WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.679 Imagine a king who decrees that sexual assault of female 2 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.799 prisoners is now allowed. We would all agree that makes 3 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:11.839 him a monster. Now consider the Koran, which allows taking 4 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:16.640 women captives as sex slaves. That's morally abhorrent endorsement of 5 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:17.960 sexual assault. 6 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:18.239 Right. 7 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:21.600 Everyone I speak to agrees on this. But when we 8 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.640 bring up biblical slavery, callers bend over backwards to build 9 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:31.399 a fortress of rationalizations. It was just gentle and dentured servitude, 10 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:36.679 they say, or proclaim that God was just regulating existing culture, 11 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:41.520 anything except the acknowledgment of what they should easily acknowledge 12 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:44.840 with a fictional king, or when discussing the Quran. To 13 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:49.880 be clear, Leviticus explicitly endorses buying slaves from foreign nations 14 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:53.399 as property for the rest of their lives, even allowing 15 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:57.240 the owner to bequeath them to his heirs. Exodus permits 16 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.640 beating them so long as they survive a day or 17 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.759 two before they die. Even Moses himself commands his warriors 18 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.359 to keep young virgin prisoners as sex slaves. It's clear 19 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:11.879 that the Bible contains full throated endorsement of slavery and 20 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:16.400 sexual violence. If you can easily reject these atrocities in 21 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:19.640 a hypothetical king or another religion's text. You owe it 22 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.680 to yourself to hold your own book to the exact 23 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:28.200 same standards. Owning human beings as property isn't moral just 24 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.120 because a book says that the character of God of 25 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:35.159 Abraham signed off on it. Ask yourself, why didn't the 26 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:40.560 all powerful deity write three simple words, thou shall not. 27 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:43.920 If you have any idea, give us a call, because 28 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:49.640 the show starts now. 29 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:53.200 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, everybody. 30 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:56.799 Today is July twenty six, twenty twenty six, and we 31 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.439 want to welcome you all to the Atheist experience. My 32 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:02.400 name is the Cross Examiner, and I'm excited to say 33 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.200 that today we have the Godless Engineer. 34 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.560 How you doing, Hey, I'm doing pretty good, you know, 35 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.879 just you know, chilling out over here, having a good Sunday. 36 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:14.400 I was working on getting a bunch of. 37 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:17.599 Videos ready for the channel, well both of my channels, 38 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:19.879 because I got a Clips channel and then I've got 39 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:22.520 just my normal channel, So been trying to get those ready. 40 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.520 I've actually got like an actual response video that I'm 41 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:27.680 putting out this week, So that's going to be something 42 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:28.960 a bit different than normal. 43 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:32.120 Oh really, what are you responding to, Oh, well. 44 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:36.319 There's this there's been this popular thing going around where 45 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.520 they're they're trying like some some people are trying to 46 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:42.560 drudge up the Roman records for a historical Jesus, and 47 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:45.159 so it's like, you know, I'm trying to put it 48 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.400 into perspective and why they're not actually good records for 49 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:53.199 you know, proving his existence at least from a historical perspective. 50 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:54.560 Right at least casting doubt. 51 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.719 I know that there's an active discussion amongst you and 52 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:01.000 other people about the historicity of Jesus, but the lack 53 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:05.680 of records in a society as fastidious as Rome, who 54 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:08.479 had as many records as they do, does raise some 55 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:12.159 interesting questions as to the veracity of the claims that 56 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:16.240 Jesus even existed. What records are they trying to claim 57 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:17.120 are proof? 58 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:20.599 Well, I mean, you know the ones that they always 59 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.439 go for, like the Tastis and joe Cephis and everything 60 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:23.680 like that. 61 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.960 It's nothing new or nothing new, got it? Okay, Yeah, 62 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:26.719 it's nothing new. 63 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:29.800 They're just acting like, oh, look, you know there's this 64 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:32.919 there's these records, and so it's like every few years 65 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:34.919 people are like, oh wait a second, have they thought 66 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:36.439 about these and it's. 67 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:41.560 Like, oh yes, and what is supposedly the single most 68 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:44.319 important question of their lives and many people's lives and 69 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.319 all the people's lives for the last two thousand years 70 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:47.000 who were Christian? 71 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:49.000 Have they thought about these records? 72 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:50.360 Yeah? 73 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:51.560 Yeah, I think they might have. 74 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:57.599 Oh man, So how active is that debate right now? 75 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.120 Would you say of people sort of in academic serviles 76 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:05.240 or otherwise, of people sort of requestioning like, wait a second, 77 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:08.080 We've all just sort of assumed that the Jesus character 78 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:11.919 was real that points to a literal, single human named 79 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.719 Jesus who did these things. And maybe it's an amalgamation 80 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:20.160 like a Robin Hood legend or a George Washington saying 81 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:22.399 I could I cannot tell a lie type of stories 82 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:26.920 evolving around the character. Is that still up for debate? 