Speaker 1: The Thinking Atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol,
an idea.
Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through the.
Speaker 1: Rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I
tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not.
Speaker 3: Because I put my hand on a book and made
a wish.
Speaker 1: And working together for a more rational world.
Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. Truth,
Fusian wisdom will come to you that way.
Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the
Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews.
Speaker 2: I bought my cat a Christmas present, and it was
really a gift of necessity. My cat has developed a
pronounced limp front left paw and just limping all around
the house. Been going on for a few months. I
think I talked about this back in October, but the
VAT said the X rays revealed bone spurs. Your cat
is fourteen. It's normal for cats to develop arthritis. So
he's hobbling around and he breaks my heart hobbling from
place to place. And perhaps most tragically, he loves to
be on the master bed with me. When I'm sitting
up there, we're watching TV. Or I'm taking a nap
or whatever. He likes to come and lays either on
my chest or right here and kind of cradled under
my right arm, and he purs and he's such as
weakity boy. And then when he's done, he jumps down
off the bed and my heart breaks because you can
hear his legs plump hitting the floor, and I'm sure
that's got to hurt or it's doing more damage. And
so I thought, well, what if we did little cat
stairs or a ramp or something just for the bed
and it, you know, it might be kind of unsightly,
but it's functional and the cat needs it, especially if
he might be in pain. So I googled cat ramp
and there's a whole market for this stuff. I spent
hours on my phone scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Do
I want a ramp the kind of thing you would
drive a small motorcycle up in actual flat ramp? Or
do I want stairs? And then what material? You want?
A cloth of some kind or do you want a
carpet or a rubber? But the cat's got claws, it
shouldn't be a problem. I don't know. I'm just scrolled
and scrolled what color. Do we want to match it
to the rest of the bedroom? Is it now an accessory?
And we finally found cat stairs, so he has a
Christmas gift that is on the way. It hasn't arrived yet,
and then we got to figure out whether or not
he will use it. I think you will. Most of
the website says that if can't see something to climb on,
they will do so. But what about the dogs, Because
we've got the tiny dogs, and it's possible maybe they
would learn how to go up the stairs. They love
to be on the master bed. I think they feel
good and comfortable and safe up there. But they can't
sit on the master bed when we are gone because
we don't want them jumping all the way down to
the floor. If they had stairs, maybe they could just
help themselves. Hey, I feel like sitting on the master bed,
comforter or whatever. Let's go up the stairs and when
they're done down the stairs. How do you get a
dog to do that? You're gonna have to show them how.
I doubt they'll just pick it up my dogs anyway.
So I googled it and there are a ton of
websites teaching people how to train your dogs. To use stairs.
Most of the recommendations are you want to put a
bunch of pillows around the stairs because I don't know
your dog's drunk or something. You know what, Well, they
put pillows all around the stairs, and then you have
your dog at the bottom, and you put a treat
on the first wrong or step, and then you point
it out and say would you like a snack or
a treat or whatever your word is, And the dog
puts a paw up and maybe sneaks up and grabs one,
and you're like, go, buppy, what just wait? Boy? You
did so good. And then you put the treat on
the next step, and then the next and maybe sit
at the top and they go up and down. They
are learning to safely navigate their doggie stairs. Anyway, at
some point there will be a box on the front
porch and I'm sure assembly instructions and we are going
to have pet steps. Then I'll take photographs and put
them on social media, and I'm going to take video.
If I can get cat to use it up and down,
being able to just go easy, it's going to make
it's going to be a gift to my heart. So
I'm not aggrieved every time he comes up to get
some snuglies, you know, a practical gift for the holidays.
Out of curiosity, I did some checking on other gifts
for pets, and again there is a massive marketplace for
animals for the holidays, everything from big bags at treats
to customized callers, special toys. There are subscription services to
companies called like bark Box, and then every month you
get a box of just random stuff, special blankets and
cozy dog beds and clothing. Oh man, the clothing market
for dogs, and Linus and Gracie have them. They're so cute.
You button up these down coats when it gets really cold,
You're just button it on and they look like little
fuzzy people walking down the street. He's so fashionable. You're
such a fashionable you such a handsome boy. And they
totally know how to get dressed. They come over and
they notice stick their arms out and go in the leaves.
I don't know, I'm just babbling. I think I might
derive more pleasure out of giving gifts to my dogs
than I do to most people. Shopping for people is hard.
I think, what do you want for Christmas? I don't know.
People ask me. I don't care. I mean, I don't care.
You know, if I needed it, I probably already got it.
You know, Natalie, what do you want? What do you
want for Christmas? Honey? I am good, And apparently that's
the wrong answer. You know, I'm good. I don't need anything.
You know, I'm going to save your money. Maybe let's
go do something together. No, I want to put something
under the tree for you. I don't know what I need.
