SO let's hear you repent of atheism, admitting that a construction as massive and intricate as the universe, with 2,000 trillion galaxies, each with a million stars, could not develop without a mind behind it.
@@ConservativeAnthem I have no reason or evidence that supports your claim of a "mind" that creates a universe. Just because you say so doesn't make it true.
@ConservativeAnthem I would gladly repent if there was sufficient evidence, but unfortunately, "massive universe" hardly counts. Furthermore, ex-nihilo creation isn't even biblical. So it's hard to give God credit for all that...
When I was a teen, it was time for my communion. But my mother told me to stay home. I asked why I won't get my communion. And I always always remember her answer, she said "One day you'll be old enough to understand what that all that religion stuff means. And when you reach that point, I'll support whatever you do regarding religions. Religions are for adults, you go back being a kid. I love you". I was just happy to have a day off back then. But now I understand what she was doing. She wasn't telling me what to believe or not believe, she didn't try to stir me into her path of belief. She gave me the option, and assured me that I would be loved no matter what I grew up into. And I will always love her for that. PS. I'm an atheist. And funny enough, I spoke about that to my mother not too long ago, and she doesn't believe in a god per say, but she believes our conscience is not lost when we die. I don't. I say that just to prove that she didn't brainwash me into her belief. She let me grow and figure it out myself. 10/10 mom
@Mel-q5n5j You just demonstrated how religions work - by imposing fear. Being an atheist means that you don't have to fear the afterlife - because there is none. We'll just be stardust again.
I allowed my children to choose their own path also. One chose a spiritual eastern path, one a traditional Christian and one chose to be a nonbeliever.
I've met and talked with Dan Barker. I also was an evangelical missionary - Operation Mobilization - in Europe (46 years as an evangelical, degree in theology), before I finally "saw the light" and gave up all belief in any god or supreme being. At 76 years, I am now waaay happier as an atheist than I ever was as a committed believer.
Rant add, I think it's cause you learn and realize one own self... Which makes yourself at peace with yourself (or at least understand who one is and not reject yourself for another idea/ group/ peer etc)
If religion wasn’t allowed to be taught until 20 years old, there would be very few religious people in the world. Most of our beliefs are passed on from parents/family as children when the mind is susceptible to influence.
My Mother, Father and Brother converted to Catholicism en mass when my parents were in their mid 50's and my brother was late 20's...There would be less for sure but some people never hit the age of reason.
What christians won't admit, is that these "religious" experiences can be had by anyone almost anywhere, like a rock concert or anywhere you're with likeminded people enjoying something pleasant to you. It's just a release of oxytocin, no god needed. I say this from experience, I too used to be an evangelical christian. It's the reason you hear so many believers talk about they know their god is real because they have felt him lol. Dan does a wonderful job explaining, great guy!
Yep. After i realized i couldn’t believe it anymore, i had to stop listening to all of my Xian music: the emotions/nostalgia/whatever would put me in a vulnerable place, and i’d talk myself back into wanting it to be true. I can enjoy those albums again now, with the emotional distance, but there was a rough couple of years where i couldn’t trust my real brain to not succumb to the church-brain.
It is, to be fair, probably the only honest argument that a religious believer can offer. (Next in line would be appeal to faith which, although a candid epistemic admission as far as it goes, is not invoking an honest evaluation of ANYTHING.) Subjective experience is where we live out our lives. It could hardly be more real or more powerful, to us individually. So I get how important it is. And yet it's not very reliable. We routinely misperceive, or misremember, simple events in our daily lives. Many people do not reason well, particularly when strong emotions are involved. A strongly felt sense of conviction doesn't improve our accuracy, but it can certainly cloud our judgment. I don't doubt, also, that many people have experienced impressive hallucinations or psychotic episodes. I have had such experiences myself, both beatific and horrific. They feel very real and very important. And yet, they're still completely subjective. We must at least recognize this, if we're to open up to a world that is, at least potentially, more than our subjective experiences and instincts and emotions. And, unfortunately, religion systematically holds us back. It builds an imaginative fiction around faith claims, drawing upon our subjective needs so that we will convince ourselves that the claims must be true because we want them to be true, or fear the consequences of them being false. But none of this, no amount of wishful or fearful thinking, brings us closer to reality.
@@starfishsystems Anthropomorphism. It is the felt experience of being told there is a father or mother who loves you unconditionally and will bring you into the house where there is no longer suffering like the kind you see in the world---mad, violent, unjust suffering---as long as you do these things on this list.
"Coming out of the Confessional "! ( Instead of a gay person coming put of the closet.) Scientists and doctors have used functional MRIs to see which part of the brain lights up with certain thoughts. The same areas light up for an infant being fed as when someone who believes in God, thinks about him and prayer. Interesting!
Because he came to the wrong conclusion. He used to thing everything was black-and-white, now he thinks everything is white-and-black. Reality is infinite shades of grey.
People can have religion and are free to do so. But when it runs their life, it becomes a problem. People that are too harsh in their beliefs start wars, kill people, can’t reconcile their feelings and their religion. A lot of really religious people are very abusive to others around them.
@@BojanBojovicthen why is Atheist in the A where as reality is in the R on the A-Z (Alphabet) Word Line? would it have not be better to have been call: Realist than Atheist? is a belief of civil highest unintelligent man idiot liberal stupid : h u man s : human slave vassals on this Planet; I for got that civil humans stay far a way way from military and the r to make believe into believer;
@@andorgaraczi2288 2Peter 3:3-7 Men Will Fall Away from the Faith
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
I have always believed that it is harder to be an atheist than an adherent to a given theology. One needs to challenge the belief structure and rationalize why the beliefs exist and where the proof is to support it, which often leads to doubting the whole narrative. Followers tend to accept what is told as the truth without challenge.
Im 2-3 years deconverted from evangelical christianity. Just found dan barker with this video, but wow! For an atheist youtubee, his line of thinking is by far the most relatable I've found to mine
@buukkreider544 Ok Buuk, settle down. So you come across a community of people that don't share your beliefs. And some of them are even kind of vocal about it. Now, you can either give into the immediate urge to go both defensive offensive. Jump into the fray and accomplish 100% nothing. Because I guarantee you that not a single one of the comments you leave here are going to change any minds. And deep down you know this. It's not gonna matter because you're being a jerk. People don't listen to jerks. But do go on, preach your hate and vile and then you can go home feeling good about yourself for standing up for your skyfriend. Who wants you to be nice to people and connect with them. Good job.
The Apostle Paul has The Answer! Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
To Dismiss God's Word is to Deliberately fall to Destruction
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazurus
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
To keep denying God and His Word is to make a blunder for ETERNITY!
Turn to God now, and believe in The Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation!
Yes, the hostility in Oprah's tone was really obvious and downright irritating. This is the woman who would go on the promote "The Secret," a bunch of New Age gobbledegook.
@@jh-mp8so As somebody who has traveled much the same path as he did, it is because an honest and compassionate ex-Christian evangelist is a GENUINE threat to a house of cards that could easily come crashing down. My church forbade its members from talking to me after I left because the few that did weren't Christians for much longer.
I saw that Oprah Winfrey episode when it first aired and I was saddened at how aggressive and judgemental the audience was. As if preaching to him would make him cower with regret and shame. Dan Barker and the panel responded with grace and dignity that the audience clearly lacked.
What I find remarkable about Dan is that you'll mostly find clips of him speaking about experiences and being vulnerable about it. Or giving a perspective that says "I know exactly what you mean, I used to believe that myself, but..." And I think you'll probably reach more people that way rather than arguing theology or semantics, because it's a more relatable way of conveying a message. Anyway, I always feel so calm listening to this guy. Love it.
This was a very, very long journey of rejection of religion for me. It began by watching how religion just didn't work for anyone. Now, I realize I was lied to, and bought into the lies. Glad to find this video and this channel.
I'm one of those for whom religion didn't work. I even went so far as to join a cult, putting my life in danger. I escaped and found a wonderful church, where the pastor saved my life twice. What really killed it for me was being forced to leave that church behind and relocate to another place where I had to sit helpless while my niece dropped out of high school to join a cult.
@@buukkreider544 😂 says the guy who decided to pick one superstition out of thousands Buuk's probably one of the most deluded people on the internet, that's quite an achievement Here, have the trophy for "Most Deluded" 🏆
@@BubbaF0wpend The Apostle Paul has The Answer! Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
I have supported FFRF through my job's charity program the last few years, since I discovered Dan & Co. on UA-cam. I'm retiring soon and will continue to support this important work!
Religion can be stifling. Faith in God and faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ can be encouraging, especially when a person takes it to heart. The Servant of The Lord that Conquered Death, the Devil, and Hell
Isaiah 52:12 - 53:12 The Man of Sorrows Acquainted with Grief and Conquerer
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
As The Servant of The Lord, He Paid the Price of Death to Please His Father - and to Save Those The World... He would also Conquer Death by Dying
Isaiah 25:8 He will Swallow Up Death by Dying
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Not only did He Conquer Death by Dying, but He Opened the Door for Others to have Victory Over Death
Hosea 13:14 O Death, I Will be Thy Plagues
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
The Apostle Paul Confirmed that The Lord is the Redeemer of Death in 1Corinthians 15:52-57
1Corinthians 15:52-57 Death is Swallowed Up In Victory
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle John also Records That The Lord Jesus Conquered Death and Hell in the Book of Revelation
Revelation 1:10-18 The Lord after His Death and Resurrection Appears to John
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
@@iselfmyself-vf5gj "Both reason as a source of knowledge and rationality as a practical ideal are today under attack ." -Brand Blanchard- [ from Reason and Analysis ]
I guess Jesus and first apostles wanted to be killed in horrible ways then. That was a weird kink of first century. It's also interesting how the people who quit on their faith always do it because God doesn't do what they want, but that's just details.
@@timur22993 That's an interesting story. One of thousands, in thousands of religions, with thousands of sects, all disagreeing for some unknown reason.
At age 7 and hearing stories about talking donkeys and Jesus walking on water, Noah's Ark, and I was like, nope. But I had to fake it for a while because my mother was fanatically religious.
I had the same reaction, but still believed in God and that Jesus died for my sins and Heaven. It was around 15yo that it all mostly fell away. I never had to fake anything though, because I only come from a moderately religious family. For me it was just Sunday Mass and that was the extent. We didn't really talk about religion at home. I can't even imagine how everything would have turned out if my mother or father were fanatically religious. I told my parents I am an atheist just last year (I am 41) and their response was "that is okay." It was a complete non-issue.
I started doubting in my early teens, by my late teens I was atheist. My close family were disapproving at first but, 20 years later they are now all atheists too! 🎉 They couldn’t hide from facts and logic for ever. (With special thanks to Professor Dawkins)
Hell, at seven I still believed in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, but that's still not as ridiculous as an adult today believing that a traitor and convicted criminal is fit to be president.
I was bought up in the Catholic Church, and attended mass 2-3 times a week. I coordinated choirs and served on the altar. I am also gay. I essentially could not accept myself. I actually hated myself. It was impossible for me to be religious and be gay. After all, the church teaches that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered. Further, my Catholic faith also made me see things as black and white, right and wrong, much as described in this video. Anyone who wasn’t Catholic was a sinner in my eyes as that is what I was taught. One day during Holy Week, I made the deliberate decision to not go to church. I was kinda scared but felt kind of naughty, like I was skipping school. The fear was, what if God strikes me? I realised at that point, religion is no more than a form of control and this is achieved through fear. Once I stripped all that away, I felt a level of liberation I’ve never felt. I started to love myself and began loving everything and everyone around me, accepting everyone around me no matter their race/religion. I no longer judged anyone and I will NEVER accept religion again. Believe in yourself, believe in your life. You get it once. No entity should ever hijack your right to live freely.
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for people like Dan. He must have had an extremely difficult time with respect to friends and family who would have undoubtedly felt he was betraying them.
You can feel the feelings again because the memory of yourself is associative and procedural; the brain doesn't care what is experienced in real time and what is vividly imagined in the mind.
The Apostle Paul has The Answer! Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
And we can experience those same emotions and physiological experiences and feelings with other methods that put us into a similar brain wave. Meditation, communal singing, provocative storytelling all produce the same experiences with or without a god.
@@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar Because the brain endorses the safe and familiar and avoids the unknown, having a benign mystery as an extension of the protagonist or a guide can elevate the "goosebumpedosity" of the story, allowing non-critical listeners into the that liminal space between the mundane and the extraordinary.
The Apostle Paul has The Answer! Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
I used my own critical way of thinking 4 yrs ago when the first vaccine came out. My critical way of thinking saved my critical way of doin what everybody else critically did.
@@RandomStuff-i4i I dont' think we need "saving". Why should we bow to the god who screwed everything up, and then demanded a human sacrifice for his own mistakes?
@@GuitarDog_atx Maybe you don't need saving, but I accept I do. You and others like you don't have to bow down to God, but I will. God has done things in my life that I want to bow to him for. I've made mistakes all the time and I still bow down to God. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
@@annebalderston2520 Why does the "Prince of Peace" threaten people who don't worship him with eternal suffering in Hell? That's not love. Thats abuse. It's disgusting. Your "Prince of Peace" can f*ck off.
Keep repeating that to yourself, maybe one day you will believe in it. Man is so stubborn and unwise to want to figure everything out for himself and flee over and over again.
@@annebalderston2520 How can any one religion be true when there are thousands of conflicting religions, with thousands of conflicting sects? Doesn't it seem arrogant that any of them would claim to know the objective truth of the universe and existence? Really think about that for awhile.
And the devil will deceive... From the beginning of the Adam race, the ENEMY used a very effective weapon against
the Adam race, and it was two things about God: 1) Doubt God's Word; 2) Call God a Liar
This is how it has been up until now - and now... people who have even been in The Church for many
years are falling for the DECEIT of The DEVIL...
Psalm 14:1-3 The Fool Does Not Want God
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
1Timothy 4:1-3 The Latter Times Men Depart From Faith
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2Timothy 3:1-5 The Last Days Signs
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Timothy 4:2-4 They Will Turn Their Ears from The Truth
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
LACK OF FAITH
Luke 18:8 The LORD JESUS --- Shall He Find Faith on Earth when He Returns?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
2Peter 3:3-7 Men Will Fall Away from the Faith
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
NOW IS THE TIME TO BELIEVE AND BE SAVED
Acts 13:38,39 The Apostle Paul shows way of SALVATION
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ that you might be saved.
