The Atheist Experience 25.02 01-10-2021 with Matt Dillahunty and Mandisa Thomas

Welcome back to another Atheist Experience. Today Matt Dillahunty is Joined by Mandisa Thomas! Mandisa is the founder and president of Black Nonbelievers and they are having their 10th Anniversary Celebration in New Orleans and online January 15-17. Make sure to attend!Our first caller, Enoch in PA asks if we would become christians if the bible was all proven true. That’s a hard no, there are too many horrible things in that book. Do you not see how abusive it is that you would rather serve an evil god than suffer in a hell? Your god should denounce the immoral crap in the bible. Neil in ID claims it’s morally repugnant that a god would allow someone to live apart from all goodness and there are supernatural things. Supernatural is not synonymous with unexplainable. If you imagined something under duress, how is that a supernatural vision? If there is a god, we wouldn’t have to argue the existence of the supernatural. Leeroy in MN claims to have been an atheist but experienced god and changed his mind. His experience was a conversation with god but can’t answer a simple question about it. Moving on…Kevin in OR asks if we were submerged underwater for 10 minutes would we be alive. That would depend on lots of variables. Think your question through next time before you try to “get us”. Paul in MI asks why truth matters from an atheist perspective, if we are just all compost in the end. It matters if a bus is coming at you when you are crossing the street. Just because something is going to cease to exist doesn't mean it doesn't have value. We have to deal with reality on reality’s terms. Austin in TX asks if either host has had a religious experience. Yes, they have, but that term is super broad. Our hosts share their “religious” experiences, explainable completely naturally or scientifically. Carl in NC asks why so many black people embrace christianity? Mandisa explains the history of forcing religion on slaves, oppression of black people, and the community services that the church provided. Research into those histories to delve into it more. Not everyone can be reasoned out of religious beliefs. Derek in NV argues that intentionality is built into the fabric of the universe, assuming that naturalism is false. Proof of something isn’t the denial of naturalism. Quit dodging the questions, you haven’t begun to demonstrate that intentionality is built into the structure of the universe. Lastly, Robert in the UK asked why do we allow theists to speculate about morality. We let anyone talk about anything! When they do talk about morality, you can point out where we have the moral high ground. Thanks for tuning in, we are so glad you joined us today. Donate to Black Nonbelievers and don’t forget to get tickets at https://blacknonbelievers.com/bns10th2021/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-atheist-experience--3254896/support.