Maybe I should take a queue from the dogs, give
me a bag of treats, you know, and then let
me eat snacks and then tell me I've been a
good boy. It's jeep and it's delicious. I would do
that for Christmas. Let's see, we have calls on the switchboard.
There are no rules, there is no real topic. If
you want to talk about how the godless celebrate the holidays,
that sounds fun, we can do that. Some people skip
it all together. Some people go all pagan, which is awesome.
But we can talk about whatever. I'm going to speak
to Dean at three six zero. What do you want
to talk about?
Speaker 4: So I'm a transman in the United States, and I
have some worries about what the future sure for myself
and my community is going to look like I know
what the position of the Republicans and Donald Trump is,
and I'm wondering how long it's going to take until
those positions become turned into law or worse, you know
that they might make new ones to flow us in
jail for just simply existing.
Speaker 2: Those are my concerns, and I think it's even harder
that we can't tell the future. And I worry that
the damage done and even a short amount of time,
is going to take long decades to undo. If ever.
Absolutely a challenge that we have is how successful the
right wing disinformation campaigns have been. The trans community is
a stellar example. Right They needed a villain, so they
concocted a bunch of stories about how the predators are
waiting in the red rooms for your children, and your
kids go to school and come back a different gender,
and it's all part of woke culture. And they got
people to freaking panic over a threat that doesn't exist.
And sadly, the trans community has probably is probably the
most marginalized in a strong field, the most marginalized and
vilified demographic in this country. Right now, my heart goes
out to Udine.
Speaker 4: Thank you, all right. Now, I'm in a very good place,
and transition happened to be part of it. And I
hate to think that the majority of the people in
the United States, or even just in the government in general,
would be so hateful as to take my happiness and
ruin it.
Speaker 2: I find it ironic that the people who are talking
about how they don't want government to meddle in their
lives now are using government to meddle in people's lives.
It's just the ultimate hypocrisy. All I know is that
we're in it together. We'll see what happens, do our
best to react to it in a constructive way, and
try to humanize these issues when so many others are
trying to dehumanize. But big hug from me and my
family to you, Dean.
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you, And that is adorable that you got
your cat and potentially your dogs to a rant for
your bed. And I'm sorry that you had such a
bad experience with the edibles. It's not everybody has a
good one.
Speaker 2: Well, thanks, thank you so much. Thanks for your in
my time of need. Your encouragement brings me great comfort. Dean,
be good, have a good holiday.
Speaker 5: Okay, I shall all right.
Speaker 2: See you later. Of course, the context on that is
that I was having trouble sleeping friend gave me a
gummy and it resulted in one of the worst nights
of my life. And then I said this on a
previous show, that I, in desperation, took some Nike will
and I slept really hard. But I dreamed that night
I was playing tennis with Steven Spielberg. My dreams have
been bizarre lately. Last night, no kidding, Last night, I
had a dream that I was near the ocean in
this sort of rocky cove, and there were penguins all
around me, and it was time for the penguins to
step off of land, or waddle off of land and
jump into the water and swim off somewhere. And I
don't know where. They were just supposed to go. It
was like a seasonal thing. It's migration time for these penguins,
and I was supposed to join them. I don't know
if I was a guide or just following. Was I curious,
But in order for me, in order for me to
be able to go on the penguin quest, I had
to be painted. I had to be painted like a penguin,
black and white, I did the sort of penguin tuxedo paint.
I think I had swim trunks on and they had
to paint me, and so they I didn't actually make
it to the ocean before I woke up, but they
were taking these big like house paint brushes with black
and white, and they were painting me to resemble a penguin.
And then the idea was I was going to apparently
waddle in toward the shore, jump into the water, and
I was going to go off with all of my
little penguin buddies. You know, just bizarre. And I know
some people who believe that dreams have some sort of
deep seated meaning. And I think dreams can reflect in
some ways how you're feeling, what's going on in your mind.
They can echo experiences of the day. But I don't
think dreams mean quote unquote mean things. You know, you
take interpretations like you've been visited by the aura. You
ever met anybody and they see they interpret these wacky
dreams and say, m hmmm, what the universe is trying
to tell me is this. We used to have a
guy who did an evening broadcast on ninety six point
five FM. They called him the dream doctor, and so
they play a song or two, and then the guy
would come on. He would take a call and the
caller would talk about a dream they'd had. And then
this dream doctor, who I would love to see his qualifications,
like where'd you get your degree? What's on your diploma?
How does one become a dream doctor? But anyway, he
would tell the caller what deep meaning that dream had,
And I am sorry, I had a dream I was
swimming in an Olympic sized pool that was filled with
cottage cheese while I was wearing a two two? What
does that mean? Dream doctor? I just don't buy it.
I think the brain is a blender. It just spits
things out. It might be able to tell you something
about your mindset, but it's not giving you meaning. I
was flying over the Grand Canyon. By the way, I
was Richard Nixon. Can you tell me what that dream means?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 2: No, no, Now, I think the brain is just weird.