2Corinthians 4:2-7 The Gospel Hid to them that are Lost
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Ephesians 2: 1-3 The Prince of The Power of The Air - Working in Children of Disobedience
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
For those that are going against God's Word are those that are falling into the hands of the enemy. The Enemy hates God, but he cannot defeat God; therefore, he will do what he can to disturb God. One of the ways is to influence the Children of Adam to doubt God, then call God a liar - just like in the garden.
@@johnfitzgerald2426 Yeah Right, like the imaginary god of the Bible Was blindsided by one of his angels who happened to be the original rebel in heaven, who is cast out by god? So the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent god, allows the fall of mankind in the world? Who can come up with a better plan than that? That god would be either A. Evil or B. Stupid My opinion, Both!!!
As a kid I remember questioning things I was taught in Catechism and my father telling me if I didn't believe, I'd go to hell. That's the basis of religion - believe or die.
As an atheist I can absolutely understand the power of prayer. While I do not pray to any deity, I do however find myself comforted by talking to my deceased family members. I don't get any responses of course, but I do feel "good" when in times of great stress or anxiety when I express my inner fears or concerns to my mother. Asking her for guidance. It does help. Clears and soothes the mind to think clearer on whatever is troubling me.
The weird feelings he had is called “cognitive dissonance”. I struggled with it too, when I realized I’m in a cult - the Jehovah’s Witnesses and I had to leave!!
@@mavrosyvannah, I’m happy for you!! 🩷 I’m so glad we found freedom from fear of Armageddon and persecution. I was lucky, my daughter and I “woke up” at the same time. We both have a much easier life now. We’re not slaving for a manmade organization anymore 😊
Oh man, that is one of the most humorless and joyless religions in existence. Imagine having more people in your religion than you say can even be saved when the world ends. I guess if anyone was a convert past the first 144,000, they are screwed. Sorry other 8.5 ish million believers, you're not being saved! Also, no holidays must SUCK.
I'm an ex Mormon and a former missionary. This talk and this message have resonated with my soul and my experiences. I now believe that religion is the embodiment of pride and the absence of true humility. When I left Mormonism I found myself. I'm more myself now than I ever could have been in the trenches of religious indoctrination. The wisest thing anyone can say is "I don't know". Only there does life really begin.
That is why it only one true Christianity. It is called Orthodox. All those questions, which arise, when one follows so called "other denomination" are delt with centuries ago. Of course God does not speak to you on daily basis. It is proudly to think like that. He doesn't command you. Jesus is the way, the force to follow the way come from within. Reformation is ringe on many occasions and in the end of the day will make people lose faith.
If you can just think and I dont mean that in a bad way. But everyone have their own part of Christianity it no humility to say urs is the way Do you know how you proved urs is the way is still the same way that other indoctrination have made their kids believe they are the way aswell ? Don't you get that in the slightest. Anyway I hope he stay in Christianity or find his way back to it but just doing this is right or wrong is super wrong. Like imagine now bc he was born a Mormon and he beloved it entirely then he dies is it fair for him to go to hell fire ? Imagine you wah is Catholic is the right one wnd some stuff is it fair for you to go to hell ? t@@DockSchrem
@@Emperor_famous We do not know if somebody goes to hell. No human konws that. It is the next Catholic/Reformation black/what way of thinking. No human knows who goes to heaven and hell. In the second you think that, you put yourself in front of God. It a bizarre way of thinking. We are all sinners, and we sin every minute. We do not obey God for the very small things, what about the big one. You are not equal with God, you either obey or not. If you do not obey, it is fine, you don follow the way. That is called free will. It must be free decision of your to follow the narrow path.
Watching this hit a lot of nerves for me, ones that haven't been touched in a very long time. I too was raised in the church, and as a child up until my high school years I was as devout as they come. I think having parents who could be categorized as being part of the Christian left shielded me from some of the trauma the church inflicted on so many conservative Christian children, but at the same time that has made just a little harder to fully come to terms with what Christianity does to you. The way it purports love, that you're evangelizing to people because you love them and want them to go to heaven. The way it preys upon basic human needs for community and inner peace. And the way rationalism takes you further and further away from it the more you think critically. And how critical thinking is, to all but the most progressive Christians like my mom and dad, but not the community they brought me into, completely shunned by the Christian establishment. What really hits home for me here is the benevolent intentions that people like Barker had as a minister, how the religion gaslights you into thinking you're doing the right thing for your fellow man. Fucking hell, I need a drink
Since eschewing religion at age 12, I have always found it very interesting that we do not know everything, but we can learn. This implicit belief without evidence that the religious hold must be stifling and frustrating, as observable evidence combats every single bit of it. How could someone be a fully realized human being by believing without evidence and refusing to learn and accept reality? The warm blanket of religion's warmth comes from ignorance that they refer to as "faith".
There is a 'tone' that the holier than thou use. My father was a baptist minister, and his tone was very different while going about 'saving' people than it was at home. However, his tone and every other aspect of his religious self didn't stop him leaving his family for a 17 year old (and then leaving her with two toddlers). Religion, such archaic nonsense
Religion is a magnet to narcissists. I have one in my family, she broke up... destroyed.. more than one family, and thinks she's a prophet. Her tone changes too, jesus this, jesus that, scriptures, and after the warm up, the 'god has revealed to me(s)' start.
We met Dan Barker after a talk and book signing years ago and he was great to listen to. Thanks to him, the rise of the number of people rejecting religion has risen in the US. It is time to put all this religious nonsense aside and start a new age of reason as no of it is a force for good.
It was my accidentally induced religious experiences that put the final nail in the coffin for belief in a god for me. I mixed vodka and K2, AKA spice, AKA toonchi, AKA fake bake, AKA synthetic weed, and every time I did, I had a religious experience. I realized that it was all just a matter having the right chemicals in the brain. Just like Dan I can induce it right now... There it is. Goosebumps, the light, lifted up feeling. The happy, free feeling. I want there to be a god, but the evidence doesn't support it. When you actually educate yourself on psychology, history, biology, and theology it becomes glaringly obvious that pretty much all religion is a grift and a means of manipulation and control. There are exceptions, but they are very few.
There is evidence all around us of God’s existence. The entire Creation itself clearly displays the existence and power of God. Have you ever watched the brilliant colors of a hummingbird, glinting in the sun? The power of a storm with lightning cracking and thunder rolling? Our own hands with all the things they can do and create. Nothing in all of Creation is an accident. Everything comes from the mind and heart of God. “ For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.🙏🏻🕊️
@@annebalderston2520 All those things are just you experiencing the fact that the world is an amazing place for a living thing with a conscious mind to exist in. If, by your thinking, these things were true, we must also accept all the very terrible things present in our existence. If everything comes from the mind and heart of your deity, he must be a very sadistic being, because this world is full of violence, disease and pain as well as incredible beauty.
Thank you. I never thought about it your way. I always think about my nature as being good. Love is primordial and predates humanity. I think of the bad things about me as unnatural. They (my shortcomings) are the responses to being exposed to this terrible world. For example, I have ptsd and have a hard time with physical touch. I have started meditating and imagining I’m a cave woman and it helps me tremendously. I imagine that I am free from all of the arbitrary constraints of society and I’m free to experience love. I know it’s not that simple because I’ve seen some naughty little monkeys 🙈! 😂😂😂
@@michelleespino9814 I am now almost 70 YO. I wish I had this perspective earlier in life. I would have been more fearless and less afraid of failure. That you reflect on the "why" is good I think. I use the "mammal in my brain" to understand other's. Being male, it is the only way I can excuse some of my past behaviors and thinking. Watching nature shows of male mammals doing short sighted stupid things helps me understand my life choices a little better, too.
@@retiredrn1873 A huge part of what makes us human is controlling our darker urges. Human beings can and do change. A truly realized human being continues to learn and grow throughout the entirety of their life, because while the universe is infinite, we can only consume so much knowledge and much of that is subject to what we are exposed to. A baby is not born with malice or violence: these are behaviors inflicted upon us by the harsh world we exist in. Much of who and what we think we are relies on multiple concepts developed through our interaction with the world and its other inhabitants. To be human is to conceptualize reality, individually.
I became an evangelical Christian when I was 17, having grown up in an agnostic household. Through university, I started writing songs and I had dreams of being a Christian musician and songwriter. But I had the misfortune to be British. In the UK, Christian music was and is tiny. There isn't the massive Christian audience that there is in the US to make producing Christian albums worthwhile. Christian labels were mostly only interested in churning out praise and worship albums, and I wasn't interested in writing inane choruses. I wanted to write Christian rock operas in the vein of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I did write two Christian rock operas - "Locusts And Honey", about the life of John the Baptist, and "The Man Behind St. Albans", about the martyrdom of St. Alban - but L&H only got to be performed three times in colleges, and TMBSA was never performed because the churches I went to couldn't be bothered going to all that trouble of rehearsing and staging it. If they did put on a musical, it had to be one that the pre-school children in the church could take part in, which meant writing inane music again. The thing was, people in the church were constantly telling me that God had a plan for my life and it seemed that what I was best at and really enjoyed doing, God didn't want me to do. In fact, he didn't appear to want me to do anything at all. It was such a relief when I understood that there wasn't a God who had any kind of plan for my life, and if things went wrong, it was just because s**t happens. I'm still writing songs (but not Christian ones) and I'm still hoping to write a hit one day.
Have you ever considered that people were wrong? You literately just recited a story from the Bible, where friends and family tell a man he's a sinner and that's why God's punishing him, where it's not at all what was going on. If your faith is based on what people tell you, then you have set yourself up for failure. If such a setback with people YOU chose was enough to ruin your relationship with God, then you can't really call it faith. It was hopes and dreams that didn't get instant gratification that you wanted.
@@timur22993 What are you talking about? The point was, that there was no relationship with God, not because of anything I had done or not done, because I'd sincerely repented of my sins and asked Jesus into my life. I was constantly being blamed for my lack of relationship with God by people who would not listen to my story and instead judged me and decided that I was in the wrong, when I knew inside that I wasn't. If there had been anything that I could have done, I would have done it.
@@mikenash7049 "I'd sincerely repented of my sins and asked Jesus into my life." The way you phrased this response implies that you asked to have that relationship but did not receive it. But neither in your original post, nor this one, have you once mentioned directing your concerns to God (praying, reading Bible). Instead, it's either not getting your ambition fulfilled because of people, or being told something you disagree with by people. Thing is, if you did do everything you could have done, you'd realize that people are not the judges of your relationship with God. Your original comment's story is a soft version of the story of Job, and you not seeing it makes me think you did not read it. So, forgive me for running to conclusions, but your first post, or this response did not provide enough information for any other.
The idea that education can resolve the problem of religiosity (or superstition, uncritical thinking in general, because, say, Chinese or North Koreans, are not religious, but still lack critical thinking, support their oppressive dictatorial regimes, etc.) is not supported by evidence, imho. If we compare society in, say, USA, 200 years ago and today, we will have to admit that the average "volume" of education grown ups have come through is probably hundreds of times that of 200 years ago. And yet the level of religiosity has dropped by relatively little - about 10% are agnostics or atheists, according to data (and I suspect 200 years ago there were atheists as well). So much education, so little effect. It may appear, therefore, that the problem is not the quantity, but the quality of education. But it's a closed loop, because education is conducted by people and in, say, USA, the overwhelming majority are religious.
@@k.squaredConsidering a lot of the education had a religion in it, I don't think you can rule it out when we haven't gotten the people without public school religious indoctrination to their 40s
@@k.squared Millenials, Gen Z have each steeply declined in religious expression. The atheist/agnostic majority is coming of age, another battleground in a war of culture and (mis)education. It is the divide of people who do not and will not change, and those who are different by circumstance and education. These older people raised these agnostics and atheists in their homes. Will they not accept responsibility for this outcome?
Good piano playing Dan. Love how humble and honest he is publicly. He is always respectful. Even when Oprah, who is the poster person for emotional intelligence, was quite rude with her “what does that say about you” comment. He responded in a self effacing manner. None of us know for sure if there is a God. He just admits what he experienced wasn’t supernatural and was brave enough to change.
How is Oprah the poster person for emotional intelligence lol she's so detached from reality. She's a billionaire desperately trying to look relatable.
@@sammur1977 I try my best to be just like I am_ but everybody wants me to be just like them_ He’s your make believe hero - not everyone’s. If there is a hell - you sure ain’t the person who decides who’s going, so keep your hate to yourself
@@DaveRossignol I wonder how you got "seething envy" from that message? I just think there are so many amazing people to look up to and Oprah is not one of the for me. Calling her the poster person for emotional intelligence to me felt a bit like calling Elon Musk a great engineer and Donald Trump a self made man. I really do not see it that way, that's all. You have a nice day too.
@@juliee593Julie, i must be “seething with envy,” and “jealousy” also, as i have the same opinion of those you have mentioned. Ophra was was devious racist who once stated, “I can’t wait for all old white men to die;” Trump’s “daddy seed money,” and connections to the organized criminals running the Manhattan’s construction businesses allowed little Trumpy to succeed.There’s pics of Trump cavorting with Gerslaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein way back in the 1980’s; and the new alleged “savior of free speech” Elon Musk, of Star-link enterprise, is in collusion with the military industrial complex, Palantir, Pay pal mogul Peter Tiel (?), whom are racing to implement “1984” total A.I. surveillance for the supposedly benefit of all mankind. Journalist Witney Webb’s book, “A Nation Under Blackmail,” exposes all these posturing hypocritical psychos for who they really are. 🤔
@somad6997 This right here. Phil is just a conservative propagandist who derides the mentally unwell for the gawping amusement of his audience. People going on his show get basically told, "Stop having problems."
Sorry to hear it was stressful for you. Happened to me when I was 14. One day I just realized it was literally unbelievable. I had been indoctrinated since the age of five and on that day the indoctrination failed and I've never changed my mind or had a doubt in 50 years.
It is scary to understand just how small and alone we truly are in the universe. I think that's the major factor keeping people religious: it's comforting to think that this is all by design and that life somehow has a set "purpose". Nowadays, I find it fascinating to learn about the earth before humans. It's comforting to me knowing I am just a tiny, tiny part of the universe at large and that my life is finite. I am unafraid of death and happy to experience my life day by day.
