An Open Letter to Atheists from a Priest

If you are an atheist, I have a quick question for you.
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[@AronRa]

Would you like to talk to me about this on my channel?

[@joeljohnson896]

Uh-oh, this is gonna be good.

[@pavolluzny3424]

Funny, that while watching this video, I was thinking that AronRa would be the best to answer you. Specially that part where you claim moral ground. Aron would explain you that in religion it doesn’t matter how good you are, if you can’t make yourself believe, and doesn’t matter how bad you are, because all the sins can be forgiven. except the one : non believe. In Christianity you are not judged on morality but on gullibility.

[@Polarbeardueck]

@@pavolluzny3424 "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe..." You are not judged strictly on your belief. Their were many people in the gospels that struggled with belief but Christ did not condemn them but comforted them in their unbelief. God will judge everyone by what is in their heart

[@currently7886]

The AronRa - BASED

[@gu3r1tar]

@@pavolluzny3424 that’s not what Catholics believe. Salvation is by works as well as faith.

[@jeronimogarcia8772]

Doing what's right without expecting any reward such as going to heaven is one of the best feelings as an atheist.

[@Toreadorification]

Why is it a good feeling? You did what you favoured, and there's nothing else than your opinion to say that it was the right thing

[@MariaPullatt]

Good thing religious people, especially Catholics, aren't doing it just for the reward then.

[@Susirajantakaa]

@@Toreadorification "there's nothing else than your opinion to say that it was the right thing" If I help someone, it is just my opinion telling that it was the right thing? If I comfort someone it is just my opinion telling it was the right thing? If I pick up litter from the ground it is just my opinion telling it was the right thing? If I put up a feeder for birds during winter season to help them survive, it is just my opinion telling it was the right thing? If I stand up for someone who can't defend themselves, it is just my opinion telling it was the right thing? If I do my best to be respectful and kind to others, it is just my opinion telling it is the right thing? Yeah, ok.

[@jamiehensley2728]

I do not expect a reward, in fact most of the time there is no recognition let alone a reward. I do what the Lord commands.

[@Susirajantakaa]

@@jamiehensley2728 So if the Lord doesn't command you to do something people generally concider good, you won't do it? Or if Lord commands you to do something people generally concider bad, you will do it?

[@jonathanstern5537]

I don't mean to sound insulting, but I don't know how else to put it. I think a good person doesn't need a super-structure to help others. Personal feelings of empathy and a general sense of humanity, I think is all that's necessary to want to do good acts.

[@nicolasandre9886]

Empathy sure beats a lot of advice that can be found in the bible.

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

"Good men don't need rules" -Eleventh Doctor

[@stuka80]

not according to the christian god, youre going to hell for all eternity. the only thing that matters is if you accept him or not. some career criminal who repents on his death bed will be rewarded over you.

[@dukebanerjee4710]

Where do you get your personal feelings of empathy? In a lot of ways, we learn empathy from our interactions with others. People raised in terrible circumstances often inflict terrible behaviors on others, such as victims of abuse becoming abusers themselves. A superstructure is simply a philosophy that exists outside of your own personal frame of reference, that might cause you to measure your behavior against an external standard. The average person living in stable, prosperous societies might not need such a superstructure, because these societies tend to promote positive behaviors (which is why the society is stable and prosperous). But, even in good societies, people aren't so lucky. At the very least, a superstructure can inform your epistemology, because it's always good to think about the reasons why you think they way that you do. Which I think was the entire point of this video.

[@vichomangiola]

@@dukebanerjee4710 If that was the point of the video it shouldn't matter if the viewers are theists or atheists. I think your conclusion is much more inclusive and humble than the video. The conclusion I got from the loving priest is that I wasn't good enough for him or for calling myself an atheist.

[@Anonymous-fw6je]

You don't need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.

[@lazy_amanda]

💯

[@fabiozatara]

And you determine right from wrong based on what? I hope you don't answer "science", as none of it was made for being a moral compass, nor it has any substance to function like a moral compass. As Dostoievsky once said: "If there is no God, everything is allowed". See, I'm not saying that atheists cannot be good. I'm saying that atheists goodness has religion (particularly Christianity, in the west), ultimately, as its foundation

[@CatholicWisdom]

Ok, now determine right and wrong with regards to abortion.

[@liamsi5289]

​@@fabiozatarafrom empathy, from fear. from our brains that can experience good things and bad things wich are products of natural selection.

[@Phillip_Nelsen]

We get right and wrong from religion atheism didn't spread the moral law it was religion.

[@nanalen60]

Apologise to no man for your beliefs. Hurt no man because of your beliefs. This, as an atheist, is how I get through life

[@funkymoped]

Couldn't have put it better myself.

[@sksk-bd7yv]

Perfectly worded!

[@tommcguire6472]

Sir if more atheists were like you we wouldn't have the issues we have. Unfortunately 95% of you are not (at least from my fairly broad experiences)

[@tommcguire6472]

@Daniel Bouhadana the fact of that most(again I say most) of the atheist I've ever met or have seen cannot give you a coherent argument as to why they're atheist. And they seem to also check off all the p.c. boxes as well,they use it as a means of bourgeois social conformity and status seeking validation. They,like vegans use it as a crutch, it's not enough to be vegan,or atheist to them, they have to denigrate and mock and inveigh against people's beliefs with all the fervor of a jihadi imam. It is a religion to these people. I know on a l personal level only a few atheists but have met many, and I may have other friends and acquaintances who are.but I and most of the people I know dont ask people about religion, politics, or sexual orientation. And it's not a conscious thing.....it just doesn't come up

[@OverOnTheWildSide]

@@tommcguire6472 I think the video made the point you referred to asking atheists to be good atheists by having an explanation for why they believe the way they do. While the commenter that we are replying to here heard what I first heard in the video, asking atheists to be good morally.

[@meatrace]

This whole thing just feels really performative rather than earnest.

[@EyeMixMusic]

What tipped you off? The "humble" priest preening his robes, the smug smile, the condescending attitude...or the disingenuous plea for atheists to do lots more reading/learning/reasoning while theists sit back and wait to be "asked questions we never thought to answer"? If this guy was earnest, he would put the same burden of intellectual rigor on everyone.

[@1georgekitchen]

@@EyeMixMusic:Adjusts clothing: Eyemix, let's talk. Just you and I. I can help you learn of God's plan for you and the great potential within you. He loves you and wants you to be happy, but you have to reach out to him. If you expect to be a flying spaghetti monster in the next life you had better accept him, before it's too late.

[@EyeMixMusic]

@@1georgekitchen ^^^ I literally can't tell if this is satire 😂😂

[@leonais1]

'Read more about christianity and become a better person' will seem like a very earnest concept for a Christian preacher. From an atheist's prespective it may appear like religious conceit, an underhanded conversion method, quite possibly patronizing and disrespectful too.

[@thomcrabb4237]

Performative rather than earnest. That's religion.

[@xmalstromx]

I think the simplest way to explain my thought process is that I don't need a celestial or extraterrestrial being to hold me accountable for being a bad person. I do good things and treat people in a positive manner because that is who I want to be. Society benefits more from helping one another and working together in a positive manner than tearing one another down.

[@j.b.8959]

The more interesting view of this thought is that does he need big G god? But step back my fellow non-believer, if the true goal is to position them and you, as in and out, why define that line. You don't believe in bad and good like they do, so don't argue in and out like them.

[@Stormchoirs]

For your sake you better be right about what you believe and what or who you don’t.

[@grantcarpenter6685]

@@Stormchoirs Appeal to Consequences Fallacy won't convince anyone of anything.

[@JP-dl5rt]

@@grantcarpenter6685 it's interesting how religion changed and things like hell got just stuck on or angels

[@grantcarpenter6685]

@@JP-dl5rt *in a Spock voice* Fascinating.

[@isaacgates5859]

"There is no superstructure making this demand on your life." Bruh I literally live under a government that has laws...

[@Satiro723]

Dude, that take gave me cramp.

[@freshrockpapa-e7799]

Not breaking laws isn't the same thing as being a good person though

[@erracht]

That's right. Even though I'm an atheist, I am subject to the laws of the land and the censure of society. So there IS a superstructure making demands on my life.

[@jrwsaranac]

Of course, there are a million ways for a non-believer to ask, "are you a good Christian?" Because I will make the observation that there are many more Christians using their religion to justify bad behavior than there are atheists using non-belief to justify bad behavior. And by "more" I mean both raw numbers and relative numbers.

[@11bsavage64]

ehh. So Protestants Cherry pick the bible, the same cannot be said about those with apostolic succession. I just come to find many problems with atheist as a whole except for the more academic type. It the main reason I moved away from atheism.

[@Kara0ki]

"Simply declaring yourself an atheist and going about your life isn't enough." Only it is. I don't need to rationalize my lack of faith in god(s). Only believers have challenged me to explain my lack of faith. That's not a flaw of my character. Being a "good" atheist I would never challenge a believer to explain his or her faith.

[@jamesrussel5160]

Exactly my thoughts

[@humbleevidenceaccepter7712]

Perhaps I am not a "good" atheist, because I DO frequently ask people to justify their irrational religious positions when they publicly declare them. As a compassionate and honest person, I consider it _my duty_ to call out such evil and dishonesty.

[@6502Assembler]

Only one of the two has a burden of proof and it's the theist. There is nothing wrong with asking someone to justify their claims, ideally they will have some evidence. I've asked for evidence and none yet that rises to the claim has been presented.

[@smashexentertainment676]

@@humbleevidenceaccepter7712 When I deconverted from JW, I became a Satanist for a while on my journey to atheism. And I still have that habit of mocking christian believers. I'm a nasty atheist xD

[@Funaru]

Yeah we are born atheists, the religious folks are the ones who need to justify their belief not the other way around.

[@JenomKolemjdouci]

Be kind. Without witness, without reward.

[@kerollosraafat2365]

yes, heaven and hell are choices not results.

[@EspadaKing777]

"Virtue is only virtue in extremis" I've tried to live by these words too :)

[@TheJulioToboso]

That’s doctor Who, not Jesus

[@JenomKolemjdouci]

@@TheJulioToboso Exactly. To a person who doesn't believe in God, this "creed" makes more sense

[@zotharr]

There's always a witness, though, me :) Lets say no one is watching, but I dont want to watch myself doing bad things :)

[@AntiCitizenX]

The irony of a Catholic priest lecturing me about intellectualism and morality...

[@promethium-145]

Nice bad faith argument. Also, your Kalam refutation didn't really work. One, you accuse William Lane Craig of being dishonest, and accused Christians of perverting philosophy on your channel. What actual evidence do you have of this? Second, "everything which begins to exist has a cause" is still a valid point. The distinction between creation ex materia and ex nihilo is arbitrary. On a sidenote, God wouldn't need to be caused, since God is beyond space and time. Being supernatural, God doesn't need to obey the rules of nature. This also means God can create the initial universe ex nihilo.