83 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.279 Are academics still sort of writing about this? 84 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.079 Well, yeah, in different respects. 85 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.399 I mean there's nobody that's out there, like I guess 86 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:42.959 directly making like a journal article necessarily journal article necessarily 87 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:48.120 that specifically like Jesus didn't exist. It's more like it's 88 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.680 more like there are several different people that are out 89 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.199 there writing articles which I'm actually going to be one 90 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.600 of those people that's writing an article not pushing mythicism necessarily, 91 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:04.160 but just from a different perspective analyzing biblical texts like 92 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:07.079 the original texts and everything like that, which I can 93 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:10.399 talk about later if necessary, if anybody wants me to, 94 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.360 but ententially, like I know, we there's some people out 95 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.560 there that have put that that actually have dronal articles 96 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:19.959 that are going to be coming out soon about like 97 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.439 whether or not pre Christian Jews expected at dying and 98 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:29.199 rising Messiah and then break think yeah. And then there's 99 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.959 a doctor Aaron Adair who is doing analysis on the 100 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:38.000 Josephus question specifically where he's actually been able to use 101 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:42.000 a style of metric method to prove that the testimony 102 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.480 of is more Eusebian in nature than josephin and so 103 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:49.600 he's got a paper that he's putting out soon about that. 104 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.800 So you know, it's a it's different parts of it, 105 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.120 and none of them directly say Jesus didn't exist, but 106 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:59.240 it's more like bits and pieces of the minimal mythsist 107 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:04.560 hypothesis that's actually making it through peer review and the 108 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:09.519 main minimum that system. You know, literature has actually already 109 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:12.120 been put through peer reviews. So it's not like we 110 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:16.720 need to do that again necessarily, but you know, it 111 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.519 always helps to have other people looking at various parts 112 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:21.160 of any hypothesis. 113 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:21.639 Yeah. 114 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:26.519 Absolutely, that's a thing that distinguishes academic research from others. 115 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:28.399 And on both sides, right, you'll have a lot of 116 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:31.680 Christian theists who are trying to publish papers, and the 117 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.120 good ones all welcome that sort of scrutiny that you 118 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:37.000 want somebody to come in and attack your ideas, and 119 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:41.360 I think it speaks volumes that we may never have. 120 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:42.680 You know, hey, here. 121 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.680 Is proof that Jesus never existed, but it speaks volumes 122 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.480 to say that. Like, the question can be asked and 123 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.040 the proper answer at this point is we don't know. 124 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:57.160 Like the needle has moved from everybody presuming that this 125 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.959 was a real character to I don't know. And that's 126 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.639 a huge step for a lot of people to have 127 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.279 sort of said I'm not sure. The typical argument I 128 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.240 hear or a typical response I hear is I don't know. 129 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.560 But it's kind of irrelevant because what we really want 130 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.720 to talk about is did he perform miracles and all 131 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.519 of those sorts of things. But I think the question 132 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.480 of whether or not he existed. If you could get 133 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:25.160 to the bottom of that, that would be fascinating. If 134 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:28.680 you discovered a treasure trove of documents that all sort 135 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.639 of had bits and pieces of the story being punched 136 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:34.759 up over the decades into a single story like you 137 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.160 had with King Arthur or Robin dood and stuff, that 138 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:42.120 would be amazing, amazing evidence. And the fact that we 139 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.560 don't have it is means we have to just say 140 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:45.000 we don't know. 141 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:50.439 Yeah, I think that you know, it definitely speaks volumes 142 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:55.240 to the veracity of the claims that Jesus existed, that 143 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:58.959 we just simply don't have. Like the kind of evidence 144 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.560 that we have for other history figures, like even mundane 145 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.120 historical figures, we don't have the We don't have the 146 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.480 same thing for Jesus. And I think that considering how 147 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.720 important he was to the first century and to a 148 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.399 lot of people in the first century, you would think 149 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:16.399 that there would be some but there's just not. 150 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:21.480 Yeah, fascinating. Well, I'd like to get to callers real quickly. 