1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:08,919 Speaker 1: Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol, 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:10,039 an idea. 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through. 4 00:00:13,439 --> 00:00:18,519 Speaker 1: The rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,199 Speaker 3: If I tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, 6 00:00:22,559 --> 00:00:24,359 not because I put my hand on a book and 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:24,839 made a. 8 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,879 Speaker 1: Wish and working together for a more rational world. 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,079 Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. 10 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,759 Truth Usian wisdom will come to you that way. 11 00:00:35,719 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:51,280 Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. 13 00:00:56,359 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 2: My fellow animal lovers. You ever wonder if it's it's 14 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,400 worth it? We know it is. I know it is. 15 00:01:05,159 --> 00:01:09,280 But we pay a heavy price for love, don't we. 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,480 We had a traumatic moment, so you know cat right, 17 00:01:15,359 --> 00:01:18,760 probably most famous for that drawing that I did at 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,159 the Recovering from Religion fundraiser, and I did this sort 19 00:01:22,159 --> 00:01:25,599 of last second sharpie drawing that was done so quickly. 20 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,239 There's not even a tail on the cat. It just 21 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,560 came out funny and it became a thing. And then 22 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,640 Matt Delahunty said, if we raised this much for our 23 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:40,359 fr I will have this tattooed on my body, and 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,319 he did he's got cat or that drawing that I 25 00:01:43,359 --> 00:01:46,760 did of cat on his calf. I just horrified by 26 00:01:46,799 --> 00:01:49,599 the idea. I'd try to talk him out of it, dude, 27 00:01:49,959 --> 00:01:51,480 you know, and he just thought it was funny. And 28 00:01:51,519 --> 00:01:53,079 a bunch of people have asked me to put it 29 00:01:53,079 --> 00:01:57,319 on T shirts. He stell T shirts of Cat. I 30 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:00,719 don't know. I might, I don't know, but he family. 31 00:02:00,799 --> 00:02:04,879 He's my child, like Linus and Gracie are my children. 32 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:10,199 He's very Persian, and I guess I've been reading about it. 33 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,280 I guess this is a thing with the Persian breed 34 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:16,240 that they may not be quite as lovey. They they're 35 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,599 not lap cats quite as much as some of the 36 00:02:19,599 --> 00:02:21,520 other I mean, I've had other cats my whole life, 37 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,919 and they would anytime you sit down, they're on your lap, 38 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,719 and they're just lovey, and some wanted to be held 39 00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:31,560 and not Cat. He's never been that. He likes it. 40 00:02:31,599 --> 00:02:36,520 He's grafted to me, and he's definitely become more lovey 41 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,599 and kind of snugly over the past four or five 42 00:02:39,719 --> 00:02:43,159 years as he's gotten older. But I lay down, he's 43 00:02:43,199 --> 00:02:45,240 got to be right here, kind of near my neck. 44 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:47,919 If I sit on a couch, he has to be 45 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,439 sitting on the arm, but he won't get any closer. 46 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,080 I'm allowed to pet him, but only in a very 47 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,479 specific way, so he doesn't like fingers on the fur, 48 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,719 anything near the hunt of the back or his Oh 49 00:03:00,759 --> 00:03:05,520 hell no. He will give the immediate warning, don't touch 50 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,960 that again, or you will bleed. But I can take 51 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,680 the back of my hand and hold it up. I 52 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,960 just hold it and he walks past it and he 53 00:03:16,039 --> 00:03:18,800 rubs himself on it. He's rubbing his scent. I'm sure 54 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,560 on me. It's a sense of belonging. I'm part of 55 00:03:22,599 --> 00:03:26,120 his pride, and he will start to pur very loudly, 56 00:03:26,199 --> 00:03:28,479 and he might allow me to scratch his head, neck 57 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:33,000 and shoulders for about eighteen seconds, and then he decides 58 00:03:33,039 --> 00:03:36,919 he's done and he turns into satan. I get the warning. 59 00:03:37,439 --> 00:03:42,639 It's a very shrill I mean, stop it. So he 60 00:03:42,719 --> 00:03:48,120 goes from yes, yes, yes, yes, to stop it immediately. 61 00:03:49,039 --> 00:03:52,120 If I continue to scratch him for another second and 62 00:03:52,159 --> 00:03:56,199 a half, he will make me bleed. Right, he just 63 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,159 turns on me. So I've learned, and we haven't had 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,680 him turn on me for years. I know what the 65 00:04:02,759 --> 00:04:06,439 Cat wants I get the boundaries, all right, but he 66 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,639 is totally bonded to me. I just got back from Knoxville, Tennessee. 67 00:04:09,759 --> 00:04:12,599 I spoke for the Rationalist of East Tennessee. That his 68 00:04:12,639 --> 00:04:16,399 speechs there on identity beliefs. I walked back in the house, 69 00:04:16,439 --> 00:04:18,639 and of course the dogs are wagging and yipping and 70 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,079 jumping and barking, and we have a big reunion. But 71 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,680 Cat is right there, traumatized that I was gone for 72 00:04:24,759 --> 00:04:30,279 two days, and he follows me around. He won't leave 73 00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:35,920 me alone. So he's a good kittie boy. He's a 74 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:41,279 good key boy. And a couple of weeks ago, actually 75 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:46,040 a little longer, he developed a limp in his left paw. 76 00:04:46,199 --> 00:04:51,399 We just noticed it, honey, Why is he limping hobbling 77 00:04:51,439 --> 00:04:54,240 into the living room? Wait a minute, what happened to him? 78 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,439 So we gingerly grab him. Wasn't a fan of that, 79 00:04:59,519 --> 00:05:02,480 but we grab him. When we kind of massage the 80 00:05:02,639 --> 00:05:05,079 foot a little bit, the ankle, We check the shoulder. 81 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,319 He's not jumping, he's not wincing, he's not shrieking. It 82 00:05:08,319 --> 00:05:11,600 doesn't look like there's a sharp pain, but there's something 83 00:05:11,759 --> 00:05:16,399 going on. Well, maybe he tweaked it jumping off a chair, right, 84 00:05:18,199 --> 00:05:20,279 So we decide, well, let's just keep an eye on him, 85 00:05:20,319 --> 00:05:24,720 and we do days pass. He's still limping. He is 86 00:05:24,759 --> 00:05:30,439 breaking my heart. I call the veterinarian, bracing myself because 87 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:33,720 here we go. You know they're going to do a radiograph. 88 00:05:33,759 --> 00:05:36,920 That's two three hundred dollars before I get out of there. 89 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,199 But Kat's family, let's do the right thing. I could 90 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,800 go to some hole in the wall that right, Oh yeah, 91 00:05:43,879 --> 00:05:46,279 we'll do it for fifty nine dollars. We can get 92 00:05:46,319 --> 00:05:48,839 you in right away. And I'm not going to those 93 00:05:48,879 --> 00:05:52,959 sketch places. I want someone that's reputable checking out cats. 94 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,079 So we go in, we do the X ray, and 95 00:05:56,959 --> 00:06:02,759 the doc says bone spurs. I'm not sure. I buy it. 96 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,639 I'm sure there are bone spurs, and they say arthritist 97 00:06:06,879 --> 00:06:10,360 is a thing for older cats. But there's something about 98 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,480 the way he's limping that makes me think it's a 99 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,360 tissue injury. So right now we're having the conversation about 100 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,720 whether to take him in for a cat scan to 101 00:06:18,879 --> 00:06:23,839 check the tissues, and then I'm doing the math on that. Okay, 102 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:25,839 how much money is not going to cost? But at 103 00:06:25,879 --> 00:06:29,600 the same time, it's not about money, it's about taking cares, 104 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:34,040 about doing the right thing right. So we're having that conversation. 105 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:38,240 He is lying here right next to me. He looks content, 106 00:06:38,399 --> 00:06:41,920 he's comfortable. His paw is sort of up on the 107 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,360 cat bed. But anyway, we were sitting in the living room, 108 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,800 back to my traumatic event. We're sitting in the living 109 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,680 room and we're having a conversation. Natalie says, well, how 110 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:59,040 old is cat? So we started doing the math. Okay, 111 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,600 him in twenty eleven, and they said he was about 112 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:08,680 nine months old then, so it's twenty fourteen, almost twenty fifteen, 113 00:07:10,439 --> 00:07:19,000 probably fourteen years old. Fourteen. So then I make this mistake, 114 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:21,519 and I'm sure I'm going to set off your echo 115 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,360 when I do this, But I called back. I said, Alexa, 116 00:07:25,439 --> 00:07:31,720 how long do cats live? And she says, according to 117 00:07:32,639 --> 00:07:37,519 I forget the website wikipediacats dot com or something, the 118 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:46,000 average lifespan of a house cat is fourteen years. And 119 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,839 that and I just looked at each other. Oh my god, 120 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,759 it's the beginning of the end. Cats live fourteen years. 