Why Don't Atheists Believe in God? | Stephen - Tokyo, Japan | Atheist Experience 22.06
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2024
- The Atheist Experience episode 22.06 for February 18, 2018, with Matt Dillahunty and Don Baker.
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Cop: “The butler did it.”
DA: “Where is this Butler? Can we interview him?”
Cop: “No, I can’t even prove he exists, but I’m sure he did it.”
Matt that dumb a## analogy about the cop and butler is ludicrously different than a God argument . please.... and if you want to make an analogy you would have to make the butler and the victim the only ones living on an island. until this cop appears and says I need to figure this out . The cop is Matt dillahunty and his followers hmmm.... 🤔and please Matt or one of his blind followers tell me how quoting scientist and living by their discoverys and non of your own is different than living by the bible hmmm......🤔
Science leads to models of the world with predictive power. We can model the earth's gravity and orbit, and from that launch a satellite which stays at a desired altitude. The "beliefs" have a real world measure of their accuracy and are of useful to improving our way of life.
Which religious book does that?
@@adamchoquette1937 are you seriously putting on public record that the bible or no religious books Have a real world measure and can improve your way of life? If so that's ludacris .
Jessie Hill, I assume that was your last post on your science-delivered computer or the science-delivered Internet, since they are not your own discoveries. You can also move out of any house (architecture is a science) and stop using electricity, water, etc, delivered by science. I look forward to all your future messages via prayer. Not too late at night, tho, please. I need my sleep.
When you say the butler is living on the island, can we assume you have evidence for the butler in your scenario? Then there is that problem with any butler-god analogy. We know butlers exist.
@Jessie Hill YES. Please correct me with the real world measurements and exactly how they improved life.
"I was an atheist for three years."
Oh _really?_ So why tf are you calling to ask why atheists don't believe in deities? If you have been an atheist you should already understand this.
What I notice is some people grew up in a household that didn't practice religion and they equate that to being an atheist. They didnt actually put some thought in it and decide what makes sense and what they are going to stand by. Those people are easy to fall prey to religion.
Yesss but this sheep seems diverted in his thinking he has no clear perception of how things are from the fore
just another dishonest christian.... if their god is so true, why do they feel they need to lie about this???
Paddy
Two of the most frequent theist/apologist quips are "I used to be an atheist" and "Famous ATHEIST!! recants on death bed."
To take a page from the christian playbook:
"He wasn't a *true* Atheist!"
“I was an atheist for like three years...and then I thought about it” 😂😂😂
Echoes of Kurt Cameron. Devout atheist. Then one day "but what if I'm wrong? Whooaaa!"
You thought about being watched by some ghostly figure all day and NIGHT everywhere you go and everything you do. Listening to dirty thoughts? Is that what you believe now?
Stars and stuff, man. Stars and stuff
superreverbfreak 😲 he actually had a thought😂😂😂
@@ejscorp "Tide goes in, tide goes out. You can't explain that."
🤣😭
I don't believe for one second that Stephen was once an atheist if he's asking questions like these.
When anyone says that, they were most likely an agnostic aka unsure of which god to believe in! Cheers
Ian P not necessarily. Because you can be an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist.
+
supergroove
Just remember that someone can be an atheist yet have no understanding of how to determine what is valid evidence or understand anything about logic or reason. So you could be an atheist and be the least intelligent and least educated person on Earth.
The reason people often link atheism with rationality or reason is because most of the outspoken atheists do have those traits. But atheism does not imply anything about a person except that they have not been convinced of the existence of gods.
@@ianp3112 "Gnostic" deals with knowledge, "ism" deals with belief, and there are various stages as Trisha has pointed out.
supergroove I agree totally with you - when you see through the utter nonsense of religion then it is impossible to go backwards: “what is seen cannot be unseen!” I think a lot of these ‘former atheists’ have to pretend like this because it helps them promote just how ‘powerful’ their beliefs and their ‘god’ are, that these ‘beliefs’ changed their whole being. It is just gullible people preying on more-gullible people
Q: "How is religion harmful?"
A: "It can lead people to fly airplanes into buildings for one..."
And endorsements of slavery, crusades, imperial expansion, Control of women's bodies and sexualities, and genocide.
@Noughttosixty how do you differentiate between the people and the religion? Who are you to say that someone is not a true representation of a religion? Slavery, racism, domestic violence are among the many things justified by the leading founders and scholars of monotheistic organized religion. How can you make such a simplistic statement?
Telling Your Six year old, santa is fake, and as an 'adult' still believing in another santa. Very harmful to children
Religion also leads people into committing mass shootings. It leads them into justifying slavery and child molestation.
Christians in general have ugly beliefs.
Arguably convincing others who're unable to make changes throughout their lives be it financially or even succumbing to an illness that some deity is going to make changes, when we've waited _decades_ for some things like this; hence the eventual annoyance of how God is everything but what he's supposed to be.
I've been a staunch, outspoken atheist my entire life and have always viewed religion as a totally absurd / delusional concept. These 21 minutes put everything in a nice, tightly packed, package of what I've been saying for over 40 years. Thank you "Atheist Experience."
ABSOLUTELY. Well said 100%
It's so pleasant to see outspoken intelligent atheists like you on UA-cam.👍💯
@@lorenzolucifuge1653 thank you 🙏
Amen, Brother ;)
In a few weeks it will be 69 years of Reality for me, then again I live in northern europe ............
i'm an atheist from singapore. matt dillahunty has made me smarter. thank you sir!
Chameleon Rat
Clearly not that much!!
@Louai Taoube which one?
Zeus TM on Mr. Rat
@Victor Smit Enough of what may I ask?
@@mahanubhavs9980 “Which one”
Omg that funny. Oeps
When an atheist doesn't know something, he'd say: "I don't know!"
When a theist doesn't know something, he'd say: "There must be god."