It's interesting, it's fascinating, it's, for lack of a better word,
miraculous and its complexity, but it does not tell us
who we are, or how to live or what to
expect in this world through dreams. And if it did.
Holy snikes, I was drinking coffee in my dream and
I looked down and swimming in the coffee was a
tiny little Gramlin and he only communicated through Morse code
by tapping on the ceramic. What does that mean? If
there is deeper meaning in that, I should probably be
seeking some kind of help. I'm just saying I've got
Rosemary on a web call. Are you there hello? I
can indeed what's on your mind? Rosemary?
Speaker 7: Gezi that there will be write next year because of
the policies, you know, trup's policies.
Speaker 2: Do I think there will be riots next year?
Speaker 8: Uh?
Speaker 5: Huh?
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Everybody's asking me to predict the future. All I can
say is I'm nervous. I don't know what's going to happen.
I don't know what crazy shit's going to come out
of the White House. I don't know which demographic they're
going to come after next and what the response will be.
I don't know what the final cabinet is going to
look like. You know, oh, look there's so and so
and they're bad shit crazy, or they're a pseudoscience crank,
or they're loaded up with sexual abuse allegations. I don't
know what's going to happen, and so I fear that
there's going to be corruption, grift, there's going to be
the normalization of cruelty, and that may include violence. But
I couldn't say. All I know is that, you know,
my wife's got a T shirt that says love wins,
and I sure we'd like love to win. But I'm
kind of nervous.
Speaker 7: I embarros you that all your politicians now are just
full of my sexual abuses and felons and right shit
stain on your underpence of politics.
Speaker 2: Yeah, horrifying. Donald Trump, first of all, is stacking the
deck with billionaires, and secondly, I think he just wants
to burn it all down. He wants to weaponize it
against his enemies, and then he just wants to burn it.
He didn't give a shit. So whatever helps him have
and cloister and consolidate power, he's going to do. But
I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen.
I'm going to buckle up. I'm going to try to
reset my brain. A lot of people have checked out.
I'm just so tired, and I understand it. But thanks
for checking in on us, Rosemary You're much appreciated.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Bye.
Speaker 2: Bye, I see you later. It's a lot, isn't it.
I don't think we're made to process all of this.
I get overwhelmed, and so I check out and do
other things, and then I feel guilty because I need
to be engaged in the world, and I log on
and I'm filled with despair and dread, and so I
check out and distract myself again, and it's a vicious cycle.
I saw a Psychology Today article that was published a
few years ago, Five Ways to deal with Despair that
Won't Go Away. It's kind of a poorly headlined article,
five ways to deal with Despair that Won't go Away
as a poor phrasing. Five ways to deal with unrelenting
despair perhaps would be a better way to phrase it.
But I was curious because I feel despair. Maybe you
do as well. This article was written by a psychologist
named Sean Grover. Sean said number one, take your despair
for a walk. Once a day. Try your best to
get out of the house for some fresh air. A
brisk walk raises your metabolism, boosts indorphins, and will give
you much needed headspace, shaking off tension and gaining some
vitamin D can also offer some relief. That's going to
be tough in the month of December and into January
in specific parts of the country. Oh it's minus nine degrees.
Let's get out for fresh airs. Maybe a bit utopian,
but usable when the warmer weather returns. Number two, Give
your sorrow words. When I can't find the words for sadness,
I always turn to poets and writers who are masters
at capturing elusive feelings. Finding the words for your despairs
comfort and solace, As Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth, give sorrow words.
The grief that does not speak knits up the or
wrought heart and bids it break. Number three, honor your despair.
Please don't deny it, don't push it away. When you
acknowledge your despair, you take away some of its power
over you. Oh yeah, I acknowledge you despair. I see
you despair. The article finishes that paragraph with, for example,
a friend who was struggling said to me, today is
a dark day. I think I need to be alone.
I understood what he meant and was glad he shared
his true feelings rather than perform feeling better. When he
honored his despair, I could too. Number four, seek out fellowship.
Now this is a loaded word, but we'll call it community,
all right. In the church we call it fellowship, But
all right, I'll go there. Community human connection. Isolation fuels despair.
Seek out the company of people who share your experience. Now,
for the record, in my case, that is going to
be you. It's going to be Natalie, and it's going
to be you. So, whether you like it or not,
you are my despair buddy. Okay. Number five, Avoid toxic positivity.
A patient in her weekly session shared with me that
a friend cheerfully told her don't worry, everything will work
itself out. These may seem like comforting words, they had
the opposite effect. I know he meant well, she said,
but I felt the strong urge to punch him in
the face. Her chronic illness was not going to work
itself out. Such phrases like everything happens for a reason
are insensitive to those who are truly suffering. Life's most
devast problems may be helped by a positive attitude, but
can't be solved by one. Toxic positivity from others feels
insulting when you're faced with insurmountable grief. I think that
lines up with people, and we've all felt this when
you're going through the blues, you've got maybe seasonal or
some other kind of depression, or you're going through something
kind of rough, and people say, you know, there's so
much good in your life. What do you have to
be sad about? Cheer up, little camper, Buck up, because
the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day, and
you have so much to be thankful for. And I
feel what this woman felt. I just want to punch
him in the face. Oh you're interested in tools and
tactics to help me feel better. Let me slap you.