121 00:07:55,240 --> 00:08:01,439 It was just terrible. So we started looking at cat 122 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,040 like he's terminally ill. This is it. He's just gonna 123 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,439 fall over, he's gonna deteriorate. We're gonna wake up someday 124 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,079 and he's gonna be just dead on the bit. Totally 125 00:08:12,439 --> 00:08:17,240 worst case scenario ourself immediately. And then I got smart 126 00:08:17,279 --> 00:08:19,680 and I pulled out my phone and I went to 127 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,720 a reputable side. I went to the ASPCA website to 128 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:30,240 learn more about cats, and okay, they often live a 129 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,480 lot longer than fourteen. Some cats live to be sixteen seventeen. 130 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,799 There have been some who have reached twenty. It may 131 00:08:37,879 --> 00:08:42,080 not be the beginning of the end, after all, but 132 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,039 I can help it. Now. When I look at him, 133 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,399 I think, how long do we have? How long do 134 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:48,720 we have? 135 00:08:48,799 --> 00:08:49,039 Speaker 4: Shit? 136 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 2: I'm doing it with Linus and Gracie. Oh long, Linus 137 00:08:53,759 --> 00:08:58,639 is ten little dogs live? What fifteen? Sixteen seventeen? Okay, 138 00:08:58,639 --> 00:09:01,279 I'll take that. I'll take it. It's a heavy price 139 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:07,320 we pay for love. It's worth it. It's worth it 140 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:09,600 every minute of every day. It's worth it. But it's 141 00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:15,720 a heavy price we pay for love. Anyway, Maybe call 142 00:09:15,799 --> 00:09:20,080 him the veterinarian again today to I don't know. I'm 143 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,320 just suspicious that this is some sort of a specific 144 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:29,159 injury beyond arthritis. I don't know. I'm not asking you 145 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:30,720 to email. I mean, I know a lot of people 146 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:32,879 have experience. If you want to share that, great, I'm 147 00:09:32,879 --> 00:09:37,480 not trying to get diagnoses on social media that way 148 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:42,919 madness lies. It has been an interesting week. I early 149 00:09:43,159 --> 00:09:48,159 voted for the first time in my life. I think, 150 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,879 if I'm going to be honest, there are two main reasons. One, 151 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,200 I just wanted to get it done because I'm apprehensive. 152 00:09:54,919 --> 00:09:58,399 I saw a meme or a cartoon where there was 153 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,000 a dog and he had one of those vests on 154 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,279 that said thunder shirt, you know the things that are 155 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,080 supposed to make dogs feel safe and secure when storms come. 156 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:10,399 And then his owner is sitting in front of the 157 00:10:10,399 --> 00:10:12,759 television set and he's wearing a vest and it says 158 00:10:12,919 --> 00:10:17,440 election shirt to help keep him from having anxiety. I 159 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,919 have anxiety. So I think part of me wanted to 160 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,200 just go. But I don't have to think about it 161 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,080 for another week, and wonder are there going to be 162 00:10:27,159 --> 00:10:29,600 huge lines? What if I don't make it through, you 163 00:10:29,639 --> 00:10:32,200 know that kind of thing. And the second concern I have, 164 00:10:32,279 --> 00:10:35,279 and I think this is legitimate, I'm worried about some 165 00:10:35,639 --> 00:10:40,279 batshit crazy person driving through the parking lot shooting at 166 00:10:40,279 --> 00:10:43,679 the crowd with an AR fifteen. I don't think that's unwarranted. 167 00:10:43,759 --> 00:10:47,440 There are some nutbars out there. I think election violence, 168 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,480 I hate to say this, I think it's inevitable. I 169 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,320 think there are going to be outbreaks of violent pockets 170 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,200 of violence all over the place, and you never know where. 171 00:10:58,039 --> 00:11:00,799 I think it's the agents of chaos are going to 172 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,159 go and sew chaos. They want obfuse scation. They want 173 00:11:04,159 --> 00:11:07,399 to make sure that it's so jacked up and crazy 174 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,240 and chaotic that nobody knows what's up or down, or 175 00:11:10,279 --> 00:11:13,320 true or false. And it's in that fog of war 176 00:11:13,919 --> 00:11:17,559 that the bad people can cry foul and maneuver and 177 00:11:17,639 --> 00:11:18,600 cheat and steal. 178 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 3: Yeah. 179 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm terrified of that. So I thought, Okay, I 180 00:11:22,039 --> 00:11:25,440 want to early vote for the first time in my life. 181 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:29,320 Natalie agreed, so we set out the morning. She decided 182 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,480 she was going to get into work late. She made 183 00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:35,519 that arrangement she had to be in by ten thirty. Okay, well, 184 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,840 if we get in line at eight point fifteen, we 185 00:11:38,919 --> 00:11:43,240 should be fine. I'm thinking a half an hour forty 186 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:47,000 minutes to get through and vote early. We show up 187 00:11:47,039 --> 00:11:51,799 at the polling place, and the parking lots spilled out 188 00:11:51,799 --> 00:11:55,279 of the parking lots into a grassy and dirt area, 189 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:00,720 cars everywhere. It looked like freaking woodstock. It was an 190 00:12:00,799 --> 00:12:03,639 ocean of people coming out of the building. There was 191 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:05,480 a line and it wrapped all the way down to 192 00:12:05,519 --> 00:12:07,559 the north and then it went around the building. And 193 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,679 as we walked around over there, that line went so 194 00:12:10,919 --> 00:12:15,039 far I couldn't see the end of it. It wrapped 195 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:20,399 around some distant fence, and we thought, what in the 196 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,399 world are we going to be able to get through 197 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,279 this in time to get Natalie to work? How long 198 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:27,919 is it going to take? What's happening? So we went 199 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:33,000 ahead and hopped in two hours, two hours, edging forward 200 00:12:33,039 --> 00:12:37,200 step by step until finally we did cast our votes, 201 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,679 and we have that sigh of relief. We got our 202 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,960 eye voted stickers. I don't know why I have such 203 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,399 a rush whenever I can get an eye voted sticker. Yay, 204 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,799 I voted. There are some people who say it doesn't 205 00:12:47,799 --> 00:12:50,480 make a lick of difference, especially in a red state 206 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:54,879 like Oklahoma, and I understand why they think that it's 207 00:12:54,919 --> 00:12:57,720 a pipe dream to think that Oklahoma is going to 208 00:12:57,759 --> 00:13:00,840 turn blue, that it's not going to be Trump Land. 209 00:13:00,919 --> 00:13:06,519 We've seen the politicians Governor Stitt, Ryan Walters, etc. But 210 00:13:06,519 --> 00:13:13,720 but we are looking at Democratic candidates for mayor in 211 00:13:13,799 --> 00:13:18,639 this city. The Republican mayor in Oklahoma City just published 212 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,679 a piece in the Oklahoma and saying he's been a Republican, 213 00:13:21,799 --> 00:13:24,840 voted Republican his whole life. He feels like in order 214 00:13:24,879 --> 00:13:31,159 to protect democracy he must vote for Kamala Harris. That 215 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,440 is massive. That is big news. That's a major shift. 216 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,360 Is it a reflection of what's happening overall in the 217 00:13:40,399 --> 00:13:44,080 state of Oklahoma. I'm not expecting a blue wave. I'm 218 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,840 not a fan of that term. But are people getting 219 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,720 fed up. I've seen people who are on our tennis team, 220 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,919 in our relative social circle, in our neighborhood. I would 221 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:01,279 have never pegged them to vote Democrats and their Kamala. 222 00:14:01,799 --> 00:14:07,600 They are ready loud and proud and passionate about stopping 223 00:14:07,639 --> 00:14:12,240 the Trump train. Holy cow, is this a zeitgeist shift 224 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:19,080 in Oklahoma. I'm watching Texas Texas Ted Cruz, who is 225 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:23,039 pretty much without any redeeming quality. I just look at 226 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,120 Ted Cruz and I can hear him saying, you know, 227 00:14:26,279 --> 00:14:32,799 this human suit is awfully uncomfortable. He is right there 228 00:14:32,799 --> 00:14:38,960 on the bubble. Some poles have him losing his congressional seat. 229 00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:46,559 Ted Cruz might lose. Wait a minute, is something happening? 230 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,919 We're watching the Trump rallies dwindle, people leaving early. It 231 00:14:51,039 --> 00:14:54,679 just looks like a deflated balloon. Kamala rallies look like 232 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,519 a rock concert, filled with joy and enthusiasm. They're charged 233 00:14:59,559 --> 00:15:04,600 with like tricity. Is something happening and are these early voters? 234 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:06,399 Are they there early? 