[@promethium-145]

@@jamesparson It's not special pleading. Trying to force God to conform to the laws of nature would be as silly as subjecting LucasArts to the rules of LEGO Indiana Jones.

[@AntiCitizenX]

@@promethium-145 Pointing out an irony is not even an argument, dude, so I have no idea what you're babbling about. *One, you accuse William Lane Craig of being dishonest, and accused Christians of perverting philosophy on your channel. What actual evidence do you have of this?* If you actually bothered watching my videos, you would see that I spend a great deal of time and effort justifying those claims. Maybe go back and watch them, please?

[@promethium-145]

@@AntiCitizenX I saw parts of your videos about WLC, but I don't think it would be fair to call him dishonest, even if he turns out being wrong.

[@visforvegan8]

​@@promethium-145WLC is the picture boy of dishonesty. He makes a good living at it to.

[@rdvqc]

I am more preoccupied with being a good person than a good atheist. I have considered myself to be non-religious for some 50 years now but have always tried to be kind, generous and open-minded. I have probably studied more religions than most believers. I feel no need to promote my views on life beyond encouraging folks to be kind and respectful of others.

[@christismylordandgod]

These are the basic and greatest commandment of Christ. 1. Love God with all your heart, soul and mind. 2. Love one another as thyself. If you truly wish to be good, love, for love is perfect and has no flaws. You may not believe in God but every time you're loving you're worshipping God knowingly or unknowingly. May the peace of christ be with you 🙏🏿

[@ivyrose779]

@@christismylordandgod I realize you think this is a nice, positive comment, but how would you like it if someone of a different religions said the same to you? I mean, it’s not going to ruin my day or anything but it gets so annoying. Christians have a tendency to say things like this and it’s disrespectful and presumptuous. Again, I’m sure you wrote it with good intentions, but that doesn’t make it okay. I hope you give it some thought. Stay safe my friend.

[@christismylordandgod]

@@ivyrose779 please enlighten me on how my comment was disrespectful?

[@markst7161]

I would say disrespectful if tad too far. But I am guessing what meant was if someone would write to you something along lines: every time you are loving you are praising Odin you might find it offensive since according to Christians they are false gods and shall not be praised.

[@christismylordandgod]

@@markst7161 All the evidence points to YHWH being the true God. He's lived among us as the person Jesus Christ. If you believe you hold the truth and that your defeated pagan gods are the truth bring the evidence. The fact is these deities were all defeated at the cross. Furthermore, you're on a Christian channel and should expect these types of comments. My goal was not to annoy or disrespect you but merely shed light on how true love is indeed perfect and is of God for God is love. Have a blessed day 😊

[@xavierlebeuf3061]

I can't think of a better response than Rationality Rule's

[@aleriga1981cr]

Ibidem....

[@natashaestes154]

@@knowsomething9384, most likely "Rules'"as it's a name that ends in "s." So showing possession has an apostrophe but no extra "s."

[@Funaru]

True, though AronRas was on point too, albeit a bit harsher in tone.

[@zereimu]

@@Funaru Can you sum up Ra's response?

[@rogerkearns8094]

_Rationality Rules, Rule's, Rules', Rules's..._ I'd play safe and say Stephen Woodford's.

[@holywaterbottle3175]

So an atheist has to constantly read and research thousands of hours of literature to justify their position and to be deemed a "good atheist" by you. Do you hold Christians to the same standard? A Christian is only a good Christian if he has read and understood the works of the greatest Jewish and Islamic scholars? Let's be real here, the average Christian hasn't read the bible.

[@s.s.a8741]

Let's be real here, the average christian doesn't even know the name of their god

[@MrKrumpetz]

Let's be real here, blood for the Blood God and skulls for the Skull Throne.

[@oliverhug3]

Well said.

[@TheDeadmanstrolling]

The average Christian is not a good Christian. Nearly every Catholic massive attended has had the church ask, implore, and sometimes outright begged people to read the good book. The church wants them to, so I'm guessing that's the standard.

[@tsarnicholasii274]

@@s.s.a8741 Probably because God doesn't have a name and has never revealed a name. Yahweh is more of a sacred title than an actual name, it's the substitute for an actual answer

[@VicedRhino]

"I don't want to waste your time" says the priest who opened the video with 8 seconds of silence as he sat and dusted off his robes. With 86,653 views on this video, that amounts to 693,224 seconds (481 full days) of our collective time wasted. You literally wasted over a year of our collective time in a video where you said you didn't want to waste our time.

[@JosephKano]

Rhino facts. Best facts.

[@49perfectss]

And that's only the first 8 second of a full video that was entirely a waste of our time! This man has taken YEARS! Haha

[@promethium-145]

You wasted your own time writing this comment, in which you accused someone who asked a straightforward question of wasting your time. The irony.

[@akhiljames3435]

You have added to that wastage of time with this comment

[@wishusknight3009]

@@ghostapostle7225 Its easy math...

[@matmirza5376]

"I might insult you, makes you feel bad, or wasting your time." Dude, that is what me family do everyday.

[@Speykious]

Force to you.

[@Bill_Garthright]

Get a new family. Seriously.

[@paradisecityX0]

Then move out

[@Speykious]

@@paradisecityX0 I hope that's a joke?

[@paradisecityX0]

@@Speykious Why would it be? If his family treats him like crap, they're not acting as families should. Why's he staying there?

[@chrislyne377]

"Humble message" Yeah right. Sorry but the condescension and holier-than-thou attitude exudes from every word you speak.

[@bkpickell]

Yeah the level of condescension was nauseating. I was thinking to myself this video has to qualify as a deadly sin.

[@piccolo917]

to be fair, he probably does think that he is holier than atheists.

[@hiddenname7272]

To be fair, you don't really have a point.

[@timeshark8727]

For being "an open letter to atheists" I see a disturbing lack of replies and engagement with the atheists that responded. You'd think, if he really wanted this to be a letter to atheists rather than some insult filled rant for other Christians to giggle at, he'd be interested in what atheists had to say about it.

[@johnwalker1058]

Typical. The common response to challenges to the teachings of their faith is to reassure themselves rather than to actually reach out to others, almost as if they're not even fully convinced of their own beliefs, and the challenge made them feel the need to reconfirm their own beliefs to themselves.

[@erin1569]

Maybe he's preparing a video response? It's been only a month. I wouldn't assume ill-intentions, but I might be mistaken.

[@visforvegan8]

@@erin1569 he can prepare a video response, but he shouldn't be requiring atheists to prop up his channel. He should be replying to them right here. If you think his calm demeanor means he had good intent, them I've got some ocean front property I can sell you for a get price, if you don't mind moving to Nebraska.

[@timeshark8727]

@@erin1569 His "holier than thou" and condescending attitude while getting so much, so wrong is what lead me to assume that his video too atheists isn't actually for atheists, instead it seems to be a way to prop up his "flock" by subtilty attacking atheism. Frankly, rather than an attempt to start a dialogue or get an answer to an honest question, it comes off more as a long attempt to poison the well. His complete lack of response only supports the initial impression.

[@jaclo3112]

That's because, as he is obliged as a Christian, he lied. The video was targeted as an apologetics tool for Christians to use against those they hate, atheists in this case. Hence he strawmanned atheists, lied about his religion and the atrocities of it commits and about where morality comes from and the depravity of Christian morals. This video had nothing to do with addressing atheists.

[@beatlecristian]

I’m Catholic and I have to say we’re not going to win anyone over by being condescending. I’m sure you mean well but apologetics has to be done with charity.

[@Solowing0331]

You're also not gonna win anyone over moving child sexing priests from parish to parish eh.

[@vilicus77]

That's right. Most atheists were believers--I was. we don't fall for pretend piety.

[@stultusvenator3233]

It should not be done at all, it ends up being embarrassing and full of fallacies.

[@beatlecristian]

@@stultusvenator3233 Fallacies?

[@DJ-fb9cf]

"Two quotes from Einstein describe my thoughts on this topic better then I can word it. “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” -Albert Einstein “A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” - Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, November 9, 1930" - A comment below this one

[@NeverTalkToCops1]

"Are you a good atheist?" "Are you a good non stamp collector?

[@promethium-145]

If Atheism is really just a lack of belief, then you wouldn't be forming radio shows and rallies. Who's going to tune in to a radio show or rally to talk about lack of belief? There's nothing to talk about. If anything, the phrase seems like a convenient way to avoid providing a counter argument to opponents. This is why I use the term "Atheism" to refer to the belief that there are no gods; it's a position, and that's what I'm interested in.

[@phill234]

@@promethium-145 What you define as Atheism is totally irrelevant as there already is an established definition. If you want to talk about people who believe there is no god, then why don't you just use a different term? Maybe antitheist? Or gnostic atheist?

[@promethium-145]

@@phill234 I sometimes do. But I use the definition for Atheism that the Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy does. I think it's more specific. If I wanted to refer to someone who just lacks belief, I would probably say "Lacktheist".

[@iremembersomethings]

You're just afraid of the thing that made the things for which there is no known maker! 🤘

[@promethium-145]

@@iremembersomethings What's your argument?

[@Syrnian]

I am not convinced that a god exists. That is atheism. Nothing more or less. If you do not like that, tough.

[@dominiquem1869]

But are you convinced that a god doesn’t exist?

[@Syrnian]

@@dominiquem1869 Read my comment again.

[@brianmi40]

@@dominiquem1869 No one can be, other than for specific god claims that are illogical and self defeating. The Christian god is one such... However, Atheism is NOT a claim that NO god exists, it is not accepting the claim that a god does exist. Those are two very different things. are you convinced a god DOES exist?

