The Atheist Experience 28.15 with Forrest Valkai and Jim Barrows 2024-04-14
The Atheist Experience
The Atheist Community of Austin
4.6 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2024
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Caleb in OH asks the hosts if the complexity of the universe is an argument for or against god. If the universe was designed, why is it more complex than it needs to be? Not only is simplicity the hallmark of good design, but the second law of thermodynamics only applies to an isolated system. In order to know if something is designed, we must compare it to something that is designed, or isn’t designed. This is not something we can do on the universal level and only have this one to explore. Forrest explains the leading hypothesis for abiogenesis which is far from simple.
Bruno in Uruguay proposes that we use other words than belief when it comes to science. Belief at its core is accepting a claim as true; knowledge is when you have so much information about that claim that it would be absurd to not believe it. It is important to know if your method of determining something is true, is a good method. Using other words won’t change anything when it comes to theists being dishonest about their use.
Amir in CA uses premises that changeable things exist and variables such as C and X to try and prove god. What does this boring stuff have to do with god? The Kalam argument does not get you to god. Can you tell us why you believe in god without insults? You are not applying yourself; if you are going to be a troll, at least make it fun.
Gabe in TX asks how to respond to a family member that says Christianity is a relationship with Christ and not a religion. How do you have a relationship with somebody who does not show up? Can you describe this relationship you have with the deity? Why do you feel the need to escape your religion? Sometimes, this could be the first step in deconstruction. When responding to family, it is important to know what the goals of the conversation are, and where you want that relationship to end up.
Billy in TX does not believe we only have one universe because we have simulated universes that we created. How do we know that these simulated universes are the only other universes possible and how do we know if the simulations are accurate? Tiny errors add up over millions of years. We can’t do infinite precision so the simulations will always have a problem with fidelity. How many decimal points of pi are there in reality? How does any of this get you to a god?
Thank you for joining us and remember to support our fundraiser so that Forrest will wear his wig for the whole show! Question of the week is: What is a good response to “The rapture is coming”?
Call the show on Sundays 4:30pm-6:00pm CT: 1-512-991-9242 or use your computer 💻 http://tiny.cc/callaxp and tell us what you believe and why!
We request pronouns as part of the call screening process on our shows, and we display the pronouns our callers provide. If you see a caller with no pronouns indicated, this is because they chose not to provide us with any, and we respect that decision.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Ephesians, chapter 6 versus 5 through 9, read, slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart just as you would obey Christ. |
| 0:13.0 | Obey them not only when their favor and when their eye is upon you but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart. |
| 0:21.0 | Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not people, |
| 0:26.0 | because you know that the Lord will reward each and every one of you for whatever good you do, |
| 0:32.2 | whether you be slave or free. |
| 0:34.4 | We talk a lot on this show about how the Bible condones slavery and how it gives rules for slavery. |
| 0:41.1 | Exodus explains what to pay for slaves and how hard you can beat them. |
| 0:45.2 | And a lot of the times when we do this, theists call in to tell us that we're taking |
| 0:49.6 | things out of context, that slave didn't mean the same thing that it meant then, that it does now, that really, you know, slaves are more like servants and all these things, servants that you can buy and pass on his property and beat somehow. But these verses in particular really summarize what the Bible is talking about, I think. |
| 1:10.5 | Obey your masters as you would obey Christ. |
| 1:14.2 | Unquestioningly, immediately, unthinking, not trying to put your own worldly |
| 1:19.7 | understanding upon the will of the person in charge of you. |
| 1:23.2 | And in case you think that maybe that's a bit extreme, |
| 1:25.4 | you can read the very next verse, |
| 1:27.4 | this is Ephesian 69, and masters treat your slaves |
| 1:31.5 | in the same way. |
| 1:32.6 | Do not threaten them since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven |
| 1:38.6 | and there is no favoritism with him. |
| 1:40.4 | This verse kind of goes both ways in the circles of arguments in that some people say, |
| 1:45.7 | well see it's saying that the masters need to be nice. It says they need to be good. It says that |
| 1:49.7 | God sees us all. But there's no such thing as a good slave owner. |
| 1:56.1 | There is no such thing as a moral slave owner. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Atheist Community of Austin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Atheist Community of Austin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.