235 00:15:06,559 --> 00:15:06,679 Speaker 5: Like? 236 00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 2: I think I had read a statistic. I don't want 237 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,799 to misrepresent this, but that most early voters lean democratic, 238 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,679 they lean liberal? Is that true? We were watching the people. 239 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,279 You're not allowed to wear election clothing to a polling place, 240 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,480 that's illegal, But we were watching other markers. What do 241 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,960 they have? An American flag shirt and a camo hat. 242 00:15:30,039 --> 00:15:35,720 That's probably Trump. We saw a lot of blue. Natalie 243 00:15:36,159 --> 00:15:39,519 brought this to my attention, women wearing blue and pearls, 244 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,159 and I guess pearls are an indicator that you are 245 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,679 a Kamala voter and supporter. I didn't realize that. Then, 246 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,879 you know, there was somebody else who had an activist 247 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,720 type shirt about women or equality for women. I saw 248 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,519 are They just ran the gamut as far as ethnicities 249 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,960 beyond white people, we saw people of color across the board. 250 00:16:04,039 --> 00:16:07,600 I saw people running from the age of twenty to eighty, 251 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,440 few people in wheelchairs and walkers. I mean it was wild. 252 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,039 It was a see in ocean of humanity there to 253 00:16:14,159 --> 00:16:18,120 vote early. It felt I know this sounds like hyperbole, 254 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:25,120 but it just felt like history. It felt like history. 255 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,879 And even if and when Oklahoma gows for Trump, I 256 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,639 sure liked the idea of seeing the newscasters reporting statistics 257 00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:40,159 to the maga types that you know, the temperature of 258 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:44,080 this state may be changing. Look at the rise of 259 00:16:44,159 --> 00:16:50,840 those who are in opposition to Trump and trumpers. You 260 00:16:50,919 --> 00:16:54,720 may not be in the monopoly very long. Your privilege 261 00:16:55,159 --> 00:16:59,080 just might be temporary. You might be forced to share 262 00:16:59,159 --> 00:17:04,000 this state equally with people who don't look like you, 263 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:08,440 sound like you, vote like you, worship like you, love 264 00:17:08,799 --> 00:17:11,960 like you, and you better just get ready for it. 265 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:16,960 I really like that idea. Anyway. Just picture me, picture 266 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,640 my dog with the thundershirt, me with the election shirt on. 267 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,960 For Tuesday night, I'll probably be glued to the television. 268 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:30,720 High stress. It's stressful. Anyway, short break. I'll be right 269 00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:35,319 back with more babblings and ramblings from your humble host 270 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:46,440 after this. My patrons get the broadcast early and commercial free. 271 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,519 If you would like to support me, go to patreon 272 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,680 dot com slash Seth Andrews and you have my thanks. 273 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,799 So there is somebody on my outer friends circle. We 274 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,839 would cross paths on the tennis courts ten twelve years 275 00:18:04,839 --> 00:18:10,279 ago and we haven't spoken in years, and yet occasionally, 276 00:18:10,319 --> 00:18:13,400 Elsie a post pop up on Facebook. You know you 277 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,839 have those relationships. I mean, you don't hang out with 278 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,960 hundreds of people, but you do have a connection in 279 00:18:19,039 --> 00:18:23,359 some way. And I know she is an evangelical Conservative 280 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,440 and I saw a post of hers from a pastor 281 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,680 about state church separation. Now she is a Goden Country 282 00:18:32,799 --> 00:18:36,359 Christian Nation conservative and she posted this thing from a 283 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:40,240 pastor in Tulsa. His church is called Bridge Church. His 284 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:46,519 name is Orlando Juarez. And I noticed that Karen shared 285 00:18:46,559 --> 00:18:51,200 it with the words whatever you do watch this, which 286 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,559 is kind of what everybody's doing on Facebook and Twitter 287 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,240 these days. Stop whatever you're doing. If you watch one 288 00:18:58,319 --> 00:19:03,440 clip today, what this? But if everybody's doing that, then 289 00:19:03,559 --> 00:19:09,279 it becomes self canceling. Right, everybody says, this is the 290 00:19:09,279 --> 00:19:12,039 one clip you have to see. If everybody's doing it, 291 00:19:12,319 --> 00:19:15,680 then it loses its power. But I notice that the 292 00:19:15,759 --> 00:19:19,200 video was about a minute long, and she's like, if 293 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,400 you don't understand state church separation, watch my pastor or 294 00:19:23,559 --> 00:19:25,559 this pastor. I don't know if it's your church. Okay, 295 00:19:25,559 --> 00:19:26,279 here's the clip. 296 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 6: Did you know that the phrase separation of church of 297 00:19:29,319 --> 00:19:32,920 state does not appear anywhere in the United States Constitution. 298 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,839 This idea of the separation of church and state doesn't 299 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,640 mean that the church should give up their duty to 300 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:45,000 be involved in the political process. It actually means that 301 00:19:45,039 --> 00:19:49,160 the government can't impose a specific state instituted religion on 302 00:19:49,319 --> 00:19:52,720 its citizen, ensuring all Americas have the freedom to express 303 00:19:52,759 --> 00:19:57,119 their individual religious beliefs. Don't take this to mean that 304 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,480 the Church and the Christians should be absent from the 305 00:19:59,519 --> 00:20:02,960 political p process. As citizens of both this nation and 306 00:20:03,039 --> 00:20:07,279 God's Kingdom, we have a duty to be active, informed 307 00:20:07,279 --> 00:20:12,000 citizen engaged in shaping policies that reflect Christian values. 308 00:20:12,559 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 2: This guy, first of all, says that state church separation 309 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,039 isn't in the Constitution, which means he's never read the Constitution. 310 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,279 You and I need to sit him down and educate 311 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,440 him about the establishment clause. It won't take long, pastor 312 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,799 we'll just tell you what Congress shall make no law 313 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,839 respecting the Establishment of Religion actually means. Okay, we'll talk 314 00:20:34,839 --> 00:20:38,519 about the Danbury Baptist and Thomas Jefferson's letter about the 315 00:20:38,559 --> 00:20:41,759 Wall of Separation, John Adams, the Treaty of Kriply blah 316 00:20:41,799 --> 00:20:44,400 blah blah. Okay, we'll tell him about that. Will educate me. 317 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,519 He says, we are a nation with Christians but a 318 00:20:47,519 --> 00:20:50,480 whole lot of other people. So there he's sort of 319 00:20:50,519 --> 00:20:56,920 acknowledging we are supposedly a pluralistic democracy. Well, that's refreshing. 320 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:02,559 But in the next breath he says, we as Christians 321 00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:08,200 have an obligation the responsibility to become activists and inject 322 00:21:08,599 --> 00:21:14,880 biblical values into our laws and policies. So I'm thinking, 323 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:17,440 on one side of his mouth, he's saying, we're not 324 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,240 a theocracy, and there's room for everybody, and if you 325 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,680 disagree with Christianity, you have that rights. You can be 326 00:21:24,759 --> 00:21:27,680 of another faith or none. Okay, fine, And then on 327 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:29,599 the other side of his mouth you hear him say, 328 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,920 but we need the Bible to inform our laws and 329 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,480 policies over here, which we're not a theocracy, and then 330 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,960 he flips his face to say, by the way, we 331 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,920 want theocracy. I debated correcting the record. I know I'm 332 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,359 not going to change her mind with facts, and in fact, 333 00:21:50,599 --> 00:21:52,799 the speech I did in Knoxville that's going to release 334 00:21:52,839 --> 00:21:55,160 in a few days or a few weeks, we'll talk 335 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,799 about why people are a brick wall and why. I 336 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:03,039 doubt she's remotely interested in my correction. But I felt 337 00:22:03,039 --> 00:22:05,799 it was necessary to correct the record, and so I 338 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,000 popped in and said, let me inform you about some 339 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,319 of the constitutional issues here and what it would do 340 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,160 to non Christians. And I did all that, and I 341 00:22:15,319 --> 00:22:17,920 laid it all out God on the money and the pledge. 342 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,480 I mean, I put it all out there, and after 343 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,759 three days there has been not one syllable of response. 