[@brianmi40]

@@anneanonymous4202 No, sorry, wrong on both points. Atheism is "not believing the claim that a god exists - not ACCEPTING THE CLAIM". That is NOT the same as saying there is NO god, I can explain it further if you don't immediately see the truth of those statements. But to put it simply, rejecting a claim is not the same statement as claiming the opposite from the claim. Atheism is about BELIEFS: We do not believe that the god claim has met its burden of proof. Agnosticism is about KNOWLEDGE; truly KNOWING whether there is a god, or not. It is not claiming it is "impossible to know", it is either claiming they DO KNOW THERE IS, or DO KNOW THAT THERE ISN'T a god. Knowledge is a SUBSET OF BELIEFS (in a Venn diagram, Knowledge would be a small circle within the large circle of Beliefs). So one can Believe there is a god, but not Know there actually is. However, you cannot claim to Know there is a god without also Believing it. Make sense? And between the two, Knowing is the less important claim. Due to the problem of hard solipsism, we can't truly Know anything other than we seem to exist (brain in a vat, etc.). And of course, no one could Know there is NO god. For how could one Know that the god is sitting on a planet half way across the universe ignoring us? But, there are god claims that are logically inconsistent. Christianity as portrayed in the bible is one. No god could truly be "all loving" yet condemn anyone to an eternity in any hell, right? As well, substitutionary atonement is illogical and immoral: is there a right to punish YOU for a crime committed by your great-great-grandfather? Of course not. Yet that is what original sin purports to do. How can anyone born generations later, with no knowledge even about the ancestor's life, be punished rightly for anything they did? That's ludicrous. And as a third example, Exodus 21 is very clear about buying, selling, and beating human beings as property; clearly enabling slavery. In fact, during the Civil War, many in the South quoted this scripture in support of their desires. Lastly, of course, Evolution being the cornerstone of modern biology has proven that we arose from lower life forms, and have a common ancestor with apes: all of which DISPROVES any Garden of Eden and "rib stealing" to make a woman... So, to me, I don't care about Knowledge of any god. No one to date has ever been able to prove the existence of any god and again it's impossible to prove NO god exists. So what truly matters is BELIEF. Why? Because in the absence of Knowledge, Beliefs STILL INFORM OUR ACTIONS. They're with us in the voting booth. And when you boil down all the claims for Believing, and sift through the statements and scrape away the logical fallacies, all that has ever been left are two things; 1. Personal Anecdotes ("god told me to change jobs", "god told me to forgive my husband", "god saved my from that car accident" etc.) 2. Faith So why should anyone consider personal anecdotes as PROOF of the god claim? To address that, we need to understand the impact of any claim. If I claim to own a cat (I have 2), you can willingly accept that and go about you life. We know that cats exist, that people "own" them, and that nothing about your worldview would have to change if you accept that claim as true. That is NOT THE CASE with any god claim. First off, the claims include MIRACLES and claims about the origin of the Universe that CONFLICT WITH SCIENCE. And, were you to accept the claim, then it WOULD IMPACT YOUR LIFE, as you should then perhaps be attending church, giving thanks and offering prayers, etc. etc. etc. So here's the POINT: Extraordinary claims (as CERTAINLY any god claim qualifies) require EXTRAORDINARY EVIDENCE. It is simply not rational to take the word of a person as truth, and even if you WANTED TO, how could you pick? The word of a Scientologist, Muslim, Buddhist or Christian, just to name a few??? So while I accept that personal anecdotes can SEEM TO BE COMPELLING to the person that experienced them, I also know that we have institutions full of people who's minds are telling THEM things about the world that we know to not be true. I also know that I dream almost nightly and 99.9% of the time have ZERO IDEA I am dreaming at the time: it seems 100% REAL. So I know the POWER OF THE MIND TO DECEIVE ITSELF. Of course, many people want to point to the MYRIAD NUMBER of personal anecdotes, and see THEM TOGETHER as evidence, by shear numbers. But the plural of anecdote is NOT DATA. And the number of people that believe a thing is irrelevant, as quickly remembering that basically the entire population of the earth once thought the Sun revolved around it... That leaves us Faith. Yet can not ANY CLAIM be made on the basis OF FAITH? Do not Scientologists take it on Faith that they will inherit a Planet in the afterlife? That Muslims take it on Faith that they will inherit 72 virgins in the afterlife? That Christians take it on Faith that they will be reunited with family members in the afterlife? In fact, there are simply HUNDREDS of Faith-based claims in the world. And many of them are in DIRECT CONFLICT, so CANNOT BOTH BE TRUE. So, simply put; FAITH IS NOT A PATHWAY TO TRUTH. We have to have SOMETHING OTHER THAN FAITH TO DETERMINE TRUTH. To date, the single most reliable "other thing" is Science. In the history of civilization, Science has given us every technological advance, every medicine, every bit of knowledge about our bodies, this planet, and the Universe. Science has corrected the mistaken claims from Religion MYRIAD TIMES, and yet at the same time, never ONCE has Religion corrected the mistaken claims of Science: it was MORE SCIENCE that corrected them. So as the famous philosopher Hume said: "The Wise Man apportions his beliefs to the evidence at hand." And THAT MEASURE, religion has FAILED MISERABLY. Hope this helps.

[@mattmaloney2445]

@@dominiquem1869 I'm convinced a god doesn't exist based on the evidence presented to me so far. Honey, the burden of proof is on you whether you like it or not!

[@MuscleMaxZ1]

To answer just one of your questions: Even as a very young child I had problems "believing" in this invisible "father" figure. I stopped going to church, for one reason being that I actually felt embarrassed anytime we had to bow our heads in prayer to this invisible being. I just felt stupid and asked myself, "why are we doing this"? To put it bluntly, I felt like a jerk. I was born an atheist and never wavered, even though I was made to go to church, but only up to a point of perhaps 10 years old or not even10 years old. Even to this day I don't go into churches, except perhaps to view architecture, etc. I came to realize very early on that belief in god or an afterlife is just wishful thinking. Also, I have a personal story that has stayed with me all my life: As a child of around 7 or 8, when I was home I was bored and picked up a bible and just started to read from the beginning. I did not make it many verses into Genesis when I again said to myself, "this makes no sense". It's very simple. Show us sufficient proof commensurate with the claims of a god and we will take it more seriously.

[@vb3474]

Sure Max for a believer no proof is required and for an unbeliever no amount of proof is enough....I invite you child for Eucharistic adoration with Divine Retreat Centre Uk and LogosvoicetTv on KZbin attend a few and decide it for urself.

[@carlomagnoiroritasorita5564]

@@vb3474 to a believer, no amount of inconsistency is going to persuade them away from their belief when it only needs good proof, a positive one, to sway a good nonbeliever.

[@vb3474]

@@carlomagnoiroritasorita5564 Child i invite you for Eucharistic adoration with Divine Retreat Centre Uk on KZbin.

[@MuscleMaxZ1]

@@vb3474 1) it's a shame that anyone can say that no proof is required, esp. for something like this. 2) You make a blanket statement that no amount of proof is enough for an unbeliever. Absolutely not true. Ask any non believer what it would take and they will tell you what would be required at least to get them thinking that, hey, there could be something to this. But, I will tell you this, the proof would have to be mighty compelling indeed.

[@vb3474]

@Dank Farrik May God Bless you and heal all inner wounds ...i am at a age where you will surely be a child for me...next...the KZbin channel doesn't belong to me....it was to solve your doubts...not mine...🙏🏽

[@seleuf]

"I'm a religious guy who's devoted his life to a god--" My condolences.

[@fred_derf]

You're still young, you have time to admit that you've wasted your life so far and still actually make something of your life.

[@oldboy9267]

@@fred_derf lol triggered

[@fred_derf]

@@oldboy9267 You were? What are you triggered about?

[@oldboy9267]

@@fred_derf deflection detected XD XD

[@fred_derf]

@@oldboy9267, writes _"deflection detected"_ Yah, I noticed you did that too… but I wasn't going to say anything about it.

[@billskelley6895]

Look, I'm an Atheist, and I'm a good person. I'm 60 years old. There's nothing new I can discuss, or discover about religion. I'm not going to waste my time trying to be a "good Atheist". I'm too busy, being a good person.

[@haleyl.248]

i hope this is a joke, no human on earth is a quote, good person.

[@johaquila]

@@haleyl.248 WTF are you talking about? Eternal sin or some nonsense like that?

[@haleyl.248]

@@johaquila No. Everyone has fallen short and everyone will die because of sin. We have all lied, stole, hurt and damaged others and ourselves. Humans are terrible. But God still wants to redeem Humanity and already has if you Accept Christ. Sin was defeated when he died for our sins, innocent and never commited sin. But we have to make the choice to accept Jesus.

[@johaquila]

@@haleyl.248 My posts keep disappearing for no valid reason. No honest debate is possible in this forum.

[@haleyl.248]

@@johaquila More likely your youtube needs to be updated cause mines arent posting either.

[@ablbelle8953]

As an atheist I knew exactly what you were going to say before the video started it's the same thing every true Christian has said to me, the warning at the beginning was funny though!

[@KingDavidWood]

Okay, I think what he was trying to get across was misunderstood. Could you explain what they issue is? The way I took it was telling atheists to be good, both morally and intellectually. Not to be one of the pop, militant anti-theists that are common on KZbin. I could ne wrong but I genuinely didn't see an issue with the video. Could you help understand your POV on this video? Thank you, God bless

[@fanamatakecick97]

@@KingDavidWood It’s called atheists tend to refuse to respect others beliefs. I can’t tell you how often i’ve been utterly unwarrantedly mocked for believing in “fairytales” and praising “a sky daddy.” The only reason they could have a problem with this video is because they want to

[@promethium-145]

@@fanamatakecick97 Yeah. The comments are surprisingly bitter. I can't stand anti theism. I kept trying to explain to some atheists in this comments section that atheism should be defined as the belief that there are no gods, since that's an actual position. Defining it as lack of belief is silly, because you can't debate a lack of belief. They keep telling me I'm wrong, but my definition is far more specific and sensible. Also, anti theists accuse religious people of mockery and intolerance, yet they've done that to a nearly unbelievable degree during their time on the internet. I've personally found their tones to be far more bitter than how they describe religious extremists' tones.

[@fanamatakecick97]

@@promethium-145 I remember i was compared to a literal Nazi because the Nazi party was apparently primarily christian. When i called that “friend” out, i got blocked It baffles me how feckless people are with their arguments and responses. It’s like they think it’s only okay for them to be rude and condescending.

[@promethium-145]

@@fanamatakecick97 Yeah, it's exhausting. Also, I'm pretty sure the Nazis had to renounce their Catholicism before becoming members (or specifically members of the SS). Some Atheists bring up the Nazis' belts saying "God With Us". But those belts might've been created as early as in Prussia during the 1700s. So it's not Nazi related in nature.

[@_WowSignal_]

Although expressed with sincerity and goodwill, there is an underlying opinion here that atheists must necessarily have a shallow understanding - if only we would read more, we would come around to your way of thinking. In my experience the reverse is true - atheists tend to be well-read and have thought through the issues in depth.

[@CraftyChicken91]

Like yeah homie, I read the book I thought it sucked.

[@timeshark8727]

I don't think there's as much goodwill as you assume. Don't let his smiles and calm presentation hide the profound dishonesty of his presentation.

[@iam3gion204]

I have met 2 kinds of atheists. The first is the one who deconverted. This usually comes after careful introspection on the Bible and the ideologies of the church as well as their own personal beliefs and internal struggles. As a result these atheists have first hand experience and tend to be knowledgeable about all of the things the average theist believes in addition to at least a basic understanding of the arguments against and the impossibilities of said religion. This puts them ahead of the average theist, and unconvinced by the “advanced theist” who has the same finite list of long debunked arguments. These atheists are not as shallow-minded as the video suggests and I’m glad to see the comments reflect that. Both AronRa and Rationality Rules made phenomenal response videos for anyone interested in seeing those. The second kind of atheist is one who simply did not grow up religious. As a member of the first group it’s hard to get them to understand that I took the Bible as seriously as a child takes Santa Claus until I was 20 years old. While these people tend to be less knowledgeable about religion, more specifically it’s arguments for its validation, it is not because they are uneducated rather that they simply never had to re-educate themselves with accurate information. They may not have interest in religious debate because they have no need for it.