@byron739 it makes you so focus on the so called afterlife so afriad of going to hell thinking everything is a sin trying to so hard to follow this book which is impossible making you feel guilty and shame by trying to follow the rules but you fail its very psychological it keeps you from enjoying this one life you have to experience it life is already stressful to add all that bullshit of religion
the goose bumps feeling is colloquially called ASMR, everyone has different triggers, whispers, crackles, harmonics, music, morning sunrise, it's why some watch horror movies. and he's right it is a thing we evolved with, a survival trait we no longer use for surviving, it heightens your awareness when it triggers and those who had it would have a better chance of living vs those that didn't have it.
The religious sects that can accept the reality of evolution and science are surely the most advanced, yet it's strange to me they just don't go all the way and say "You know what? These things can be proven by observable and repeatable evidence, and this other thing cannot. Maybe, just maybe, we made up one of these things."
"I am free with a rational mind to determine a hierarchy of values which suits me fine and which helps me to protect myself from what I perceive to be evil." Very great quote!
I saw through the veil of religion when I was 16. The preacher was a "hands on" faith healer who was filling people with the "holy spirit". That little exposure to the falsehood that religion is set me on a 20 year journey to try to find "god" and eventually casting christianity away all together. I agree with Barker that it is a part of growing up. And once you do you never see the world the same way ever again. But, that's a good thing. Because it opens your eyes to the reality that is the world. I believe that it made me more empathetic to people around me. Things were not black and white anymore. They were shades of gray. People weren't good or evil now. They were the product of their environment, upbringing, society, and even genetics. To understand people, you have to get into their heads and see the world from their perspective. Yeah, I know that's hard and not as easy as telling them they have to follow a certain path. But what you end up with is a deeper understanding of who this person is, and maybe, you can show them some compassion.
I was 8, catholic school, teacher said 'fairies aren't real, but angels are!' Right away I thought, how do you know that, how COULD you know that? And just like that the thread was pulled, and religion unraveled.
What is so crazy to me is that there are thousands of world religions and thousands of sects within those religions, some monotheist some polytheist, yet all of them believe that theirs is the only one that is true. Meanwhile, science chugs along, correcting itself over and over based on evidence which can be observed, tested and measured, not claiming anything but what we can see is objectively true.
@@Linkaless I was 12, the age my parents agreed to let my sister and I make up our own minds. My mother had been taking us to church and Sunday school. I asked questions that the adults looking after us in Sunday school had no answers for and told me that I "just needed to have faith". I had already been thinking for many years about if it was real at all, but that cemented it for me, because I was already thinking logically. If you can't give a good answer to a 12 year old's question, you might be full of bull***t. Also, come on, THOUSANDS of religions and sects and they are all claiming to be right? Religion has nothing to do with logic and that was a problem for me. If the human species makes it into the far future, explores the entire universe and finally finds the creator of it all and it's not near what they thought, but it's proven factually to be the thing that created it all and everything they believed was a lie, will the religious admit their ignorance? Somehow, I very much doubt they will. Blind belief does not want the truth; it is predicated on stories that cannot hold up to the burden of proof.
@@McShag420 will the religious admit their ignorance? No, at least not all or even many. I've asked christians similar questions, if we went back in time and there was no jesus, would you still believe (yes). If we watched Paul making it up as he went along while writing it, would you still believe it (yes). If the god of another religion appeared in this room and said he created everything, would you still believe your book (yes) It's like that cult where the leader took all their money and dumped them in a cave, telling them the 'end is near', then after the leader got arrested and forced to return and try to save their lives by getting them out the cave, many did not (and perished) -It's just mad
@@Mr.Storytime959We are in fact god playing that we are not. But humans went too far in playing that they are not, so they created some abstract deity that looks like a human and has a beard, and reigns in the heavens above. But everything you see is god in disguise, coming into being to have the the most extraordinary fun.
@@Mr.Storytime959 Are you suggesting life isn't worth living unless you personally have the answer to everything, or even the unknowable? I like to play chess, I don't know everything about it, but I don't just get up and walk off after the first couple of moves because I don't know how the game will end, or where chess came from. - That line of objection to life is so baffling, you might never get all the answers, unless 'magic' from the people handing out collection plates is your limit of understanding.
She was constantly interrupting him and he just showed how his beliefs hold up to even such bad-faith questioning. He conducted himself with grace, while she made an ass of herself.
The level to which I relate to Dan. The delusion, the belief I was on the right side, the communication with the spirit, the constant prayer, yet constantly battling what I now recognize as my true self, calling out that something was wrong with all of it. I’m so grateful that I got out. Pastors kid on a journey of understanding himself, and healing from the trauma and delusion.
Thanks so much Dan. I still have my ffrf button from the so many years ago. In my earliest memories, I recall struggling with any belief in supernatural. Probably enhanced by my autistic spectrum brain, even at single digit years old, I required proof to be natural. Even as a first grader, I could not bring myself to believe any any religious concept that included supernatural. I enjoyed sciences especially astronomy. Religion simply had no room in my life. Then, as I awakened as a gay man, I became targeted by hateful Christians. After that, I not only disbelieved religion, but feared Christians. Reflecting now, I thank you for facing the organized Christians and countering their mean-spirited lies with intelligent responses.
'O' is a hot mess, wrapped in a narcissistic capitalist veil of self righteousness, trying desperately to corner Dan Brown under intense public pressure, and feigning repulsion at his clear, unfalsifiable answers. Well played Dan, in so many ways.
I remember that show and I kind of thought the same. I loved her show and all the interesting ideas her guests brought. I would record them on VCR. I really appreciate Dan being on there. He got me to thinking. Later she had a lot of shows with Echart Tolle. I really got into his messages. Somehow the meditation type things got me to where I could leave religion and myth behind. I then started reading Dan's books and other books on atheist thought. I feel such freedom since then. I was atheist before UA-cam but really enjoy finding these gems that remind me how far I have come.
I was also a fundamentalist Christian in my younger years. However, to make a long story short, my rational, logical mind came to the conclusion that I didn’t know anything, and that defined me as an agnostic, which literally means “I don’t know.” It’s a matter of semantics as to the nuances between atheism and agnosticism. I personally feel that an atheist claims that there’s no god, but I’m willing to accept the probability that maybe there’s a non-religion god.
I do not care whether God exists or not. I will not worship an evil being that sends most of humanity to hell/lake of fire to be tormented forever. Any kind rational being could come up with a much fairer world and universe than the Biblical God did.
How about a God that respects your wish to be separate from Him enough to grant it? Many of you don't seem to understand that it's not a punishment, it's a result of your choices. A lake of fire is where devil and his demons go. If you want to be separate from the only being who can protect you from them, where do you expect to end up? Or are you going to stop using the "evil God" now and start saying "none of this is real"?
Understand one thing well: All people who reject The Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Redeemer will be condemned to hell. A place where the lost souls will be tormented for eternity and receive swimming lessons from Luci F. Make a wise choice because man has only a short time on earth to decide.
The lake of fire is an image of how it feels to be closed out from love and life. It was never intended for us humans but for the Devil and his fellows. But with our free will we have to choose; Do we want to spend eternity with God who is the one ruler in heaven - Or do we rather want to reject him and have it our way. Jesus spoke so much more about heaven than of hell. Sin is separation from God. Jesus became sin on the cross to pay our pardon. He was all separated from God - which he also shouts out. ”Why have You forsaken me?” In heaven there can be no separation from God.
Funny thing is, hell didn't exist in the various texts originally. I guess the murderous god wasn't enough to scare the followers so they had to come up with something even scarier.
Those of us who have deconstructed and deconverted can totally relate to what you have shared. Those who still believe just cannot wrap their heads around it. In their minds it's "How can anyone not believe anymore? How can anyone just decide "Nope. This isn't true" and walk away." They won't ever get it unless it happens to them.
Around 1986 Dan Barker presented his story to Atheists United in Santa Monica, CA, and I heard it when they broadcast it on their 15-minute weekly radio show (show is no longer produced; hundreds or thousands of hours of Christian programming filling the airwaves each day versus 15 minutes a week of atheist programming which I guess is proof that Christians are being silenced and persecuted). When he was going through his deconversion, it was in the LA area where, because this was at the dawn on public access to the Internet, he couldn't find another atheists in all of Southern California but rather had to travel 2000 miles across the country. And here Atheists United were right next door all that time. In his presentation (at the end as I seem to recall) he cried out, "Where were you when I needed you?" One observation he made which I still use in discussion was this definition of Fundamentalism: "Fundamentalism is when your theology becomes your psychology." And supporting that is the fact that fundamentalists need their own "Christian counselors" catering to their different psychology such that a normal counselor couldn't help them ("But Doc, what does Jesus want me to do?") and a Christian counselor is worse than useless to us normals ("Nothing you do can help you; only Jesus can help you." -- DivorceCare). Yep, you just can't win with Original Sin.
I hate how she harped on him about having to justify a change in belief after 17 years. If a man is open minded enough to change that core of a belief especially back when this aired, he should be proud of his ability to think critically and admit he was wrong.
After a disasterous experience at Bible College I went through something similar to Dan. My story isn't the same as is (who among us really has the same story?), but I recognize what he said about reading science and philosophy and suddenly understanding the world in a new way. I tried to hold onto my evangelical beliefs but in the end I couldn't do it. I still consider myself as a Christian humanist but I no longer accept a conservative interpretation of scripture.
@@Wkumar07 That's your problem right there, another spin-off denomination post-Protestantism. Literally ZERO church history courses in their Bachelors program Bible & Theology (Bachelor) All courses are three credits unless shown otherwise. Bible & Theology (63 credits) NT 112 Reading the Gospels and Acts NT 221 Reading Paul’s Letters NT 351 Reading Hebrews to Revelation OT 112 Reading the Torah OT 221 Reading the Historical Books OT 343 Reading the Psalms and Wisdom Literature OT 453 Reading the Prophets ST 105 The Christian Quest TH 100 Introduction to Christian Theology TH 210 The God of the Gospel TH 313 Creation to New Creation BT 402 Bible/Theology Practicum* BT 403 Bible/Theology Directed Study* BT 406 Bible/Theology Research Paper* BT 409 Word and World Bible and Theology Electives (18 credits) Arts & Sciences (36 credits) HF 111 Thinking & Writing SS 170 Christianity in the 21st Century World SS 210 Introduction to Psychology SS 261 Leadership Foundations SC 230 History and Philosophy of Science HF 231 History of Western Civilization I HF 232 History of Western Civilization II AS 400 Integrative Seminar Arts and Sciences Electives (9 credits) How on earth does one get through a degree in theology without visiting the ante-Nicene fathers, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas etc? You got sold a bill of Christian goods, the happy-go-lucky Christianity I'd imagine, should have went for the real thing.
@@seizetoday2801 it was a standard evangelical college. Ironically, I would have much enjoyed a program like the one you listed above. Of course, I probably would have drifted toward a Christian humanism regardless of where I attended.
Since I'm little family n people use to tell me the word of God was infallible that it could not be burn till the day COVID-19 hit that I woke up and realize that God is nowhere to be found. And started to realize that the people that the word of God judge was completely wrong and started evolving that the Bible is far from infallible" n that's when I started to take my power back instead of giving it to the so call invisible one. N today I could stand in front of the wises ones with the scriptures and stand my ground and never been defeated. So i to prove that the Bible is far from infallible n have free myself. Thank you
Of all the horrible plagues humanity has gone through, covid did it for you? I mean, I am glad you woke up, but the Black Plague didn't do it for you? The Spanish flu? Cholera?
im so impressed by this man who despite being a preacher was able to see that was no scientific evidence warranting his beliefs(some of which are demonstrably false e.g. 2 of every animal in boat)
Smart guy. I was raised a Jehvah's Witness (I know..) and they say you'll live forever on a finite earth. I was around 12 when I thought what happens in a billion years when no one has died and humans are shoulder to shoulder hahah I was always skeptical as far as I remember but I was an atheist from that thought onwards.
Oh how well I remember those altar calls.After an hour and a half of preaching, you'd have to sit through another hour of emotional pull for more to come forward & give their life to christ. Wondered if you would ever get out of there. Emotional hostages
From the beginning of the Adam race, the ENEMY used a very effective weapon against
the Adam race, and it was two things about God: 1) Doubt God's Word; 2) Call God a Liar
This is how it has been up until now - and now... people who have even been in The Church for many
years are falling for the DECEIT of The DEVIL...
Psalm 14:1-3 The Fool Does Not Want God
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
1Timothy 4:1-3 The Latter Times Men Depart From Faith
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2Timothy 3:1-5 The Last Days Signs
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Timothy 4:2-4 They Will Turn Their Ears from The Truth
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
LACK OF FAITH
Luke 18:8 The LORD JESUS --- Shall He Find Faith on Earth when He Returns?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
2Peter 3:3-7 Men Will Fall Away from the Faith
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
NOW IS THE TIME TO BELIEVE AND BE SAVED
Acts 13:38,39 The Apostle Paul shows way of SALVATION
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ that you might be saved.
2Corinthians 4:2-7 The Gospel Hid to them that are Lost
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Ephesians 2: 1-3 The Prince of The Power of The Air - Working in Children of Disobedience
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
For those that are going against God's Word are those that are falling into the hands of the enemy. The Enemy hates God, but he cannot defeat God; therefore, he will do what he can to disturb God. One of the ways is to influence the Children of Adam to doubt God, then call God a liar - just like in the garden.
Mega church pastors be like "We're millionaires living in mansions with private jets, but it's GOD that needs your hard-earned money!" Yeah man, I totally believe your god wanted you to have that Bentley and eat caviar while kids starve in this very country.
I hate Oprah and the way she conducted this "interview" with such hostility and condescending and accusatory language. She has always been a media puppet and more concerned with sensationalism. She lacks any journalistic integrity.
@@spaceghost8995 OK you can pretend that she's just a puppet as much as you want but she's the one who founded the school in Africa that was trafficking children so...... Look more into that if you don't know but there are a bunch of children that went missing from her schools that are apparently part of child sex trafficking rings. Oprah has Also endorsed that 1 shortly famous miracle healer dude that was actually just a scam artist That caused a bunch of poor people to have medical troubles beyond what they were already experiencing......... You know doing bullshit like shaking someone's head when they had a broken neck and then saying you're healed only to find out a week later they died from the broken neck because he aggravated it 😂Yeah Oprah is a bad woman and she knows what she is endorsing and she just doesn't have any accountability.
It was a long while ago. Decent human beings shouldn’t behave exactly the same at 60 as they do at 30. Oprah has evolved, as I’m sure Dan has since then.
@@andrewhaywood3853 Has she though? Since then she gave us Oz, a quack peddling snake oil, and Phil, possibly the most emotionally cruel talkshow host I've ever seen. Both of them caused their own form of damage and they did so with her help.