344 00:22:26,039 --> 00:22:28,319 I'm not going to hold my breath. But the Christian 345 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,000 Nation crowd, I don't know what constitution they're reading, but geez. 346 00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:36,799 I had another guy chied me on Twitter because I 347 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,000 posted this meme and it said, have you ever wondered 348 00:22:40,079 --> 00:22:42,480 what you would have done during the rise of fascism? 349 00:22:43,279 --> 00:22:47,000 You're doing it right now. And he said, you know, 350 00:22:47,079 --> 00:22:53,039 this hyperbole is not helping. We're not facing fashion. And 351 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,920 a Kasparian said as much on her page the other day, 352 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,559 and so I actually had to respond with the definition 353 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,440 of fashion. I just went to the basic definition Miriam 354 00:23:05,559 --> 00:23:12,279 Webster's definition of fascism a populist political philosophy, movement or 355 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:17,119 regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, 356 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:22,680 that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by 357 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:28,559 a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic 358 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:36,599 and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition. Oh yeah, 359 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:43,720 that's totally appropriate. America is for Americans only. MAGA is 360 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,920 infected with racist language and white supremacy. We've got a 361 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:54,480 centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader. He said, 362 00:23:54,519 --> 00:23:56,640 I want to be dictator for a day. The guy 363 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,599 wants to weaponize the government against his enemies. He wants 364 00:24:00,599 --> 00:24:05,160 to weaponize the military against everyday people. Who's that sound 365 00:24:05,279 --> 00:24:12,720 like Trump loves totalitarian murderous tyrants, Putin's, Kim Jong un, etc. Jesus, 366 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,480 I mean, what else do you have to be to 367 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,119 be a fascist? But my critics are out there saying, 368 00:24:18,519 --> 00:24:22,640 how dare you this hyperbole is not helpful. It ain't 369 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,480 all that bad, and I just disagree. I think it's 370 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:31,599 as plenty bad. Let us see what our listeners want 371 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,799 to talk about today, Charles at two one seven, what's 372 00:24:35,839 --> 00:24:38,319 on your mind? What do you want to talk about. 373 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 7: The reemergence of David Barton's foundation of America as a 374 00:24:43,039 --> 00:24:48,160 Christian nation being sprouted by more and more people high 375 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,759 pop all people like Ben Carson. He specifically stated that 376 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:58,000 when they were at an end pass at the Cartinental 377 00:24:58,079 --> 00:25:02,839 Convention that would formerate Constitution of the United States, they 378 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,880 marched in lockstep down to the Baptist church down the 379 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,160 road and got into prayer modes and was enlightened and 380 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,039 came back and formally it's the constitution. 381 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, David Barton has been full of shit since 382 00:25:17,079 --> 00:25:21,039 day one. He's the guy who wrote a biography on Jefferson. 383 00:25:21,599 --> 00:25:24,400 I think it was him. And the biography of Jefferson 384 00:25:24,519 --> 00:25:28,000 was so riddled with in accuracies that his own Christian publisher, 385 00:25:28,079 --> 00:25:32,440 Thomas Kincaid Publishing, pulled the book from store shelves because 386 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,200 it was just so rife with errors. He's not a historian, 387 00:25:35,279 --> 00:25:39,359 he has no degree as a historian. He is an ideologue, 388 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,480 He is a Christian nationalist, he is a history revisionist. 389 00:25:42,519 --> 00:25:43,680 He is totally full of crap. 390 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 7: Yeah, but it's beginning to become more and more of 391 00:25:48,279 --> 00:25:53,200 the evangelicals. Are we citing that specific point that all 392 00:25:53,319 --> 00:25:59,039 the founding fathers were all Evangelicals, And it's like it's 393 00:25:59,079 --> 00:26:03,640 beginning to grow into the Christian naturalism and we're all 394 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:04,559 supporting Trump. 395 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,279 Speaker 2: When I was in Christian school, they sold us the 396 00:26:08,319 --> 00:26:11,079 myth that it was a Christian nation. Founding fathers were 397 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,359 all Christian, and you know, they were all pretty much saints, 398 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,279 and you know, it was a whitewashing of history by 399 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,960 those in power. Is something, sadly that is not uncommon. 400 00:26:21,079 --> 00:26:23,599 All we can do is correct the record as loudly 401 00:26:23,759 --> 00:26:28,519 as we can. And I'm thankful to constitutional attorneys and 402 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,640 experts on our founding and our country, like Andrew Seidel 403 00:26:32,839 --> 00:26:36,039 at Americans United for Separation of Church and States. They're 404 00:26:36,079 --> 00:26:38,759 doing great work out there. I'm going to move on, Charles, 405 00:26:38,799 --> 00:26:40,839 but thanks for the call very much. I appreciate you. 406 00:26:43,039 --> 00:26:47,559 See you Okay, I've got arp Y. I want to 407 00:26:47,559 --> 00:26:50,200 make sure I'm saying your name right on the switchboard. 408 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:51,160 How do I say that? 409 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,839 Speaker 5: This is arp arpy? 410 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 2: What's on your mind? What do you want to talk about? 411 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 5: The question I have is did Jesus take his own 412 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:04,440 life as in the sinful way that Christians usually see it? 413 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,079 Speaker 2: You mean, did Jesus commit suicide? 414 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 7: Yes? 415 00:27:08,079 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 5: I didn't know if you wanted that word thrown around 416 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:12,680 on the show. 417 00:27:12,759 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 2: So let's just call it what it is. Just step 418 00:27:14,799 --> 00:27:16,079 lightly Okay, no, no, no, you're good. 419 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 8: Cool cool? 420 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Jesus killed him. So Jesus as God is 421 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,519 the Holy Spirit, the triune deity of the Christian scriptures, 422 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,240 and he came to earth for the purpose of ritual suicide. Yeah, 423 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,599 he killed him. So that's what I think. What do 424 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:30,000 you think? 425 00:27:30,799 --> 00:27:31,559 Speaker 8: I think so too. 426 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,559 Speaker 5: And I'm kind of workshopping this argument for my sister 427 00:27:36,599 --> 00:27:39,279 who's just kind of holding onto her belief by a thread, 428 00:27:39,519 --> 00:27:43,240 like she she's left the church that we attended as children, 429 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,279 and she's currently unaffiliated, doesn't go to church on Sunday. 430 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,759 And we've been having I think, pretty good talks over 431 00:27:50,799 --> 00:27:53,640 the past couple of weeks, and I feel like this 432 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,599 could be something that could kind of get her to 433 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:56,559 flip that switch. 434 00:27:57,079 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 2: I mean, it's a pretty hot one is she that? 435 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,680 I mean, if you come at someone who is I 436 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,480 guess if she's deconstructing, maybe that's different. But if I 437 00:28:05,559 --> 00:28:07,920 was to say to somebody who was even a casual Christian, 438 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,119 Jesus decided to off himself, I mean, that might put 439 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,160 him back on their heels for. 440 00:28:13,079 --> 00:28:15,880 Speaker 5: A little contact. It's what got the ball rolling for me. 441 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 8: My cousin took his life a decade and a half ago, 442 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,559 and just the way people were talking about it at 443 00:28:24,559 --> 00:28:28,079 his service just didn't really sit right with me. 444 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,880 Speaker 5: The pastor basically said, well, we know what happens to 445 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:33,160 people who take their own life. 446 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,839 Speaker 8: He didn't directly say that is in hell now, but 447 00:28:36,079 --> 00:28:39,039 he implied it, and that just made me sick. 448 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,559 Speaker 2: Wherever you see your way in, I think that's valid. 449 00:28:42,599 --> 00:28:44,720 I mean, you can do it that better than I can. 450 00:28:45,519 --> 00:28:48,000 If she's already at the point where she's starting to 451 00:28:48,079 --> 00:28:52,240 tap on the glass, then probably anything's fair game. I 452 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,480 would just recommend that in all points she feels safe 453 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,960 and that you know you're you're not pushing it. But deconstruction, 454 00:29:01,519 --> 00:29:04,000 I mean, I think once the dominoes start to fall 455 00:29:04,039 --> 00:29:06,720 for a lot of people, it's inevitable and I hope 456 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,839 she ends up going all the way to an authentic 457 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,079 life free of dogma and superstition. In fact, if those 458 00:29:13,079 --> 00:29:15,480 conversations go well, or even if they don't, you should 459 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,480 call back some time and give us the update. Okay, 460 00:29:17,839 --> 00:29:20,119 all right, sounds good, All right, take care, We'll see 461 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:20,440 you later. 