Episode 29 — Atheism

[admin 330]

Whether or not you believe in God, you'd better believe that we have a brand new Professor Blastoff for you! And even if you don't think Jesus was the son of God, you can know for sure that Marty Yu is our guest this week! Learn the difference between agnosticism and atheism, why critical thinking matters, and how morality impacts our society regardless of your own theological state.

[SeveralCircles 426]

Are we by any chance hear a certain Mr. F Tompkins yelling in the background? You'd think the hundreds of feet of earth surrounding the hatch would be a little more sound proof. Anyway, an interesting clue to the nebulous production schedule...

[bricewgilbert 0]

KNOWLEDGE (Agnostic = I don't know. Gnostic = I know.)

BELIEF (Atheist = I lack a belief. Theist = I hold a belief.)

These are not mutually exclusive. For example I'm an Agnostic Atheist for the general god question. If you asked me if I believed in the Christian god as demonstrated in the Bible I would say I'm a Gnostic Atheist, because the properties of said god are contradictory, and many of the claims of the bible have been disproved. Some people find labels useful. I don't as it just muddies everything, because so many people (and every dictionary it seems) have different definitions.

Those atheists clean up highways for the same reason that religious people get together. Not necessarily to discuss the universe or criticize others, but to have a sense of community. I'm an atheist who grew up as an only child and I feel like I've always been fine alone, but not everyone is. It's also a good way to combat the dirty word that atheist has become.

Also just remember that there are thousands of religions with thousands of different opinions on an afterlife or whatever. If you have an idea about god then you automatically have dismissed 99.9999% of all the other religious ideas. There are some religious ideas that you will not entertain for a second. You got into this a little bit with the moon made of cheese. What if someone said God was a polar bear who was floating on the ice berg that is the universe? What reason would you have to dismiss that over "God is energy", "God is love", or "God is the son of a virgin." What about the people who claim right now that God is talking to them? Not just the crazies yelling on the street corner but people in government positions in the United States. The consistent position would be to dismiss them all until evidence was brought forth. Remember these aren't simple claims. This isn't you trusting your friend when he says he saw Brad Pitt yesterday. These are extraordinary claims which as the saying goes require extraordinary evidence. It's also worth asking what makes you think that this god would be loving? That the god would be worthy of worship? I don't know about you, but the idea that a God would offer a reward and punishment for abiding by his rules is quite a demented one.

Pat Tillman was an atheist in a fox hole. There are groups of armed men and women who are atheists who everyday try to combat this myth.

Sorry to go on (how do I make spaces!!) it's just that this subject fascinates me. Maybe you guys should do a topic on Skepticism of which atheism is a subset. Skepticism incorporates critical thinking and scientific inquiry to examine subjects like ghosts, conspiracy theories, psychics, claims of religion etc.

PS: Very nice snoring sound effects.

[jughead 189]

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! finally! Can't wait to listen.

[Germ 2]

Most atheists acknowledge the possibility of deistic intelligence but believe that the evidence is so strong against it they can confidently assert that there are no gods. It's like a scientific theory, it's never fully proven but there can be enough evidence for you to feel comfortable drawing a conclusion.

Edit: On another note, it would have been nice to have someone with a bit more expertise, like a representative from a local atheist chapter of a national organization. Marty did a fine job for a layman, but having someone who's made it their job to talk about atheism would've been even better.

[jarshall 25]

how is the title of this episode NOT The Core of the Cheese Moon?

[papavb 23]

Oh Kyle, you almost gave me an aneurysm like 5 times, gay heaven party planner/concierge & elated Irish invalid especially.

Daniel Dennett an asshole? He's always seemed very professorial and nice in his atheism, a lot nicer than Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens surely(who have all made fascinating points about the nature and facts of belief).

and about Descartes' Gambit, I think Marty probably meant Pascal's Wager

[Natek 32]

Am I the only one who trying to figure out what character PFT was doing? Gary Marshall, Cake Boss???