Wow, I’ve never been able to bring these emotions and physical experiences to words and conceptualize them. As a former survivor of the Pentecostal Christian faith. Thank you SO much.
@@buukkreider544 " 'FEELING' and 'EMOTION', but oftentimes, lack of BIBLICAL TRUTH." Please show where you are not basing your belief system on your feelings about it.
@@GuitarDog_atx That whole trope of a loving god is also a modern invention. Out of thousands of religions, each has changed their religious texts over hundreds or thousands of years, to fit in with the modern times. The Old Testament god was a sadistic, violent, messed up god...but I'd believe that far before the loving god BS.
I too was an evangelist who preached on the streets and did visitations. I preached often in other churches and revivals and had all the expieriences of spirituality that came with belief and commitment. In the end I too came to the same conclusion.
I remember the account by Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton, who went from being a believer to agnosticism and finally atheism. Dan Barker's story sounds very similar.
Just watch that Oprah Video. The woman treats Dan like someone who no longer supports her favourite Football Team. She is so aggressive and dismissive. This is not about belief. This is about taking offence. The weight juggling bint is angry, because Dan has found out that her favourite imaginary friend is probably not real. The richer than Jesus celebrity would happily beat Dan to a fleshy pulp, lest he lead another member of Team Jesus astray. Surely the vengeance bit is for god to handle. Romans 12:19. Yet that crowd would turn physical with one word from the salad dodger.
@@hankbeckleshimer5541 Thank you. I know nothing about the woman, other than from this clip and that "You get a car" meme. Her style of programming does not appear to have proven appealing over here. What you say makes sense. Arrogance and self righteousness tends to go hand in hand with these pointless celebrities. A god would seem a logical next step.
Oprah's audience is about 99 percent Christian plus she is also brainwashed and that is reflected in her body language and tone of her voice. I've seen her humiliate good folks like Nancy Friday and others on her pathetic show .
It was the 80's. That was par for the course of the time. Oprah became wildly famous for being the voice of mainstream America for a reason. She would have been praised as a hero for bravely confronting the evils of a non-believer. I'm sure millage varied by where you lived, but that was EXACTLY the tone of religion's tolerance that I remember growing up in.
Good, you should know why you believe what you believe and the arguments that oppose it. Watching atheist vs. Christian debates persuaded me to theism.
@@seizetoday2801 Interesting. Which debate or debates and what arguments by theists convinced you of a higher power and is your belief broad, or is it a particular religion you landed on?
@McShag420 Hitchens v. Turek, Harris v. Craig, Dawkins v. Lennox to name few. The strongest rationale for general theism I find to be: the cosmological argument (the universe had a cause, that cause was personal) and the argument from morality ie morality in the absolute sense doesn't exist apart from a law-giver. The case for Christianity requires lengthy treatment, which I will provide, if requested.
Absolutely compelling. Brave and unsettling to come to terms with the power of religious indoctrination--or any kind of indoctrination. What Barker is describing is a kind of split consciousness--the God delusion--that voice that seems like it's the Holy Other, but it's actually your own. Barker's story reminds me of Julian Jaynes and his book The Bicameral Mind where he looks at primitive cultures and the emergence of the individual, having a violent psyche break from the collective group thought of their clan, people, village... Fascinating testimony. Great video
Thank you Dan, your intellectual courage and honesty is the hope for the future of humanity, like the light that evicts the darkness of mass blindness, first for yourself and then the rest of us.
That was refreshing. Mr. Barker never quit thinking and reevaluating. All that time he thought that he was a evangelist, he was living the scientific method.
One of the smartest guys I know is extremely religious. I’ve known him his whole life. He’s been exposed to truth as much as I have. Why are they so broken but they have to believe in fairytales? I never understood it, because since I was old enough to recite the Lord’s Prayer I knew it was BS. Know if you have mental issues, which I’m aware of because both my brothers are mentally handicapped then I don’t begrudge them some religion. But it’s way too invasive into peoples lives. We need to let go.
I honor You fully for your courage and honesty. I admire your calmness and rational thinking. As an ex-muslim I share your ideas and feel for the tremendous effort You had to do to overcome your child indoctrination. Only difference is that I’m a panentheist looking for more answers. All my love and respect for those who think.
@@Davie-jx4rh He's just spreading the "good news"! 😇"Worship me or face eternal torture" is the very epitome of love! 😍 Just ask any abusive spouse. Hallmark Cards WISHES they could communicate such a sweet message. 🥰
@@buukkreider544 Tell me about this loving religion of yours that’s sends people to eternal torture for not believing a poorly written book of genocide and slavery with no evidence?
I came to the conclusion that the only religion that is a good one, is one where you strive to better yourself. No missionaries, no conversion, no „my god is the best“ bs, only me, myself and I. How do I become better?
Religion is man made. Out of all the religions of the world, only your’s is right? You can only get to heaven by accepting Christ. What about all of the people before Christ? I’m baffled by the human need for religion. I have no religion and am just fine.
Lesson is it doesn't matter what you believe, Christian or Atheist. What is is regardless of belief. Instead keep the mind open and avoid conclusions. Also, "Be excellent to each other." - Bill and Ted
@@littlebitofhope1489 I'm glad you were able to gather enough evidence to make that conclusion. I'm not smart enough or informed enough to say I agree or disagree with you. The only conclusion I can arrive at is humans are generally pretty ignorant by nature no matter how hard they try not to be. There's just too much to know and analyze. But my opinion isn't important anyways. Thanks for reading though.
That's a nice sentiment, but religion is going to compel people to act in ways that are in conflict with that. How many parents have disowned children because of [Leviticus 18:22]? I have a child, I would disown a god before I disown my child. I'm not saying someone couldn't disown their child for being different on their own accord, but religion will compel a person who wouldn't do it on their own accord.
"A man of self-esteem and sovereign conciousness deals with reality, with nature, with an objective universe of facts; he holds his mind as his tool of survival and develops his ability to think". -Nathaniel Branden-1967
I was deeply brainwashed into thinking crazy religious shit was real and ended up developing phobias because of it. It wasnt until i was a teen that i started questioning all of it and then i was looked down upon so i started distancing myself from my family... best choice ive ever made.
I read his book "From Preacher to Atheist" back in the 90s. I figured if a devout Christian realizes it's BS then that's a pretty good argument against it.
@@hildebos1653 same answer. The Gods and Goddesses existed otherwise they're offsprings wouldn't have. All of us are image of God. Plants,trees, animals such as humans, dog, bear, whales, etc The theory of evolution did not debunk that there is no Gods/Goddesses.
It's why the hymn writer wrote, "I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name." The hope of the Christian is not some emotional "spiritual" experience. It's based on Jesus and His finished work, alone. The hymn writer goes on to say that it is his (Jesus') oath, his covenant, his blood that supports me in the whelming flood. In other words salvation, the gift of eternal life, is based on what Christ has done to earn salvation in our place, not any of our own works, but a free gift received by faith in Jesus so that it is available to all, whether good or bad, rich or poor, whoever. That's the Christian's hope.
"I was wrong. I made a mistake". Those words are so powerful. We all benefit when we can reach that level of humility.
SO let's hear you repent of atheism, admitting that a construction as massive and intricate as the universe, with 2,000 trillion galaxies, each with a million stars, could not develop without a mind behind it.
@@ConservativeAnthem
I have no reason or evidence that supports your claim of a "mind" that creates a universe.
Just because you say so doesn't make it true.
@ConservativeAnthem I would gladly repent if there was sufficient evidence, but unfortunately, "massive universe" hardly counts. Furthermore, ex-nihilo creation isn't even biblical. So it's hard to give God credit for all that...
@@Prom591 why give a god credit for anything?
@dward8024 Well, there isn't a God, so I don't. Just responding to someone's nonsense!
When I was a teen, it was time for my communion. But my mother told me to stay home. I asked why I won't get my communion. And I always always remember her answer, she said "One day you'll be old enough to understand what that all that religion stuff means. And when you reach that point, I'll support whatever you do regarding religions. Religions are for adults, you go back being a kid. I love you".
I was just happy to have a day off back then. But now I understand what she was doing. She wasn't telling me what to believe or not believe, she didn't try to stir me into her path of belief. She gave me the option, and assured me that I would be loved no matter what I grew up into.
And I will always love her for that.
PS. I'm an atheist. And funny enough, I spoke about that to my mother not too long ago, and she doesn't believe in a god per say, but she believes our conscience is not lost when we die. I don't. I say that just to prove that she didn't brainwash me into her belief. She let me grow and figure it out myself.
10/10 mom
You have a good mom. Mine also taught me how to think, not what to think.
@Mel-q5n5j Prove it or forever hold your tongue....
@Mel-q5n5j Scumbag. Don't push the threat of damnation onto others unless you're god himself... You are not.
@Mel-q5n5j You just demonstrated how religions work - by imposing fear. Being an atheist means that you don't have to fear the afterlife - because there is none. We'll just be stardust again.
I allowed my children to choose their own path also. One chose a spiritual eastern path, one a traditional Christian and one chose to be a nonbeliever.
I've met and talked with Dan Barker. I also was an evangelical missionary - Operation Mobilization - in Europe (46 years as an evangelical, degree in theology), before I finally "saw the light" and gave up all belief in any god or supreme being. At 76 years, I am now waaay happier as an atheist than I ever was as a committed believer.
Same for Dr. Ammon, world expert in Ancient Greek, ua-cam.com/video/FzcsPShurpE/v-deo.html
Don’t you have doubts?
What if your happiness is just a delusion?
Rant add, I think it's cause you learn and realize one own self... Which makes yourself at peace with yourself (or at least understand who one is and not reject yourself for another idea/ group/ peer etc)
How good. 😊 as for me, I'm actually finding myself again.
If religion wasn’t allowed to be taught until 20 years old, there would be very few religious people in the world. Most of our beliefs are passed on from parents/family as children when the mind is susceptible to influence.
And religious people know this.
My Mother, Father and Brother converted to Catholicism en mass when my parents were in their mid 50's and my brother was late 20's...There would be less for sure but some people never hit the age of reason.
It's true!
This is one of the realest comment I've read, religions can only work because it's indoctrinated to kids
i didnt buy it even then as a 7 yr old being indoctrinated by school and family i just cant help that my nostrils can smell bullshit
What christians won't admit, is that these "religious" experiences can be had by anyone almost anywhere, like a rock concert or anywhere you're with likeminded people enjoying something pleasant to you. It's just a release of oxytocin, no god needed. I say this from experience, I too used to be an evangelical christian. It's the reason you hear so many believers talk about they know their god is real because they have felt him lol. Dan does a wonderful job explaining, great guy!
Yep.
After i realized i couldn’t believe it anymore, i had to stop listening to all of my Xian music: the emotions/nostalgia/whatever would put me in a vulnerable place, and i’d talk myself back into wanting it to be true.
I can enjoy those albums again now, with the emotional distance, but there was a rough couple of years where i couldn’t trust my real brain to not succumb to the church-brain.
It is, to be fair, probably the only honest argument that a religious believer can offer. (Next in line would be appeal to faith which, although a candid epistemic admission as far as it goes, is not invoking an honest evaluation of ANYTHING.)
Subjective experience is where we live out our lives. It could hardly be more real or more powerful, to us individually. So I get how important it is.
And yet it's not very reliable. We routinely misperceive, or misremember, simple events in our daily lives. Many people do not reason well, particularly when strong emotions are involved. A strongly felt sense of conviction doesn't improve our accuracy, but it can certainly cloud our judgment.
I don't doubt, also, that many people have experienced impressive hallucinations or psychotic episodes. I have had such experiences myself, both beatific and horrific. They feel very real and very important. And yet, they're still completely subjective.
We must at least recognize this, if we're to open up to a world that is, at least potentially, more than our subjective experiences and instincts and emotions. And, unfortunately, religion systematically holds us back. It builds an imaginative fiction around faith claims, drawing upon our subjective needs so that we will convince ourselves that the claims must be true because we want them to be true, or fear the consequences of them being false. But none of this, no amount of wishful or fearful thinking, brings us closer to reality.
@@starfishsystems Anthropomorphism. It is the felt experience of being told there is a father or mother who loves you unconditionally and will bring you into the house where there is no longer suffering like the kind you see in the world---mad, violent, unjust suffering---as long as you do these things on this list.
President Eisenhower on his departure speech cautioned about the EVIL of ATHEISM.
@@cuzned1375 When your time is up... you might be singing a DIFFERENT TUNE.
I’m so happy to see this. What a soft spoken, calm, and rational man. Slowly but surely hopefully we can have more people “come out” like this…
Because Christianity is very dangerous
"Coming out of the Confessional "! ( Instead of a gay person coming put of the closet.) Scientists and doctors have used functional MRIs to see which part of the brain lights up with certain thoughts. The same areas light up for an infant being fed as when someone who believes in God, thinks about him and prayer. Interesting!
I have no idea how every Christian doesn't come to the same conclusion as Barker.
That's the difference between a 'PROFESSED' believer - and a TRUE BELIEVER.
Indoctrination is very powerful. That's why it's used.
Because he came to the wrong conclusion. He used to thing everything was black-and-white, now he thinks everything is white-and-black. Reality is infinite shades of grey.
Because the threat of someone smiting you for believing otherwise is more powerful than logic.
It doesn’t come easily! It comes from experience and age. It comes from deep internal, mental evaluation of life.
I am so grateful for people like Dan Barker breaking the moronic spell of religion.
🖖👍👏
There is a difference between believing in God and believing in religion.
People can have religion and are free to do so. But when it runs their life, it becomes a problem. People that are too harsh in their beliefs start wars, kill people, can’t reconcile their feelings and their religion. A lot of really religious people are very abusive to others around them.
Once you finally bite the dust... you might regret your remark.
@@garyabbott3861 no there is none. You’re fooling yourself - yet again
Atheism isn't a religion it's a personal relationship with REALITY.
Not really, it is a collective (objective) relationship with reality.
Reality is looking outside of the basic facts of the world and realizing it is impossible to get life from nothing. Atheism cannot stretch that far.
Atheism cant explain reality
@@DeathBeach ok genius explain reality,
does it come from a book with a talking snake Lol
@@BojanBojovicthen why is Atheist in the A where as reality is in the R on the A-Z (Alphabet) Word Line? would it have not be better to have been call: Realist than Atheist? is a belief of civil highest unintelligent man idiot liberal stupid : h u man s : human slave vassals on this Planet;
I for got that civil humans stay far a way way from military and the r to make believe into believer;
Dan has decades of success educating the victims of cults. Dan and Annie Laurie are American heroes.