462 00:29:21,599 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 3: Thanks. 463 00:29:22,319 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 2: Yeah. Like the Atonement sacrifices in the Old Testament, right, 464 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:30,079 they're like, there is sin in the land among our tribe, 465 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,240 Bring me two goats, and they take one goat and 466 00:29:34,279 --> 00:29:36,839 they slash the poor thing's throat and bleed it out, 467 00:29:37,559 --> 00:29:40,319 and then they put the sins of the tribe on 468 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,799 a second goat, and then they send it off to 469 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,759 starve in the wilderness. That second goat was called the 470 00:29:46,119 --> 00:29:49,440 escape goat, which is where we get the word scapegat. 471 00:29:50,359 --> 00:29:52,640 But I mean, how primitive is that. But Jesus was 472 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,519 for us the Atonement sacrifice. So all the sin goes 473 00:29:55,559 --> 00:30:00,079 on him, and then he dies hashtag dies, right, and 474 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,839 he takes a three day hiatus before he reappears, and 475 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:08,039 he has become the Atonement goat. But it's accurate to 476 00:30:08,079 --> 00:30:13,400 say that he killed himself. He offed himself ritual suicide. 477 00:30:13,519 --> 00:30:17,519 Jesus Christ I will die on this hill, even as 478 00:30:17,559 --> 00:30:20,599 he died of suicide. Nancy at seven oh two. Are 479 00:30:20,599 --> 00:30:22,240 you there, Hi, Seth? 480 00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 4: Can you hear me? 481 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:23,599 Speaker 3: I can? 482 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 2: Indeed, What do you want to talk about? What's on 483 00:30:25,519 --> 00:30:25,960 your mind? 484 00:30:26,599 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 4: Well, I just want to say that I was on 485 00:30:29,279 --> 00:30:33,200 your show a long time ago. It was probably twenty seventeen, 486 00:30:33,519 --> 00:30:37,119 and it was the what are you afraid of? And 487 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,559 I was the one that was afraid of needles? And 488 00:30:39,599 --> 00:30:43,000 I have made Lebowski as my little icon picture. So 489 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,319 I've been a big fan for a long time. 490 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 2: Nancy, you got to explain mode Lebowski for those who 491 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,240 aren't big Lebowski fans. 492 00:30:50,839 --> 00:30:55,119 Speaker 4: Oh, so, there's a fantastic movie called The Big Lebowski 493 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,799 by the Cohen Brothers, and Jeff Bridges is Lebowski and 494 00:31:00,079 --> 00:31:04,319 Maud Lebowski is Julianne Moore and it's just it's a 495 00:31:04,359 --> 00:31:08,279 wacky fun movie. Actually, I live in northern Utah and 496 00:31:08,359 --> 00:31:11,720 we are getting ready to have our annual Lebowski Fest 497 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:13,680 coming up soon. 498 00:31:13,759 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 2: I wish we were neighbors. Did you know that I'm 499 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,799 a dudist priest. There's a Church of the Latter Day Dude, 500 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,799 there's an actual religion that came up around the dude, 501 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,039 which is Lebowski, and I went and signed up. So 502 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,319 I'm an ordained dudist priest. So if you ever need 503 00:31:29,359 --> 00:31:33,400 someone to marry someone, there'll be an officiant. That's just 504 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,079 one of the I'm also a monk. I went online 505 00:31:36,079 --> 00:31:38,799 and became a monk, and I'm an officiate with the 506 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,640 Universal Christ Church. So I'm sorry I totally hijacked that. 507 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,519 But when I heard Maud Lebowski, I went crazy. Go ahead, 508 00:31:45,559 --> 00:31:47,799 continue what you were saying. You called in fear of 509 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:48,519 needles A. 510 00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:52,039 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, and I was on your show and we 511 00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:54,720 had a nice little talk and it was just a 512 00:31:54,759 --> 00:31:57,480 thrill to be on your show. But yeah, come on 513 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,359 down for November ninth to north of Salt Lake City. 514 00:32:01,359 --> 00:32:04,039 We're doing our Lebowski Fest. They have a costume contest. 515 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,079 It's a great time. I love going every year. But 516 00:32:07,119 --> 00:32:09,279 the main thing I've been wanting to get a hold 517 00:32:09,319 --> 00:32:12,079 of you and say thank you. So back in the 518 00:32:12,119 --> 00:32:16,559 midst of the pandemic in twenty twenty, I had emergency 519 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:21,000 life saving surgery. My appendix wanted attention and had to 520 00:32:21,039 --> 00:32:24,279 have that done. But I spent a lot of time 521 00:32:24,319 --> 00:32:27,799 recovering in bed, and I listened to several episodes of 522 00:32:27,839 --> 00:32:30,680 your podcast, So I just wanted to say thank you, 523 00:32:30,759 --> 00:32:33,720 thank you for keeping me company while I was recuperating. 524 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 2: Thank you, Well, it means a lot. 525 00:32:35,559 --> 00:32:35,759 Speaker 4: You know. 526 00:32:35,799 --> 00:32:38,799 Speaker 2: There are millions and millions of shows out there, and 527 00:32:38,839 --> 00:32:40,799 I've been around so long I keep waiting for the 528 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,240 day I've become obsolete and everybody replaces me. So the 529 00:32:44,319 --> 00:32:46,240 fact that you are still with me and that it 530 00:32:46,319 --> 00:32:48,839 made a difference in your life and became a companion 531 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,759 that keeps me going as well. And that's a huge 532 00:32:51,799 --> 00:32:54,279 amount of encouragement. So you'd be safe out there and 533 00:32:54,359 --> 00:32:56,680 have a hand the Halloween you as well. 534 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,319 Speaker 4: But also super quick. Yeah, if you want to come 535 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,039 do the vow renewal theeremy for me and my husband 536 00:33:03,039 --> 00:33:05,440 next year. Next year it'll be twenty five years for us, 537 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:09,319 so we could have a dudist wedding officient that would 538 00:33:09,359 --> 00:33:11,039 be amazing for our now renewal. 539 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 2: Well, I'm around, If I'm around, If you guys get serious, 540 00:33:14,559 --> 00:33:17,000 just drop me an email and have your people contact 541 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,640 my people and we'll do the thing. 542 00:33:18,839 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 4: Okay, definitely, thank you so much. 543 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 3: Stuff. 544 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:22,000 Speaker 4: I appreciate this. 545 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:23,839 Speaker 2: It's an honor to talk to you. We'll see you later. 546 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,079 Happy Halloween, you too, We'll see you actually pulled up 547 00:33:27,119 --> 00:33:31,759 the latter day Dude page. I wrote about this in 548 00:33:31,759 --> 00:33:34,759 my book Sacred Cows Too. I wrote about Dudaism and 549 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,880 the Church of the Jedi Order. I think is that 550 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,519 what it's called. It's a Jedi church based on Star Wars. 551 00:33:42,839 --> 00:33:47,759 Let's see Dudaism dot com. While Dudism in its official 552 00:33:47,799 --> 00:33:51,200 form has been organized as a religion only recently, it 553 00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:54,839 has existed down through the ages in one form or another. 554 00:33:55,359 --> 00:33:58,799 Probably the earliest form of Dudism was the original form 555 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,799 of Chinese down before it went all weird with magic 556 00:34:02,839 --> 00:34:07,720 tricks and body fluids. The originator of Daoism, Lao Zoo, 557 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:10,960 basically said smoke them if you got them, and mellow 558 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,199 out man. Although he said this in ancient Chinese, so 559 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,599 something may have been lost in the translation. Down through 560 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:25,280 the ages, this rebel shrug has fortified many successful creeds, Buddhism, Christianity, 561 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:35,639 Wow Sufism, Sufism, John Leninism, and fo Shizzle my Nizzlism. 562 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,719 I don't know what that is. The idea is this 563 00:34:39,119 --> 00:34:42,440 life is short and complicated, and nobody knows what to 564 00:34:42,519 --> 00:34:46,119 do about it, So don't do anything about it. Just 565 00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:49,320 take it easy, Stop worrying so much whether you'll make 566 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:52,360 it into the finals, kickback with some friends and some 567 00:34:52,559 --> 00:34:56,000 oat soda, and whether your role strikes or gutters. Do 568 00:34:56,079 --> 00:34:58,800 your best to be true to yourself and others, that 569 00:34:59,039 --> 00:35:04,239 is to say, abide. Incidentally, the term dude is commonly 570 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:08,559 agreed to refer to all genders. Most linguists contend that 571 00:35:08,679 --> 00:35:12,599 the diminutive dude abt is not in keeping with the 572 00:35:12,679 --> 00:35:15,159 parlance of our times. Now littered in here is a 573 00:35:15,159 --> 00:35:17,679 bunch of language that relates to the movie They're on 574 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:20,679 a bowling team parlance of our times. As a line 575 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:24,159 from the movie all of those I love. People either 576 00:35:24,199 --> 00:35:26,639 love or hate The Big Lebowski. I think not only 577 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,000 is it awesome, it's one of the more quotable films. 