Talk Heathen

Atheist Community of Austin

Talk Heathen is a weekly call-in television show in Austin, Texas geared toward long-form and on-going dialogue with theists & atheists about religion, theism, & secularism. Call 1-512-991-9242 every Sunday from 1-2pm CDT. Talk Heathen is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.

The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop & support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing & friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of government-religion separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists & to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support. read less
Society & CultureSociety & Culture

Episodes

Talk Heathen 08.15 with Dr. Ben and Richard Gilliver
4d ago
Talk Heathen 08.15 with Dr. Ben and Richard Gilliver
00:00 Intro44:33 James | Biblical Miracles And Magic Tricks 1:06:27 Jeff-KY | All Morality Comes From The Bible1:19:38 Christian-FL | Struggling To Find Meaning To Life1:43:35 Joseph-NC | Religion Causing Problems At WorkSHOW NOTESWelcome to Talk Heathen! This week we have Dr. Ben and Richard Gilliver taking your quandaries and queries of all things religion/atheism. Who knows what kind of woo they will encounter today. We received a voicemail this week that sparked a great conversation between Dr. Ben and Richard. The voicemail had a number of assertions, mainly they look around and see evil, near death experiences, etc. NDE’s are a great topic when we have Dr. Ben hosting! (In Miracle Max’s voice) There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead, mostly dead is slightly alive. James wants advice on responding to the various miracle claims. An example of a miracle claim James has encountered is a historical figure being murdered then coming back to life only to point out their killer. Keep the burden on the person making the claim and avoid making any claims you can’t prove. Try getting more specific details about their supposed murder, not just accounts from others. Also, point out that miracles are defined as can only be explained by a higher power.Littlewood's law shows that events with one in a million odds happen, per person, about once a month. Jeff from Kentucky asserts that all morality comes from the bible. He goes on to say the bible proves God’s morality, even slavery. Slavery is and always has been immoral, despite claims it was done by everyone back then. The don’t murder commandment is at odds with christian history. Biblical justice is not moral at all as it condones killing, stoning, etc. Yikes Jeff, advocating for genocide is a very bad look. Hopefully you are just a troll.Christian in Florida is curious how non-believers can attribute meaning to life or find intrinsic right and wrong. Death and suffering are part of the natural world. We have a subjective morality based on objective facts like death and suffering. A moral system should be a work in progress and grows as we learn over time. Atheists tend to find their own meaning in life, like career goals, family, or just living and experiencing life. Joseph in North Carolina struggles to get a diverse workforce on the same page, sometimes due to religious beliefs. Try to remind them they need to adhere to professional standards and set beliefs aside. Advise them to avoid talking or joking about religion at work, Thank you for tuning in for another exciting episode of Talk Heathen! The Question of the week is: What is the sin that made God flood the entire Earth? Post your answer in the comments and the top 5 get read live on the next show!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.
Talk Heathen 08.13 with Christy Powell and Richard Gilliver
31-03-2024
Talk Heathen 08.13 with Christy Powell and Richard Gilliver
WHAT IS TALK HEATHEN?Talk Heathen is a weekly call-in internet show in Austin, Texas geared toward long-form and on-going dialogue with theists & atheists about religion, theism, & secularism. Talk Heathen is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.Call the show on Sundays 1:00pm-2:30pm CDT, tell us what you believe and why!-Use your ☎ and call 1-512-991-9242-Or use your 💻 and click https://tiny.cc/callthWe request pronouns as part of the call screening process on our shows, and we display the pronouns our callers provide.  If you see a caller with no pronouns indicated, this is because they chose not to provide us with any, and we respect that decision.Don't like commercials? Become a patron & get ad-free episodes & more:https://www.patreon.com/talkheathentomeThe podcast may be found at:http://tiny.cc/podcastth-------The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop & support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing & friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of government-religion separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists & to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.We define atheism as the lack of belief in gods. This definition also encompasses what most people call agnosticism.https://www.facebook.com/groups/talkheathenfgreddit.com/r/talkheathenNOTES00:00 Intro08:36 Miguel-(UK) | A Confusing Spinoza's God31:59 Lise-(CA) | Why Not Criticize Eastern Religions?49:31 Kat-(ID) | Moving Past Religious Indoctrination1:02:42 Jason-CA | Thank You Talk Heathen!1:09:56 Bill-CA | Nothing Fails Like PrayerSHOW NOTESWelcome to a normal old Sunday here at Talk Heathen. No bunnies or eggs on this show and no “he has risen” junk.  