[@petermirtitsch1235]

What was expressed with sincerity and goodwill?

[@petermirtitsch1235]

@@timeshark8727 I've dealt with plenty of racists who'd talk to you like that, then go around saying, "WHAT? What did I say wrong?", while playing to the gallery.

[@vargheseantonyv.b.2265]

Doing what is right in this futile world, without expecting any rewards, And understanding that there is no reward, is the way of genuine GOOD HUMAN.

[@vargheseantonyv.b.2265]

@@rp2235RP Who is the Judge? and what is procedure of knowing the genuinely good character?

[@theovanrossum8652]

@@vargheseantonyv.b.2265 How about a conscience?

[@robs.2671]

You're sneaking in the assumption that religious people need to be compelled with rewards to do any good at all, which isn't true. More still, I've been borderline agnostic before, and I can tell you from anecdote that I've done far more good when I'm more engaged by religion then I ever could be when I wasn't engaging with it Also, by what standard is the 'right thing' or the definition of a 'GOOD HUMAN'? Without objective morality, there is none. If history continues to progress, nothing will stop a future society from deeming you a villain because you went with the status quo when you should have been working against something they believe to be an evil. You have no means to be a good human

[@freedapeeple4049]

"Are you a good atheist?" To me this question shows that this person really has no idea what an atheist is. He seems to think it's some kind of code of conduct or something. If you want a meaningful discussion you need to first understand the topic.

[@TheHyugafan]

As an atheist that was also my first reaction. I had two questions instantly. "Define good" and "Define good atheist" He actually goes on to address both of those exact things in the video and I truly believe he was being genuine. Over the years I've realized that we as atheists need to stop viewing things that religious people do through the lens of an atheist. that's not right. I sincerely believe he was being truly genuine here and that these are questions he actually wants to ask. I also think he has an overall good point in that we need to be able to challenge each other. Both sides benefit from challenging each other in a healthy way. The more we learn that can question their beliefs brings about stronger faith within their belief system and sometimes even full on change within their belief system. I think discourses like these are necessary for the betterment of humanity as a whole. The more we try to understand each other and accept our differences, the more we can thrive as a species. Religious or Atheist I think anyone can agree with that. Disagreements on serious matters should not be divisive. They should be learning experiences. They should be beautiful, not ugly.

[@freedapeeple4049]

@@TheHyugafan You are probably right. I admit to my prejudice.

[@bkpickell]

Yeah when he said that I just said well I don't believe God exists so yes that makes me a good Atheist. Lol

[@BruceWayne-po5kf]

@@bkpickell What he means by a good Atheist is are you are moral Atheist. And if you are a Moral Atheist to look into your morality and ask questions

[@BruceWayne-po5kf]

He's asking you what your mortality is if you are a Moral/Good Atheist. Ask questions about why you have morality, ask questions about what is your mortality. I will pray for you

[@erinwhipple4666]

I was expecting a comment section full of “amen”s and “praised be his name”s from theist subscribers. So proud of my fellow critical thinkers right now 🥲

[@sufficientmagister9061]

@basicass user Deus est mortuus.

[@jamesclerk815]

@basicass user 😂

[@erinwhipple4666]

@basicass user not sarcasm, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t intend to anger some apologists 😅

[@NeedSomeNuance]

Right on man. I think KZbin is being conquered by people with brains.

[@scottlabossiere1866]

@@erinwhipple4666 how immature of u

[@christophervazquez9649]

I don’t need religion to help me understand the pain others around me may feel from my actions. You can be kind with or without religion, just as you can be cruel. I’m kind because I want to be, not because some one or something is telling me I should be.

[@Cr7Micto]

Your ego is telling

[@vichomangiola]

@@Cr7Micto ego is to believe that only the ones who believe what you believe have access to sympathy. "You can be kind with or without religion" is a fact.

[@dukebanerjee4710]

Ah, but where did you learn empathy? Child soldiers in the Congo certainly don't feel the same kind of empathy that you do. The point of this video isn't about religion, but epistemology. Have you thought about why you think the way that you do? What about your life experience makes you think differently than a child soldier in the Congo?

[@christophervazquez9649]

@@dukebanerjee4710 yeah I think it’s strange to think there is a man in the sky

[@dukebanerjee4710]

@@christophervazquez9649 That's nice, but that's not what I was asking.

[@chrispysaid]

As a Christian, I have to say, this is the most insincere and performative appeal I've ever seen. This does so much more damage than it does good.

[@LGpi314]

We can definitely agree on that. It is such dishonesty and hypocrisy.

[@OldMotherLogo]

I suspect his intentions are good but he has no idea how clueless and arrogant it is. Forgive him, he knows not what he is doing.

[@LGpi314]

@@ScottSavageTechnoScavenger I would totally agree. Thanks for bringing it up.

[@chrispysaid]

@@ScottSavageTechnoScavenger You can't disagree that it's the most insincere and performative appeal I've ever seen. It is. Maybe it's not the most insincere and performative appeal YOU'VE ever seen, but that's you, not me.

[@scottsmith2235]

I agree-as an atheist.

[@declaredjeans7555]

"That is my humble message to you". You're not too good at being humble, but you're so good at being condescending that I almost barfed..

[@chucku00]

It's called unction (in the second true sense of the word) and sometimes it's extreme. I'll see myself out.

[@promethium-145]

He's hardly being condescending. He was pretty polite in the video. But I guess if a Theist asks these questions, or suggest the opposition do further research, then it's dishonest or condescending.

[@chucku00]

@@promethium-145 This research demand is oriented to the works of theologians. It's a circular reasoning just like the bible is often used at its own proof. The condescending part is the dismissing of the valid works of people that just don't suit his point of view, with a veneer of fake humbleness. But I will be magnanimous : show us where is the proof that god exists in the works of these theologians. Unction might be seen as a quality by believers but it's a cardinal sin (pun intended) to atheists.

[@promethium-145]

@@chucku00 The research he meant was atheist intellectuals from the 19th century, people who really got to the implications of Atheism, should it be true. I don't think suggesting people read those is condescending. On the other hand, reading from theologians would shed light on the religious beliefs held by the early Christians.

[@chucku00]

@@promethium-145 Nope, I clearly heard the name of Joseph Ratzinger. Benedict XVIth isn't a XIXth century person. Please be more precise about these XIXth century people, give us their name and the detail of the implications of atheism (no need to capitalize the "a", atheism is not a religion and every atheist has his own version of it). And prove us too that this friar wasn't condescending since your previous comment was everything but convincing. These theologians aren't in the heads of early Christians, they can only speculate on their beliefs. Every early Christians din't write a book to describe their beliefs, and there are very few who did. And since the old French adage "It's better to engage to God than his saints", it's better to read directly Saint Augustine than theologians who put their own twist on his writings.

[@ElBarbonn]

Rationality Rules channel debunked this video in such an amazing way...

[@gertopdebeeck9770]

Very true!

[@marty4760]

@Tom Broome i agree. It wasn't a debunked. It was a wonderful logical refutation

[@Raadpensionaris]

@Tom Broome A response in which he debunked

[@00i0ii0]

I was about to watch RR's video but I decided to watch it for myself first. Honestly idk what you're talking about; there's nothing here to debunk. The priest guy raised nothing but a question.

[@aidanya1336]

@@00i0ii0 He asked a pretty nonsensical question. His question relates to morality, not Atheism. So you can point out that he is asking the wrong question. You can debunk the validity of the question. which is not necessarily a debunk of the moral argument.

[@agnesdesanctis3096]

Hi father Casey, I'm a 19 old that, from the exact moment that left catechism (I was ten at the time), decided not to believe anymore. This is because I had so many questions and doubts about religion (like why there's evil in the world, the Trinity, and so many more), and the answer to those questions always was "don't ask, just believe it". For me it was impossibile, I needed to understand as best as I could to believe. I was told to take the Bible literally, that you just have to blindly believe everything. Than, nine years later, I discovered you: you changed me. You answered most of those questions, the ones that were so complicated and difficult that made me hopeless, to the point that I didn't believe anymore. You helped me to understand that faith is so much more, and that doubt is not a bad thing, because you can learn from it. Because of this covid situation (and some health problems) I can't to church, but I will, and I have to thank you. I still have a loooong road to go through, but I won't be alone. Thank you for all that you do, may God bless you soul.❤️

[@alphazero5614]

Yes, doubt makes our faith stronger because then we look for the truth of why. Make sure when you're a parent you know lots of the bible and the meaning of things so your kids don't get lost, god bless!

[@efandmk3382]

"You don't have to understand, just believe it!" LOL. There's also, "It's one of the mysteries of faith" or the ever enraging "I'll pray for you".

[@JohnFromAccounting]

It's always sad to hear about someone that left the faith because they had awful teachers that didn't want to answer difficult questions.

[@ritamxx7200]

This is soo beautiful 💕hope u will have a wonderful life of faith

[@sillybearss]

Fellow 19 yo! Will be praying for you

[@830toAwesome]

It always strikes me as odd that to become a Christian, no one asks if you've read scores and scores of apologetics and counter-opinions. No Christian goes "have you read the Quran? How do you really know you're a Christian if you haven't spent the time studying it." But tell someone you're an Atheist, especially people deep into it like our Priest here and it's "have you read the Philosophers, have you read the Theologians? Have you really spent the time and consider all the arguments out there?" It's a form of intellectual gaslighting, to question a person's beliefs as if they just haven't found the right argument to sway them to an opinion you hold. It's also strange that the Priest here wants to gatekeep Atheism. You're not a *good* Atheist if you haven't done that. As if he's the arbiter of what makes a good Atheist. Add on to that the sneer at the end to compound this. The idea that rural pastors of "anti-intellectual churches" is the reason you don't agree with the Priest here. If you just heard the right arguments, you wouldn't be so silly as to disagree. Telling us what isn't enough isn't just a challenge, it's condescending.

[@11bsavage64]

UMMMM. yes they do ask those things. as someone who was an atheist for 14 years and I like to add I was also anti-church I can tell you, your regular common atheist stop their pursuit of knowledge and simply go by a narrow-minded views when our understanding of subjects relating to religion and god has increased.

[@830toAwesome]

@@11bsavage64 And your regular common theist stop their pursuit of knowledge and simply goes by a narrow minded view when our understanding of many things and subjects has increased. You think Ken Ham's crew have read any kind of astrophysics books? How about the flat earther Christians? Do you think the local Pentacostal congregation has read a single biology text book or evolutionary science paper? No. Soak your head, touch grass and repent on the almighty Rain Spirit.

