Talk Heathen 03.40 2019-10-06 with Eric Murphy, Jamie Boone, & Vi La Bianca

In this very special 100th episode of Talk Heathen, Jamie and Eric celebrate the 100th of things. The boys talk about creating videos, they get cgi glitter bombed, and super hyped about the 100th episode. Jamie has 100 things to do and has 100 extra energy. “Put your Peter 3:15 where your faith is punk.” Jamie is still hyped and this is what happens when he is hyped. Jamie has gone full Jamie. Happy 100th. Jamie makes a grand introduction of Vi and Vi joins Eric as co-host.
After the dust settles, they take their first call. Adam in Ontario, (Save them Adam, you’re our only hope.) He first talks about how awesome Eric was on Hammered Out with Suris. He goes on to ask about how to approach his very religious parents about being gender fluid. Can Vi help him approach his family?
The next caller, Phil from Oregon talks about a couple observations about Christianity. Saying Christ paid for our sins and how death is because of sin. If Christ paid for our sins, why is there still death? Can Eric help him come to grips with these observations? Eric also offers resources to help Phil continue his journey.
The following caller, Jonathan in our home state of Texas. He asks about resources for a newly deconverted atheist. Vi asks what pulled him away from faith and by knowing this will help him find the appropriate resources to continue his lifelong journey. Eric follows that up with “I took a long detour into woo.” Could philosophy courses help Jonathan as well? Jonathan also asks if “coming out” would be a good idea given his current situation. If you experience trouble or financial difficulty when “coming out,” then don’t until you are in a more stable situation.
The next caller, our first theist caller, Sain from Austin. (Why aren’t you at the library?) How do atheists have an objective for best/good or evil? Eric asks very pointed questions about standards of morality and what/who is evil. Is God evil? Is God moral? Can Sain provide a standard of well-being? Does God give reasons for genocide? How can you rationalize the answer to good/evil when you have justified genocide?
Next in queue, we have Jonathan from Arizona. Following up on an email conversation between himself and Vi. Do we have consistency with what we consider as historical? Are we being objective and sincere with regards to the truth? If theists can’t come to the table on that, there’s no good reason to try to reason with them. Did historical Yeshua/Jesus exist? Should we care if he did? Eric responds to this line of questioning: “Prove to me that miracles are possible, then I will care.” Can Jonathan prove and explain this?
Our last caller, Chad in Connecticut. Growing up Catholic, Chad never really was indoctrinated within the faith. Later in life, he decided to do research, discovered Aron Ra, and began to have conversations with theists in his area. He is being encountered with “oh you don’t know the facts” when he presents the facts he has discovered. Can Eric help him navigate this? Does God need me to have a degree of scholarship to believe in him? If someone wants to continue to move the goalposts during a discussion, get them to answer your questions, use active listening, and they will feel heard. By doing so, you give them tools to understand your position and possibly question their beliefs.
An awesome image is then shown on screen. Love rings! Thanks to the production team!

EXTERNAL LINKS (If needed or discussed during the show)
https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org
https://ffrf.org
http://clergyproject.org
https://www.seculartherapy.org/