And I normally don't resort to violence. It's just a fantasy,
but I know you felt it. Oh, it's such a
beautiful life. I know you've fantasized about it. I know it.
More calls and commentaries on the end of twenty twenty
four and the impending new year. We continue next. If
you want to give a Christmas gift to your humble host,
please consider becoming a patron. It's just a huge thing.
It helps me to do this full time. It matters.
You get the show two days early in commercial free,
if you get a special rss feed. Some people decide
they don't even need that, they just want to support
via Patreon, but for twenty twenty five, it would be
most welcome if you would sign up at patreon dot com.
Slash Seth Andrews Katie at age six ' three, Thanks
for waiting on me. Are you there? I am talk
to me. What do you want to chat about today?
Speaker 3: So over Thanksgiving, when I went home to visit my
primarily conservative family members, I kept a list of some
of the crazy shit that I heard them say, and
I wondered if I could read the highlights off to
you just to hear your response to it, because I'm curious.
Speaker 2: I am a quiver with anticipation. Katie, let me have it.
Speaker 5: Okay.
Speaker 3: So the first one, I've got my older sister who
is kind of a big anti vaxxor. She claimed that
Fauci profited greatly off of remdezaviar and he basically made
the hospital use it to help cure COVID because he
greatly profited off of it.
Speaker 2: I heard the same conspiracy theory about doctor Peter Hotez,
who then I think went on Twitter and said something about, well,
here's what my income is. You know, you literally got
out in front of it and it didn't make any
difference because the anti vaxers weren't listening anyway. That's crazy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And she also overall claimed that hospitals made so
much money during COVID, which I don't know exactly what
her suggestion is there, you know, like that she think
hospitals made it worse or created it in the first
place so that people would have to pay money to
be there.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: This speaks to one of the major challenges that we
have because more than one thing can be true at
the same time. So baked into a lot of anti
vax conspiracy theories is the reality that for profit hospitals
were often overcharging and there are mistakes made and there
can be corruption. It's like talking about big pharma. Yes,
the pharmaceutical industry is made up of human beings, many
of whom are scientists and who are wanting to be
a part of our solutions. At the same time, these
are massive for profit organizations with huge bank accounts and
influence and lobbyists, etc. So it's easy when someone says
big pharma is manufacturing the COVID crisis to make money
because we know that big pharma is problematic and it
speaks to something in our gut, and we're like, yeah,
that feels intuitive, but it doesn't negate the fact that
we had morget trucks just a few years ago with
bodies because we had no place to put the dead,
those who had perished from COVID. And it's very difficult,
I think, to speak to those people.
Speaker 3: I totally agree. Another fun one, she told me that
she has seen about five videos proving Trump's claim that
immigrants are eating pets in Ohio. She told me that
she has seen multiple videos beyond just the one that
was debunked showing Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats in Ohio.
Speaker 2: Well, if it's on YouTube, it's got to be true, right, Katie.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I was brave enough to ask
her to send me these videos out of curiosity, but
you know, another one was, and I had forgotten his
name for a moment. I started talking about the crazy
televangelist who went on about getting into a tube full
of demons referring to airplanes and that was why he
needed a private jet. And I found him and I
was like, oh, Kenneth Copeland, that's his name, and my
sister said, oh, I love Kenneth Copeland.
Speaker 4: That was fun.
Speaker 2: No, it was him and another evangelist named Jesse Do Plantis.
Now jesse do plant Is is wacky because he says he
went to heaven and he kind of God showed him around,
gave the grand tour, and then showed him Hell so
that jesse do Plantis could come back and warn us
all about how terrible Hell is. And then, of course
jesse do Plantis sold that story at the end of
an offering plate on the order of decades. Kenneth Copeland
is the guy who literally blew COVID away. So he
did a service and he spoke to the virus and
he said COVID nineteen and then he went and he
exhaled the breath of God to kill COVID. He says, I,
you had defeated COVID. You are defeated. And then two
million people died in the United States. So God apparently
was busy finding car keys and making rainbows anything else, Katie,
before I.
Speaker 3: Move on one more thing, she said that new research
shows that spanking children is actually good for them.
Speaker 2: All the corporal punishment arguments a hot when even in
the atheist community, should you spank your children? And I
used to be one of those people who thought, ah,
you know, spank them on the butt, show them the boundaries,
and make them, you know, feel consequences. They're not permanently injured.
And I look back on it now and I think
it was such primitive thinking. I am not a parent,
but I have read some interesting research about how corporal
punishment can actually cause real damage and we need to
evolve our thinking.