[Cheri 1]

Holy theoretical Jesus, heaven greeter and Irish fanmail made me laugh so hard I cried, I adore Kyle's characters. Pure brilliance.

[DustinMartian 89]

Sorry for the noise leakage, that was our first double booked recording in our new studio and I did not properly anticipate when soundproofing, Cake Boss.

On the last episode with Paul F. Tompkins, Tig even mentions it in the beginning but we decided to release them in a different sequence.

I hope it didn't steal too much from the experience, I apologize again.

- Dustin

[marty_yu 0]

Yes, I meant Pascal's Wager. How mortifying.

[SeveralCircles 426]

Dustin, I wasn't really complaining. I mean, I guess it would suck if every episode sounded like that, but I actually thought it was kind of fun/ny to sleuth out when this must have been recorded. (Which is sadly not even the nerdiest homework-procrastination activity I've engaged in this week.)
Also, is it me, or did you release the first Robert Ikeisode after the second one? It seemed more like they'd all just "met" in that one.

[SeveralCircles 426]

(It did seem a bit odd for them to not even be aknowledging the crazy, crazy yelling when so many other shows have talked about planes and trucks I could never hear.)

[ragnar 23]

I was convinced that it was some kind of dance music vocals until about 26min in where it was clearly audibly PFT yelping!

[ragnar 23]

Kyle if you come out w/ a comedy CD pls call it "Scratchin' the Hatch"

[ragnar 23]

did anyone else's podcast go blank when they announced the commercial break after 30something minutes in, and then there was like an 8min blank space in the mp3 until they came back around 39:00 ??

[exmensa 0]

Yes, there was a big dead space where the commercial was supposed to be. It's not like I was almost causing fifteen-car-pileups while madly fast forwarding ten seconds at a time to see if anything came afterwards or anything, so NO BIG DEAL JESUS CHRIST GUYS

..just kidding. But yeah there was no commercial.

Also, fabulous heaven door greeter was fucking fabulous.

Also also, am I the only person that really dislikes forced laughter? I don't usually roam the comments after an episode so I don't know if that's a common thing, but it really grates my nerves and I'm not easily grated. If you have to do that, save it for the very end so I can just stop there then you can insult me for not liking forced laughter afterwards and I'll never know! The group sigh concept sounded much better, and wouldn't make me grimace for thirty seconds. This whole lame question was spurred by the last episode anyway and there wasn't any forced anything in this one, so who the hell cares what I'm talking about?

[SeveralCircles 426]

Marty, you seem tense. Can I recommend an experimental new therapy? ;-)

[jughead 189]

yep, I got the dead air during the commecial as well. I just assumed it was God punishing the podcast for even bringing up the notion of Atheism, Trippy. Anyway, awesome show. I have to say that I am not really an Atheist, I would say I'm more of a Nihlist. Or even more descript, an Existential Nihlist. Saying you are atheist is almost like saying you are part of a religion!

[brendanjlane 11]

I am not sure how Marty was connected, but it seemed like a lot of stepping on one another when he spoke.

[ben mcd 127]

This episode was...distracting? Cake Boss and his sound effects, the 8 minute nothingness, Kyle stepping on Marty's interjections...is there a delay issue with the monitors when a guest is on the phone or Skype?

[LukeHENDERSON 3]

Gay greeter in heaven was terrific and yes, I loved trying to figure out who PFT was doing. I think releasing him in that order so we weren't shocked by the distracted was the right thing to do. I like the earlier suggestion of a show about skeptics.

Yet again, week after week, this is the best podcast there is. It is so hard to explain to other people, but there is something just really special about the dynamic between Tig, David and Kyle. Well done yet again!

[guppytroup 0]

I laughed so many times during this episode! Great work!

[DustinMartian 89]

::forehead slap::

the gap has been fixed. Sorry for the technical problems everybody.

[hewlett 1]

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