Miguel in England subscribes to Spinoza’s views about god, claiming god is everything that exists in the past, presence and future. What we fail to understand is how you get from the universe to someone creating it, not to mention your claim that god created himself. Atheists don’t have any codes or beliefs and we have searched for many gods, all seem to fail to critical scrutiny.Lise in Canada has seen some other atheists bash abrahamic religions but romanticize eastern religions. Atheists should look into all religions critically but not all atheists are critical thinkers. Most of the callers are christian so this show kind of skews that way. Most of what we encounter is a western version of these eastern religions so they don’t see the history of harm caused by Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.Kat in Indonesia picked the perfect show to talk about the harms of religious indoctrination, they wonder if they can move past that trauma. You CAN change and in fact are currently changing. These ingrained thoughts will be with you for a long time, but you can heal from them. Jason in California called in his thanks to the show for helping him deconstruct his religion. Thanks and congrats for doing the hard work to deconvert!Bill in California shares his experience of losing his faith while watching prayer fail to heal his wife. We’re sorry for your loss and thank you for sharing your story. Happy Co-opting Pagan Holiday Day!Thank you for tuning in, Heathens! Question of the week is: Why didn’t God ban slavery?The views and opinions expressed by hosts, guests, or callers are their own and not necessarily representative of the Atheist Community of Austin.https://www.youtube.com/TalkHeathen is the official channel of Talk Heathen. "Talk Heathen" is a trademark of the ACA.Copyright © 2024 Atheist Community of Austin. All rights reserved.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.
Talk Heathen 08.12 with Richard Gilliver and Phoebe Rose
24-03-2024
Talk Heathen 08.12 with Richard Gilliver and Phoebe Rose
00:00 Intro12:11 Cadence-FL | Religion Influencing Politics32:15 Terry-(CA) | Seven Day Week Serving Is Inadequate48:45 Luke-FL | We All Have The Same Brain1:10:24 Miguel-(UK) | Eternal Reality Proves God1:30:55 Buddy-MI | Friend Feeling Hopeless About Losing Faith1:41:14 Adam-TN | Zodiac Signs Within ChurchesSHOW NOTESWelcome to Talk Heathen where Richard Gilliver and Phoebe Rose sort through religion influencing politics as they digest inedible seven-day-week food before discussing the singularity and zodiac signs in churches.Cadence in FL asks what the hosts think about how religion influences politics and uses the Palestine/Israel situation as an example. Whenever religion is involved, people bring their own personal politics into things. If something that affects us deeply and is a tragedy, we begin to move towards extremes, which becomes the pollution. It is important to listen and understand people to know how they might end up during deconversion.Terry in Canada serves the hosts an appetizer of universal sovereignty with a main course of the seven day week argument. Are these arguments that can easily be falsified all you got? You could choose any verse in the entire Bible for desert. You must have universal compliance and we are sending it back because no one at the table complies. You claimed to the call screener you were serving steak but what you served is not even food. Christians, if you don’t call, the above caller is what you are left with! Luke in FL says that humans are a connected species and all have the same brain. How would this differ from a Utopian society? What do you mean by same brain? What about people who are neurotypical? If we work backwards in time, and look at the brain of a fish, would you say that humans and fish have the same brain? If humans are all the same with the brain, how do you explain what is missing with the evolutionary process? Stating that something is a proven fact does not make it true. When you as a caller are asked not to do something several times, please thank the hosts for their patience. Miguel in England wants to read a poem that shows that proof of god is that reality is eternal. He then asks if reality can be created from nothing. If you have an absence of something, how do you create something so there no longer is an absence of anything? How does the universe not being eternal get us to god? How are you demonstrating the universe was not a singularity and was created by god? What is your understanding of a singularity and why are you asserting this was caused? Don’t talk sh*t in the chat; if you have a problem, call in and hit us with it. Buddy in MI has a friend who is feeling hopeless because of losing her faith. How long has this friend been experiencing what they have brought to you? Street epistemology where you ask the base questions and breaking down things can be a good place to start. Adam in TN asks the hosts about the zodiac signs that churches have and how it relates to Biblical mythology. Are you saying that these things can occur today?Thank you for tuning in, Heathens! Question of the week is: It was f*cked up when god (blank).Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.