No God their ignorance of science, math, reality, is their god. What they don’t know is God.
"I don't know!" - That's an agnostic, atheist say "I know there is no God!"
rob cochran wrong. I’m an agnostic atheist. Atheist also means a lack of belief in a god or gods. I do not believe there is evidence for any gods, but I do not claim to know that.
Agnostic atheism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity and agnostic because they claim that the existence of a deity is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact.
The agnostic atheist may be contrasted with the agnostic theist, who believes that one or more deities exist but claims that the existence or nonexistence of such is unknown or cannot be known.[1][2][3]
@@trishayamada807 Fine. Most atheists I've heard don't call themselves agnostic atheists but just atheists as if they are certain and they can prove it nothing exist beyond this earthy plane. They are to me the same as theists being dogmatic in their "beliefs".
rob cochran whatever.
"We're not just baby killers trying to destroy God's favorite country"
Dying
and which is gods favorite country ?
@@petermeichan3160
Generally used in reference to the United States, thanks to a bunch of threadbare religious propaganda declaring that it's unarguably the best place in the world to live due to being blessed by God or something. Usually accompanied with religious nationalism sentiments and declaring how everyone who isn't a good little protestant evangelical is actually an agent of the devil that needs to be exiled or destroyed.
@@cyreni9756 these right wing Christians are actually true Christians, with all their hate and lies
@@petermeichan3160 I think we all know that lol God bless the USA baby!
@@DrMonty-yr1kc the likes of MTG are taking you down the drain
8:55 Stephen: Can I have one more question?
Matt: I'll let you do one more.
vid length 21:17
Me: *grabs popcorn*
The overwhelming majority of the universe is hostile to life. Nailed it.
The overwhelming majority of the planet we live on is hostile to most animals
And it seems like the earth is actually trying to kill us sometimes.
Seems fair, we're trying to kill it after all!
@@paradanglers Yes, and after nature has attacked us with plagues, cholera, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc but we finally have mother nature on the ropes, we're supposed to play nice?
C Nault "we finally have mother nature on the ropes"I doubt that!
I love this one in particular. As an atheist I too get asked about why I debate with theists and why I resist their dogma. It's because the christians continue to try to worm their religion into aspects of all of our lives. "Bring god back into schools" and the like. It's important to maintain the separation of church and state and if no one stands up for the state half, then the church half will spread, corrupt and subvert everything.
I subscribe to a couple of christian groups online from my state of MN so I can keep abreast of their shenanigans of trying to worm their religion into all aspects of our lives....one of them is a catholic group and they actually have a section in their email newsletter about "bridge builders" and their efforts to connect religion and politics. They have courses for teens, take them to St. Paul and instruct them on how to inject their religion into debates/discussions and eventually into bills considered as legislation.....some scary shit!
Sometimes they send emails telling everybody to call their state reps and senators and tell them to vote a certain way on upcoming legislation....I then immediately email them back to thank them so I can make the calls and tell them to vote the opposite of what they want. For whatever reasons I'm still on their mailing lists......hahahahaha!!!
@@sped17373 You should start up an atheist mailing list that compiles all the worst shenanigans churches are currently recommending so we can have a good chance of combating them.
What they fail to realize is that separation of church and state is the best system for them too! There is no official church, therefore, we can have a different church on every street corner. It gives them freedoms too.
@Christopher Patterson So why do you think you have knowledge that others do not? Where did your information come from and how did you check to see if it is true?
@Christopher Patterson No no you do not seem to understand. I do not want to know what you claim or what you believe. I want to know how you tested that those claims are true.
The fact that government causes more harm than religion doesn't mean harm done by religion should be ignored.
The two aren't even properly separable so it's useless to even try to consider them independently.
@@karlt.8911 i agree i think religion is an extension of government or vice versa
Religion shouldn't be an exception especially because It supposedly teaches who to have proper morals and all that, there's a reason that the arguments about it's cruelty are brought up, or how the hollier than thou priests get caught for pedophilia and in rare occasions does church deals with those guys properly.
"government causes more harm than religion" is a stupidity. Hey, mark, what is the coolest of the two? Canada or thursday?
toshir0m1 Thursday
I was an atheist but after watching this for several years I now worship universe farting pixies lol
Well...uh...progress?
They rock
American imperialism isn't about owning real estate, it's about controlling resources.
A classic example of intentional ignorance. This is what religion does to you.
"Ignorance is not just what you don't know, it is also what you won't know."
- AronRa
kosys Gods in control of all things if u like it or not idk what goes on in your life but Gods is a part of everything in life and he loves you even if u don’t believe in him but why is it that u don’t believe in God?
It’s easy for me to believe in gravity waves. That a billion light years away two black holes orbited each other. They rapidly spun around each other, faster and faster until they collided. This motion created a “chirp” that vibrated space-time and sent waves throughout the universe.
That those waves passed through the Earth, stretching and compressing space.
We have evidence for this. I read and compared that evidence to my understanding of how the universe works, how science works, and how scientists operate.
I can believe that a laser can be split and sent down 2 kilometer perpendicular corridors and reflected back into an interferometer. And that the changes in length of the corridors were a fraction of a wavelength of the laser and still detected.
I can believe that, tentatively. The strength of that belief will change depending on its reproducibility and if there are any conflicting reports.
A 2 kilometer building vibrates a fraction of a wavelength of light creating a chirping sound that matches general relativity’s predictions of a pair of black holes colliding. It’s happened multiple times and corroborated by a second detector.
I say all this because we can apparently detect such tiny disturbances of space now. It’s tenuous at best. I’m still skeptical, so I don’t accept it 100%. I’m waiting to see where it leads. It seems so impossible that though Einstein predicted them, he figured they would never be detected. (I guess that proves him wrong and right!)