151 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:23.560 We do have some callers in the cube, but our 152 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.120 other lines are open, so feel free to call in now. 153 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:28.839 At all of the information you see below here. We've 154 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.720 got phone numbers, we've got our U r L and 155 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:36.480 we also have online visitors who are visiting via TikTok 156 00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:39.120 and things like that. So let me read in some 157 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.159 announcements and then we'll get to our callers. So we 158 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.159 have the first announcement, of course, is always about who 159 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.039 we are and what we do. We are the Atheist 160 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.159 Experience and we are a product of the Atheist Community 161 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.679 of Austin, a five oh one c three nonprofit organization 162 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:58.879 dedicated to the promotion of atheism, critical thinking, secular humanism, 163 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.879 and the separation of religion and government. This means that 164 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:04.879 you can give us tax free donations as many as 165 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.799 you want in fact, and know that not only is 166 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:09.919 it going to a good cause, but it also helps 167 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.000 you too. We are try streaming tonight, so a big 168 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.960 shout out to our viewers on TikTok and YouTube mobile. 169 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.039 If you are watching us on TikTok tonight and you'd 170 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.120 like to talk to us, just request to join and 171 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.879 we'll bring you up on stage. Please be sure, however, 172 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.000 that you're over eighteen years of age before doing so. 173 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:34.320 Now we do have somebody in the call. Dan is 174 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.559 the caller. I think we're waiting for him to get 175 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:41.840 cleared by our screeners, so looking forward to hearing from Dan. 176 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.840 I'll do another quick announcement while we're waiting for that, 177 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.159 because Dan's the first call I do want to take. 178 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:51.200 I will cut straight to the chase regarding the big announcement, 179 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.039 which is, as always, the Back Cruise. We're excited to 180 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.200 announce the launch of our twenty twenty six Back Cruise 181 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:02.399 August fifteenth, market on your calend at seven pm. Tickets 182 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:04.879 are now on sale and they're going fast. Half of 183 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.320 our available tickets have already been sold. They're going to 184 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.720 be exciting events all weekend, including a special guest lecture 185 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:16.600 on Friday, a community outing and activity during the day 186 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.320 on Saturday, followed by our annual members town hall, and 187 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.559 your favorite ACA shows filmed live from the Free Throat 188 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:30.679 Library on Sunday. Confirmed features guests include genetically Modified Skeptic, 189 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.600 the Antibot Thinker, Godless Engineer, You're going to be there, 190 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.679 j Mike Objectively, Dan Secularity, and Kelly Laughlin, who happens 191 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.440 to be our backup host tonight. 192 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:42.679 He's listening in, Hi, Kelly. 193 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:45.960 Look for more announcements in the coming weeks about other 194 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:49.679 hosts that will be attending. Tickets are available at ACA 195 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:54.519 Dot Show Slash Back Crewise. So Godless, you're going to 196 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:55.559 be at the Back Cruise this year. 197 00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:01.879 Yes, I am, and they asked me to come out, 198 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:05.559 and you know, I was trying to figure out how 199 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.960 it could work it in, you know, with my schedule 200 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.919 and everything, and luckily I was able to work that out. 201 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.200 So yeah, both Casey and I are going to be 202 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.919 coming out there, and it's going to be a great time. 203 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:18.279 I can't wait to see everybody. 204 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:19.759 Awesome. Have you been before? 205 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:21.720 No, this will be the first time. 206 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.759 Ah nice. I have been once and it was super 207 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:27.799 duper fun. Like the bat Just just witnessing the bats 208 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.639 is an amazing thing. But even more fun is getting 209 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.919 to see the library, talking to everybody sitting on those 210 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:35.919 fun shows where they have a lot of people hosting. 211 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.120 I'll be watching remotely this year, won't be attending, but 212 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.120 I wish you well and I hope you have fun there. 213 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.120 All right, we've switched to another caller here. 214 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:46.159 We've got Julie. 215 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:48.919 My name is Julie, she says, and I'm calling about 216 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.480 the current topic, slavery and the Bible at the Bible 217 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:57.120 said it was okay, Julie, are you on the line 218 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.399 with us, Yes, Julie, what would you like to talk about? 219 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.440 H Well, I wanted to relate a conversation that I 220 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.360 had with a friend. 221 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.600 And here it is. 222 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.360 I'll just read a little bit of it to you. 223 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.039 It's a text. It says, dear John, I've been learning 224 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.320 a lot about the Bible lately, and it condones stoning 225 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:25.480 your child for talking back, selling your daughter to her rapists, 226 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:28.679 and beating your slaves until they are. 227 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:29.600 Close to death. 228 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:35.679 So what he said back was, thanks, Julie, I will 229 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:41.399 be sure to address these accusations and some future infographics. 230 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:46.200 Can you give you the arguments that suggests these conclusions. 231 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.440 It will be good to show both sides of the arguments. 232 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.840 So I wrote back, and I said, these are not 233 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:58.440 accusations or arguments. These are just relating to you what's 234 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:04.080 in the Bible. And so anyways, I thought it's pretty 235 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:05.039 funny and everything. 