578 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:34,000 It's also impossible to describe to anybody who hasn't seen it. 579 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:37,079 Daan at five seven four, are you. 580 00:35:37,039 --> 00:35:39,960 Speaker 3: There, Yes, sir, thanks for taking my call, set. 581 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 2: Thanks for calling. What's on your mind? 582 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,719 Speaker 3: Well number one, I'm also a returning caller. I was 583 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:49,000 on the Our Atheist Leading People to Doom episode and 584 00:35:49,039 --> 00:35:52,480 you asked me if I was dissatisfied with church and 585 00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:57,119 with Christianity, and I'm happy to report I still am okay. 586 00:35:58,679 --> 00:35:59,760 So that's number one. 587 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,119 Speaker 2: Wait a minute, you're distified, meaning that you're are you 588 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:05,800 religious or non. 589 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 3: Or I walked my way out soon well, just before 590 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,719 that that episode, just before that call, and have been 591 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,440 out ever since and doing better than I've ever been 592 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,800 in pretty much every metric of my life. So I'm 593 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:21,519 very grateful for you and people like you that are 594 00:36:21,559 --> 00:36:24,320 creating content to help kind of grease the wheels of 595 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,280 that exit. So number one, thank. 596 00:36:26,159 --> 00:36:28,320 Speaker 2: You, Thank you well, you did all the hard work, man, 597 00:36:28,679 --> 00:36:31,119 and so props to you. What else is on your mind? 598 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 3: Well, so if you were talking about your cat, and 599 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:37,920 I'm working from home today, I'm working in my home office, 600 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,360 I've got my cat by me, it's it's spooky season, 601 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,199 it's Halloween, and the election's coming up, and all those 602 00:36:43,199 --> 00:36:46,039 things are on my mind. Brother, So I figured i'd 603 00:36:46,079 --> 00:36:48,320 give a call in, and I really want to talk 604 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:52,039 about the hysteria that is already surrounding this election and 605 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:57,000 Shirley Tuesday could be a nightmare. So what I'm stuck 606 00:36:57,079 --> 00:37:01,320 on is two of the principles that you definitely espouse 607 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:06,440 would be the humanism aspect and skepticism. So I'm trying 608 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,280 to apply that equally to both candidates, and I guess 609 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,599 it just it bothers me like a lot of the 610 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:17,280 Nazi comparisons to Trump, because while there is similarity, I 611 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,320 don't think it's the same. And if we're going to 612 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,239 be skeptical and we're going to be empathetic, you know, 613 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:27,679 fifty percent roughly of the country is conservative, and so 614 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,440 my question, I guess, is how do we lower the 615 00:37:30,519 --> 00:37:33,679 temperature as opposed to, you know, just try to win, 616 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,119 because that's clearly the game he's playing is just trying 617 00:37:36,119 --> 00:37:40,320 to win. How do we introduce empathy into the political process. 618 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:43,039 I mean that maybe a full errand, but I was 619 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:44,960 curious to see if you had thoughts on that. 620 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,239 Speaker 2: I think, to be clear, who was it who said 621 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,119 even if Trump wasn't a Nazi, the Nazis think he's 622 00:37:53,159 --> 00:37:56,199 a Nazi. There was that recent boat parade and the 623 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:59,639 guy show up and they're waiving Trump and Nazi flags. 624 00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:02,440 I think he is a white supremacist. I think he 625 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:05,079 has a history of white supremacy. I think there is 626 00:38:05,199 --> 00:38:10,000 white supremacy as a cancer within MAGA culture. So I 627 00:38:10,079 --> 00:38:13,639 take that stand, and I'm genuinely concerned this is a 628 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:20,199 largely white and white supremacist movement. However, I also know 629 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:22,679 that we are in a country of three hundred and 630 00:38:22,679 --> 00:38:26,320 sixty plus million people, and there are a lot of 631 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:30,880 folks who are not racists, who are somehow sucked into 632 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:35,840 Trump cult, who either they vote solely on the abortion issue, 633 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:41,119 or they still buy into the outsider business genius narrative, 634 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,760 or there's something else going on and they're disconnected from 635 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:48,480 the problems regarding race, etc. I'm not excusing it. I'm 636 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,239 not saying that they don't have a responsibility to know 637 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:56,000 this stuff. Ignorance is not an excuse. But I agree 638 00:38:56,039 --> 00:38:58,159 with what you're saying. And a speech that I am 639 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,719 releasing in a few weeks talk talks about how we 640 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:05,159 want to put everybody in a box and crush the box. Right. 641 00:39:05,559 --> 00:39:08,719 Everybody who is a Republican is a Nazi is just 642 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:13,159 a nonsensical It's a false statement. It's just wrongheaded. It's reductive, 643 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:17,320 it's binary, and we as rationalists need to be better 644 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,280 than that. And I know Nuance is dead in the 645 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:25,639 Twitter verse, but that's no excuse either Republican equals Nazi 646 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:29,400 simply doesn't fly. Am I saying there aren't Nazis in 647 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:33,039 the Republican Party? Hell no, I'm not saying that whatsoever. 648 00:39:33,679 --> 00:39:35,400 And the only thing I know to do is to 649 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:39,119 try to lead by example and to engage my interlocutors 650 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,639 as human beings first, to try to determine what is 651 00:39:42,679 --> 00:39:46,280 their motivation, who are they, what's their background, how have 652 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,280 they been conditioned? Have they been brainwashed the way I 653 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,280 was brainwashed when I was a Fox News Christian And 654 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,320 leading by example and trying to de escalate with my 655 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:59,159 language at the front end. That's my first line of defense. 656 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,880 And it also me in check because I can be 657 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,239 biased and knee jerky and nasty and all those I 658 00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,239 could be wrong, and I have to be aware of that. 659 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,679 I have to try to force myself into intellectual humility. 660 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,199 How would you approach this complex issue? 661 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:17,639 Speaker 3: Well, I mean a lot of what you said I 662 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,639 agree with. I mean, most of my family is pretty conservative. 663 00:40:22,039 --> 00:40:25,440 I don't know that they would that they're super gung 664 00:40:25,519 --> 00:40:30,159 ho about MAGA, but they're probably voting for Trump on Tuesday. 665 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:37,320 And yeah, I mean, honestly, since my deconstruction deconversion, I 666 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,239 I've not been super open with it, and I don't 667 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,280 really know how those conversations would go, but overall our 668 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:46,360 relationship hasn't suffered. You know, these are people that in 669 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,360 many cases raised me, people I respect, people I love, 670 00:40:50,119 --> 00:40:52,719 And I guess my thing is, you know, Okay, we 671 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:56,320 disagree on politics, so you know, and I don't mean 672 00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:00,000 to be flipping about that. There's certainly there's certainly consequences 673 00:41:00,039 --> 00:41:01,880 to elections, and we need to be careful. 674 00:41:02,039 --> 00:41:04,719 Speaker 2: I don't know if we can say let's just agree 675 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:08,400 to disagree. We can, I think to a point. But 676 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,639 if I am in a room, I'm thinking about my 677 00:41:11,679 --> 00:41:15,199 own family, Dane, I can think of one person on 678 00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:19,639 my immediate family tree who is I mean, I call 679 00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:22,159 a racist. Just there is some. 680 00:41:22,159 --> 00:41:23,960 Speaker 3: Race, there is bigot with it. 681 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:29,119 Speaker 2: I mean, there's bigotry, right, There is bigotry based on ethnicity, 682 00:41:29,159 --> 00:41:32,519 skin color, xenophobic, that kind of thing, right, and very 683 00:41:32,599 --> 00:41:35,719 much a trumpery. And then there's somebody within like one 684 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:39,679 degree of them on the family tree, and they are 685 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:43,599 the most generous hearted person that I know, and they 686 00:41:43,639 --> 00:41:47,280 are voting pretty much completely on the abortion issue because 687 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,760 they believe that a human life begins at conception, and 688 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,920 that abortion is murder and that millions of babies were murdered. 