[@11bsavage64]

@@830toAwesome it really sounds like your anti-theist attitude doesn’t allow you to think things through because everything you mention can be easily rebutted. The majority of people on this planet are theist and we haven’t stop conducting research. I will say what “things” and subject knowledge has increased? The people you also argue are protestants who are on the fringe groups. Reading the church fathers, Thomas aquainus and many other authors are on a different level.

[@830toAwesome]

@@11bsavage64 Appealing to the popularity of theism is a fallacy, just like the Priest said atheists shouldn't fall into using. So here you are, falling into using them. Normally I don't point that sort of thing out but it's really amusing that you're doing exactly what the video is asking non-theists to take care not to do. The number of people who believe something doesn't mean it's true. If it did, you should be Muslim, they're the largest religion now. If you wanted to go by the numbers, non-theists outweigh theists in every field of science. But that doesn't mean anything, numbers don't mean anything. That isn't rebutted at all. It's also insanely disingenuous to try to lump all theists together, like you're all one big group when you're a ton of different groups who don't even agree on the sort of god that exists. Non-theists have also not stopped conducting research. I've already given examples of the sorts of things a lot of religious people have thrown away. How about 50% of the US population, the most religious developed nation and eagerly touted as a god fearing country with over 80% of people claiming a religion, don't believe in evolution, a topic we know more about than gravity? How about moon landing deniers, when we've demonstrably been there? You can even test it for yourself with the lens that's up there. Almost exclusively religious. How about those who hate homosexuals? Almost exclusively religious and do so on religious grounds even though homosexuality is a thing in 70ish% of all mammal species. How about climate change deniers? Almost exclusively religious, even though we've got mountains of evidence from sea level changes to ice caps melting to the steady increase of annaul temp across the globe to increases in violent weather, earlier than normal and historic droughts all over the wold. Anti-abortionists? Almost exclusively religious except we know that women with control of their reproductive rights lowers crime rates across the board. We've known that since the 80s with The Silent Generation. How about medicine in general? Ever heard of the Christian Scientist movement, which won't even let their children take medication or Jehovah's witnesses who won't get life saving blood transfusions? How about flat earthers, almost exclusively religious and many who use the Bible as evidence of the flat earth and a dome across the planet. Or young earth creationists who are exclusively religious who outright deny any kind of scientific dating we've got to say the Earth is 6,000 years old. You then do exactly what the priest does. "Well, *those* religious people don't count." Just another fallacy, no True Scotsman. You don't get to say they don't count just because they make your argument look as transparently poor as it is. Especially not when you want to also try to say that my argument is easy to rebut because there are more theists. That's playing both sides of the coin and they're both fallacious sides to start with. Either you take them all, and Appeal to Popularity which...is a fallacy or you say that only the people that you define as well read theists count and you're commiting a No True Scotsman fallacy. F - on all accounts. My point stands. Even if we just want to go with Catholics. How many Catholics, run of the mill, every day Catholics, have read any of Richard Dawkin's works on Evolutionary Biology? I'm guessing the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics haven't. How many of them have read Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time? I'm guessing a vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics haven't. How many Catholics have read any non-theistic Philosophers? How many Catholics have read the Qu'ran? Or the Book of Mormon? Or any of the vast collections of Buddhist works? How many of these things have you read? If you haven't read all of those, are you really a good Catholic?

[@11bsavage64]

@@830toAwesome bro chill. I cannot rebut and stay on topic when you give me like 1000 paragraphs to dissect. My first rebut was simply that you reference your run of the mill theist. Theism doesn’t mean you reject science is your issue. It seem more like your making this into a science vs religion issue. I can also see the anti-theism dripping off you. Serious question, How long have you been an atheist and how old are you?

[@charlesfernandez1314]

"Good atheist?" Atheist aren't the ones with the bad reputation, pal...We need more good priests with better moral codes.

[@Stormchoirs]

Plenty of atheists with bad raps.

[@charlesfernandez1314]

@@Stormchoirs Sure, there are atheist that are bad rappers. But atheist don't cover for atheist who commit atrocities.

[@Stormchoirs]

@@charlesfernandez1314 are you sure about that? Go back and research that further. You will see you are sadly mistaken.

[@charlesfernandez1314]

@@Stormchoirs Well, atheist aren't currently running a pea-do ring

[@psilynt1]

@@Stormchoirs Don't you love it when someone is too lazy to give an example and just says 'do research bro'? It's so incredibly lazy and helpful at the same time.

[@alexanderwerner1779]

Are you a good non-reincarnationist? Have you read the great minds on reincarnation?

[@akhiljames3435]

Come to India, you will find good scholars of Christianity on reincarnation. If interested explore the works of Indian theologians. The point here is you have to learn about your opponent's point of view to even consider rejecting his view. In the west the main debate is between Christianity and Atheism and neither party holds reincarnation as a fundamental tenet. But it is an important topic in discussion between Hindus and members of other faith or even atheists.

[@promethium-145]

@@akhiljames3435 Yeah. Thanks for speaking some actual sense to the anti theists who have flooded this comment section in droves, repeating their "lack of belief" drivel and asserting that it's the same as atheism.

[@RoseInTheWeeds]

​@@promethium-145 Atheists, not anti-theiests, those are two different groups. Also how much research needs to be done for someone to not believe in the stories you tell? The point is there are thousands of religions and somehow atheists have to research each and every one in detail to not accept it. Why do you think theism is the starting position that should be disproven? We aren't born theiests we are born atheists, and must be convinced of theism. How about this: I read the bible, front to back, while there are some nice sentiments it is full of factual inaccuracies, and immoral behavior on behalf of the claimed God, I don't need to read 20 essays from apologists on why God is allowed to drown children, or kill innocents, advocate for slavery, or say that homosexuals should be stoned to death. I don't need to read books on religious theory to know that there was never any worldwide flood, that you can't fit every land animal in the world on one boat, that there is no proof of miracles that were claimed in the bible, only the bible itself. The point is atheists are expected to have a perfect understanding of every religion before we are allowed to say we are not convinced, yet the church is fine with Christians believing without ever reading the bible through themselves ever. Double standards.

[@promethium-145]

@@RoseInTheWeeds I don't use the lack of belief definition. And I'm more than aware that they're different. I very often try to distinguish between the two.

[@RoseInTheWeeds]

@@promethium-145 What is your argument? Athiests are those that do not belive in a god, this is different than believing there are no gods. You can be both an athiest AND someone who believes there are no gods.

[@lm2668]

"I think even if god existed I would live like he didn't exist" Albert Camur, the plague

[@Iamwrongbut]

Camus *

[@2clean4dean]

With so many man-made gods, following just one would be quite the risk.

[@saiormalik3211]

@@Iamwrongbut Camel *

[@coul]

@@saiormalik3211 Cameo*

[@chucku00]

Me, a cow : _Camoo*_

[@korbendallas5318]

More than one question really, so here is more than one response: "Good people will do good thing, bad people will do bad thing, but it takes religion to make good people do bad things." (Steven Weinberg) First, name one evil act or immoral statement that can only be done by a religious person. Second, name one good thing or moral statement that can only be uttered by a religious person. (Christopher Hitchens) I have yet to find a religion that's morally superior to the average or typical world view prevalent in our culture. The Bible in particular teaches horrible things, the biblical God gives horrible commands, and the central dogma of a human sacrifice is tasteless at best. Most good moral teachings of modern Christian churches are taken from humanist world views since the Enlightenment. Also, please kindly refrain from recommending literature from someone busy protecting child-abusers. I listened to a lot of Christians, both among my friends and online. I considered a lot of their arguments, and found them all unconvincing. However, that does not make me a "good atheist": There is no such a requirement. Anyone not interested in religion, and thus unconvinced by default is as justified in her nonbelief as I am. Just being an atheist is enough.

[@dogfight2018]

Any charismatic leader can influence good people to do bad things, their cause need not be religious. One bad thing that can only be done by a religious person is murdering innocents in the name of their god. One good thing that can only be done by a religious person is praying and doing penance for someone. Saying all Catholic priests defend child molesters is like saying all Muslim imams defend terrorists. Please reconsider before making such hateful and ignorant comments.

[@korbendallas5318]

@@dogfight2018 The charismatic leaders that are most often mentioned are more similar to religions than to secular governments. But you are of course correct, and please don't understand a quote as my complete position. I don't consider praying to be a good thing (because it's meaningless and could distract you from finding solutions). There are advantages, but they can be achieved by meditating. Penance can be done without a believe in a god. I never made that statement, I was talking about the authors he mentioned. One of them is Joseph Ratzinger.

[@BenPetersonDesign]

I'm an atheist/agnostic. I'm also a subscriber to your channel and a huge fan of your level headed and light hearted approach to these serious topics. Am I a 'good' atheist? Yes... I believe so. I hope so. I believe my morals and ethics come from inside of me. I believe they're a part of who I am and not something instilled by a higher power. After 40 years on this planet, I've studied numerous theologies, religious texts, spoken with Priests, Pastors, Rabbi, Monks and other devout. I've also spent a great deal of time reading classical philosophers both Atheist and spiritual in other ways. Thanks for your questions. Keep pushing Father Casey. You're doing a wonderful job and I thoroughly enjoy your channel. I would love the chance to have a beer with YOU someday.

[@manojwilliam777]

Well explained sir !!!

[@frankwhelan1715]

That's very nice, but the father believes you will be screaming in agony for eternity, no matter how moral and ethical you are,while he is basking in 'paradise' you won't be sharing many beers with him then.

[@frankwhelan1715]

@@jamesparsonNot my god, this was in reply to Ben Peterson .

[@matejlieskovsky9625]

@@frankwhelan1715 I am not 100% sure, but I believe I saw Fr. Casey mention somewhere that he is *not* one of the "all non-believers get eternal torture" people.

[@BenPetersonDesign]

@@frankwhelan1715 Unfortunately this outlook is off putting and isolating which I believe are both against what Father Casey and these videos are trying to do. And if those ARE his beliefs, that's fine. They don't threaten me in any way... I still wish the best for him and would still enjoy having a beer with him while we're both on this plane of existence together.

[@robertsmith5002]

The wonderful thing about KZbin that with one finger (literally or metaphorically) you can silence condescending patronising superstition mongers.