Talk Heathen 08.02 with Jimmy Jr. and Kelley Laughlin
14-01-2024
Talk Heathen 08.02 with Jimmy Jr. and Kelley Laughlin
For our Talk Heathen episode today, Jimmy Jr. and Kelley Laughlin work through calls of objective morality while misgendering Jesus as the Branch of the Old Testament.Slavic in CO wants to discuss freelance awareness of consequences and how that applies to objective morality. How is objective morality defined? Morality can never be subjective because there are so many ways to define objective morality. We justify doing things that are considered immoral by having reasons to consider these things moral. How do we make sure that we are not harming people in ways that we did not think about? If you treat others with respect and dignity, you are more likely to get that back from others. We don’t need a god or religion for that. Do you always know if an action is a bad action before you do it?The Blind Limey in TX asks how to define rational and reasonable evidence when some thoughts can be wrong, yet rationalized internally. You can rationalize all kinds of bad ideas as we have seen throughout history. There can also be all kinds of reasons to justify bad actions. Rationalizing a religious view can seem logical to one person but illogical to another that is not of that view. Ace in the USA, wants to talk about how Jesus is the Branch in the Old Testament. This is not a platform for you preaching or using holy scripture to get us to believe. Can you tell us what you want us to believe without using the Bible? We need to find evidence outside the Bible to show us that the Bible is actually true. How do you know that anyone ever saw Jesus do miracles? How could a claim be made when no one knows who these people were? To say that everyone believes that Jesus did miracles is factually incorrect.Nate in CA wants to let us know that Jesus has been misgendered because Mary was the only case that has reproduced asexually, and therefore Jesus should be female, if we take what the Bible says is true. This is an interesting point of view, but we doubt many Christians will accept that Jesus is a clone of her mother. Why couldn't the magical being that impregnated Mary, have just made the baby any gender?Karen, Jimmy’s sister from NY says that her ideology is not that different from her brother’s because she does not believe in any or all of the writings in the Bible. Bad behavior and being a devout Christian are not incongruent if this means following what the Bible says precisely. Jimmy can appreciate how Karen has grown to not need the theoretical pistol held to her. JImmy’s intent is to not hurt people’s feelings, but to do what is right for him. Karen appreciates Jimmy’s honesty and intelligence. Thank you for tuning in this week! Our Talk Heathen to Me of the Week is: Why did Jimmy Jr. make the face shown on the screen @16:54?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.
Talk Heathen 07.48 with Jimmy Jr. and Tom Benson
03-12-2023
Talk Heathen 07.48 with Jimmy Jr. and Tom Benson
Welcome to Talk Heathen! In today’s episode of the show our host Jimmy Jr. is joined by returning guest host Tom Henson.Our first caller Phil in the Lone Star State to discuss the Plastic Reindeer Rule, a Supreme Court Case which ruled, yes you can have a nativity scene on public property, but must display other decor of the holiday season. So elves, reindeers, Santa, and extend it also to other religious symbiology associated with their holiday traditions as well. This led into further debate on the Establishment Clause and the nuances wherein.Sergei gives our hosts a call from Canada, an atheist who wants to discuss how humanism works with an objective morality system. Now, since morality is subjective doesn’t it mean, we humans choose our morality? Jimmy and Tom explain how secular humanism can fit into objective morality as it could be the closest we can get to an objective moral perspective.Truth666 in Maryland calls to comment on Phil’s repeat calls to the show. Phil claims he is an atheist, but Truth666 doesn’t believe an atheist could even want to go to a church.. Phil had explained his church was progressive and gave him community and support. Truth 666 still expresses her skepticism is due to doctrine and scared for the hatred that may lay below the sunny disposition.Joshua from South Carolina is our third caller to a possible rise of neo-natalism in atheist circles. Jimmy and Tom highlight the position of a lot of atheists to let people choose what they want to do for their lives as long as they aren’t causing harm to others or themselves.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.