Speaker 3: Yes, I've read similar things, and I think my issue
is more the lack of willingness to progress as we
learn more and writing these things off as just you know, soft,
bleeding heart liberal ways of thinking, when actually it's people
doing real research in the psychology field trying to figure
out how to do things better.
Speaker 2: And it's hard when someone says, well, I was spanked
and I turned out fine, which is apparently scientific evidence
for the efficacy of spanking children. I don't buy that.
I think that's a pretty weak defense. Katie. I hope
the rest of the year, such as it is, is
good for you, and no matter what happens, good things
for you. In twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: Five, okay you as well, sir, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Be safe, see you later. Okay. I may have played
the clip, but I gotta play it again, the ken
Copeland prayer, you know where he killed COVID with his breath.
I gotta play this and then I'm gonna play you
one of the remixes because it's one of the greatest
things in the universe. So this is Kenneth Copeland breathing
COVID into extinction. This was in the spring of twenty twenty,
COVID nineteen o ninety. The wind of gone of God
on you.
Speaker 1: On you.
Speaker 8: You are destroying forever, a destroyed forever, and you will.
Speaker 2: Never be back. You'll never be that. Yeah. Yeah, that
did the trick well rightfully. The man was just roasted.
The internet went to work. And I think this is
my favorite remix of the Kenneth Copeland Prayer. I liked
it so much I almost made it my ring tone,
and Natalie gave me a look which told me that
I probably shouldn't because of a driver crazy. Here's the remix.
Speaker 8: Them sang Moses and the Children of Israel.
Speaker 2: This song under the Lord.
Speaker 4: Call it ninety.
Speaker 9: Call it ninety.
Speaker 4: From the date of to day of the Browns.
Speaker 8: Man Texas and a triple park.
Speaker 9: Is much fair.
Speaker 8: It burn this thing.
Speaker 2: This virus hates heat. You just burn this thing. Burn burn.
I called for a supernatural heat way straight out the hell.
Burn burn. People have made this man obscenely wealthy. His
net worth I think is seven hundred and fifty million
dollars tax free. He's got his own airstrip. And she
mentioned the the Kenneth Copeland jet clip where he and
Jesse do Plantus were excusing why they needed private aircrew.
You know what, I'm gonna play the clip. Let me
pull it up here real fast. This is these guys
from how many years ago was it is probably five years,
six years and they're defending the fact that they need
private jet that's worth I don't know, fifty million dollars.
Speaker 10: Brother Coproenhaut was flying home from a meeting and I
had come out of a glorious meeting. I had just
finded me in Cufflo Dollar were preaching, had a glorious meeting.
So I was, for lack of a better way to
say it, I was spiritually high.
Speaker 2: I said, people were.
Speaker 10: Saved, touch and blessed God in the plane that God
so graciously gave us.
Speaker 2: We're flying home.
Speaker 10: As I was going home, the Lord real quickly he said,
Jesse it, do you.
Speaker 2: Like your plane?
Speaker 11: You know?
Speaker 10: I thought that's an odd statement he gave.
Speaker 2: I said, well certainly, Lord.
Speaker 10: He said, do you really like it? And I thought,
well yes, Lord, he said then he said this, So
that's it.
Speaker 2: I didn't know how to handle it.
Speaker 12: It.
Speaker 10: Man, what he said, You're gonna let your fate stagnate.
And when he said that that shocked me. I went,
whoa wait. I literally unbuckomed my seat belt my plane.
I stood up. My pilots looked and said do you
need some But I said no, no, I'm talking to God
right now. And he went back to flying. I said, Lord,
I don't think I was letting my face stagnate. He said,
so this is all I could ever do. I said,
you want You're trying to tell me something. He said,
go to the Book of Amos. So if you had
the Book of Amos, I want to read the scoop.
Speaker 8: Yes, I say, you couldn't have done that on an airliner.
Speaker 2: No, sir, no way. Stand up and say.
Speaker 8: What'd you say, Laura?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 8: Okay, no, yeah, and the guy sitting older, sir, What
the hell does he think he doing?
Speaker 2: He can't do you can't do that. No, No, this
is so important.
Speaker 8: And those of you that are that are just now
coming into these things in the first place, Jesse and
I and others Keith Moore and Kreflo and Oliver. The
world is in such a shape.
Speaker 2: We can't get there without this. So we've got to
have this.
Speaker 8: We would have the mess that the airlines are in today.
I would have to stop. I'm being very conservative at
least seventy five to eighty, more like ninety percent of
what we're doing, because you can get there, come here.
Speaker 2: It's impossible. Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways, doesn't he.
Ken Copeland haimat Meta at Friendly Atheist refers to him
as a scam vangelist, and that is the best term
for him. That dude is grifting all the way to
the bank. He is laughing, and in my opinion, he
deserves our contempt. People have no shame. Andy at eight
zero one, are you there, hi, Seth.