YOU are doing and saying what THE ENEMY wants you to. We're very close to the end...BEWARE!
@@buukkreider544 We are very close to the end!
How many - I think hundreds of millions- said exactly the same in the last 2.000 years?
@@andorgaraczi2288 2Peter 3:3-7 Men Will Fall Away from the Faith
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
@@buukkreider544start reading the Bible that should do it . Turned me into an atheist
@@mariaquesada8626 That's what the last person said.
I can only massively respect people like Dan Barker that has the mental agility to change his mind from such firm beliefs.
Especially considering his profound emotional attachment.
I have always believed that it is harder to be an atheist than an adherent to a given theology. One needs to challenge the belief structure and rationalize why the beliefs exist and where the proof is to support it, which often leads to doubting the whole narrative. Followers tend to accept what is told as the truth without challenge.
Which in turn is pretty scary considering how dumb most people are and how slim the chance for them to see through the manipulation is
Im 2-3 years deconverted from evangelical christianity. Just found dan barker with this video, but wow! For an atheist youtubee, his line of thinking is by far the most relatable I've found to mine
So if Evolution is true, please explain how admitting you are mutated pond scum deal with the nihilism embedded in your outlook?
Absolutely! So well spoken and relatable.
Have you found Bitchspot Blog yet? He's not pulling any punches, LOL!!!
The vast majority of atheists are not 4Chan style assholes. They are merely the loudest.
A belated, welcome to reality. 👋
I’m so sick of being saturated with the Christian mythology and hypocrisy!!
Look in the MIRROR and say that... but leave out 'Christian'.
@@buukkreider544
I don’t follow any mythology and hypocrisy is not in my character.
@buukkreider544 Ok Buuk, settle down.
So you come across a community of people that don't share your beliefs. And some of them are even kind of vocal about it.
Now, you can either give into the immediate urge to go both defensive offensive. Jump into the fray and accomplish 100% nothing.
Because I guarantee you that not a single one of the comments you leave here are going to change any minds.
And deep down you know this. It's not gonna matter because you're being a jerk. People don't listen to jerks.
But do go on, preach your hate and vile and then you can go home feeling good about yourself for standing up for your skyfriend.
Who wants you to be nice to people and connect with them.
Good job.
Same
@@Tuttermuts
Absolutely.
It’s crazy. When I was in my mid twenties a similar thing happened. It took me another almost 15 years to fully realize it but I’m here now.
Dan Barker is a man the world needs thousands of.
The Apostle Paul has The Answer!
Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead.
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold,
or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
There are millions, only not in America. I don't know anyone who is religious. 0
Not thousands, more like *MILLIONS!*
To Dismiss God's Word is to Deliberately fall to Destruction
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazurus
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table:
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom:
the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water,
and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things:
but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
To keep denying God and His Word is to make a blunder for ETERNITY!
Turn to God now, and believe in The Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation!
@@UzbekExMuslim *all of
He said that he was in front of a hostile crowd. It seems to me he was also in front of a hostile host.
Yes, the hostility in Oprah's tone was really obvious and downright irritating. This is the woman who would go on the promote "The Secret," a bunch of New Age gobbledegook.
Thought same thing. Her disgust wasn't hidden, that's for sure. Why are people so threatened by atheists?
@@jh-mp8so As somebody who has traveled much the same path as he did, it is because an honest and compassionate ex-Christian evangelist is a GENUINE threat to a house of cards that could easily come crashing down. My church forbade its members from talking to me after I left because the few that did weren't Christians for much longer.
I saw that Oprah Winfrey episode when it first aired and I was saddened at how aggressive and judgemental the audience was. As if preaching to him would make him cower with regret and shame. Dan Barker and the panel responded with grace and dignity that the audience clearly lacked.
if it the episode i seen doesnt one guy says if it wasnt for him believing in a god he would go round do all sorts of evil acts
@@Pmrace1960 It could be. I'm sure we can find it somewhere on UA-cam. It's been a while since I saw it.
@@Skeptic-eo8fz think dan told him to stay christian
@@Pmrace1960lol wow. True and a slam dunk
What I find remarkable about Dan is that you'll mostly find clips of him speaking about experiences and being vulnerable about it. Or giving a perspective that says "I know exactly what you mean, I used to believe that myself, but..."
And I think you'll probably reach more people that way rather than arguing theology or semantics, because it's a more relatable way of conveying a message.
Anyway, I always feel so calm listening to this guy. Love it.
The Devil may have felt fine when he went against God... there is a place prepared for him: The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.
And Garfield hates Mondays.
But why does he have to be so myopic and shallow as to think theres only two ways to look at things?
@@buukkreider544 Why do you have to threaten people to worship this god?
I find that offensive and disgusting.
@@GuitarDog_atx Why do you hate God so much? You would have NOTHING without him. He made this UNIVERSE - and gives you food to eat.
This was a very, very long journey of rejection of religion for me. It began by watching how religion just didn't work for anyone. Now, I realize I was lied to, and bought into the lies.
Glad to find this video and this channel.
I'm one of those for whom religion didn't work. I even went so far as to join a cult, putting my life in danger. I escaped and found a wonderful church, where the pastor saved my life twice. What really killed it for me was being forced to leave that church behind and relocate to another place where I had to sit helpless while my niece dropped out of high school to join a cult.
Actually it works beautifully for many people. It isn't true of course but the psychology of it can work wonderfully.
I am thankful for Dan Barker and I am a proud member of the FFRF. I deconverted over 20 years ago. I became free of superstition.
By not believing in The God of Israel... you are superstition.
@@buukkreider544 😂 says the guy who decided to pick one superstition out of thousands
Buuk's probably one of the most deluded people on the internet, that's quite an achievement
Here, have the trophy for "Most Deluded"
🏆
@@BubbaF0wpend The Apostle Paul has The Answer!
Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead.
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold,
or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
I have supported FFRF through my job's charity program the last few years, since I discovered Dan & Co. on UA-cam. I'm retiring soon and will continue to support this important work!
@@buukkreider544 🏆
Glad you woke up from that nightmare. Religion is so stifling...
Religion can be stifling. Faith in God and faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ can be encouraging, especially when a person takes it to heart.
The Servant of The Lord that Conquered Death, the Devil, and Hell
Isaiah 52:12 - 53:12 The Man of Sorrows Acquainted with Grief and Conquerer
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
As The Servant of The Lord, He Paid the Price of Death to Please His Father - and to Save Those The World... He would also Conquer Death by Dying
Isaiah 25:8 He will Swallow Up Death by Dying
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Not only did He Conquer Death by Dying, but He Opened the Door for Others to have Victory Over Death
Hosea 13:14 O Death, I Will be Thy Plagues
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
The Apostle Paul Confirmed that The Lord is the Redeemer of Death in 1Corinthians 15:52-57
1Corinthians 15:52-57 Death is Swallowed Up In Victory
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle John also Records That The Lord Jesus Conquered Death and Hell in the Book of Revelation
Revelation 1:10-18 The Lord after His Death and Resurrection Appears to John
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
🤣😂😅🤣 ofcourse...evolution is a science and not a religion right 😂😂😂
@@iselfmyself-vf5gj "Both reason as a source of knowledge and rationality as a practical ideal are today under attack ."
-Brand Blanchard- [ from Reason and Analysis ]
@@iselfmyself-vf5gjDon't know why you'd need all these emojis when stating an obvious fact like that. Bit weird
But is “science” our god? Science is just other people, as helpless and ignorant as we are.
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires."
~ Susan B. Anthony
I guess Jesus and first apostles wanted to be killed in horrible ways then. That was a weird kink of first century. It's also interesting how the people who quit on their faith always do it because God doesn't do what they want, but that's just details.
@@timur22993 That's an interesting story. One of thousands, in thousands of religions, with thousands of sects, all disagreeing for some unknown reason.
@@McShag420 your point is? Things should be ignored because people disagree on them?
At age 7 and hearing stories about talking donkeys and Jesus walking on water, Noah's Ark, and I was like, nope. But I had to fake it for a while because my mother was fanatically religious.
I had the same reaction, but still believed in God and that Jesus died for my sins and Heaven. It was around 15yo that it all mostly fell away.
I never had to fake anything though, because I only come from a moderately religious family. For me it was just Sunday Mass and that was the extent. We didn't really talk about religion at home.
I can't even imagine how everything would have turned out if my mother or father were fanatically religious. I told my parents I am an atheist just last year (I am 41) and their response was "that is okay." It was a complete non-issue.
I started doubting in my early teens, by my late teens I was atheist.
My close family were disapproving at first but, 20 years later they are now all atheists too! 🎉
They couldn’t hide from facts and logic for ever.
(With special thanks to Professor Dawkins)
Same thing here. It was the omnipotent God making everything perfect and then knowingly make the devil who would ruin it.
Hell, at seven I still believed in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, but that's still not as ridiculous as an adult today believing that a traitor and convicted criminal is fit to be president.
@@patbrennan6572that Joe sure is a criminal
Religion is mankind’s greatest con!!
Voting in elections come a close 2nd
It's a good way for our species to self-domesticate
"Religion began the moment the first con man met the first fool." - Mark Twain
I was bought up in the Catholic Church, and attended mass 2-3 times a week. I coordinated choirs and served on the altar. I am also gay.
I essentially could not accept myself. I actually hated myself. It was impossible for me to be religious and be gay. After all, the church teaches that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered. Further, my Catholic faith also made me see things as black and white, right and wrong, much as described in this video. Anyone who wasn’t Catholic was a sinner in my eyes as that is what I was taught.
One day during Holy Week, I made the deliberate decision to not go to church. I was kinda scared but felt kind of naughty, like I was skipping school. The fear was, what if God strikes me?
I realised at that point, religion is no more than a form of control and this is achieved through fear.
Once I stripped all that away, I felt a level of liberation I’ve never felt. I started to love myself and began loving everything and everyone around me, accepting everyone around me no matter their race/religion. I no longer judged anyone and I will NEVER accept religion again.
Believe in yourself, believe in your life. You get it once. No entity should ever hijack your right to live freely.
That last sentence is a banger my friend
good job 👏👏 it takes a long time to deconstruct. that itself should be scary. something that takes years to leave is dangerous. congrats 👍
👏 Well written 👍
Glad you overcame religion to find happiness and I hope your story will inspire others.
What you say has some similarities to Gnosticism
your not free. I have a challenge for you. get a bible, start reading in mathew, and seek god for a whole year .
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for people like Dan. He must have had an extremely difficult time with respect to friends and family who would have undoubtedly felt he was betraying them.
Yes. Why does anybody care what he believes? Leave him be.
You can feel the feelings again because the memory of yourself is associative and procedural; the brain doesn't care what is experienced in real time and what is vividly imagined in the mind.
The Apostle Paul has The Answer!
Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead.
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold,
or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
It’s the brain that causes goosebumps.
@@JGLy22086 Right. And it's the mind that makes up the story for which the brain responds with goosebumps.
And we can experience those same emotions and physiological experiences and feelings with other methods that put us into a similar brain wave. Meditation, communal singing, provocative storytelling all produce the same experiences with or without a god.
@@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar Because the brain endorses the safe and familiar and avoids the unknown, having a benign mystery as an extension of the protagonist or a guide can elevate the "goosebumpedosity" of the story, allowing non-critical listeners into the that liminal space between the mundane and the extraordinary.
A preacher named Barker ls gold.
The Apostle Paul has The Answer!
Acts 17:22-31 The Apostle Paul Explains the Godhead.
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold,
or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
First name.. Carnival.
Fool,s Gold.
Dan is The Man. The way he dealt with Oprah…his staunch and articulate responses , in front of a loaded audience, a her loaded haircut, was amazing.
Yea that fresh haircut was intimidating 😂😂😂
Such a heartwarming story! If only more and more people started to be critical about their own way of thinking.
I used my own critical way of thinking 4 yrs ago when the first vaccine came out.
My critical way of thinking saved my critical way of doin what everybody else critically did.
Yes... the chaff being separated from the wheat.
@@briobarb8525
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
That's how you get saved.
@@RandomStuff-i4i I dont' think we need "saving". Why should we bow to the god who screwed everything up, and then demanded a human sacrifice for his own mistakes?
@@GuitarDog_atx
Maybe you don't need saving, but I accept I do.
You and others like you don't have to bow down to God, but I will.
God has done things in my life that I want to bow to him for.
I've made mistakes all the time and I still bow down to God.
God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
One year ex-christian. I have more peace now than I ever did when I believed.
Good for you.
Did you give your heart to
the Prince of Peace? He will
never stop loving you.🕊️✝️
@@annebalderston2520 Why does the "Prince of Peace" threaten people who don't worship him with eternal suffering in Hell?
That's not love.
Thats abuse.
It's disgusting.
Your "Prince of Peace" can f*ck off.
Keep repeating that to yourself, maybe one day you will believe in it. Man is so stubborn and unwise to want to figure everything out for himself and flee over and over again.
@@annebalderston2520 How can any one religion be true when there are thousands of conflicting religions, with thousands of conflicting sects? Doesn't it seem arrogant that any of them would claim to know the objective truth of the universe and existence? Really think about that for awhile.
Faith comes by hearing the Word, Doubt comes by a closer examination of those very same words.
And the devil will deceive...
From the beginning of the Adam race, the ENEMY used a very effective weapon against
the Adam race, and it was two things about God: 1) Doubt God's Word; 2) Call God a Liar
This is how it has been up until now - and now... people who have even been in The Church for many
years are falling for the DECEIT of The DEVIL...
Psalm 14:1-3 The Fool Does Not Want God
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
1Timothy 4:1-3 The Latter Times Men Depart From Faith
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2Timothy 3:1-5 The Last Days Signs
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Timothy 4:2-4 They Will Turn Their Ears from The Truth
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
LACK OF FAITH
Luke 18:8 The LORD JESUS --- Shall He Find Faith on Earth when He Returns?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
2Peter 3:3-7 Men Will Fall Away from the Faith
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
NOW IS THE TIME TO BELIEVE AND BE SAVED
Acts 13:38,39 The Apostle Paul shows way of SALVATION
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ that you might be saved.
2Corinthians 4:2-7 The Gospel Hid to them that are Lost
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Ephesians 2: 1-3 The Prince of The Power of The Air - Working in Children of Disobedience
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
For those that are going against God's Word are those that are falling into the hands of the enemy. The Enemy hates God, but he cannot defeat God; therefore,
he will do what he can to disturb God. One of the ways is to influence the Children of Adam to doubt God, then call God a liar - just like in the garden.