[@yuryasratyan1142]

First time commenting. This video is brilliant. As a 3rd generation atheist(that’s what 70 years of communism does to a country(Russia)) i never questioned the “infallible” truth of magic sky man not existing. Until about couple years ago when as a part of philosophy course we read Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas and many others. This got me interested in Christian theology, which brought with it an avalanche of questions. I am still an atheist. Reading thinkers like Augustine and watching videos like this makes for a great challenge to atheist dogma I was raised with. Thank you, sir! I would consider myself to be a semi-good atheist. Also videos like this prove to many hardline atheists (like I was) that religious people are not mindless zombies, they are perfectly reasonable(most of them) and secure in their faith to debate about it. Sorry for rambling

[@Chriscaf24]

Very Interesting reply sir

[@bernardokrolo2275]

May i ask you a question because im from simular background as you..not ateist now but former ateist because of communisam?

[@averagekiwiconsumer9977]

Very nice, sir

[@SaintCharbelMiracleworker]

Russia has ancient christian Orthodox christianity. Dosteovsky was a devout Orthodox christian.

[@memememe843]

@@SaintCharbelMiracleworker but the state actively surpresses religion. Or they did in the Soviet era. Today the CCP, N Korea do the same. Brutally.

[@melissagarrick.3288]

Why is this video giving the vibe of an adult talking to a 3-year-old? An adult who, honestly speaking, doesn't seem to know much of anything about the people he claims he's speaking to.

[@vicenzostella1390]

That's why he made the video: to learn.

[@hiddenname7272]

What is there to understand about atheists? They believe there is no god and their belief system is whatever the hell is convenient for them. Its not like this is complicated deep thinking. Believe in whatever makes life easier.

[@pwillis1589]

All you you need to do is watch Rationality Rules response to this.

[@paradisecityX0]

All you need to do is educate yourself instead because Rat Rules misinforms his followers regularly and makes them stupid

[@pwillis1589]

@@paradisecityX0 Well I am a proud anti-deist and have read extensively on the subject and am fully informed on all matters relating to someone's imagined god. Just give me one piece of evidence that would stand up in a criminal court and that you would be happy to convict someone of murder. Spoiler alert you can't. What process do you normally use to determine what is imagined in your mind and what is real. Don't call me stupid.

[@paradisecityX0]

@@pwillis1589 Evidently you're not. Ok, I'll point to Five Proofs For The Existence of God by Ed Feser, Inspiring Philosophy's "Quantum God" playlist, or a vid on my channel titled "The Futility of Debating Anti-theists". Idk bud, you sound pretty stupid.

[@pwillis1589]

@@paradisecityX0 So in both replies you resort to personal abuse, fine. Ed Feser Five proofs has been widely debunked, and somewhat ironically for exactly the point I made previously. How do you determine what is your imagination and what is real. Ed Feser puts forward his imagined ideas or models in his mind put fails completely to show how these relate or match to reality. I'm not saying there isn't a god, I'm saying there is no reason to believe there is a god based on the available evidence. I am happy for you to have faith in an imagined god as long as you don't hurt anyone. It appears to cloud your judgment somewhat but as long as you can function successfully in my secular society alls good.

[@paradisecityX0]

@@pwillis1589 It's been responded to by a few but never Debunked (tm). Feser articulates the complexities of the Five Proofs so the average person can understand them. He succeeds wildly in showing how they relate and match with reality. Not his fault that you're not equipped to understand them -- especially if you're relying on Rat Rules' butchering of the subject (Elephant Philosophy exposed that dishonest dirtbag's sophistry several times). I'm not saying you're not capable of rational thought, I'm saying there is no reason to believe you're capable of rational thought based on the available evidence. I don't have faith in a god. Your secular society wouldn't exist at all if not for the faith you hate the most.

[@RÅNÇIÐ]

"Are you a good Atheist?" Yea, I guess I'm pretty good at being an Atheist.

[@stevienicks9210]

Lol

[@wax99]

Yup! There's a lot of questions that seem deep but are somewhat whimsical when you stop to think about them. I particularly dislike the double standard towards the end when he's wondering how well read we are and how many books we've read while a theist, christian or catholic, only has to read one book to believe.

[@fabriziocaragiulo4812]

@@wax99 If you refer to the Bible, its a collection of dozen of books ;)

[@wax99]

@@fabriziocaragiulo4812 yup, yup! Although the amount depends on your denomination. As an ex catholic we used to include the apocryphal too.

[@dukebanerjee4710]

​@@wax99 He's not talking about belief, but epistemology. He mentioned the works of a several Catholic theologians, and I think he very much means that you are supposed to read those too, if you want to be a good Catholic/Christian. Having some understanding of the Bible is the bare minimum to be considered to be Christian at all, but from what I understand of what he's saying, just reading the Bible is not enough to be a good Christian. Reading works of theology are necessary to understand your faith and how to think about it.

[@slartibartfast3041]

Being told I’m a bad person for not believing in a mass murderer? Or being told I’m a sinner from birth? Yeah, nah

[@tonypawlak2444]

Mass murderer??

[@slartibartfast3041]

@@tonypawlak2444 may I point you to the video ‘how many people did god kill in the bible?’

[@Shabanezloth]

Mate, this video shows that you have never seriously talked with an atheist

[@pechaa]

I was just thinking the same thing. The Catholic Church harbors so many incorrect assumptions about atheists. It would be a good idea for the KZbinr to reach out to a freethinkers group or some other such concentration of atheists.

[@filipe.sm31]

He is just so condescending

[@OldMotherLogo]

Alex3976, you are absolutely right.

[@vigilmain9283]

As an atheist viewer of yours, this video really pointed out the fact that there's no point in useless arguments and to simply just be a good person. So thank you for making this video

[@shannon3944]

I totally agree regarding being the best person we can be and doing good work whenever possible. Imho and just a thought though, as long as folks can respectfully agree to disagree, discussions, debate, and even friendly banter is always a positive thing; we can learn from others' perspectives, too.🤔🤔 Stay blessed and safe!✌❤💯

[@SirRyanChadius]

Religion wise, that's not the case. That's pelagianism

[@Cryzhe]

Goodness comes from God. Just want to share my thoughts

[@tambert3897]

@@jamesparson how do you demonstrate what good is? What are the parameters?

[@redfuse8369]

@Perceus Us it's like you didn't even watch or pay attention to the video about being good to one another and loving

[@craigrose1130]

I was a former "Good Atheist" until about two years ago and then I felt God calling me. I started going to Church and then to RCIA and will receive the Sacraments at Pentecost. I'm so excited! Having God and the Church in my life is the BEST thing that's ever happened to me. Thank you...

[@rmcewan10]

@Rosary Outdoors I would like to see you do the same for heterosexuals as well though. Something like 90% of men use pornography, and those are obviously not all homosexuals, yet I’ve only really heard Father Casey speaking against it. Masturbation according to Aquinas is more disordered than a homosexual act, but the Church seems to fixate on the latter far more than it does the former. You can also see this fixation in the specious deployment of natural law arguments where they seem only to apply to sexual matters and not to other cases where a natural law prescription would be equally valid. Finally, I also have to say that, as somebody who has been attracted to the faith for some time, lurking places like r/Catholicism gave me the impression that many Catholics seem to struggle with the idea of loving the sinner while condemning the sin. I’m happy to quote some of the things I’ve heard said on there (to give you one example, I saw one commenter recommend castration as a fitting treatment for such “disordered inclinations”), but the point is that it would really put off anyone with homosexual inclinations approaching the Church. I much prefer the approach of Anglo-Catholics, who condemn the sin, but don’t couch that condemnation in describing homosexuals as ‘intrinsically disordered’.

[@craigrose1130]

@Rosary Outdoors Thank you. That was very well put and very well articulated. I have nothing against anyone but sin is sin and we should do our best to avoid it and to help others do the same.

[@Capybarrrraaaa]

@@jamesparson I think this is already granting more than the idea deserves. The fact that it's completely paradoxical is enough to disqualify it. It is inherently something that cannot be punished or requires any motivation or reaction in any way. For as long as there is room for any contention over whether a thing is a sin, there is no room for it's punishment or avoidance. One cannot be punished for misunderstanding, for that is only god's fault. If the Bible says "doing gay things is sinful" and it is right that god thinks that, a man cannot be punished for doing gays things because it makes himself (and/or his partner) happy. It would be unjust to punish that person when a rule isn't clear. Same thing with pornography, it cannot be punished as if it was bad when it cannot be fairly known that it's bad. Even a Christian has good grounds to say that they disbelieve whatever sections of the Bible they disagree with. Then it just comes down to; how can anything that isn't absolutely (or even justifiably by consequence) be sin? To maintain justice, sin it's self must be thrown out (or god could give us absolute knowlege of it, but that's not happened so we must just throw it out).

[@Capybarrrraaaa]

@@jamesparson God cannot justly punish people for misunderstanding or being unsure. Sure, a being of infinite power would probably be held only to his own conventions. But, to remain just, he cannot punish the uninformed.

[@Capybarrrraaaa]

@@jamesparson Do you think god is capable of breaking the laws of logic? The idea of inherited sin is completely unjust. I am my own being, I am, in no way, responsible for by birth or the original sin. That idea, in it's self, is completely unjust.

[@elaenashipp3417]

I am an atheist, and I think I am a good one. I actively seek out other perspectives and viewpoints to challenge myself to think through my atheism and make sure I'm one for good reasons - that's one of the reasons I think this channel is so valuable for people like me, it keeps me thinking even if it doesn't change my opinion!

[@ipso-kk3ft]

Thanks for sharing Elaena! I still love to talk to atheists and various agnostics, even though I'm Catholic now. I often find they're very articulate and thoughtful when it comes to philosophical, social, and even religious issues. May your search for truth lead you to the inexhaustible Truth!

[@stevem2879]

In just a short reply you referenced yourself 10 times! Find God through humility and self abandonment. Also God exists apart from and despite of your last word (again, connected with self)- “opinion”.

[@Powerranger-le4up]

We will still be praying for you though. The fact you watch this shows that you are open to it.

[@danielfedele]

The fact that you are watching this channel means you're responding to an invitation from God himself to know Him better. Know that God loves you Elaena Shipp. I will keep you in my prayers.

[@ronindavis2364]

Elaena Shipp, really appreciate your response. I have some issues with this video but I think you responded to the question that was posed and reflected on it. And then some people responded by judging how you responded and claiming they know why you watch these videos. I am Jewish, I am not an Atheist. I love learning and questioning. I also firmly believe in people believing what is right for them.

[@valroniclehre193]

The absolute tragedy of this video is that this man seems to be putting forth a genuine effort to be open and welcoming, not realizing at all how it will be received by the other side. I wonder if meaningful communication is even possible, when he believes my eternal torture is somehow justified.

[@valroniclehre193]

@@jamesparson He can't. The hell idea serves its purposes too well. An inescapable fear if he believes it, and an irresistible tool if he doesn't.

[@valroniclehre193]

@@jamesparson I don't have experience in church past early childhood so you tell me if this sounds right. No it isn't, rather the threat isn't limited to atheists. Like most religious works its vague and flexible such that it can mean essentially whatever you want it to, while encouraging a particular theme. In this case the theme is "christians vs everyone else" and we see this theme repeated using both explicit and implicit reference to violence throughout every denomination of christianity.