Speaker 11: I just wanted to call in and wish you and
now all the listeners a merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: I much appreciate that.
Speaker 11: I also wanted to take the moment to remind everyone
that on Christmas Day, a great man was born many
years ago. Sir Isaac Newton was born December twenty fifth,
sixteen forty.
Speaker 2: Two, and we honor his memory and all the great
sacrifices that he made to save humankind. Andy, a big
Christmas hello and hugs you and yours. I hope the
holidays are wonderful. Okay, thank you, all right, see you later.
You know, a lot of people find it interesting that
atheists say Mary Christmas. You know, there's another wedge issue
and a total manufactured controversy that atheists want to kill Christmas.
You're not allowed to say Christmas in public anymore, you know.
I think Trump ran on that thanks to me, you're
allowed to say Christmas again. What a load of horseshit.
That is hell. Half the things we do are rooted
in some kind of a mythology, are named for God's
days of the week, months of the year. How many
other holidays have non Christian roots? And of course it's
always fun to see Christians with Christmas trees and missiletoe,
the exchanging of gifts and Yule logs. And then we
can just point and say, oh Jesus, he's not exactly
the center of attention in your Christmas deck car And
then other people say they're gonna skip it all together.
You know the one thing about the holiday that just
gets me irritable. It's Christmas music that is either butchered
by pop stars or it's just too happy. I'm at
home depot and I gotta buy light bulbs or something,
and I walk in and it's the first thing I hear.
I'm just there. I'm not in a bad mood. I'm
not in a great mood. I'm just doing my chores.
I gotta get stuff done. And I hear this Sacraine
manufactured corporate cheer. The bells all over the recording sleigh
bells ring.
Speaker 4: Ah.
Speaker 2: You listening. You can hear the smile in their voice,
like it's almost a creepy smile. Y in the lane,
snow is listening a beautiful sight. We're happy tonight. Stuff it.
It has the reverse effect. It doesn't put me in
a cheery mood. It just makes me irritable. I'm in Oklahoma.
It's not a winter wonderland. It's just freaking cold. Secondly,
I just feel like I'm being force fed a holiday
by Spotify. Right, you ever feel that I like Christmas music?
Bring on the classics, some good instrumentals held. There's even
a few religious songs I enjoy. I love the melody
of Oh Holy Night. I'll go with it.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: It doesn't mean I believe it, but okay, but it's
that super cheery stuff. Stop it. I've got four to
one zero. I do not see a name. Who's this? Oh?
Speaker 3: This is madam who?
Speaker 9: I said?
Speaker 2: Hi there, welcome. What's on your mind today?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 9: I was just calling to see if you ever celebrate Festivus?
Speaker 2: Festivus for the rest of us and the airing of grievances.
Do you want to explain Festivus for those who are
to wear Yeah?
Speaker 5: Sure.
Speaker 9: It is a holiday made up by the father of
a writer on Seinfeld. And what you do is you
sit around a pole and air your grievances, and then
you look for a minor miracle, and then you display
great feets of strength. And it's not over till the
head of household is pinned.
Speaker 2: Wait, it's not over until the head of house What
until the.
Speaker 9: Head of the household is pinned?
Speaker 2: Pin?
Speaker 9: I have a wrestling match.
Speaker 2: I guess now, isn't it there instead of a tree,
a pole for Festivus? Is that right?
Speaker 9: Yeah? Yeah, there's just just a poll. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Do they decorate the pole or is it just a pole?
Speaker 9: I don't, It's just a pole.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 9: One time I had a Festivus party and I used
the stripper pole and we aired our grievances by just
sticky notes around the pole.
Speaker 2: You just happen to have a stripper pole lying around
you just thought, well.
Speaker 4: Let me go.
Speaker 9: Actually yeah, it was my sister in law. Yeah, it
was crazy at the time.
Speaker 2: Hey, I'm not judging.
Speaker 9: It was an exercise thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have actually heard that. I have heard that
work in the pole is great exercise. It's like a
full body I don't everybody's right now rolling their eyes,
but I have heard that the pole is a great workout.
So I'm totally on your page.
Speaker 9: Well yeah, no, no, I don't know. I couldn't really
do it, so, you know, I just headed up. She
just needed to have it somewhere. Yeah, it was in
my house.
Speaker 2: Those who wish go and google Festivus and you will
see a Festivus pole and maybe a little form where
you can air at your grievances. During the holiday season.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I finally wrote I've been trying for years to
write a Festa song, so I finally did it, and
I'm gonna mix it tonight and put it up online.
But I also wanted to mention that since Christmas, these
holidays are so stressful that recovering from religion is a
really good resource. I've become a helpline agent at recovering
from religion, and everybody needs to go there and you know,
just talk through stuff if you're having trouble. I wish
that resource were around when I was deconstructing.