And freedom comes from rejecting it.
@@dennishubbs1869 that was the devil's tactic in the Garden of eden
@@johnfitzgerald2426 Yeah Right, like the imaginary god of the Bible Was blindsided by one of his angels who happened to be the original rebel in heaven, who is cast out by god? So the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent god, allows the fall of mankind in the world? Who can come up with a better plan than that?
That god would be either
A. Evil or B. Stupid
My opinion, Both!!!
@dennishubbs1869 C. Genius. It forced mankind to make a choice between Good and evil
As a kid I remember questioning things I was taught in Catechism and my father telling me if I didn't believe, I'd go to hell. That's the basis of religion - believe or die.
As an atheist I can absolutely understand the power of prayer. While I do not pray to any deity, I do however find myself comforted by talking to my deceased family members. I don't get any responses of course, but I do feel "good" when in times of great stress or anxiety when I express my inner fears or concerns to my mother. Asking her for guidance. It does help. Clears and soothes the mind to think clearer on whatever is troubling me.
Because you are God. Check out neville goddard
You are clearly deceived! but you just doesn't realize it!
An example of humility and honesty
You are making THE ENEMY happy.
@@buukkreider544 "You are making THE ENEMY happy." Prove that there is an enemy.
@@buukkreider544
Is this enemy in the room with you now? 🙄
@@duncanbryson1167 🤣And can you show the court on this doll where the enemy "touched you"?
Wow, wonderful response
This is exactly what happened to me in the seminar trying to get a Masters in theology. It's been 15 years now since I became an atheist
So ironic that actually studying/reading that bible can lead away from believing it.
The weird feelings he had is called “cognitive dissonance”.
I struggled with it too, when I realized I’m in a cult - the Jehovah’s Witnesses and I had to leave!!
Congratulations. I left in 83. It was not until 86 before I was free of Armageddon fiction. Even now I get better and better.
@@mavrosyvannah, I’m happy for you!! 🩷 I’m so glad we found freedom from fear of Armageddon and persecution. I was lucky, my daughter and I “woke up” at the same time. We both have a much easier life now. We’re not slaving for a manmade organization anymore 😊
JW 's are Not Christian. Never have been. And usually don't claim to be...
Oh man, that is one of the most humorless and joyless religions in existence. Imagine having more people in your religion than you say can even be saved when the world ends. I guess if anyone was a convert past the first 144,000, they are screwed. Sorry other 8.5 ish million believers, you're not being saved! Also, no holidays must SUCK.
I'm an ex Mormon and a former missionary. This talk and this message have resonated with my soul and my experiences. I now believe that religion is the embodiment of pride and the absence of true humility. When I left Mormonism I found myself. I'm more myself now than I ever could have been in the trenches of religious indoctrination. The wisest thing anyone can say is "I don't know". Only there does life really begin.
Don’t you have doubts in this new you?
That is why it only one true Christianity. It is called Orthodox. All those questions, which arise, when one follows so called "other denomination" are delt with centuries ago. Of course God does not speak to you on daily basis. It is proudly to think like that. He doesn't command you. Jesus is the way, the force to follow the way come from within.
Reformation is ringe on many occasions and in the end of the day will make people lose faith.
If you can just think and I dont mean that in a bad way. But everyone have their own part of Christianity it no humility to say urs is the way
Do you know how you proved urs is the way is still the same way that other indoctrination have made their kids believe they are the way aswell ? Don't you get that in the slightest.
Anyway I hope he stay in Christianity or find his way back to it but just doing this is right or wrong is super wrong.
Like imagine now bc he was born a Mormon and he beloved it entirely then he dies is it fair for him to go to hell fire ?
Imagine you wah is Catholic is the right one wnd some stuff is it fair for you to go to hell ? t@@DockSchrem
@@Emperor_famous We do not know if somebody goes to hell. No human konws that. It is the next Catholic/Reformation black/what way of thinking.
No human knows who goes to heaven and hell. In the second you think that, you put yourself in front of God.
It a bizarre way of thinking.
We are all sinners, and we sin every minute. We do not obey God for the very small things, what about the big one.
You are not equal with God, you either obey or not. If you do not obey, it is fine, you don follow the way. That is called free will. It must be free decision of your to follow the narrow path.
@@DockSchrem then if your follow ur path the punishment isn't it hell fire
Watching this hit a lot of nerves for me, ones that haven't been touched in a very long time. I too was raised in the church, and as a child up until my high school years I was as devout as they come. I think having parents who could be categorized as being part of the Christian left shielded me from some of the trauma the church inflicted on so many conservative Christian children, but at the same time that has made just a little harder to fully come to terms with what Christianity does to you. The way it purports love, that you're evangelizing to people because you love them and want them to go to heaven. The way it preys upon basic human needs for community and inner peace. And the way rationalism takes you further and further away from it the more you think critically. And how critical thinking is, to all but the most progressive Christians like my mom and dad, but not the community they brought me into, completely shunned by the Christian establishment. What really hits home for me here is the benevolent intentions that people like Barker had as a minister, how the religion gaslights you into thinking you're doing the right thing for your fellow man. Fucking hell, I need a drink
This ❤
Since eschewing religion at age 12, I have always found it very interesting that we do not know everything, but we can learn. This implicit belief without evidence that the religious hold must be stifling and frustrating, as observable evidence combats every single bit of it. How could someone be a fully realized human being by believing without evidence and refusing to learn and accept reality? The warm blanket of religion's warmth comes from ignorance that they refer to as "faith".
There is a 'tone' that the holier than thou use. My father was a baptist minister, and his tone was very different while going about 'saving' people than it was at home. However, his tone and every other aspect of his religious self didn't stop him leaving his family for a 17 year old (and then leaving her with two toddlers). Religion, such archaic nonsense
Wow! What a horrible man!
Religion is a magnet to narcissists. I have one in my family, she broke up... destroyed.. more than one family, and thinks she's a prophet. Her tone changes too, jesus this, jesus that, scriptures, and after the warm up, the 'god has revealed to me(s)' start.
one bad person doesn't make all of them bad. there are many who lead a very godly life.
@@racerx4152 "A godly life". And what would that be. Wake up, it's the 21st century
@@racerx4152 Name one...
We met Dan Barker after a talk and book signing years ago and he was great to listen to. Thanks to him, the rise of the number of people rejecting religion has risen in the US. It is time to put all this religious nonsense aside and start a new age of reason as no of it is a force for good.
It was my accidentally induced religious experiences that put the final nail in the coffin for belief in a god for me.
I mixed vodka and K2, AKA spice, AKA toonchi, AKA fake bake, AKA synthetic weed, and every time I did, I had a religious experience.
I realized that it was all just a matter having the right chemicals in the brain. Just like Dan I can induce it right now...
There it is. Goosebumps, the light, lifted up feeling. The happy, free feeling.
I want there to be a god, but the evidence doesn't support it.
When you actually educate yourself on psychology, history, biology, and theology it becomes glaringly obvious that pretty much all religion is a grift and a means of manipulation and control. There are exceptions, but they are very few.
There is evidence all around us of God’s existence. The entire Creation itself clearly
displays the existence and
power of God. Have you ever
watched the brilliant colors
of a hummingbird, glinting in
the sun? The power of a storm with lightning cracking and thunder rolling? Our own hands with all the things they can do and create. Nothing in all of Creation is an accident. Everything comes from the mind and heart of God. “ For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son, that
whoever would believe in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life”.🙏🏻🕊️
@@annebalderston2520 All those things are just you experiencing the fact that the world is an amazing place for a living thing with a conscious mind to exist in. If, by your thinking, these things were true, we must also accept all the very terrible things present in our existence. If everything comes from the mind and heart of your deity, he must be a very sadistic being, because this world is full of violence, disease and pain as well as incredible beauty.
I had a bunch of religious experiences..turns out it was psychosis. That's when it started to unravel for me.
Goosebumps as evidence of evolution is a great touch. The mammal in my brain explains to me my motives and behavior better than the Devil and demons.
Thank you. I never thought about it your way. I always think about my nature as being good. Love is primordial and predates humanity. I think of the bad things about me as unnatural. They (my shortcomings) are the responses to being exposed to this terrible world.
For example, I have ptsd and have a hard time with physical touch. I have started meditating and imagining I’m a cave woman and it helps me tremendously. I imagine that I am free from all of the arbitrary constraints of society and I’m free to experience love.
I know it’s not that simple because I’ve seen some naughty little monkeys 🙈! 😂😂😂
@@michelleespino9814 I am now almost 70 YO. I wish I had this perspective earlier in life. I would have been more fearless and less afraid of failure. That you reflect on the "why" is good I think. I use the "mammal in my brain" to understand other's. Being male, it is the only way I can excuse some of my past behaviors and thinking. Watching nature shows of male mammals doing short sighted stupid things helps me understand my life choices a little better, too.
@@retiredrn1873 A huge part of what makes us human is controlling our darker urges. Human beings can and do change. A truly realized human being continues to learn and grow throughout the entirety of their life, because while the universe is infinite, we can only consume so much knowledge and much of that is subject to what we are exposed to. A baby is not born with malice or violence: these are behaviors inflicted upon us by the harsh world we exist in. Much of who and what we think we are relies on multiple concepts developed through our interaction with the world and its other inhabitants. To be human is to conceptualize reality, individually.
I became an evangelical Christian when I was 17, having grown up in an agnostic household. Through university, I started writing songs and I had dreams of being a Christian musician and songwriter. But I had the misfortune to be British. In the UK, Christian music was and is tiny. There isn't the massive Christian audience that there is in the US to make producing Christian albums worthwhile. Christian labels were mostly only interested in churning out praise and worship albums, and I wasn't interested in writing inane choruses. I wanted to write Christian rock operas in the vein of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I did write two Christian rock operas - "Locusts And Honey", about the life of John the Baptist, and "The Man Behind St. Albans", about the martyrdom of St. Alban - but L&H only got to be performed three times in colleges, and TMBSA was never performed because the churches I went to couldn't be bothered going to all that trouble of rehearsing and staging it. If they did put on a musical, it had to be one that the pre-school children in the church could take part in, which meant writing inane music again. The thing was, people in the church were constantly telling me that God had a plan for my life and it seemed that what I was best at and really enjoyed doing, God didn't want me to do. In fact, he didn't appear to want me to do anything at all. It was such a relief when I understood that there wasn't a God who had any kind of plan for my life, and if things went wrong, it was just because s**t happens. I'm still writing songs (but not Christian ones) and I'm still hoping to write a hit one day.
Maybe convert what you just said into lyrics and then put music to it. If it's a hit I want 10%.
@@StageScupltorLmao.
Have you ever considered that people were wrong? You literately just recited a story from the Bible, where friends and family tell a man he's a sinner and that's why God's punishing him, where it's not at all what was going on. If your faith is based on what people tell you, then you have set yourself up for failure. If such a setback with people YOU chose was enough to ruin your relationship with God, then you can't really call it faith. It was hopes and dreams that didn't get instant gratification that you wanted.
@@timur22993 What are you talking about? The point was, that there was no relationship with God, not because of anything I had done or not done, because I'd sincerely repented of my sins and asked Jesus into my life. I was constantly being blamed for my lack of relationship with God by people who would not listen to my story and instead judged me and decided that I was in the wrong, when I knew inside that I wasn't. If there had been anything that I could have done, I would have done it.
@@mikenash7049 "I'd sincerely repented of my sins and asked Jesus into my life." The way you phrased this response implies that you asked to have that relationship but did not receive it. But neither in your original post, nor this one, have you once mentioned directing your concerns to God (praying, reading Bible). Instead, it's either not getting your ambition fulfilled because of people, or being told something you disagree with by people. Thing is, if you did do everything you could have done, you'd realize that people are not the judges of your relationship with God. Your original comment's story is a soft version of the story of Job, and you not seeing it makes me think you did not read it. So, forgive me for running to conclusions, but your first post, or this response did not provide enough information for any other.
As I have said multiple times: the key is education, education, education and patience
The idea that education can resolve the problem of religiosity (or superstition, uncritical thinking in general, because, say, Chinese or North Koreans, are not religious, but still lack critical thinking, support their oppressive dictatorial regimes, etc.) is not supported by evidence, imho. If we compare society in, say, USA, 200 years ago and today, we will have to admit that the average "volume" of education grown ups have come through is probably hundreds of times that of 200 years ago. And yet the level of religiosity has dropped by relatively little - about 10% are agnostics or atheists, according to data (and I suspect 200 years ago there were atheists as well). So much education, so little effect. It may appear, therefore, that the problem is not the quantity, but the quality of education. But it's a closed loop, because education is conducted by people and in, say, USA, the overwhelming majority are religious.
@@k.squaredConsidering a lot of the education had a religion in it, I don't think you can rule it out when we haven't gotten the people without public school religious indoctrination to their 40s
Who is the teacher...?
@@k.squared Millenials, Gen Z have each steeply declined in religious expression. The atheist/agnostic majority is coming of age, another battleground in a war of culture and (mis)education. It is the divide of people who do not and will not change, and those who are different by circumstance and education. These older people raised these agnostics and atheists in their homes. Will they not accept responsibility for this outcome?
The patience part is hard when they can't use logic.
Good piano playing Dan. Love how humble and honest he is publicly.
He is always respectful. Even when Oprah, who is the poster person for emotional intelligence, was quite rude with her “what does that say about you” comment. He responded in a self effacing manner. None of us know for sure if there is a God. He just admits what he experienced wasn’t supernatural and was brave enough to change.
How is Oprah the poster person for emotional intelligence lol she's so detached from reality. She's a billionaire desperately trying to look relatable.
@@juliee593 just brimming with positivity aren’t you. Seething with envy and morbid jealousy. Have a great day Julie
@@sammur1977 I try my best to be just like I am_ but everybody wants me to be just like them_
He’s your make believe hero - not everyone’s. If there is a hell - you sure ain’t the person who decides who’s going, so keep your hate to yourself
@@DaveRossignol I wonder how you got "seething envy" from that message? I just think there are so many amazing people to look up to and Oprah is not one of the for me. Calling her the poster person for emotional intelligence to me felt a bit like calling Elon Musk a great engineer and Donald Trump a self made man. I really do not see it that way, that's all. You have a nice day too.