There’s nothing I’ve seen of a god claim that is anywhere near as convincing. At best it seems you have to believe in god to have some kind of experience that reveals him to you. Which I see as completely subjective potentially self deceiving. Or they say you get no confirmation, you just have to take it on faith. Or they give arguments that aren’t convincing at all.
It seems there’s a thousand competing mythologies that don’t seem to correspond with reality that I’m supposed to choose from without any good reason that I can see. It doesn’t make any sense to me at all.
I wasn’t really indoctrinated as a child. I did have a kind of Catholic background. Had a few years of Catholic school and went to church with the grandparents on Christmas and Easter.
I guess I thought I believed my children’s Bible. When I decided to be grown up about religion I started reading a real Bible. At that point I guess I felt lied to. The stories sound a lot like the classical myths I already didn’t believe. And they were pretty horrific. Whatever faith I had evaporated.
I was around 12. I haven’t seen anything from the theist side that makes sense to me at all.
HikaruBG i’ve got something for you to fire back at them my friend. I ask a believer do you think we should uphold the 10 commandments? If they claim to be a Christian they must say yes. Okay then you say do you want to see hundreds of thousands of people die? You then point out that if everyone upheld not working on the sabbath, children’s hospitals and all hospitals all over the world would see a massive amount of deaths with no nurses or doctors. Then you have all the emergency workers, accidents, catastrophes whatever. On top of this criminals would know that police are not working, allowing the crims to get away with wholesale robbery home invasions whatever. You can even continue the list just for inconvenience sake. Aeroplanes, restaurants, shops, service stations, and the list goes on.
Christopher Patterson . He probably said all this to cover up for the fact that those commandments are in the Old Testament. I don’t believe either of those books by the way.
Christopher Patterson . Teaching love? I think you’ve been reading the wrong book. Also I looked it up and it says they were in the Old Testament
I don't dislike this guy, he seems capable of considering what the hosts have to say and that's more than can be said for most. He's a little on the defensive but he doesn't seem dishonest.
He's not "dishonest" he is deranged.
I agree, this guy is one of the better callers I've heard.
He said he used to watch the show! How do you ever watch this show and not know the basic point of this show? What do you believe and why is the one question that needs to be answered.
he's absolutely right that the us is imperialistic.
He use to be more rational it seems but he sounds like I did back when I smoked too much cannabis & hung out w burnout's.
Now I just don't hang out with idiots lol
He lives in one of the most atheist countries in the world and he can't figure out why nobody believes?
Because he likes "think" not to research or learn. 🤯 ... 😁
"Nothing isn't something that could exist! Because Nothing isn't Something!", Love It and am going to borrow it. Thanks Matt!
Watch the TAE clip "something from nothing".
Something has to exist to consider it not existing. What is not existing when we are talking about nothing?
The U.S. is extremely imperialistic. Not in the arcaic form in which Matt described but nonetheless the most powerful force today.
"Baby killing monsters trying to destroy god's favorite country." Thanks for that laugh. Thank you for what you do Matt.
Dammit... that was the precise reason I BECAME an atheist... so that I COULD be a "baby killing monster"... thanks for ruining everything Matt!!!!!!
I’ve been watching atheist content for over a decade and somehow I’ve only just recently come across Matt and his material. This is seriously good stuff, I wish I had found it sooner.
Where have you been watching atheist?
Yea that’s kinda crazy
Be sure to check out Aron Ra if you haven’t already.
"It's more than that. It's just, like, stuff." You can tell he put a lot of thought into his model.
When a Theist becomes an Atheist, people ask, why did you lose your faith? When an Atheist becomes a Theist, I ask, why did you lose your reason?
Matt denying the imperialism of the USA is fucking wild.
Capitalist realism in action, holy shit.
agree Matt, most decent societies are "evolving" AWAY from religion.
Here’s hoping!
evolving towards a new kind of religion that is.
And we're saying how that is going. Now you guys have got discussions wether someone is a girl or a boy ;)
I'd rather have a discussion if someone is a girl or a boy than people getting killed because of a book ;)
@@ericscaillet2232 Exactly right you nail it.
The universe is a cold, heartless place.
Kosta Ilijev how does that link to this video at all?
@@lofiandchill6531 In that it's not designed for life. It is literally 1. Cold (away from a star) and 2. Without a heart.
Factually incorrect. As the various warrants for my arrest can attest, I can vouch for the existence of 6 and a half hearts, at least, within the boundaries of the universe.
Perhaps ''indifferent'' is better description of the universe . Life appears , life is destroyed .
The universe isn't endowed with human emotions it just is what it is.
13:54 Finally Matt and I disagree.
The U.S. has over 1,000 military bases in over 130 countries.
That's an affirmative on the U.S. being an imperialist power.
I'm sure that's not how he means it but I agree with you
"The U.S. has over 1,000 military bases in over 130 countries.
That's an affirmative on the U.S. being an imperialist power."
Nope. The U.S. would only be an imperialist power if the U.S. put those bases there without the permission of those countries.
Empire is about power, not consent. We’re not in the classical world of ancient empires where they’re contiguous. We’re in a post colonial world, where empires are countries that exert extreme amounts of power over other countries-whether it be economically or to enforce a puppet government with your backing, which the US absolutely is guilty of.
Everybody wants to rule the world.
@@cnault3244 No pressure to trade with the number one economy is there?
“Like..stars can juggle planets and stuff”...this caller is totally lost.
maybe he just meant that the planets revolve around stars and he misspoke
It’s poetic and metaphoric though. But that all.
MATT DOES NOT KNOW EITHER WE ARE LOST IN THIS FUCKING UNIVERSE OR MAY BE YOU KNOW DO YOU ? YOU KNOW SHIT SO FUCK THIS SHIT WE GOING NO WHERE.
I liked that part
To be fair, the guy was willing to listen.
Only bad take here was that the US has no imperialist tendencies. You can't have an empire as you could before but the kind of control we hold in the middle east by force to hold oil is preeeetty close.