689 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,119 So even if they have to vote against, you know, 690 00:41:58,199 --> 00:42:01,480 for somebody they consider to be a toxic person, we're 691 00:42:01,519 --> 00:42:03,880 talking about life and death and the babies need us, 692 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,280 and that's how they've rationalized it. Well, you don't fit 693 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:11,119 that it's the priority of it. But I do think 694 00:42:11,719 --> 00:42:16,280 agreed to disagree works for a little while, and then 695 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:20,320 it doesn't. If you are generally an awful person and 696 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,000 you are bigoted against the people that I care about, 697 00:42:23,719 --> 00:42:26,400 I'm not sure I want a relationship with that. That 698 00:42:26,519 --> 00:42:28,559 seems a little reductive to me. Am I wrong? 699 00:42:28,679 --> 00:42:28,840 Speaker 8: Dan? 700 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,679 Speaker 3: Well, you know this is a journey, so I really 701 00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:34,800 I can't speak yes or no on that one. 702 00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:37,039 Speaker 2: Well, I don't mean to put you on the spot. 703 00:42:37,119 --> 00:42:41,440 Speaker 3: Principally, No, Principally, I think you're correct. If someone's showing 704 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:43,559 those types of tendencies, yeah, I don't want to be 705 00:42:43,559 --> 00:42:44,599 around that person either. 706 00:42:45,199 --> 00:42:48,360 Speaker 2: It's situational, and I think it's complicated. There is a 707 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,719 point I think of a critical mass where someone is 708 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:54,199 so awful what they think in many ways is who 709 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:58,119 they are. So can we divide that line? Can we 710 00:42:58,199 --> 00:43:01,559 be charitable? Empathetic. See that as victims of bad ideas, 711 00:43:01,679 --> 00:43:05,360 try to wedge our way in. Sure, but I think 712 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,880 it's okay to hit a point where you're like, nah, 713 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:09,639 you know, I don't want anything to do with this, 714 00:43:10,119 --> 00:43:11,679 And a lot of people have gotten there, and I 715 00:43:11,679 --> 00:43:15,039 don't want to deny them the validation that they. 716 00:43:15,079 --> 00:43:17,400 Speaker 3: Oh I hope that's not what you heard me say. No, 717 00:43:17,639 --> 00:43:20,199 that's a decision someone wants to make. I would support them, 718 00:43:20,199 --> 00:43:22,360 but that's just not the decision I've made, and you know, 719 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:24,760 maybe that's coming. So we don't know. No, Yeah, no 720 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:26,719 judgment if you've had to draw a hard. 721 00:43:26,519 --> 00:43:30,559 Speaker 2: Line, Dane, be safe out there and keep spreading kindness 722 00:43:30,559 --> 00:43:32,360 where you can and we'll talk soon. 723 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,199 Speaker 3: Okay, doing my best, Thank you, sir, see you later. 724 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,000 Speaker 2: Already people are like, you know what if you're this, 725 00:43:40,519 --> 00:43:43,519 I want nothing to do with you. You big it you nazee. 726 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:47,920 I don't know. I'm just weary of it. It just 727 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:53,920 wears me out. We want everybody everything, every circumstance. We want, 728 00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:56,440 our responses. We want. We wanted to go into a 729 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:00,079 tiny box and we crushed the box. It just do 730 00:44:00,199 --> 00:44:04,480 some work that way. Oh LOOKI we got more callers 731 00:44:04,519 --> 00:44:13,239 in the queue. We will get to them next. Thank 732 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:15,519 you so much for listening. We're doing kind of a 733 00:44:15,559 --> 00:44:17,639 po Peri show. As we get set to wrap up 734 00:44:17,679 --> 00:44:21,480 the month of October and we go back to the phones, 735 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:27,039 AJ is making a web call. Are you there? 736 00:44:27,119 --> 00:44:29,880 Speaker 9: Aj I said, yes, I'm here. 737 00:44:30,119 --> 00:44:32,559 Speaker 2: Welcome to the show. What do you want to talk about? 738 00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:36,159 Speaker 9: Thank you. I absolutely met you in Houston at the 739 00:44:36,199 --> 00:44:39,119 Houston Oasis. I don't know if you remember me, Jim 740 00:44:39,199 --> 00:44:41,360 were a woman with the cochlear implant. 741 00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:46,559 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, aj came up to my table and my 742 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,480 father was deaf and he had cochlear implant surgery which 743 00:44:50,519 --> 00:44:54,239 opened his ears to the world. It was remarkable and 744 00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,400 when I met AJ, I thought, wow, you know your speech, 745 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,320 your diction is just amazing. For some I do it 746 00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:02,599 had long term hearing loss, and so I was just 747 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,199 we had that moment where we were speaking about it. 748 00:45:05,679 --> 00:45:08,719 But I'm so glad you're here today. What's on your mind? 749 00:45:09,119 --> 00:45:09,400 Speaker 1: Think you? 750 00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:09,679 Speaker 6: Yeah? 751 00:45:09,679 --> 00:45:11,960 Speaker 9: The fact that I'm able to call on your show, yeah, 752 00:45:12,079 --> 00:45:15,119 shows how far technology has come, and I'm am amazed. 753 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:18,000 Speaker 4: Anyways, so I've noticed that. 754 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:22,320 Speaker 9: You really enjoy ghost stories and you know, spooky stuff 755 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:26,039 and I always wondering, did you when you were a believer, 756 00:45:26,639 --> 00:45:29,760 did you believe in ghosts as being the same as 757 00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:30,679 the spirit. 758 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:36,119 Speaker 2: I believed in spirits and spiritual warfare. I saw, you know, 759 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,719 light and darkness. I wasn't crazy about it. There were 760 00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:43,320 some people who everywhere they looked there was a potential 761 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:47,079 demonic force. You know, there's an a literal angel on 762 00:45:47,119 --> 00:45:50,320 their shoulder. I mean, I've met some extreme people like that. 763 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:54,519 I wasn't that, but I worried about the Ouiji board. 764 00:45:55,119 --> 00:45:58,280 Oh god, you heard about some person and they pulled 765 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:00,519 a Wigi board out of the box and for you know, 766 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:05,719 they were their lives were impacted in some way by 767 00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:10,920 spiritual forces. And it was not in a direct way 768 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:13,119 as much as I thought about it in the abstract. 769 00:46:13,199 --> 00:46:18,480 But I did believe that there were spirits, call them ghosts, 770 00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:24,119 call them whatever, some living things influential in the physical 771 00:46:24,199 --> 00:46:27,599 world that somehow lived beyond it. Did you ever believe 772 00:46:27,639 --> 00:46:28,679 in ghosts? 773 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:32,079 Speaker 9: I did? Actually, you know, I was raised as an atheist, 774 00:46:32,159 --> 00:46:35,599 and then when I was putnant with my kid, that's 775 00:46:35,599 --> 00:46:38,760 when I got into religion because he had a hard condition, 776 00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:44,320 so vulnerable young mother to be. So I fell into 777 00:46:44,559 --> 00:46:49,119 Christianity web. But yeah, so I was going to tell 778 00:46:49,159 --> 00:46:52,199 you a little story when my father in law passed away. 779 00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:54,360 It was all that time when you know, started going 780 00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:58,000 to church and getting deep into religion. So unfortunately, my 781 00:46:58,119 --> 00:47:01,119 father in law passed away at that time, and the 782 00:47:01,119 --> 00:47:05,559 same day of his funeral, we were coming into his home. 783 00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:08,000 Speaker 3: And keep in. 784 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,400 Speaker 9: Mind, this was before I had my coclear implant, only 785 00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:13,159 it was the human aid at the time. And so 786 00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:16,480 we were walking into the house and I heard him 787 00:47:16,719 --> 00:47:19,800 speak to me and he said something that he would 788 00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:23,119 often say, you know. It was like something like, hey, 789 00:47:23,159 --> 00:47:25,719 how are you guys doing, or something short like that, 790 00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:30,599 But I heard the clearest day. And for many years 791 00:47:30,639 --> 00:47:34,079 I told this story as my father in love spoke 792 00:47:34,159 --> 00:47:36,599 to me from the great beyond, that sort of thing. 793 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:41,039 But as I became an atheist, then I started to 794 00:47:41,679 --> 00:47:46,000 consider like the implications of my own claims, and I 795 00:47:46,079 --> 00:47:48,519 began to sort of get into a lot of a 796 00:47:48,599 --> 00:47:53,840 neural biology stuff. I love all stuff brain related, and 797 00:47:54,039 --> 00:47:57,079 realized that this was more than likely just a mixture 798 00:47:57,159 --> 00:48:01,119 of grief and maybe a memory that we played in 799 00:48:01,159 --> 00:48:01,599 my mind. 800 00:48:02,519 --> 00:48:07,360 Speaker 2: I love the rationalist brain. You're literally dissecting what might 801 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:11,800 be going on in your mind, whether it's sensory stuff, 802 00:48:12,039 --> 00:48:18,719 memory bias, desire, will, environmental triggers, other things. You did 803 00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:23,000 some science on your own perception of ghosts. That's fascinating. 