Speaker 2: I feel the same. I wish I'd had somebody to
call or had a chat line when I was going
through my exit. So that's good stuff, recovering from religion
dot org. Enjoy your Festivus for the rest of us,
my friend, and be safe.
Speaker 9: Okay, all right, thank god.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm trying to stay in shape. We've started
doing yoga, play a little tennis. I guess I could
try the pole, but I couldn't get away with the leggings.
I don't think you put leggings on me, be like
somebody jammed a bunch of footballs into pantyhose. And you
don't want to see that. You just don't want to
see that, especially if you want an appetite, you know,
if you've got a big meal coming up over the holidays.
Eli at six one zero, Thanks for waiting. Are you there?
Speaker 6: I'm here? Can you hear me?
Speaker 2: I can? Indeed, let's talk what's on your mind?
Speaker 6: I just wanted to say, well, first of all, I
told them to talk about different ways to celebrate Christmas
and just how I go about that. But so many
things I've heard from colors already, So when it comes
to a Christmas, I come from a very assorted family,
everything from Nazis to people that said my name is
too Jewish or black. And I've been a soft score
atheist for to or take twelve years and more of
a hard eightst for about four and I feel like
adapting the hard a atheist title kind of made me
like Christmas more in a way. I don't know if
that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll explain it. Why do you like Christmas more?
Speaker 4: So?
Speaker 6: When I was a soft a atheist, I was just
generally irritated by Christmas and the celebration and oh god,
the music is awful. Not a single Christmas song I
find joy in, But ever since I adapted the Herd
a atheist title, it almost let me ignore all of
that and enjoy it for the social aspects. Best of
us being a perfect example, I might have to get
my friends stripper pole out and looking use that.
Speaker 2: But does everybody but me have a stripper pole around I?
Just where have I been? I'm so naive? So with a.
Speaker 4: What are you doing?
Speaker 2: Without all the religious baggage, just being able to make
it what it is on your terms, it's sort of
liberating your holiday, is that what I'm hearing?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 6: And supic Thanksgiving, which has a strictly historical context, I
can't even bring myself to celebrate that. But when it
comes to things like Christmas that's so deep rooted in
religious tradition that's kind of lost its meaning to a
lot of people, and that ended up being just a
social tradition of giving gifts and getting together with the family.
It's definitely been liberating, and I hope a lot of
people can actually move through and ignore the religious contexts
and use that to better celebrate time with family and friends.
Speaker 2: Isn't it interesting that many of the people who celebrate
the christ driven Christmas holiday. Most of the stuff they
do is either pagan or just not religious, and that
seems to be the stuff they love the most. I
don't know if you've noticed that.
Speaker 6: Eli, absolutely, and I think one of the biggest things
as well is that you see all these expensive gifts
being thrown around, and what a more Christian thing not
to be giving those to the poor, you know, doing
toy drives for poor children when working in the super
kitchen for the day. I feel like that's the more
Christian thing to do.
Speaker 2: Good stuff. Great call, Eli, thanks for being a part
of the show.
Speaker 6: Thank you see it later.
Speaker 2: Now I've got that freaking Christmas song stuck in my head.
Speaker 12: I did it, did it?
Speaker 2: I can't get it out. They call it an earbug
or an earworm. How do I get it out? I
have heard that the only way to remove it is
to replace it with a different earworm. I need a
different song. I don't know. I'm gonna think about it
while I take a break. Be right back heading toward
the Christmas holiday and the end of twenty twenty four.
As we just mostly talked together, taking your calls, I've
got Matt. Matt, thanks for being a part of the show.
Speaker 4: Are you there, mill se Hi. This is Matt. You
helped me with my dogs medical expenses a few years ago,
if you remember now.
Speaker 2: I was glad to be a part of it.
Speaker 9: Matt.
Speaker 2: I hope you're doing well in your life.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't able to thank you call
you sooner, just to give you an update. My dog
passed away, but he recovered and had over two more
years in his life, which was which I'm very thankful
for and I appreciate you helping me with that. He
was over sixteen when he passed away, and I just
heard you talking about your cap and I just had
a bit of warm feeling in my heart. So I
just brought myself up to have the courage to call
you up.
Speaker 2: No, it means the world, it really does. And those
two years are precious. You will have those for the
rest of your life. And I'm glad you baby, you
had a loving home for those sixteen years. That's lovely stuff.
Thanks for calling, Matt, and have a merry Christmas.
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you, and I hope you have more loving
years with your cat as well and your.
Speaker 2: Family appreciate it. All right, We'll see you later.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Mark, of all the technology in the world, can we
invent something to extend the life of pets? Can I
give Kat another decade or two? You know, of good health,
like an elixir of some kind of life extending feeline elixir.
Because I do love him and he loves me. He's
he's a good key. There is no feeling like when
I'm laying back and I'm kind of in bed and
just kind of chilling, and he jumps up and he
likes to lay on my chain and he's the loudest perr.