Here in the UK the blasphemy laws were only finally got rid of in 2008. Just shows how ingrained religious dogma can go unchecked.
Thank goodness we got there eventually long long time coming!!!!
The laws are back now.
NotAsian - what is your source, please?
+Richard Chappell
The laws aren't called blasphemy laws anymore but they are laws about causing offence, which was the essence of what blasphemy laws were about.
+notformebeaky
Hate speech is a bullshit term.
Look at how it is interpreted, offence caused to religious, sexual ect ect. The point is it relates to offence.
"People aren't protected from offence. If you weren't allowed to cause offence, then Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle would never be allowed to perform."
Or people like luaran southern would be prevented from performing... O wait that happened... Because people found her speech offensive.
I have an invisible magic monkey on my shoulder that protects my head. I have faith he's there and I've never had a fatal head injury. When I tell Christians about Marley the monkey they think I'm crazy.
All hail Marley!!!
@Christopher Patterson Why are you in the comments section pretending to misunderstand people? I've been scrolling for ~5 minutes and I've come across 3 just like this, where the OP clearly meant one thing, and you pretend to misunderstand to be snarky.
The thing is, atheists obviously don't think you have a point, and other Christians probably don't appreciate you being this much of a petty asshole in their name, so *who is this for?* What are you accomplishing, other than blowing your wad all over a keyboard?
God really filled you with joy and life, huh? That's why you're here spewing poorly-worded disses in an internet comment section, huh? If being "filled with the spirit" makes people act the way you act, *why would anyone want any part of it?*
To anybody who is in any way on the fence: Take a good look. This guy is what Christians are really like. For all the lip-service they pay to things like peace and forgiveness and "loving your neighbor as you do yourself," this is what Christianity really does to you. This is the kind of person it makes you.
Thanks for doing your part for Atheism, Chris, we appreciate it. 👍🏾
@Christopher Patterson Well, I don't think this god (or any other) exists, but if I did, I'd agree with you there - it's a failure by virtually any metric.
I mean, all other arguments aside, Divine Hiddenness *alone* is sufficient to put the nail in the coffin. If there were an all-powerful, all-knowing being who wants a relationship with every human, atheists wouldn't exist. The fact that we do means (at least) one of those things isn't true. Either it's not capable of revealing itself, and/or it doesn't know that people need good evidence to believe things, and/or it doesn't want a relationship with every human...or it doesn't exist.
No matter how you slice it, I'm not the one who messed up here. If god doesn't exist, the fact that I don't believe is no one's fault. If god exists, the fact that I don't believe is god's fault. You can be mad at me all you want, but if you believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing god that wants a relationship with me, then you can't escape the fact that the blame for me not believing in it lies squarely at that god's feet.
Also, you should learn to use the edit button. Spamming four times in a row makes you look like even more of an unhinged lunatic than you already are.
@Christopher Patterson In order to make claims like "God failed all" or "God lost", you'd first need to prove that a god exists. You're right that I don't need to prove anything - the burden of proof is on those making a claim, i.e. you.
@Christopher Patterson No one said it was a crime. But we're not having this discussion because you hold certain beliefs - we're having this discussion because you came to a comments section to preach those beliefs. I didn't make you come here and type out claims on the internet. You did that. You should either substantiate those claims, or stop spewing them at others.
Stephen was in Japan? One of the most non-religious countries and successful countries?
Depends how you define success. Japan has had some successes but has more than its share of problems. Also, the USA is the richest most powerful country in the world. Is that a benefit to the planet in any way ?
He's an American serviceman.
The US is an empire, we have territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands and Samoa that have no political representation inside the US Government.
I think Matt's time in the Navy has given him a distorted view on US military hegemony. It seems to be his blind spot
Why don't atheists believe in god? Because if atheists DID believe in god, they would not be atheists! Duh...
Yup
Stupid. You know what he means, for fuck's sake.
That doesn't answer "why". Can't believe that people like this retarded comment under every AE video
Wow Matt you are really wrong about the political stuff you were talking about US military intervention... Even specialists know this. I follow this channel and I'm atheist. But in this... You are really wrong... And makes me understand how possessive you are during calls. So it doesn't matter too much if the caller is right or wrong... Sometimes you win the debate because you control the conversation. And you are actually very good at it.
Are you in? Specialists aren't told shit but their Mission that day.
@@jamesturpin9091 Go listen to "Sekular Talk" son. I won't waste time with you. No offense. And do it.
@@raul1899 i dont need to do shit. especially when you didnt clarify your claim.
@@raul1899 As someone who isn't American, therefore inclined to believe what you said. I can't trust someones claim if they just say go check Sekular Talk, and that is all, you'll have to tell me what videos to check out, for the claim you said, and also it's good to add some examples from that video, to get me interested in your point. So, just as Rick said, I won't go check it out.
yeah i had a feeling at least one other person raised an eyebrow at matt saying the US isn't imperialistic. cause it 100% is. it's not the british imperial style but weaker countries are farmed for their human capital and kept at low prices so the US can have it's way.
America is not engaged in empire building? Would love to see Matt debate Chomsky on that topic.
It still is, especially with the present Cheeto. Even though he's doing harm to the US too.
The only empire being built is a tower of money for the rich people running things, particularly the war machine.
Agreed. I honestly was incredulous that he said the US not imperialist. We're the poster child for imperialism. And Iraq is NOT better off than it was 30 years ago
"There's this thing called gravity, right?" LMAO
Finally read the bible at 46 plus listened to Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Matt Dillahunty, Aron-Ra and others and best thing I ever did! Even though I'm struggling a little with the fact I will never see my loved ones beyond death I am free of all religious shackles. So wish I'd done it sooner - too many people are indoctrinated at a young age and it is a crippling hateful indoctrination too...