236 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:08.799 And you know, is this a person you're in a 237 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:11.840 friendly relationship with or just some stranger on the internet, 238 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:13.080 or how did this collect it? 239 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:13.279 Good? 240 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.039 No, this is somebody actually that we went to church 241 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.720 together when we were like in high school in early 242 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.960 college days, and you know, now we're in our sixties, 243 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:29.960 and you know, I left Christianity when I was probably 244 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.519 twenty years old, and I think it did a lot 245 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:36.559 of damage to me. So like, so, anyway, is this 246 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:38.720 guy he's still really really into it? 247 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:40.279 Gotcha? John? 248 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.600 What are your thoughts to are those accusations or do 249 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.600 those seem like kind of quotes from the Bible? 250 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:46.080 No? 251 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.600 No, yeah, those are direct quotes from the Bible. I mean, yeah, 252 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:54.600 definitely not accusations in that respect, simply due to the 253 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.600 fact that you know, you just got to be literate 254 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.679 and have a Bible and know which versus reach uh, 255 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:03.720 because I mean everything that you said are I mean, 256 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:07.320 there's summaries of the verses, they're not direct quotes. But 257 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.840 I mean, if you could, you know, providing him with 258 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:10.720 the direct quotes. 259 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:11.200 Uh. 260 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.200 I've been in conversations with people where they're like, what 261 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:16.600 what what version are you reading? Are you reading the 262 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.320 kJ V version? And I'm like, is that going to 263 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.279 make it better? Like if I read it in Old English? 264 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.200 Is that gonna make like the pronouncement to sell your 265 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:27.639 daughter into sexual slavery? 266 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:27.960 Like? 267 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:29.799 Is that is that going to make it any better. 268 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.399 And and you know they're you know, they're adamant about it, 269 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:35.519 you know, being out of context because of the version 270 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.879 you're reading, or you know, they want to frame it 271 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:43.159 as being indentured servitude only, and that's just a misreading 272 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:45.360 of the text. I mean, it's very obvious when it 273 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.919 says you may purchase slaves from the nations around you, 274 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.720 they may be your property for life. Like how else 275 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:55.320 are you supposed to read that? Like you're just like 276 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:57.519 all you got to do is be literate and just 277 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:00.960 know the words that are on the page exactly right. 278 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:03.759 And then you know, like I also just went online 279 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:08.039 and like put those sentences into you know, AI and 280 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:10.720 looked them up, and they came up with the Bible. 281 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:13.279 Versus that they matched up with. So you know, it's 282 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:13.879 really easy. 283 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.360 So even even less literacy required that he could literally 284 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.440 if he wanted to google it himself and read the 285 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:22.399 words on the page. 286 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:23.960 So let me ask you something. 287 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:27.360 When you were younger and in the Christian faith, did 288 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.799 you do Bible study classes or Bible study organizations with 289 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:31.320 your church? 290 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.000 Yes, all the time, although I tried to ditch alze 291 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:36.919 those about hiking. 292 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.240 Or something, so did they What did they start with? 293 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.120 This has been a kick that I've been on for 294 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.720 a while. Like when I go to study a book, 295 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:46.919 like if I go to a book club, or we're 296 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.080 going to go to study a writer on a technical 297 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.039 issue or even a legal issue, that's my background. 298 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:54.559 You you read a. 299 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:56.919 Little bit about who is this and why should I 300 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:57.519 listen to them? 301 00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:57.759 Right? 302 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:00.440 That's kind of standard practice if you're. 303 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.960 You really want to learn about a book, Like if 304 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 I'm going to study Lord of the Rings, I need 305 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:09.159 to study JR. O Token the time he was alive, 306 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.480 what his philosophy was, like, what was he trying to achieve? 307 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:13.519 What other works did he do? 308 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:16.759 But when people when I've been approached to do Bible 309 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:20.399 study in my life, the first thing they talk about 310 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:24.360 is things like Matthew, Mark Luke and John Jesus Loves You, 311 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:28.080 all of the fun stuff. They don't start with either 312 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.519 the Old Testament, the Bible, indoors of slavery, or the 313 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.000 earth is you know, the talking snake and all of 314 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.039 that sort of stuff. They start with the fuzzy stuff. 315 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.120 Then they get to the slightly like guilt creation stuff, 316 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.960 But they never seem to talk about the Bible endorses slavery. 317 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.559 The Bible contains stories where God is telling people through 318 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:53.840 his prophets and spokespeople to murder children and things like that. 319 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.919 Did you ever get told any of that stuff in 320 00:16:56.919 --> 00:16:57.639 your Bible study? 