[@barbarachrvenak8231]

I heard him say, be a good atheist. 👍

[@valroniclehre193]

@@barbarachrvenak8231 Yet he shows no ability to make that assessment, as if it's his job anyway. He should be a good christian, and ignore most of the bible.

[@llla_german_ewoklll6413]

The fire isn’t what makes hell so bad. It’s the absence of God and of all hope. People tend to focus on the fire part, but really it’s the latter half that makes it the worst place possible. If there is a good, then there must be a bad. If theres an injustice, there must be justice. If there’s love, then love cannot be forced upon someone. If God hated us, he would require that everyone join him or leave him without our consent. My suggestion is that you reevaluate what love actually is. If a God is all just and all loving, then he cannot force you to be with him, nor ignore your offenses against him. God wasn’t made for you, you were made for God. Maybe you can disagree with it, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t about you. It’s also not about me. Everything we do as christians should be about God. Everything we do as people should be about God. How deserving am I to make my terms and apply it to God if he is indeed true, and I have offended him? I extend nothing but love and gratitude to you and all who respond to or read this.

[@qubex]

I’m an atheist and I live in Italy. I’ve found this channel extremely interesting and it has helped me understand the cultural milieu of my surroundings. It’s been an extraordinary experience. I think I’m a good atheist. I try to “live morally” whether there is an overarching deity or “eternal reward or punishment”.

[@tomandrews1429]

I'm also an atheist, but I'm curious, what do you mean by "live morally"? What standard of morality are you using to judge yourself as good?

[@takoja507]

@@tomandrews1429 Ooo am curious too about that...I hope he answers.

[@danielchrist8651]

@@takoja507 you are both suggesting without god people wouldn’t know right from wrong? Most people don’t have the stomach to walk up to another person and push a knife into them. Why? Not because god said hey don’t do that, it’s an internal moral compass not external. I’ve personally never needed god or religion just to be a decent human. Do people really need a commandment saying killing is wrong or do you just know it’s wrong?

[@haleyl.248]

morals change. God doesnt.

[@tomandrews1429]

@@danielchrist8651 That's not what I'm suggesting. The original comment mentioned living morally. It's important to define what is meant by living morally. I agree with you that in most situations I am able to make moral decisions based on the standard of reducing harm. What I do have problem with is summing up an entire life with a word as vague as "good" or even what you said ("decent"). I've done some things considered morally good, some bad, what does that make me?

[@Pyladin]

The problem seems to be that the good atheists have asked the good questions and the good theists have never managed to answer them with good answers.

[@vaseman3639]

Well it depends if the atheist actually wants to listen to the answers provided

[@Pyladin]

@@vaseman3639 nothing I said, depends on that.

[@vaseman3639]

@@Pyladin I think it does to some degree. I do think this problem you suggest is quite subjective, as I could say that Good theists have asked good questions and that good atheists have never manage to answer them with good answers. It’s mostly perspective.

[@Pyladin]

@@vaseman3639 and clearly in your statement, they did listen, so, it does not depends on your former statement. Now, move on.

[@rebecca4764]

"You are precious in My Eyes...and I love you..."~Isaiah 43:4 That's God's message for you and all people for all time...that pretty much sums up every question every believer, or non-believer could ever have about faith, non-faith, life and death Be blessed, my friend :-)

[@AndrewRowe]

Feels is little like watching a hostage extol the virtues of his captor.

[@glof2553]

If you're a smoothbrain with no interest in steelmanning your intellectual opponents' opposition, sure.

[@promethium-145]

@@glof2553 Who was the OP referring to? The guy in the video? If so, his comment was quite idiotic, not even mentioning the stroke inducing grammar.

[@wfemp_4730]

@@glof2553 ad hominem

[@nicolab2075]

@@promethium-145 I think he just typed 'is' instead of 'a'. Now the grammar is fine.

[@promethium-145]

@@nicolab2075 Ah

[@gid519]

Prophet Zod's entrance made me die. Also love that TMM and Prophet Zod responded back to his crude demeanor.

[@angeladeluna]

I think you have a simplistic view of how and why people are atheist. I was raised Catholic, thought I would become a nun because women can't be priests, taught confirmation classes, was in every age appropropriate group the church offered, went to daily mass, read the catholic newspaers to keep up on current events in doctrine and Vatican policy. Around 14 I got tired of my questiond being dismissed as a sin for asking, or told to have faith and pray for an answer. I started going to friends places of worship and seriously studying other religions, and philosophies. In my twenties, I did a lot of soul searching and came to the conclusion that I'm atheist, I cried like I never had before because, Jesus Christ was my best friend and faith in God was how I survived my childhood. I felt like I lost my entire identity when I realized I didn't actually believe in God. It wasn't a decision I arrived at to be snarky, or not go to church. I embraced living honestly and that meant without God. It was the most emotionally difficult experience I have ever had. I still have an interest in spiritual thought, to me its like studying mythology.

[@JP2GiannaT]

Saying this sincerely: I'm sorry for your loss. And I'm sorry that you weren't supported in questioning and given places to look for answers. That wasn't ok.

[@1nv15BL3]

@@e.t.7383 And I'm here to remind you to sacrifice a horse to Wotan.

[@rickybloss8537]

@@e.t.7383 Okay here's a question why is slavery not stated as immoral in a book supposed to be written by an all loving god? A few words could have saved countless live. Instead it lectures us about the evils of homosexuality and eating shell fish. Morally the Bible is bankrupt. The Bible is also bankrupt In terms of accurate predictions about how the world works, as well as the age of the universe, the order in which things formed or were "created". Also why are we torchered for doing what he designed us to do? Why would anyone want to be friends with such a fictitious prick?

[@rickybloss8537]

@@e.t.7383 I'll tell you why. The Bible was written by barbaric humans. Who haven't a clue what morality is, or how reality works. So no I wasn't affended that you "wished the best" for someone. I just find the way you phrased your "best wishes" was more like a missionary ad.

[@rickybloss8537]

​@@e.t.7383 Well that's just how I speak, I'm not angry. I'm not mad at the people for writing the bible. They didn't know they were wrong (Or maybe they did idk). My point is if there are logical errors, and moral errors in the bible why believe any of it.

[@erthquake9038]

My take is that this is the one life that we know for a fact that we'll have. Therefore, we must make the world a good place for everyone to share in.

[@cesarmaganalinares6372]

I spent most of my life as an atheist, and I returned home a year ago. What brought me back was seeing one of my law professors truly express kindness and humanity to *everyone* around him, inside and outside of class. Still, I struggle with being around certain Catholics who give me weird comments or looks when I tell them I attend a Jesuit parish (or worse, because of my ethnicity). Thank you, Fr. Casey.

[@godisinchargesueowl8599]

Always look up to the saints, in bad situations with other Catholics Remember love and mercy are the highest virtues. Know that only God truly knows you ,no one else .As the Lord used to tell Saint Faustina, keep your head up high 😊 God bless you and protect you . Praise the Lord ! 💞

[@DarkAngel-cj6sx]

Sorry about that, I think your faith should be based on the relationship you have with the most High. If all Christians were really good, we wouldn't have so many bad things going. When you belong to God, you strive to work in His ways.

[@Fernanda-tg3ox]

I'm Peruvian, and though I have never stopped believing, I can relate SO MUCH with the differences in cultures here in America. I go to the Catholic parish at my university and it has been a struggle feeling at home. When I'm at adoration or mass (it's all perfectly fine and homey) but I have found that participating in retreats and events is just not for me because the american catholic culture is different than from the one back home ( its beautiful but different). And before I start creating resentment in my heart, I have chosen to be happy that different cultures glorify God in their own ways, and I've chosen to participate as much as home as I can make it no more than that. Maybe is a silent cross we must carry?

[@DarkAngel-cj6sx]

@@Fernanda-tg3ox I am african and being catholic in North America is tough. It made me wondering around many protestant churches, but I came to accept that I am here and I won't let the atmosphere kills my faith into catholic church. It is a struggle I have to admit

[@Fernanda-tg3ox]

@@DarkAngel-cj6sx yeah I feel that totally. And I believe it's just a cross we must carry! I will be praying for you and for me to remain strong in our faith ❤ I often read the passage in Acts 2, where the tongues of fire appear and the apostles start speaking different languages. Its a reminder that not all of the cultures and languagea will become the same, but that God wants us to Glorify Him in our diversity. He respects our diversity

[@SirPayne]

Here's a thought experiment: Imagine you have a little son or daughter and you need someone to look after him/her for half a day. Would you rather have an atheist or a Catholic priest look after him/her?

[@ferlou2373]

Atheist. I'd rather not see my kid sexually abused.

[@timthorson52]

@@ferlou2373 well, there's that possibility and also the possibility of indoctrinating the child into belief without evidence. People are most vulnerable when they are young, both physically and mentally. The church tends to get members young. Also in times hopefully long past, the church would find ways to essentially kidnap kids tone "taught" by the church.

[@chere100]

Atheist. Higher chances of my child going unmolested (both in mind and body).

[@Haroldbeavis1969]

Lol That’s a fun thought experiment. The answer, though, is neither. I find someone I know to look after my child. Whether that person is a priest or an atheist is probably low on the criteria scale.

[@timthorson52]

@@Haroldbeavis1969 true, but the idea is if all other things are equal, or equally mysterious, and there are only the two choices.

[@ohno8398]

That one atheist subscriber back at it again! 1. I believe I am a good person, though of course I am flawed and, thanks to the lack of moral framework you mentioned, I'm always trying to look at different moral theories and update my understanding of the world. 2. As you can guess by the fact that km a subscriber, I'm very much a fan of exploring other perspectives, and I greatly admire your humility and self awareness, it makes me excited when I see a new video because I know you're not going to preach, you're going to give me something to think about. Ps most of us hate Dawkins too, even when he manages to make a good point, it's so buried under his smug superiority that's its just flat out annoying.

[@j.k.6865]

We appreciate your comment my dude

[@Kaiser86]

I'm with you, brother! I am a long-time atheist, and I absolutely loathe Dawkins, and many other pop atheists. For people who claim to be rooted in "facts and reality" and leading a life of "research" are surprisingly frugal with their research into religion. They make all of us look bad.

[@101spacemonkey]

@@Kaiser86 dawkins is awful. I believe in the right to chose. But he thinks it is moral to automatically abort if a foetus has downs syndrome. Thats genocide. People have a right to choose but he basically thinks all disabled lives should be prevented and thats messed up.