This young man might be the most difficult type of caller for me to relate to. Millions of years of tiny, nearly indistinguishable changes and hundreds of thousands of generations of unbroken lineage surviving selective pressures and unimaginable odds, yet so incapable of reason or thought.
As you know, variation is the first step in the evolutionary process. Without variation you and I would not exist. Variation means that in each generation there will be a wide range of abilities, including intelligence. So some people will be bright, like you, and some dull like him. If there were no dull people, there could not be any bright people. He is providing an essential service to evolution.
@@tedgrant2 I appreciate that comment I am sitting here confused as to why some of the greatest of life forms on this planet in terms of intelligence capabilities can fail to realize such basic concepts.
@@jtdubs828
It's very simple, too much ice cream. It cools the brain.
ted
All things in moderation + just a bit more, required to prevent overheating.
One CAN be too careful, a full & rich life REQUIRES just a bit of excesses.
@ 85 I know my beans.
ted
Yes. What about it?
Imperialism
Noun
a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
At the beginning Matt explains why he doesn't believe. Tokyo Joe says he understands, then goes on to prove he doesn't. lol
Matt is so logical and uses common sense to make u think!!
Take a shot every time he says “Like “
Don't think I'll bother; possibly regaining conciseness after having my stomach pumped my a paramedic doesn't really appeal.
l don't have enough whisky.
Even better, take a shot every time he says "Yeah but what I'm saying is..." 🤪
Can't walkk now.. thanbks 😂
Wulllll, liyyyke......wuuullll
Iraq is actually more religious since the removal of Saddam so yes it worse now.
Ty
To say nothing of U.S. destroyed infrastructure & millions of "collateral damage" lives.
Get over it ;)
@@adabsurdum3314 That's what Britain did. Now look at the state the county is in.
@@toni4729 but mostly america. America is the largest murderer of innocent people on the planet. Without exception.
Only because america has bombed it for 20 back nearly to the stone age
Best Dillihunty performance ever. Clear, calm and correct.
See, I knew there had to be something I'd disagree with Matt about. I found it in this video. The US has imperialistic goals and strategies, the only difference with the older type of empire is that US imperialism is not based on land, but it's based on influence and blackmail, sometimes violent. Frankly, only an American would fail to see that, it's a pretty accepted truth here in Europe. Noam Chomsky's historical analyses make good reads on the subject.
Pax Americana. Europeans haven't had a global war for 75 years. With the US Empire keeping shipping open, countries have less need to go to war to preserve their ability to trade with other countries. On the other, hand the US has gotten into too many destructive wars that cause more harm than good. Maybe we will have a better world when the Chinese, Indians or Russians take over.
The low level of intellectual capability demonstrated by so many of the callers on this show frighten me.
These people are so poor at logic that the fact they have voting rights are a scary prospect
I love Matt and the show, but claiming that the US (or its representatives, whatever), is not imperialistic or that it is not wrong in being so is a huge kick in my nuts. It becomes evident to me that many good people from the US are just ignorant to their country's historical crime sheet. As someone from latin America, I can't afford that same ignorance.
That doesn't necessarily mean the US in an empire though. The goal of an empire must be to conquer and own and expand across the world creating many different colonies in different countries for the purpose of continuing to conquer and own. The fact that the vast majority of the US's wars have been because of stealing oil to protect their corporate interests is living proof that claiming the US is "imperialistic" is a misleading statement.
All nations of any size have these same traits. And many (but not all) small nations and even tribes too.
You are from Latin America. Has *any* Latin American nation do any better?
They say that reading the bible is the best way to become an Atheist but, I tell you, if you can get your head around field theory; the multiverse etc (ref Sean Carroll is a big help :)) you wont be long in asking "who the hell needs God?". There is no doubt that learning can be hard which is why lazy people fall for short answers that tell you NOTHING about the nature of reality
I think you might need to be inoculated before reading the Bible. I saw Cosmos when I was about 11, I think. I first attempted to read the Bible at around 12. I wasn’t really indoctrinated and pretty much stopped believing right there. I also never faced criticism from family so, easy transition.
I wouldn’t say no struggle. Here I am nearly 40 years later still trying to understand why people believe the things they do.
Considering multiverse isn't even a theory... I guess?
@@mattjk5299 : is still a hypothesis....otherwise, even in the "churches" would talk about it 😁
“How can there be, like, literally an infinite universe?” - Aristophanes
10:12 Sadly most of us here know this already, but Matt pointed out just some of the modern problems religion causes, yet even educated, "rational" people seem to be oblivious to this and genuinely surprised when pointed out, or unconvinced that religion is the cause somehow. Such a long way to go still.
Matt I'm home alone and I'm clapping to what you're saying! It's just beautiful!!
thank god for this channel 😆
"I don't know" is the best answer we have to some questions. Don't stick a bigger mystery to answer a known mystery. That is never the real answer.
Don has always been one of my favorite, even keeled hosts. Always positive and never loses control when presenting his views.
Thank you both for your work
Please
Stay strong.
it is ironic that when we are in a situation of presenting evidence in a court of law, which depends on facts, we are asked to swear on a book that is based on belief without evidence
Exactly lol
Stephen: "Why don't atheists believe in God?"
Me: "Easy. We're not ignorant fools."
The real question is why theists believe in a god? We don't get the same question about Sasquatch, leprechauns, fairies, trolls, pixies or other fantastical creatures. Why don't these theists believe in these?
By the way, Blue Apron has some damn good food. I'm just saying.....
Because god is literally: god of gaps.
We have invented them to "explain" things for which we have no answers for, things like Sasquatch, leprechauns, fairies, trolls, pixies or other fantastical creatures are simply made up creatures because we can, they are not explaining anything and they are not "needed" for any purpose. Its all in psychology of humans and that need to know the answer even if its on the level of "make shit up".