321 00:16:57.720 --> 00:16:58.399 Pluss at all? 322 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.679 No, none of that. I mean, it was really like a. 323 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:06.240 Focus on the Gospels and the Jesus loves you stuff 324 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.680 and well, and speaking of the Jesus loves you stuff, 325 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:13.000 like on the highway where I lived, somebody put up 326 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:17.720 like four signs that said Jesus loves you and they 327 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:19.279 were on like a busy. 328 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:23.640 Traffic circle. And you know, like. 329 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:27.960 In California, you're you're not allowed to put signs up 330 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.799 on any California state highway. So it's a long story, 331 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:36.119 but I followed all the rules and the laws and 332 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:39.640 I took the signs down. They would have been taken 333 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:44.440 down eventually by by cal Trans, but I took them 334 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.079 down and there was a an address on there, so 335 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.559 I emailed that address and I just told them the 336 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.960 rules and stuff, and I told him, you know, like 337 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.720 you're you know, cal Trans could find you and basically 338 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:01.279 they take your sign down and then they're going to 339 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:03.359 find you if you want your signs you can come 340 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:05.880 get them. So I just said, well, I have your 341 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.759 signs if you want them. But I took them down 342 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:12.279 because the neighbors were all like bugged about them, and 343 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:17.720 you know, they're distracting and they're illegal, and so like 344 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:21.559 about a year later, a person who i'll call my 345 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:25.440 ex friend now, but they they said, you know, I 346 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:29.559 was really offended. You took those signs down and you 347 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:33.559 threw them away, which I didn't do. You actually recycled 348 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:38.279 them when the person never answered my email. But so 349 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.400 this person got when I explained, you know, what I did, 350 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:45.680 and then it was all legal and everything and I 351 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:49.799 did it for my community. And so they they're just 352 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.160 like really pissed off and they won't talk to me anymore. 353 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.839 And I'm like, wow, this person was like a friend 354 00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:00.759 for like fifty years, you know what I mean, how could. 355 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.200 They That's just so that's stunning. 356 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:06.839 Like I've taken a lot of calls of you know, 357 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.359 family members kicking their kids out of the house when 358 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.519 they come out as gay or atheistic or things like that. Yeah, 359 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.559 I've heard of a lot of strife between friends when 360 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:21.000 people are actively sort of like protesting against religion or 361 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.359 things like that. But all you did was, you know, 362 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.000 take down some signs that weren't supposed to be there. 363 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:29.039 And in California has a lot of laws that let 364 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.880 citizens do certain things, Like in California, you can go 365 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:35.079 and if you see that a building is not eighty 366 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:38.119 A compliant, you can file a report and it incentivizes 367 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.240 you to do that, and California's working with that method. 368 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.079 So there are probably laws like you said that are like, hey, 369 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.000 you see something on the side of the highway and 370 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.640 you want to take it down, you can do that 371 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:47.599 if X, Y and. 372 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:48.240 Z or true. 373 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:50.559 So have you ever heard of that that john this 374 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.119 level of I assume you just told a friend. Oh, 375 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:56.079 by the way, this happened that. Can you believe somebody 376 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.680 had all these signs up illegally? I went and took 377 00:19:57.720 --> 00:19:59.559 them down, and then they broke off a fifty year 378 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.240 relationship because you took the sign down, not their signs. 379 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.119 You just told a friend about some third party. 380 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:05.519 Right right. 381 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:07.400 I just brought up And they didn't even bring it 382 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:10.240 up until like a year later when we had some 383 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:13.079 kind of disagreement over something, and then they brought it up, 384 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:16.519 you know, So I thought, hmmm, So they've been harboring 385 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.799 this thing against me, like all this time. They never 386 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:23.160 said anything about it, and you know, I mean I 387 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.480 assume too that they were just ignorant and didn't know 388 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:30.200 the rules and the laws. And by the way, there's 389 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.960 a group, an atheist group, I think they're called the 390 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:37.160 Atheist Pirates or something in Los Angeles, and they go 391 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.799 out and they document all the illegal signs and they 392 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:43.839 take certain ones down, and you know, so, I mean, 393 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:47.440 I would join them if I were closer to them, 394 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:47.960 but I'm not. 395 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:48.799 John. 396 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:50.519 Did you ever have anything in your life like that 397 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.960 where somebody broke off a relationship with you because of 398 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.160 your beliefs and it was sort of like the mildest 399 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:55.759 of things. 400 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.799 No, I mean, I had family members when I first 401 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:05.039