Right, You're not an unintelligent guy. 670 00:59:01.800 --> 00:59:07.000 Why would it take you so long? I beat myself up for being 671 00:59:07.000 --> 00:59:12.400 so late to the party. I was angry that everybody around me was blaming 672 00:59:12.440 --> 00:59:17.840 me for asking questions and in wanting real, reasonable, logical answers. I 673 00:59:19.039 --> 00:59:25.039 was frustrated to my core with apologists who kept telling me different reasons why it's 674 00:59:25.079 --> 00:59:30.840 true and so I was just, you know, I was so pissed off, 675 00:59:31.199 --> 00:59:37.039 and that took a while to get through. I began to calm down. 676 00:59:37.960 --> 00:59:43.519 I started integrating more of the Socratic method. I began to not go 677 00:59:43.679 --> 00:59:47.920 zero to crazy in conversations, and that took some work. I've gone through 678 00:59:49.039 --> 00:59:52.199 despair periods, and I'm sort of in that moment right now. If I'm 679 00:59:52.239 --> 00:59:55.000 going to be totally honest, where I look all around. It's not like 680 00:59:55.039 --> 01:00:02.519 I'm giving up, but I I'm becoming I look at the world and I 681 01:00:02.840 --> 01:00:09.880 look at the state of things, and I'm not sure it's fixable. I 682 01:00:09.920 --> 01:00:15.239 don't know else to say it. I just I just don't, you know, 683 01:00:15.760 --> 01:00:20.880 I don't think it's fixable in my lifetime. And I sometimes I just 684 01:00:20.920 --> 01:00:24.360 want to shut everything off and go sit in the corner and weed baskets and 685 01:00:24.440 --> 01:00:28.039 sing Yanni music, you know, because I don't know what else to do. 686 01:00:28.639 --> 01:00:34.840 And then I have other times when I engage with people who have gotten 687 01:00:34.880 --> 01:00:39.559 out and they're breathing the free air and they have become liberated, and I'm 688 01:00:39.559 --> 01:00:44.480 reminded that even though the world is on fire, the world, for many 689 01:00:44.559 --> 01:00:51.559 individuals, their whole world is being liberated by encouragers like you and me, 690 01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:54.000 who say it's okay to ask questions. You're not broken, you're not just 691 01:00:54.039 --> 01:00:59.599 looking for attention. It's just fine to want things to make sense. Keep 692 01:00:59.639 --> 01:01:05.079 digging. It's okay not to know all those things. And that encourages me 693 01:01:05.119 --> 01:01:07.559 and I oscillate. But the short answer is, I don't think there are 694 01:01:08.159 --> 01:01:13.840 specific stages that people go into, nor do I think the journey ever ends. 695 01:01:13.920 --> 01:01:17.239 I think we're all evolving creatures. I find your six stages interesting, 696 01:01:17.400 --> 01:01:21.880 though, you know, I'll keep my eyes open for them out there. 697 01:01:22.199 --> 01:01:25.719 Okay, okay, but I just one last thing, and this is just 698 01:01:25.840 --> 01:01:30.239 to you. I realize that, you know, we all study history, 699 01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:35.719 and you know, we see that people are ignoring it and they're trying to 700 01:01:35.800 --> 01:01:40.039 repeat history. I know it's a biblical thing, but this too shall pass. 701 01:01:40.559 --> 01:01:45.079 You know. We go through these stages over and over again. Unfortunately 702 01:01:45.159 --> 01:01:49.960 we're not learning our lessons, but we go through them over and over again, 703 01:01:50.280 --> 01:01:52.719 and we will get through this. So don't despair. There is hope. 704 01:01:53.239 --> 01:01:58.000 There are wonderful people out there, and we will get through all of 705 01:01:58.039 --> 01:02:02.039 this. See, you're an encourager, and that's what we need. We 706 01:02:02.119 --> 01:02:07.760 need some humanity and hope injected into these conversations. And for that, I 707 01:02:07.880 --> 01:02:12.760 thank you Mark, and thanks for calling, and thank you bye. All 708 01:02:12.840 --> 01:02:17.000 right, see you. I'm guilty of being on the pendulum back and forth. 709 01:02:17.159 --> 01:02:23.639 One side there is hope, the other side is we are totally doomed. 710 01:02:24.199 --> 01:02:29.320 Back and forth. Maybe you know what that's like. But again, 711 01:02:29.400 --> 01:02:34.559 you're just a shot in the arm that this atheist host needs. Been fun 712 01:02:34.639 --> 01:02:39.000 talking about the Florida man, this Oklahoma man. We'll see you back here 713 01:02:39.079 --> 01:02:45.000 next time. Be safe, take care. Follow the Thinking Atheist on Facebook 714 01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:49.679 and Twitter for a complete archive of podcasts and videos, products like mugs and 715 01:02:49.719 --> 01:02:53.679 t shirts featuring the Thinking Atheist logo, links to atheist pages and resources, 716 01:02:53.880 --> 01:02:59.760 and details on upcoming free thought events and conventions. Log onto our website, 717 01:03:00.079 --> 01:03:04.320 The Thinkingatheist dot com.