"The government doesn't have an agenda"......LMFAO
Ya it does
The opening discussions reminded me a lot of Douglas Adams' story about the sentient puddle believing the hole it found itself in must have been perfectly designed for it.
Question:
Why Don't Atheists Believe in God?
Answer:
Actually noticing the CONTRADICTIONS in Genesis could have something to do with it.
In order to accomplish this feat you must be capable of critical thinking.
The second someone says "I was an atheist" you know that they weren't. There's no being an atheist.
So the thought of a universe being around forever is just plain silly, but a living being can be around forever.... no problem?
Someone’s carrying some biases!!!
@@vrxdical So god doesnt exist in our reality?
@Christopher Patterson This is nonsensical to the extreme. If suffering, hatred and death do not exist with god and we all experience those things from time to time then god cannot exist - at least not In the reality we experience.
@Christopher Patterson More nonsense. According to you suffering, death and hatred do not abide in god yet somehow he created them. Also - what are we being condemned for exactly?
@Christopher Patterson Since we're using the bible here... didn't god create the darkness that he's condemning us for (Isiah 45:7)? Or are you referring back to "original sin" which is also god's fault since he created Adam and Eve ignorant of "the knowledge of good and evil"?
In response to your first post: I call them nonsenses because the points you are attempting to convey contradict themselves with little examination and thought.
As to your "higher power"... perhaps there is such a thing. Perhaps not. The so called god of the bible however? Almost certainly not. I cant argue against your personal experiences but, if you've watched more than a few episodes of the show you'll see how often such things actually boil down to some other (much more) plausible explanation in comparison to a "god did it" or, how being honest about things, the attribution turns out to be another "I don't know".
@Christopher Patterson Something else to consider: God created the darkness. God also created man (and his inherent nature - which Is "in his image"). God is also (canonically) omniscient. Since god would have known that man would "love the darkness" in advance it is pretty hypocritical to condemn people for things they have no control over (there can be no free will if outcomes are predetermined).
The US is not an empire??? Mat, I thought you were smarter that. I guess one cannot be educated in all knowledge areas. You've got some reading to do Texas man. :-)
And what did you read? I'd love to read it myself, because I'd say you're wrong as of this point.
How about Noam Chomsky ‘How the World works’ and the US documents/reports on policy he quotes for a start?
An EMPIRE requires an EMPEROR.
Yes, i found that ridiculous. Maybe he thinks US is helping the middle east. Why don't they invade those countries in Africa conflict areas where there is no oil? Nothing to gain?
@@GokoNo1 If you are still not convinced, just look at the world map which shows US bases.
"Well...like...I mean..." followed by ignorant fallacious statements. Gee, good argument Stephen. For the love of humanity, get an education in logic and reason.
To be fair, I think he was trying to do that with his call. He is sceptic, but that is not necessariely a bad thing. Asking sceptical questions is actually the absolute right thing to do, if you want to be convinced by someomes arguments.
I don't blame anyone for seeking knowledge. Because that would be like making fun of an overweight person, trying to lose weight in the gym.
@@FMB_Bmg Yes, I'm all for skepticism, asking questions, and seeking knowledge. I don't feel a call in show is the best avenue to try to receive an education in logic and reason. It never fails to amaze me how many people lack the most basic critical thinking skills and reasoning abilities. I truly hope people like Stephen, here, becomes educated in these fundamentals. Calls such as these, however, become quite painful to listen to time and time again. I guess I'm always hopeful that people would call in with more informed and less fallacious arguments; it's far more interesting to me to hear a discourse without the fallacies.
@@nonprogrediestregredi1711 I agree. However, if a person managed to see through the fallacies, they are most likely not religious anyways.
@@FMB_Bmg Yes, generally speaking, I would agree there is less inclination towards religiosity as one becomes more aware of proper logic. Don't get me wrong, I understand this show has some dependency upon callers such as this, but from my perspective, I just tire of them. My hat's off to the hosts of the Atheist Experience; I think I would have trouble keeping my frustration level to a minimum during these calls.
@Matt Dillahunty Actually, Iraq is worse than 30 years ago, but that goes to prove your point because there was a regime change that converted from a mostly secular government to a Muslim conservative government. Increasing the amount of religion in that country.
A simplified answer for believers asking why atheism:
-2 men are standing around, a woman walks by.
-Man A claims: She has a horse in her purse!
-Man B: She appears not to have a horse, as I know a horse, in her purse. How do you claim this?
- A: I read a magazine that claims all women have a horse.
- B: A full grown horse? in her purse? If all women have a horse, why do you think it is in the purse? While I agree, it is possible for the woman to own a horse, all the evidence in the world would lead me to disagree with the statement.
- A: you cannot comprehend the miracle and depth of a woman's purse. It is bigger on the inside than out!
- B: I have no purse, but that is in direct opposition to all observations.
- A: The book says it!
I put a Deity God and A Universe from Nothing into the same toilet
How many times does Stephen say the word "like" ?? Almost painful to listen to Stephen.
Drinking game 🤣
Why dont you believe in my imaginary friend?
I was raised in a southern Baptist church for the first 14 years of my life. As I saw other kids professing belief and getting baptized, I just couldn't quite get there. I figured it was just something like algebra; some people get it, others don't. Then I became a musician, developing very quickly, and started performing at church services, both at my family's church and then, shortly afterwards, others around town. I became a genuine observer. I had an open mind, but by 17 or so, I pretty much accepted that it was really just a matter of me not buying what they were selling. It wasn't rebellion, a "desire to sin", or anything like that. It just wasn't convincing. I became a professional musician and continued performing in churches for many years. When I was in my thirties, I had a daughter, my only child. Her grandmother was a staunch evangelical. When she learned that I was an atheist, she began a campaign to separate me from my daughter and my wife. It worked. Despite my hard work, she alienated both of them from me. A brilliant child who aspired to attend MIT and become a scientist, she dropped out of college because of the "un-Godly" environment. She was fourteen on the last day I saw her, an Easter Sunday in which she went with me as I performed. She told me that day that she wanted to come live with me full-time. She went back to her mother's that night and told her. I never found out what happened, but it all changed after that. I havn't even seen my daughter in more than thirteen years. That was the last time I went inside of church. And I'll never go back inside one again.