804 00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:26,159 Speaker 9: Yeah, it's one of the reasons why I've started thinking 805 00:48:26,199 --> 00:48:29,440 more and more about neurology and paying science. And it's 806 00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:32,639 something that I really really enjoyed doing. I was hoping 807 00:48:32,719 --> 00:48:35,039 maybe one day we can do a video today at 808 00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:38,519 about healing loss and all of that story. 809 00:48:39,159 --> 00:48:42,480 Speaker 2: It's something I'm interested in, especially knowing that Dad was 810 00:48:42,559 --> 00:48:45,719 dragged into church after church as a young man. You know, 811 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:48,559 he stopped submitting himself to it, but he was dragged 812 00:48:48,559 --> 00:48:51,599 into all these healing services. Or he'd walk into a 813 00:48:51,679 --> 00:48:54,480 new church and they'd see the hearing aid and they 814 00:48:54,519 --> 00:48:57,039 go come forward, and everybody would lay their hands on 815 00:48:57,119 --> 00:49:00,400 him and pray and call down God's divine restoration power, 816 00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:02,159 and then he would leave as death as he was 817 00:49:02,199 --> 00:49:05,480 in the first place. And then it was science. It 818 00:49:05,559 --> 00:49:10,039 was science that became the miracle in his life. He died, 819 00:49:10,079 --> 00:49:12,519 I think before he ever saw the irony in that. 820 00:49:13,159 --> 00:49:15,440 But I am thankful that he was able to in 821 00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:17,840 that way here the world and I feel the same 822 00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:22,280 about you, and you continue to speak beautifully. And I'm 823 00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:24,239 so glad you called. And I hope you have a 824 00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:26,119 safe and wonderful Halloween. 825 00:49:26,239 --> 00:49:30,599 Speaker 9: Okay, thank you to have fun, see you later. 826 00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:33,639 Speaker 2: I mean, if you were to tell people half a 827 00:49:33,679 --> 00:49:36,000 century ago, yeah, we're going to actually kind of drill 828 00:49:36,039 --> 00:49:37,559 a hole in your skull and we're going to put 829 00:49:37,559 --> 00:49:39,519 wires in here. We're going to attach them to I 830 00:49:39,559 --> 00:49:42,280 forget how it's all attached. Is it to the ear 831 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,440 DRUMA is there another part of the canal that it 832 00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:50,159 attaches to, And we are artificially going to send sound 833 00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:55,119 into an ear that no longer hears sound. When Dad 834 00:49:55,199 --> 00:49:59,159 had his put in, they had an option where all right, well, 835 00:49:59,199 --> 00:50:03,960 would you like a separate wireless microphone that your wife 836 00:50:04,039 --> 00:50:08,000 can clip onto her shirt so if you want to 837 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,679 hear her directly, even if she's across the other side 838 00:50:10,679 --> 00:50:13,760 of the house, she could speak into the mic and 839 00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:17,519 it would go right into your head. And he said, 840 00:50:17,599 --> 00:50:23,719 hell no, I don't blame him. I don't think anybody 841 00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:26,039 wants that. Like you really want to be spoken to 842 00:50:26,119 --> 00:50:28,280 in any room anywhere you are, I don't think nobody 843 00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:30,840 wants that. But it was an option for him, And 844 00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:32,480 I thought, if you'd have told people in the mid 845 00:50:32,559 --> 00:50:36,360 twentieth century that was even possible through science, they'd been like, wow, 846 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:38,559 you know, it would have been like going to the 847 00:50:38,639 --> 00:50:43,639 far far future. It's crazy. Bill on the web, Thanks 848 00:50:43,679 --> 00:50:46,559 for calling, Thanks for waiting. What's on your mind, my friend? 849 00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:49,920 Speaker 10: Oh? The political polls? 850 00:50:50,119 --> 00:50:52,840 Speaker 2: Do you want to talk about polls? Okay, fine? What 851 00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:53,360 do you think? 852 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:57,800 Speaker 10: I think that Trump is in the lead because women 853 00:50:57,880 --> 00:51:02,960 are scared to object to their Their husband says they're 854 00:51:03,039 --> 00:51:06,079 voting for Trump, and the woman says she's voting for 855 00:51:06,159 --> 00:51:10,000 Trump just because her husband does, and she's afraid of 856 00:51:10,079 --> 00:51:14,679 reciprocations that are bad when she votes for says she's 857 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:17,760 voting for Harris. What do you take on that? 858 00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:21,719 Speaker 2: You bring up something interesting. Let me see if I 859 00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,599 can find this tweets. 860 00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:26,599 Speaker 4: There. 861 00:51:26,599 --> 00:51:31,199 Speaker 2: It is Dale Partridge. He is a Christian nationalist. I 862 00:51:31,199 --> 00:51:35,719 think he's a pastor. He runs a ministry and he's popular. 863 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:39,199 He has a lot of followers, and he tweeted October 864 00:51:39,239 --> 00:51:43,480 twenty ninth, nine oh six in the morning quote in 865 00:51:43,519 --> 00:51:47,559 a Christian marriage, a wife should vote according to her 866 00:51:47,719 --> 00:51:51,920 husband's direction. He is the head and they are one 867 00:51:52,559 --> 00:51:59,119 unity extends to politics. This is not controversial. So his 868 00:51:59,199 --> 00:52:03,480 take is, woman submit, follow the man's lead, let him 869 00:52:03,559 --> 00:52:06,559 do the thinking, because apparently he thinks it's the year 870 00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:12,159 eleven CE. And I've heard some other people say that 871 00:52:12,559 --> 00:52:16,960 maybe a lot of wives and female partners they don't 872 00:52:16,960 --> 00:52:19,239 want to go through the shit storm at home, so 873 00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:22,239 they're going to keep their Kamala vote under wraps, keep 874 00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:25,800 it a secret, maybe even lie about it. And I 875 00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:30,159 think the larger message there is that you have women 876 00:52:30,199 --> 00:52:33,440 tramped in relationships where they are not able to be 877 00:52:33,519 --> 00:52:36,840 authentic and might even be unsafe. I think that's even 878 00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:39,400 the larger headline. What are your thoughts? 879 00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:43,360 Speaker 10: I agree? I mean that's straight out of the Bible. 880 00:52:43,480 --> 00:52:48,239 I've been an atheist since nineteen sixty five, but I've 881 00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:52,559 got the skeptic salitated Bible right here on my desk, 882 00:52:52,719 --> 00:52:56,960 and it says the same thing. Straight out of the Bible. 883 00:52:57,079 --> 00:53:01,599 Women are supposed to subside pitter men. And I think 884 00:53:01,639 --> 00:53:03,800 that's a lot of what's happening in the poll. 885 00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:09,239 Speaker 2: Well, maybe there is an underground in hardline funding evangelical 886 00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:13,559 cultures of women who are yearning to see the misogynist 887 00:53:13,639 --> 00:53:17,519 predator defeated. And they will secretly cast a vote and 888 00:53:17,599 --> 00:53:21,599 help to weigh Kamala Harris's victory. That's an interesting take. 889 00:53:21,639 --> 00:53:23,920 I'd be curious to see what the comments are about 890 00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:27,960 that in the comments section. Anything else Bill, you know 891 00:53:28,159 --> 00:53:29,000 that about? 892 00:53:29,119 --> 00:53:29,480 Speaker 10: Do it? 893 00:53:30,039 --> 00:53:30,360 Speaker 2: Well? 894 00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:32,119 Speaker 10: Let me say happy birthday to me. 895 00:53:33,199 --> 00:53:34,400 Speaker 2: Today is your birthday? 896 00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:34,679 Speaker 4: Bill? 897 00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:37,840 Speaker 10: Yes, sir seventy one? 898 00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:42,480 Speaker 2: Well, happy birthday. That's a lot of candles, small forest 899 00:53:42,679 --> 00:53:46,480 fire dude. We get to when I got to forty, 900 00:53:47,079 --> 00:53:50,039 we just stopped buying the individual candles, and you buy 901 00:53:50,039 --> 00:53:53,039 the numbers. You buy a big four and a big zero, 902 00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:56,000 and I think after that everybody has to otherwise it's 903 00:53:56,039 --> 00:54:00,559 a fire marshal special. But I hope your day is special. 904 00:54:00,639 --> 00:54:04,800 I won't sing to you, but I will say happy birthday, Bill. Okay, 905 00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:08,079 all right, thank you, all right, be safe, I'll catch you. 906 00:54:09,079 --> 00:54:12,320 All right, We'll see you. I will call it and 907 00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,639 wrap it up and release this bonus podcast to everyone. 908 00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:19,320 I am so thankful for you. Let us you know, 909 00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:20,719 if I was in the faith that I said, let's 910 00:54:20,719 --> 00:54:25,840 all keep our praying hands together for insanity and decency 911 00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:30,239 and compassion empathy to win the day. But we're not 912 00:54:30,239 --> 00:54:32,440 going to pray. I think we need to We need 913 00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:36,280 to be humanists, which means human effort, human intervention to 914 00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:41,159 find human solutions. You are much appreciated. Be safe, Happy Halloween. 915 00:54:41,199 --> 00:54:41,960 I'll catch you later. 916 00:54:42,239 --> 00:54:45,760 Speaker 1: Follow the Thinking Atheist on Facebook and Twitter for a 917 00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:49,440 complete archive of podcasts and videos, products like mugs and 918 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,159 t shirts featuring the Thinking Atheist logo, links to atheist 919 00:54:53,199 --> 00:54:56,840 pages and resources, and details on upcoming free thought events 920 00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:04,079 and conventions. Log onto our website Thanking Atheist dot com.