@@juliee593Julie, i must be “seething with envy,” and “jealousy” also, as i have the same opinion of those you have mentioned. Ophra was was devious racist who once stated, “I can’t wait for all old white men to die;” Trump’s “daddy seed money,” and connections to the organized criminals running the Manhattan’s construction businesses allowed little Trumpy to succeed.There’s pics of Trump cavorting with Gerslaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein way back in the 1980’s; and the new alleged “savior of free speech” Elon Musk, of Star-link enterprise, is in collusion with the military industrial complex, Palantir, Pay pal mogul Peter Tiel (?), whom are racing to implement “1984” total A.I. surveillance for the supposedly benefit of all mankind. Journalist Witney Webb’s book, “A Nation Under Blackmail,” exposes all these posturing hypocritical psychos for who they really are. 🤔
Doing what Dan Barker did in this TV show, in 1984, in Reagan's America - very brave.
Oprah is genuinely disappointed in Dan.
Stunning and brave, so stunning, so brave 🥴
Oprah has a lot to answer for. Take Dr. Phil, and Dr. Oz. for example.
They were reasonable normal people back then.
@somad6997 This right here. Phil is just a conservative propagandist who derides the mentally unwell for the gawping amusement of his audience. People going on his show get basically told, "Stop having problems."
And the con-job garbage known as "The Secret."
As a psychologist, I find both of them ridiculous and downright harmful. Both are an embarrassment to the mental health field.
I remember the day that I realized it was a lie. It was terrifying. Fortunately, my fiancé helped me through it.
You were an adult? Woe
Sorry to hear it was stressful for you.
Happened to me when I was 14. One day I just realized it was literally unbelievable.
I had been indoctrinated since the age of five and on that day the indoctrination failed and I've never changed my mind or had a doubt in 50 years.
I too was terrified when I dropped my belief in my idea of a "caring" God.
It is scary to understand just how small and alone we truly are in the universe. I think that's the major factor keeping people religious: it's comforting to think that this is all by design and that life somehow has a set "purpose". Nowadays, I find it fascinating to learn about the earth before humans. It's comforting to me knowing I am just a tiny, tiny part of the universe at large and that my life is finite. I am unafraid of death and happy to experience my life day by day.
Living by faith, wasting the best part of your life chasing a superstition and duping others into it.
This is the great tragedy of theism.
...and no sex, no parties, no fun, just nothing.
@byron739 it makes you so focus on the so called afterlife so afriad of going to hell thinking everything is a sin trying to so hard to follow this book which is impossible making you feel guilty and shame by trying to follow the rules but you fail its very psychological it keeps you from enjoying this one life you have to experience it life is already stressful to add all that bullshit of religion
@@Madara.Uchiha.The.true.SaviorFr, the concept of Afterlife, hell, and heaven is just...., it doesn't make sense 😂
You guys will regret believing this man Jesus Christ is real.
the goose bumps feeling is colloquially called ASMR, everyone has different triggers, whispers, crackles, harmonics, music, morning sunrise, it's why some watch horror movies.
and he's right it is a thing we evolved with, a survival trait we no longer use for surviving, it heightens your awareness when it triggers and those who had it would have a better chance of living vs those that didn't have it.
The religious sects that can accept the reality of evolution and science are surely the most advanced, yet it's strange to me they just don't go all the way and say "You know what? These things can be proven by observable and repeatable evidence, and this other thing cannot. Maybe, just maybe, we made up one of these things."
"I am free with a rational mind to determine a hierarchy of values which suits me fine and which helps me to protect myself from what I perceive to be evil."
Very great quote!
For that being his first time talking openly about his conversion, he did an amazing job defending himself.
I saw through the veil of religion when I was 16. The preacher was a "hands on" faith healer who was filling people with the "holy spirit". That little exposure to the falsehood that religion is set me on a 20 year journey to try to find "god" and eventually casting christianity away all together. I agree with Barker that it is a part of growing up. And once you do you never see the world the same way ever again. But, that's a good thing. Because it opens your eyes to the reality that is the world. I believe that it made me more empathetic to people around me. Things were not black and white anymore. They were shades of gray. People weren't good or evil now. They were the product of their environment, upbringing, society, and even genetics. To understand people, you have to get into their heads and see the world from their perspective. Yeah, I know that's hard and not as easy as telling them they have to follow a certain path. But what you end up with is a deeper understanding of who this person is, and maybe, you can show them some compassion.
I was 8, catholic school, teacher said 'fairies aren't real, but angels are!'
Right away I thought, how do you know that, how COULD you know that?
And just like that the thread was pulled, and religion unraveled.
What is so crazy to me is that there are thousands of world religions and thousands of sects within those religions, some monotheist some polytheist, yet all of them believe that theirs is the only one that is true. Meanwhile, science chugs along, correcting itself over and over based on evidence which can be observed, tested and measured, not claiming anything but what we can see is objectively true.
@@Linkaless I was 12, the age my parents agreed to let my sister and I make up our own minds. My mother had been taking us to church and Sunday school. I asked questions that the adults looking after us in Sunday school had no answers for and told me that I "just needed to have faith". I had already been thinking for many years about if it was real at all, but that cemented it for me, because I was already thinking logically. If you can't give a good answer to a 12 year old's question, you might be full of bull***t. Also, come on, THOUSANDS of religions and sects and they are all claiming to be right? Religion has nothing to do with logic and that was a problem for me.
If the human species makes it into the far future, explores the entire universe and finally finds the creator of it all and it's not near what they thought, but it's proven factually to be the thing that created it all and everything they believed was a lie, will the religious admit their ignorance? Somehow, I very much doubt they will. Blind belief does not want the truth; it is predicated on stories that cannot hold up to the burden of proof.
@@McShag420 will the religious admit their ignorance?
No, at least not all or even many.
I've asked christians similar questions, if we went back in time and there was no jesus, would you still believe (yes). If we watched Paul making it up as he went along while writing it, would you still believe it (yes). If the god of another religion appeared in this room and said he created everything, would you still believe your book (yes)
It's like that cult where the leader took all their money and dumped them in a cave, telling them the 'end is near', then after the leader got arrested and forced to return and try to save their lives by getting them out the cave, many did not (and perished)
-It's just mad
The open hostility in that Oprah interview is chilling.
Oprah was only pretending to be a good person.She is actually one of the most evil women in the world.
"I'm going to make this atheist look really stupid." Uhhhh, not so much, Oprah, you just look like an aggressive idiot.
You get one life, don't waste any of it on religion.
Where does life come from? Who the heck r we? Why even live if it’s all gonna disappear?
@@Mr.Storytime959 get a grip there.
@@johnbrown6189 thxs
@@Mr.Storytime959We are in fact god playing that we are not. But humans went too far in playing that they are not, so they created some abstract deity that looks like a human and has a beard, and reigns in the heavens above. But everything you see is god in disguise, coming into being to have the the most extraordinary fun.
@@Mr.Storytime959 Are you suggesting life isn't worth living unless you personally have the answer to everything, or even the unknowable? I like to play chess, I don't know everything about it, but I don't just get up and walk off after the first couple of moves because I don't know how the game will end, or where chess came from.
- That line of objection to life is so baffling, you might never get all the answers, unless 'magic' from the people handing out collection plates is your limit of understanding.
Oprah wasn’t a very open minded journalist with Dan. She was very judgmental based on her own beliefs
She was constantly interrupting him and he just showed how his beliefs hold up to even such bad-faith questioning. He conducted himself with grace, while she made an ass of herself.
"What's that say about you?"
Jesus, Oprah. She couldn't have been more obvious with her hostility right then, without breaking decorum.
She's always been about the spectacle.
yes she was bad.
Oprah is genuinely disappointed in Dan.
The level to which I relate to Dan. The delusion, the belief I was on the right side, the communication with the spirit, the constant prayer, yet constantly battling what I now recognize as my true self, calling out that something was wrong with all of it. I’m so grateful that I got out. Pastors kid on a journey of understanding himself, and healing from the trauma and delusion.
Thanks so much Dan. I still have my ffrf button from the so many years ago. In my earliest memories, I recall struggling with any belief in supernatural. Probably enhanced by my autistic spectrum brain, even at single digit years old, I required proof to be natural. Even as a first grader, I could not bring myself to believe any any religious concept that included supernatural. I enjoyed sciences especially astronomy. Religion simply had no room in my life. Then, as I awakened as a gay man, I became targeted by hateful Christians. After that, I not only disbelieved religion, but feared Christians. Reflecting now, I thank you for facing the organized Christians and countering their mean-spirited lies with intelligent responses.
'O' is a hot mess, wrapped in a narcissistic capitalist veil of self righteousness, trying desperately to corner Dan Brown under intense public pressure, and feigning repulsion at his clear, unfalsifiable answers. Well played Dan, in so many ways.
I deleted my comment about her. It wasn't as polite as yours.
I remember that show and I kind of thought the same. I loved her show and all the interesting ideas her guests brought. I would record them on VCR. I really appreciate Dan being on there. He got me to thinking. Later she had a lot of shows with Echart Tolle. I really got into his messages. Somehow the meditation type things got me to where I could leave religion and myth behind. I then started reading Dan's books and other books on atheist thought. I feel such freedom since then. I was atheist before UA-cam but really enjoy finding these gems that remind me how far I have come.
@@joycej9415 Kudos on your escape. I was fortunate in never having been captured.
I was also a fundamentalist Christian in my younger years. However, to make a long story short, my rational, logical mind came to the conclusion that I didn’t know anything, and that defined me as an agnostic, which literally means “I don’t know.” It’s a matter of semantics as to the nuances between atheism and agnosticism. I personally feel that an atheist claims that there’s no god, but I’m willing to accept the probability that maybe there’s a non-religion god.
Same here. I have no idea if there is a god. There has to be some kind of creative force though, because I didn't create myself.
I do not care whether God exists or not. I will not worship an evil being that sends most of humanity to hell/lake of fire to be tormented forever. Any kind rational being could come up with a much fairer world and universe than the Biblical God did.
How about a God that respects your wish to be separate from Him enough to grant it? Many of you don't seem to understand that it's not a punishment, it's a result of your choices. A lake of fire is where devil and his demons go. If you want to be separate from the only being who can protect you from them, where do you expect to end up? Or are you going to stop using the "evil God" now and start saying "none of this is real"?
Understand one thing well: All people who reject The Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Redeemer will be condemned to hell. A place where the lost souls will be tormented for eternity and receive swimming lessons from Luci F.
Make a wise choice because man has only a short time on earth to decide.
@@DOA011970 Yeah, see, when you put it like that people feel like they are being antagonized, and rushing them at the same time is not helping.
The lake of fire is an image of how it feels to be closed out from love and life. It was never intended for us humans but for the Devil and his fellows. But with our free will we have to choose; Do we want to spend eternity with God who is the one ruler in heaven - Or do we rather want to reject him and have it our way.
Jesus spoke so much more about heaven than of hell.
Sin is separation from God.
Jesus became sin on the cross to pay our pardon.
He was all separated from God - which he also shouts out. ”Why have You forsaken me?”
In heaven there can be no separation from God.
Funny thing is, hell didn't exist in the various texts originally. I guess the murderous god wasn't enough to scare the followers so they had to come up with something even scarier.
Those of us who have deconstructed and deconverted can totally relate to what you have shared. Those who still believe just cannot wrap their heads around it. In their minds it's "How can anyone not believe anymore? How can anyone just decide "Nope. This isn't true" and walk away." They won't ever get it unless it happens to them.
Your comment confuses me to no end.
Around 1986 Dan Barker presented his story to Atheists United in Santa Monica, CA, and I heard it when they broadcast it on their 15-minute weekly radio show (show is no longer produced; hundreds or thousands of hours of Christian programming filling the airwaves each day versus 15 minutes a week of atheist programming which I guess is proof that Christians are being silenced and persecuted). When he was going through his deconversion, it was in the LA area where, because this was at the dawn on public access to the Internet, he couldn't find another atheists in all of Southern California but rather had to travel 2000 miles across the country. And here Atheists United were right next door all that time. In his presentation (at the end as I seem to recall) he cried out, "Where were you when I needed you?"
One observation he made which I still use in discussion was this definition of Fundamentalism: "Fundamentalism is when your theology becomes your psychology." And supporting that is the fact that fundamentalists need their own "Christian counselors" catering to their different psychology such that a normal counselor couldn't help them ("But Doc, what does Jesus want me to do?") and a Christian counselor is worse than useless to us normals ("Nothing you do can help you; only Jesus can help you." -- DivorceCare).
Yep, you just can't win with Original Sin.
I hate how she harped on him about having to justify a change in belief after 17 years. If a man is open minded enough to change that core of a belief especially back when this aired, he should be proud of his ability to think critically and admit he was wrong.
She was mad and rude because she felt threatened. If he had made a mistake, what does that imply about HER beliefs. She didn't want to go there.
After a disasterous experience at Bible College I went through something similar to Dan. My story isn't the same as is (who among us really has the same story?), but I recognize what he said about reading science and philosophy and suddenly understanding the world in a new way. I tried to hold onto my evangelical beliefs but in the end I couldn't do it. I still consider myself as a Christian humanist but I no longer accept a conservative interpretation of scripture.
what "bible college" did you attend?
@@seizetoday2801 Prairie Bible College in Three Hills Alberta, Canada.
@@Wkumar07 That's your problem right there, another spin-off denomination post-Protestantism. Literally ZERO church history courses in their Bachelors program
Bible & Theology (Bachelor)
All courses are three credits unless shown otherwise.
Bible & Theology (63 credits)
NT 112 Reading the Gospels and Acts
NT 221 Reading Paul’s Letters
NT 351 Reading Hebrews to Revelation
OT 112 Reading the Torah
OT 221 Reading the Historical Books
OT 343 Reading the Psalms and Wisdom Literature
OT 453 Reading the Prophets
ST 105 The Christian Quest
TH 100 Introduction to Christian Theology
TH 210 The God of the Gospel
TH 313 Creation to New Creation
BT 402 Bible/Theology Practicum*
BT 403 Bible/Theology Directed Study*
BT 406 Bible/Theology Research Paper*
BT 409 Word and World
Bible and Theology Electives (18 credits)
Arts & Sciences (36 credits)
HF 111 Thinking & Writing
SS 170 Christianity in the 21st Century World
SS 210 Introduction to Psychology
SS 261 Leadership Foundations
SC 230 History and Philosophy of Science
HF 231 History of Western Civilization I
HF 232 History of Western Civilization II
AS 400 Integrative Seminar
Arts and Sciences Electives (9 credits)
How on earth does one get through a degree in theology without visiting the ante-Nicene fathers, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas etc?