All due respect. That doesn’t sound believable. Lol
@@lmdoinraysmom That you would "laugh out loud" at my situation is sickening. I told the truth, but left out a few details. First, that last Easter Sunday I saw my daughter was also the last day I ever performed as a musician. If you do not know the breakbreak of having your child taken from you, then consider yourself fortunate. It can be life-changing. After that, the music which I had found so much happiness for 35 years was taken from me, too. There simply was no more joy in my heart for it.
Second, the mother did more than just alter the course of my own life. She got a job at a major mega-church in Atlanta working as the music directors' assistant. (All three of us met in music school some years earlier.) She had an affair with him. He lost his wife (who also went to music school with us), his children, and his job. The last I saw of him, he had started a ministry in an old, run-down strip mall and was recovering from drug addiction, no doubt caused by the indescribale pain from losing one's children. His wife placed the lionsshare of the blame on the mother of my ex, whom, being devoutely religious, she believed was a "demon". I understood her, more realistically, to have a naricissistc personality disorder.
I suspect that you must be a religious zealot, and that you took umbrage with my disdain of the cult called Christianity. If so, then you may wish to reflect on how your beliefs gave you the capability of laughing at the suffering of another who simply did not align with your beliefs. You never restrained yourself from being cruel by asking yourself "I may not believe it, but what if I'm wrong?"
@@Captain-Cosmo looks like we need need to have faith to be good people
@@lmdoinraysmom You are morally bankrupt.
@@Captain-Cosmo what. Lol
It mystifies me how people ask "How could something come from nothing?" Why is GOD exempt from this concept??
I don't understand why they think atheists believe we came from nothing in the first place. I don't even understand how nothing can even exist.
13:54 imperialism: A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
13:54 Two *ILLEGAL* wars under Bush, then to five *ILLEGAL* wars under Obama... Yeah Matt, The U.S. Government is not Imperialistic in the least, and those are just two examples. There are many more.
That doesn't necessarily mean the US in an empire though. The goal of an empire must be to conquer and own and expand across the world creating many different colonies in different countries for the purpose of continuing to conquer and own. The fact that the vast majority of the US's wars have been because of stealing oil to protect their corporate interests is living proof that claiming the US is "imperialistic" is a misleading statement.
'Find the gov't statement' that the US does not launch imperialist wars, Matt? Really?
That doesn't necessarily mean the US in an empire though. The goal of an empire must be to conquer and own and expand across the world creating many different colonies in different countries for the purpose of continuing to conquer and own. The fact that the vast majority of the US's wars have been because of stealing oil to protect their corporate interests is living proof that claiming the US is "imperialistic" is a misleading statement.
What the F... is going on with the education system in the usa?
Kids don't learn that shit in school, they learn it from their parents, who indoctrinate them as early as they can. Luckily, many are shedding their indoctrinations and moving away from illogical superstitions.
k Tomo republicans taking tax payer monies and giving it to religious charter schools.
Why would you educate people, makes it much harder to manipulate.
As a teacher of 25 years, I’ll tell you- ignorant school boards who only care about sports.
I was the only teacher to teach evolution or sex Ed in the district.
the wealthy people got tax cuts so public education is not well funded. Soon Americans will have to pay charter schools
"How is religion harmful?"
How about when religion tells you to fly jets into tall buildings?
I think the subtle reason people don't talk about enough is religion is a gateway idea that results in people _being willing to form beliefs without sufficient evidence._ After forming the first belief that way, it's easy to just keep forming beliefs badly. That's an _extremely_ dangerous approach to living life.
"I used to be an atheist". So did everyone. You're born one.
I love Don's laugh!
I've watched literally hundreds of videos featuring Matt and this is the first time I have heard him say something so asinine (I like that word too) with his comments on American imperialism. Shocking.
That doesn't necessarily mean the US in an empire though. The goal of an empire must be to conquer and own and expand across the world creating many different colonies in different countries for the purpose of continuing to conquer and own. The fact that the vast majority of the US's wars have been because of stealing oil to protect their corporate interests is living proof that claiming the US is "imperialistic" is a misleading statement.
"Why don't atheists believe in god?"
I don't know. Why don't christians believe in zeus?
It's really scary that SO MANY PEOPLE think UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS = REASONABLE CONSLUSIONS.
The universe isn’t in sync. It’s completely chaotic.
Like "Stephen" is really in Japan ...
yangtse55 there are lots of foreigners in Japan. I used to be one.
I love how the guy genuienly laughs to their jokes.
I live in " the happiest country in the world ", and we are NOT very "religious" .....................
This guy seems like he was honest and had sincere questions. He didn't come in with a secret "gotcha" agenda and he wasn't "hyper".
This guy asked a question that I continue to get asked by theists. How is religion harmful.
Just absolutely astounding that there are people that have such a limited or blindfolded view of history.
Our history is chock full of religions doing harm.
Our current existence is being seriously effected by religion in a negative way.
It isn't always harmful. When it is, though, it can be VERY.
"like...like....like....like"
Thank you, Dan, for "mitigating the harm." I'm still de-briefing, and getting rid of indoctrination, 22 years after leaving church (Australian Baptist, then Uniting).
Matt: *hangs up*
Don: “Thank you for the call, Stephen.”
Love you Don!
No I’m not that *Stephen*
Why don't atheists believe in god? Because we have working brains.
Poor Stephen. His paradigm was being shattered right before his eyes and he did what anyone would do when they are being invaded without warning - defend, defend, defend. It was so hard for me to listen to his clueless blathering, but what kept me hooked was Matt coming at him from all angles with facts. Stephen had nothing but empty speculation and hope.
