The Atheist Experience 26.06 02-06-2022 with Matt Dillahunty and Shannon Q

This Sunday’s AxP has Matt returning, alongside crowd favorite, Shannon Q!

First up is Hank, who says without precreation, there’s no point to life. He gets cut off after an inappropriate comment, but Shannon and Matt offer MANY reasons why life matters without babies. Keep it PG Hank.

Kevin in Canada thinks scientists believing in gods is proof of their existence, and also believes in Intelligent Design. Shannon points out that many biological systems are clearly not designed well, and Matt doesn’t care what some people, scientist or not, might think. That's not proof of anything!

Bob is next, who is off like a rocket with his background story of being an agnostic atheist with autism. He wants to know if folks on the autism spectrum are more likely to be non-believers. Our hosts aren’t aware of any statistics on the topic, and think it may be more an issue of visibility than tendency. I would love to have a beer with Bob.

Patrick identifies as an atheist, but thinks the universe is… conscious? And also, therefore God. Shannon offers a great rebuttal, and Matt gives a great analogy for this composition fallacy. No cookies for you, Patrick. Ok, one cookie. But it’s oatmeal raisin.

Anthony has worked with the mentally ill, and wonders if the delusions they suffer are present in some small capacity among all religious folk. Both our hosts agree that being religious is not a mental illness, and talk about why irrational beliefs are not necessarily an indicator for such.

Susan has evidence for a soul! Wait, no she doesn’t. But AI being curious is a thing sooo, souls? Concepts aren’t evidence, and thinking about Narnia doesn’t manifest Mr. Tumnus.

Richard claims that without evolution, humans could not exist. Therefore, God. Sadly, his argument is all conjecture and assertions. Any call that makes Shannon rub her temples is worth watching!

Oh Will, why are you defending Biblical slavery? Will’s making excuses for the Pentateuch, and Matt’s not having it. Not today sir.

Christopher thinks he’s had a divine revelation, and has a direct line to the big man upstairs. We get a real-time conversation as this feckless deity fails at guessing what card is in Matt’s hand. This is good content, people.

Patrick has waited an hour to tell us that anyone popular enough is a God. Flashback to high school much? We’re moving on.

Relic wants to ask our hosts if building communities with believers is worth it. Shannon thinks that as long as our goals are aligned, there’s value there, and Matt agrees. Relic tells us why he’s a druid, and this tale is worth hearing! Freya the Goddess makes a cameo, but our hosts don’t see any value in a cool story.

That’s our show folks, stay safe, mask up, and get vaccinated!