Speaker 4: It's just.
Speaker 2: And he'll even I think when he's sleeping, he's still purring,
and it just knocks me out. It's so peaceful. It's
like my moment of zen is little kitty therapy, you know,
and the idea of that not being there, and that's
not He sleeps next to my head, and even when
he turns into a little asshole, he's still my kitty boy.
You know what I'm saying. Gina at six one five,
Hi are you there?
Speaker 12: Hey?
Speaker 5: Thanks for taking my call. You just cracked me up.
Speaker 12: I met you a few years back when you were
in Nashville giving a talk to the atheist group here,
and I just want to say, this time of year
just really gets under my skin. And I don't know
if you are one like I am. I'll go into
these big box stores and I'll start getting almost like
a panic attack because I see all the stuff for
sale and I just think a landfill. That's all I
can think of, And so I have to get myself
out really quick. And the fact that at Halloween time
they have Christmas stuff up it drives me nuts. No, like,
we can't have just one season at a time.
Speaker 2: Abomination. You walk into a store in September and there
are Christmas trees and Santa Clausas and shit, no, this
should be there should be criminal charges filed.
Speaker 12: And also on my street, putting up Christmas before Thanksgivings
even over that drives me nuts too.
Speaker 2: Criminal charges should be filed. I'm sorry, Gina, you hit
a button. You hit a button with me. You cannot
put Christmas stuff out when it's September, even August. It's
just an abomination. Go ahead, What else do you have for.
Speaker 4: Me to you?
Speaker 5: It's awful.
Speaker 12: Well, my husband happened to have the TV on and
he put on the Bishop's Wife and I had seen
it a long time ago, but I decided I'd go
ahead and watch it with him, and I really enjoyed it.
And it's so religious, but it just had a good message,
and for me, because there is so much consumerism and
I'm always wanted to say, when is enough enough? I
just really liked a more simple message of just the
idea of being good to one another?
Speaker 2: Can I sow fast? I don't know what the bishop's
wife is. I just pulled it up on Wikipedia. Is
this the nineteen forty seven Carrie Grant movie?
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, it's awesome. All the old movies are to me.
Speaker 2: Is it like it's a wonderful life kind of thing
or a miracle on thirty fourth Street?
Speaker 9: Yeah?
Speaker 12: Yeah, Well Carrie Grant sent down because the bishop is
having a kind of a crisis of this woman is
wanting to give his church a facelift. Basically, who's wanting
to give all this money to him in honor of.
Speaker 5: Her husband that she never really loved. You need to
watch it.
Speaker 12: And the angel comes down to kind of redirect the
bishop to what's really important, and he kind of flirts
with the wife and he and the bishop gets all
upset with that.
Speaker 5: It's just a great both.
Speaker 2: Wait wait a minute, so he doesn't watched it. Wait
a minute, the angel is flirting with the man's wife.
Speaker 12: Yeah, because you know, as an angel, he just well,
you got to watch it. And of course you know
you can tell she's really getting feeling for him. But no,
it's wrong, and of course Carrie Grant's character as an angel.
Speaker 5: Knows it's wrong. Nothing ever happens.
Speaker 12: But it's just a really feel good movie about what
it really means to be in family and.
Speaker 9: Just you know, it's just great.
Speaker 5: You need to watch it.
Speaker 2: Okay, the bishop's wife, I've made a note. I appreciate
the heads up on that. Thanks for calling. It's good
to hear your voice. Gina, have a wonderful holiday. We'll
see you later.
Speaker 5: Thank you, you you.
Speaker 2: I'd say bye. Like the angels putting the moves on
the guy's wife, I guess it's not impossible. Then you
have to ask the question, are angels fully functional? Mayfe
you know what I mean, But in the Old Testament
didn't have fallen angels. They came down to earth and
they had sex with earthly women to make the nephlum.
So if we go by biblical logic, I mean, Carrie Grant,
if he's from the biblical heaven, you know, he and
the wife would have kind of I'm just saying. I'm
just saying that would have been a miracle on thirty
fourth Street. Oh yeah, alrighty. We're gonna do Christmas kind
of on our own terms. We don't do a ton
of accouterments. We are very much the family we choose,
and I do include you in that because this community
for me is family. It is one of those wonderful,
precious gifts for me. I know it sounds corny when
I say it, but I really do mean it, you know.
I sometimes we'll find myself in the vicinity of people
who they love me, but they don't fully accept me
or respect me for who I am. And yet I
can come here and even when challenged, even when we disagree,
and when we are very different in who we are.
It's not about conformity. It's about who are you? Who
do you want to be? Be yourself on your terms
without apology. We've got your back and I've always felt
that here and I hope you feel it from me
as well. I think an authentic life is the gift
we can give to ourselves every single day of the year,
and whatever the new year holds, let's keep on in
the meantime. Merry Christmas and I'll see you next time.
Speaker 4: St.