So Mr Dillahunty repeats his previous faith-based claim that the US is not imperialistic (faith-based because it is flatly contradicted by the overwhelming evidence that even people in Texas can find if they care to look for it). He also states that US hegemony is not necessarily wrong, and that the USA is a 'Democratic Republic". The right of the USA to impose its policies and values on the rest of the world is utterly incompatible with the promotion of democracy. The notion that the USA is a 'Democratic Republic' would also seem to be incompatible with the reality that a Presidential candidate who gets less votes than his opponent can 'win' the election and that voters in Wyoming or Montana not only have two or three times the voting power in Presidential Elections but also get just as many senators as voters in California or New York State. The fact that one party in the USA's two party system puts a vast amount of effort into gerrymandering and voter suppression (with some foreign help) also seems to undermine the claim to be a 'Democratic Republic'.
Mr. Dillahunty believes his ridiculous statements to be true because he has 'faith'... perhaps because he devoted eight years of his life to serving in his country's armed forces and the idea that he was merely part of the military wing of US capitalist imperialism doesn't sit well with him. There is room for genuine disagreement on many political issues but some things can be settled by looking at the evidence. You may believe that on-balance; US imperialist hegemony is the best way to run the world (or more precisely the world's economy - which just happens to allow the USA and a few of its allies to consume a vastly disproportionate percentage of the world's limited resources), but if so then be honest enough to argue this point openly. Simply closing one's eyes to reality and denying the evidence is not much better than what Ken Ham does to support his point of view.
And finally, Mr Dillahunty is quite right that the notion that merely giving offence to someone, or criticising their 'protected characteristics' should be criminalised is asinine and ludicrous, but the idea that 'freedom of speech' in the USA is a guarantee that ideas can be freely circulated is quite wrong. In our modern world control of the mass media (and control of the algorithms that direct traffic on the internet) is in the hands of a tiny number of wealthy corporations and individuals. David Pakman has recently done an interesting video on how Google and UA-cam are colluding with the big media corporations to throttle smaller independent outlets (like him), thus showing that free speech is of limited use if the wealthy can decide whether or not anyone hears what you have to say.
That doesn't necessarily mean the US in an empire though. The goal of an empire must be to conquer and own and expand across the world creating many different colonies in different countries for the purpose of continuing to conquer and own. The fact that the vast majority of the US's wars have been because of stealing oil to protect their corporate interests is living proof that claiming the US is "imperialistic" is a misleading statement.
@@michaelmarini4627 -
I do not understand Mr Marini's point, and his final sentence is 100% inaccurate. Establishing control through direct occupation or the establishment of client regimes aadministered by compliant local elites are both entirely compatible with imperilism. Is Mr Marini really claiming that only direct rule by a Viceroy/Prefect/Governor (the titles differ) qualifies as imperialist? That's nonsensical. Imperialism and neo-colonialism have been the dominant themes in US foreign policy for most of the twentieth century. The extent to which all parts of the empire are fully integrated into the empire may vary and many people are blind to their own status (many of my own compatriots still think that we are entirely independet of the USA). Just as the Roman Empitre included many countreis and regions whicn were still ruled by their own kings or tribal leaders, so the modern US empire has a variet of different structures, Guam and Puerto Rico and a few other places are directly ruled but many other places are tied in by treaties, economic ties and other means... but the coercive power of the US military underpins most of its dealings with other countries and the threat is ever present. The USA has been threatening Cuba and Venezuela for many years, and places like Chile paid the proce for trying to shake off the ites of US imperial domination... and provided a lutory example to anyone else thinking of travelling down this road.
The USA conquered its firt oversweas colonies in the nineteenth century (taking the last remnants of the crumbling Spanish Empire), but since then it has become far more sophisticated Tis is all borne out by ample and readily available evidecne... and that is the pont i am making. Any denial of the imperial role of the USA is in contradiction of the evidence and is purely 'faith based'.
for us atheists, this debate is so feeble most of us don't bother dealing with it. We have TRUE priorities
"Like, kinda like, like though"
Aaron Tottman
Can’t imagine being able to string two sentences together. Bewildered by the fact that he can’t imagine how the universe was formed.
I'm surprised he even knows that Tokyo is a real place and in Japan enough to lie about it. unless, of course his mommy and daddy are in the military
if you look it up that speech pattern is associated with women and that's why everyone mocks it but it actually has something to do with being open to others and conscious of the fact that others might want to speak. no wonder most men are bewildered by it.
princesstamika
It’s actually associated, along with AQI, with being unsure of what you’re saying or how to say it: i.e. those with limited vocabulary and limited confidence in what they’re saying and how they’re expressing it. It’s rather sexist to say lack of confidence and lack of education is associated more with women, don’t you think?
I find that when people get all caught up on what god thinks of their sins, they completely neglect to sincerely reflect on the harm they’ve done. They are fearful instead of remorseful. So in fact, the selfish desire to not be punished by god overrides the selfless desire to better one’s self.
Probably the most absurd thing ever said on the AE, and that's a pretty high bar: the USA is not imperialistic. Bravo, Matt.
That doesn't necessarily mean the US in an empire though. The goal of an empire must be to conquer and own and expand across the world creating many different colonies in different countries for the purpose of continuing to conquer and own. The fact that the vast majority of the US's wars have been because of stealing oil to protect their corporate interests is living proof that claiming the US is "imperialistic" is a misleading statement.
@@michaelmarini4627 You must have a very different definition of imperialism. What you mentioned about constantly waging wars (or coups, or doing some good old sabre rattling, I might add) to push corporate interests is the very essence of imperialism. Territorial expansion through direct annexation or creation of colonies has gone out of vogue for more than a century, and even that practice is properly called "colonialism", not imperialism.