You got sold a bill of Christian goods, the happy-go-lucky Christianity I'd imagine, should have went for the real thing.
@@seizetoday2801 it was a standard evangelical college. Ironically, I would have much enjoyed a program like the one you listed above. Of course, I probably would have drifted toward a Christian humanism regardless of where I attended.
@@Wkumar07 What do you define as Christian "humanism" and what elements of Christian humanism do you find appealing?
Since I'm little family n people use to tell me the word of God was infallible that it could not be burn till the day COVID-19 hit that I woke up and realize that God is nowhere to be found. And started to realize that the people that the word of God judge was completely wrong and started evolving that the Bible is far from infallible" n that's when I started to take my power back instead of giving it to the so call invisible one. N today I could stand in front of the wises ones with the scriptures and stand my ground and never been defeated. So i to prove that the Bible is far from infallible n have free myself. Thank you
Of all the horrible plagues humanity has gone through, covid did it for you? I mean, I am glad you woke up, but the Black Plague didn't do it for you? The Spanish flu? Cholera?
As a baby atheist myself…. Dan Barker is awesome 😎
Welcome to objective reality!
im so impressed by this man who despite being a preacher was able to see that was no scientific evidence warranting his beliefs(some of which are demonstrably false e.g. 2 of every animal in boat)
Not to mention nothing for them to eat after the world was a lake.
@@leadershiphelpdesk510 absolutely, another great example!
Smart guy. I was raised a Jehvah's Witness (I know..) and they say you'll live forever on a finite earth. I was around 12 when I thought what happens in a billion years when no one has died and humans are shoulder to shoulder hahah I was always skeptical as far as I remember but I was an atheist from that thought onwards.
Oh how well I remember those altar calls.After an hour and a half of preaching, you'd have to sit through another hour of emotional pull for more to come forward & give their life to christ. Wondered if you would ever get out of there. Emotional hostages
From the beginning of the Adam race, the ENEMY used a very effective weapon against
the Adam race, and it was two things about God: 1) Doubt God's Word; 2) Call God a Liar
This is how it has been up until now - and now... people who have even been in The Church for many
years are falling for the DECEIT of The DEVIL...
Psalm 14:1-3 The Fool Does Not Want God
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
1Timothy 4:1-3 The Latter Times Men Depart From Faith
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2Timothy 3:1-5 The Last Days Signs
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Timothy 4:2-4 They Will Turn Their Ears from The Truth
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
LACK OF FAITH
Luke 18:8 The LORD JESUS --- Shall He Find Faith on Earth when He Returns?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
2Peter 3:3-7 Men Will Fall Away from the Faith
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
NOW IS THE TIME TO BELIEVE AND BE SAVED
Acts 13:38,39 The Apostle Paul shows way of SALVATION
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ that you might be saved.
2Corinthians 4:2-7 The Gospel Hid to them that are Lost
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Ephesians 2: 1-3 The Prince of The Power of The Air - Working in Children of Disobedience
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
For those that are going against God's Word are those that are falling into the hands of the enemy. The Enemy hates God, but he cannot defeat God; therefore,
he will do what he can to disturb God. One of the ways is to influence the Children of Adam to doubt God, then call God a liar - just like in the garden.
Mega church pastors be like "We're millionaires living in mansions with private jets, but it's GOD that needs your hard-earned money!" Yeah man, I totally believe your god wanted you to have that Bentley and eat caviar while kids starve in this very country.
Im in my 40s, and appreciate this because I've been there. Many of us have. Thank you ❤
I hate Oprah and the way she conducted this "interview" with such hostility and condescending and accusatory language. She has always been a media puppet and more concerned with sensationalism. She lacks any journalistic integrity.
She has bosses that tell her to do that.
Shes a Christian so there's that
@@spaceghost8995 OK you can pretend that she's just a puppet as much as you want but she's the one who founded the school in Africa that was trafficking children so...... Look more into that if you don't know but there are a bunch of children that went missing from her schools that are apparently part of child sex trafficking rings. Oprah has Also endorsed that 1 shortly famous miracle healer dude that was actually just a scam artist That caused a bunch of poor people to have medical troubles beyond what they were already experiencing......... You know doing bullshit like shaking someone's head when they had a broken neck and then saying you're healed only to find out a week later they died from the broken neck because he aggravated it 😂Yeah Oprah is a bad woman and she knows what she is endorsing and she just doesn't have any accountability.
It was a long while ago. Decent human beings shouldn’t behave exactly the same at 60 as they do at 30. Oprah has evolved, as I’m sure Dan has since then.
@@andrewhaywood3853 Has she though? Since then she gave us Oz, a quack peddling snake oil, and Phil, possibly the most emotionally cruel talkshow host I've ever seen. Both of them caused their own form of damage and they did so with her help.
Wow, I’ve never been able to bring these emotions and physical experiences to words and conceptualize them. As a former survivor of the Pentecostal Christian faith. Thank you SO much.
That was/is one of the problems about 'Pentecostal' faith - 'FEELING' and 'EMOTION', but oftentimes, lack of BIBLICAL TRUTH.
@@buukkreider544 " 'FEELING' and 'EMOTION', but oftentimes, lack of BIBLICAL TRUTH." Please show where you are not basing your belief system on your feelings about it.
@@buukkreider544 Here's the BIBLICAL TRUTH:
Your loving god is responsible for many atrocities and ignored 99% of the planet.
Glad you are free! Enjoy your life, my friend!
@@GuitarDog_atx That whole trope of a loving god is also a modern invention. Out of thousands of religions, each has changed their religious texts over hundreds or thousands of years, to fit in with the modern times. The Old Testament god was a sadistic, violent, messed up god...but I'd believe that far before the loving god BS.
I too was an evangelist who preached on the streets and did visitations. I preached often in other churches and revivals and had all the expieriences of spirituality that came with belief and commitment. In the end I too came to the same conclusion.
I remember the account by Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton, who went from being a believer to agnosticism and finally atheism. Dan Barker's story sounds very similar.
i like bertrand russells take on why he doesnt believe in god
Just watch that Oprah Video. The woman treats Dan like someone who no longer supports her favourite Football Team. She is so aggressive and dismissive. This is not about belief. This is about taking offence. The weight juggling bint is angry, because Dan has found out that her favourite imaginary friend is probably not real. The richer than Jesus celebrity would happily beat Dan to a fleshy pulp, lest he lead another member of Team Jesus astray.
Surely the vengeance bit is for god to handle. Romans 12:19. Yet that crowd would turn physical with one word from the salad dodger.
No, Oprah has always been very sanctimonious. She has to have a god because she is so special.
He was right when he said the audience was packed with a bunch of bible thumpers. You can hear their disdain in the background.
@@hankbeckleshimer5541 Thank you. I know nothing about the woman, other than from this clip and that "You get a car" meme. Her style of programming does not appear to have proven appealing over here. What you say makes sense. Arrogance and self righteousness tends to go hand in hand with these pointless celebrities. A god would seem a logical next step.
Oprah's audience is about 99 percent Christian plus she is also brainwashed and that is reflected in her body language and tone of her voice. I've seen her humiliate good folks like Nancy Friday and others on her pathetic show .
It was the 80's. That was par for the course of the time. Oprah became wildly famous for being the voice of mainstream America for a reason. She would have been praised as a hero for bravely confronting the evils of a non-believer.
I'm sure millage varied by where you lived, but that was EXACTLY the tone of religion's tolerance that I remember growing up in.
Im a Christian, giving this a listen.
Good, you should know why you believe what you believe and the arguments that oppose it. Watching atheist vs. Christian debates persuaded me to theism.
Did you draw any conclusions and were those conclusions based on logical thought, not just a feeling?
@@seizetoday2801 Interesting. Which debate or debates and what arguments by theists convinced you of a higher power and is your belief broad, or is it a particular religion you landed on?
@McShag420 Hitchens v. Turek, Harris v. Craig, Dawkins v. Lennox to name few. The strongest rationale for general theism I find to be: the cosmological argument (the universe had a cause, that cause was personal) and the argument from morality ie morality in the absolute sense doesn't exist apart from a law-giver. The case for Christianity requires lengthy treatment, which I will provide, if requested.
Well done.
I worked it out when i was one.
Never been a believer. Thank god!
One?
Absolutely compelling. Brave and unsettling to come to terms with the power of religious indoctrination--or any kind of indoctrination. What Barker is describing is a kind of split consciousness--the God delusion--that voice that seems like it's the Holy Other, but it's actually your own. Barker's story reminds me of Julian Jaynes and his book The Bicameral Mind where he looks at primitive cultures and the emergence of the individual, having a violent psyche break from the collective group thought of their clan, people, village... Fascinating testimony. Great video
Those who deem themselves 'WISE' in this world will later find out that their 'WISDOM' was FOOLISHNESS.
I never really heard of Dan Barker before this, it is an interesting story.
Thank you Dan, your intellectual courage and honesty is the hope for the future of humanity, like the light that evicts the darkness of mass blindness, first for yourself and then the rest of us.
Didn't know this story. Thank you
There is light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to folks like him.
That was refreshing. Mr. Barker never quit thinking and reevaluating. All that time he thought that he was a evangelist, he was living the scientific method.
I gotta be honest, at 0:40 I was sure he was going to start rapping.
LOL. Bring it down!
One of the smartest guys I know is extremely religious. I’ve known him his whole life. He’s been exposed to truth as much as I have. Why are they so broken but they have to believe in fairytales? I never understood it, because since I was old enough to recite the Lord’s Prayer I knew it was BS. Know if you have mental issues, which I’m aware of because both my brothers are mentally handicapped then I don’t begrudge them some religion. But it’s way too invasive into peoples lives. We need to let go.
Religious imprinting of trusting children can leave lasting gaps in one's logic. Brainwashing is ancient and it survives because it works.
It's because he was exposed to it heavily as a child is my guess, like I was. I managed to break free in my late 20s and never felt better.
Wait until the rest of the world knows what I don't know. God is a virus of the neocortex.
In addition to what @feonor26 mentioned above, It provides mental comfort to the facts of life that we don't like nor understand such as death
People are afraid of death. They need an answer to what happens after life. Not me. Dead is Dead. Nothing else.
I honor You fully for your courage and honesty. I admire your calmness and rational thinking. As an ex-muslim I share your ideas and feel for the tremendous effort You had to do to overcome your child indoctrination. Only difference is that I’m a panentheist looking for more answers. All my love and respect for those who think.
What's not to love about Dan Barker? I think we sang one of his songs in church back in my own Xian days.
Well... once you bite the dust, you'll be singing a 'DIFFERENT' song altogether.
@@buukkreider544Jeezus take a day off ffs.
@@buukkreider544really showing the love of jesus by threatening people with hell.. for… not agreeing with you?
@@Davie-jx4rh He's just spreading the "good news"! 😇"Worship me or face eternal torture" is the very epitome of love! 😍 Just ask any abusive spouse. Hallmark Cards WISHES they could communicate such a sweet message. 🥰
@@buukkreider544
Tell me about this loving religion of yours that’s sends people to eternal torture for not believing a poorly written book of genocide and slavery with no evidence?
I came to the conclusion that the only religion that is a good one, is one where you strive to better yourself. No missionaries, no conversion, no „my god is the best“ bs, only me, myself and I. How do I become better?
Wow, not only is Dan a hell of a voice for reason, he’s also rock solid on the blue piano chops.
Religion is man made. Out of all the religions of the world, only your’s is right? You can only get to heaven by accepting Christ. What about all of the people before Christ?
I’m baffled by the human need for religion. I have no religion and am just fine.
@Mel-q5n5j Prove it or forever hold your tongue....
Lesson is it doesn't matter what you believe, Christian or Atheist. What is is regardless of belief. Instead keep the mind open and avoid conclusions. Also, "Be excellent to each other." - Bill and Ted
You can't be a Christian and be excellent to "each other".
@@littlebitofhope1489 I'm glad you were able to gather enough evidence to make that conclusion. I'm not smart enough or informed enough to say I agree or disagree with you. The only conclusion I can arrive at is humans are generally pretty ignorant by nature no matter how hard they try not to be. There's just too much to know and analyze. But my opinion isn't important anyways. Thanks for reading though.
That's a nice sentiment, but religion is going to compel people to act in ways that are in conflict with that. How many parents have disowned children because of [Leviticus 18:22]? I have a child, I would disown a god before I disown my child. I'm not saying someone couldn't disown their child for being different on their own accord, but religion will compel a person who wouldn't do it on their own accord.
@@Linkaless Those who can be convinced to believe absurdity, can be made to commit atrocity. Voltaire.
"A man of self-esteem and sovereign conciousness deals with reality, with nature, with an objective universe of facts; he holds his mind as his tool of survival and develops his ability to think".
-Nathaniel Branden-1967
Thank you. Long live the progeny of reason and critical thinking.
That song at the end was brilliant.
You left out the best part. Dan ultimately married Annie Laurie Gaylor!
I was deeply brainwashed into thinking crazy religious shit was real and ended up developing phobias because of it. It wasnt until i was a teen that i started questioning all of it and then i was looked down upon so i started distancing myself from my family... best choice ive ever made.
I read his book "From Preacher to Atheist" back in the 90s. I figured if a devout Christian realizes it's BS then that's a pretty good argument against it.
Just because u never witness a photo of your greatgrandfater great-grandfather 100x, doesn't mean he did not exist.
@@noexcuses5524 Wow. Just wow.
@@noexcuses5524He must have existed, otherwise his offspring wouldn't have. Now prove why god must exist.
But then what about Mahatma Ghandi? Or Martin Luther King?
@@hildebos1653 same answer. The Gods and Goddesses existed otherwise they're offsprings wouldn't have.
All of us are image of God. Plants,trees, animals such as humans, dog, bear, whales, etc
The theory of evolution did not debunk that there is no Gods/Goddesses.
It's why the hymn writer wrote, "I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name." The hope of the Christian is not some emotional "spiritual" experience. It's based on Jesus and His finished work, alone. The hymn writer goes on to say that it is his (Jesus') oath, his covenant, his blood that supports me in the whelming flood. In other words salvation, the gift of eternal life, is based on what Christ has done to earn salvation in our place, not any of our own works, but a free gift received by faith in Jesus so that it is available to all, whether good or bad, rich or poor, whoever. That's the Christian's hope.
Intelligence, Science and Reason have brought just as much wonder and beauty to my life more than any outdated, old book could ever bring.