[@Kaiser86]

@@101spacemonkey I completely agree! I think that the issue is rooted, partially, in a series of myths about "being smart". There is a societal predisposition to assume that "highly educated" = being smart, and that science is the realm of the highly gifted (perhaps because the abstraction of mathematics and science, in general, is seen as particularly out of reach for the majority). The problem is that there is an assumption that if you are smart, then you are knowledgeable about verything, whereas those of us who do have an advanced education acknowledge that the more you study, the less you know. Dawkins is great if you want to learn about evolutionary biology but that tells me nothing about his ability to understand religion enough to deconstruct it. It's also a classic case of a scientist with the arrogance to assume that the humanities are below them, and can lecture those of us who study the humanitites, although we know that their knowledge and sophistication of the matter is pitiful, to say the least.

[@EyeLean5280]

Agree on Dawkins - he makes atheism look bad and the average atheist does NOT appreciate it.

[@vikingbme97]

I’m really happy to see the comments in here are super respectful. What a fresh breath of air!

[@ophionavernus]

[edit: I thought I wrote this elsewhere and then rewrote it when I couldn't find it] Atheist here. And yes, I'm a good one. I spend much of my time with the poor, I've spent my rare vacations and spare money going to regions that need infrastructure and personally built roads and wells. I'm an activist for justice in the US, put my body on the line for it. Ive studied and learnt theology from various sources. And I want to thank you for this video.

[@mekavio8231]

@@ophionavernus would you donate your organs after you're dead to help others ?

[@ophionavernus]

@@mekavio8231 Absolutely. I'm also signed up to donate marrow or other organs while I'm alive.

[@johnb1567]

@@ophionavernus , BLASPHEMY!!!! the bible prohibits eating if the flesh and someone else taking organs into their body is the same. I am a jehova witness and this is explained clearly in the bible.

[@ophionavernus]

@@johnb1567 That's fine. I'm not. I'm an atheist. Your rules don't apply to me and my wife is disassociated so go away you're not supposed to talk to me either.

[@JohnDoe-zy6tm]

I find it interesting that he offers a reading list for the Atheists but gods word didn’t make the cut... instead we get a list of guys who can tell you what the Bible means to say. 🤔

[@eddiy335]

I hope you don't have a heart attack when you find out that the Bible is a compilation of what people witnessed and their feelings about certain things. The intellectual dishonesty kills me ps: God's.

[@JohnDoe-zy6tm]

@@eddiy335 exactly how was I dishonest?... point it out for me.

[@michaelwolf8690]

The Bible is archaic and contradictory. It's actually a very bad argument for Christianity, and I think it's legitimate for you to read theologians before you make a decision about Christianity. However, theologians who were around before the Enlightenment back when the Church of Rome decided if you could be published or not are probably not an accurate source for information about the discussion of Christianity applicable to you.

[@Alexagrigorieff]

That was what the Catholic Church was doing before Reformation: "You should not read the Bible, we do read it and tell you what it says".

[@rebecca4764]

Reading the Bible is a foregone conclusion, so it didn't need to be mentioned...it is the Greatest Story Ever Told :-) be blessed, my brother in Christ :-)

[@Tia-Marie]

I don't think I am capable of assessing my own virtues, that is for my peers and those around me to determine. I do things that I hope never makes anyone else suffer and brings benefit to others.

[@tomandrews1429]

As an atheist, I'd be happy to answer your question. Am I a good atheist? By what standard do you ask this? By a biblical standard, probably not. I don't for example, think that woman's place is to be silent in churches or that women can't hold authority over a man. I also don't think that a woman's place is to be subservient to her husband or that the head of every wife is her husband (and not vice versa). Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with homosexuality.

[@macdisciple]

Im atheist. I think your commitment to your faith is wonderful. if you feel empowered by love, stay the course. Yes I am a good and moral human being - the benefits to myself and others are wonderful. My wife, a Christian, often shares her readings, Richard Rohr for example. I listen, hear, and support her.

[@James-en1ob]

Good for you

[@RainierFajardoProduction]

Good for you

[@duncanbryson1167]

I have a strong suspicion you are fake.

[@spuriouseffect]

@Humanity Is Doomed to Extinction You are obviously unaware of all the good that comes from people of faith. Who do you think was handing out all the food during the pandemic? Christian groups. Even though I'm an Atheist, I still volunteer with Christian groups all the time, because they do so much good. There are good and bad Christians and Atheists. Stop lumping everyone together.

[@spuriouseffect]

@Humanity Is Doomed to Extinction Christians run the majority of shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks in America. They give more time and resources to charity around the world than anyone else. What have you done? I never said all Christians were good. You're so full of hate that you can't even see the difference.

[@JiveDadson]

Someday this kid is going to be badly embarrassed by this video - if he's lucky.

[@Setep2k]

this is a pr stunt, he is virtue signaling to his fellow theists, regurgitating what they want to hear.

[@l.t.1305]

@@Setep2k Sure bud, says you

[@fukpoeslaw3613]

if he's lucky GOOD ONE!!

[@xXBlackIce7Xx]

@@l.t.1305 only that it's true

[@MrFossil367ab45gfyth]

Yeah, I saw some responses by some atheists. Let's just say, some criticized him negatively. But there were some who thought the letter was ok.

[@YellaRyan]

Two quotes from Einstein describe my thoughts on this topic better then I can word it. “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” -Albert Einstein “A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” - Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, November 9, 1930

[@amask99]

Christian values are about loving other people and loving God, having a relationship with Him. It doesn't have to be based on expecting a reward or fearing punishment. Id God loves us unconditionally, we can still want to do more good than is necessary and expected from us. You can see it kinda like an interpersonal relationship. If you love someone, you simply want to be good to them and to not cause them suffering. And even when if you knew they would forgive no matter what, you still wouldn't like to hurt them. While it isn't the case for every Catholic, I strongly believe that unconditional love can be greater that the fear of punishment

[@esperthebard]

And yet, Einstein came from a society built upon the structure of Christianity, and the most horrific, murderous societies have all been atheist and non-Christian ones.

[@kentmathewgargantiel4312]

we did not do good just for the reward. it's because we love our creator and we do not want to do sin because as a son and daughter, we must obey him as our creator. because he gave us everyday blessings and it's because God loves us.

[@johnnyhuynh3449]

except due to human nature, Einstein's whole "hope" for man to act on compassion instead of fear is simply not possible. We are indeed a sorry lot, only saved by the saving power of a God who loves us even in our weakness.

[@lbfather]

Maybe he was too drained in his books and calculations to actually think about it, just as we today are too glued to screens to see the nature of the world around us. He was a smart man, but not a wise one.

[@deanfacca1405]

Thank you father Casey as a former atheist turned catholic this means a lot

[@deanfacca1405]

@@jamesparsonwell my brother I respect your input and I just wish you live your life the best you can. Hopefully you return to the faith but God gave you free will and I nor Father Casey here can change that.

[@deanfacca1405]

@@jamesparson I have many atheist friends I don’t look down at them at all Christians are supposed love thy neighbour I view them as brothers even if they’re misguided I still love them and I’m sure God does too. :)

[@Bashcutter]

@@jamesparson If there are communities like that, I'm sorry, but some of them who really strive to closely follow Christ could give off the perception of looking down upon. We want you to convert, to come to a fullness of understanding of God and to love God. What you perceive as "looking down" is more a sorrow for the decision you've made.

[@douglasthomashayden2566]

@@Bashcutter Your pathetic condescension is noted and discarded.

[@Bashcutter]

@@douglasthomashayden2566 Okay then, I'll continue to let people look down on atheists like probably you. Thanks for letting me know it's discarded. Please never complain about your issues again.

[@federicofuentes6146]

Padre, long time viewer, first time commenter. I'm a reluctant atheist in the sense that I have nothing against people who believe, I believe faith is a beautiful thing, I just can't *feel* it. I have read Augustin and Heidegger, and Sartre and some Ratzinger, but it's just never clicked. I could pretend to be a religious person but honestly, that would be an act of bad faith. I certainly wish I had faith but I do believe faith is a gift and if you don't have it, you just don't have it, no matter how much you'd like. Still I need to add one thing, living a moral life, Kantian style, is rewarding in and of itself. Sometimes I feel like doing it because we want to and not because we are compelled by a set of prescribed rules is even better. No idea if you'll read this, but thanks for the channel, I love it and it's nice to hear the arguments.

[@julioalonzo1383]

You’re right, faith is a grace, is not something you can self-induce. Of course study, reading Augustine or Aquinas can prepare the way, but grace is above nature. If you really wish you had faith then ask for it. You could say: “God, if you really do exist, give me faith”

[@federicofuentes6146]

@@julioalonzo1383 I have tried, for sure! But it's not there. Maybe it will be one day, and I'll be all the more fortunate for it. But right now, I have no option but to be true to my feelings/reason.

[@analyticallysound2716]

I feel this as an atheist. You really described my own position well.

[@julioalonzo1383]

@@federicofuentes6146 I wish you all the best! I'm sure if you follow you conscience and honestly pursue the truth wherever it leads you will come to know and love it

[@igorcristianodesousa1276]

That's exactly how i see and feel about faith n religion. Thank you for put it into words.

[@manojwilliam777]

In my country, in the name of religion so many atrocities are happening. In our context, this message fits exactly well. Thanks for the wonderful explanation Fr.

[@pavld335]

@@jamesparson Centuries and still does today.

[@unlikelysuspect5491]

My answer is yes. Also as an atheist I love this. There's nothing unscientific or illogical abbout loveing your fellow human and working to make the world a better place. Not shure who this videos for tho

[@vorpal22]

The video is clearly for himself to express his smugness and for other Christians so that they can feed their morbidly obese confirmation bias about atheists.

[@caseyoliver165]

That's the most stupidest thing that I ever heard in my life and No I'm afraid that atheism will Not go anywhere except to the Lake of fire of hell and for those who don't believe in God will receive their portion into the Lake of fire that Burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death. The lake of fire of hell so No I'm afraid the world will Not be a better place at all because it would've been much worse place in this world today because you better be grateful that there is a God in heaven protecting us because if God didn't exist we would have in so much trouble but besides all that if God didn't exist None of us would be in this world Neither because we wouldn't exist Neither and if God wanted to forsake this world do you have any ideal how much trouble that we all would be in? If God forsaken this world this world would be in great danger and do you want to know why? Because we have a very real Devil in this world and believe me the devil hates your guts and believe me when I say this! Because the devil will destroy you and all mankind in this world and this world would be parishing indeed because the devil is very wicked and very very evil and he has No mercy at all and the devil doesn't know love and he doesn't know mercy because there is None at all because the devil is the Destroyer and he is a apollyon so yeah you better be lucky that God loves us all and he is very merciful and you better be grateful that God is protecting us from the Evil enemy.

[@Estarfigam]

I'm a protestant, I was agnostic, but this channel does help increase my testimony.

[@tenebrisrex333]

What testimony would that be?

[@billskelley6895]

To be an agnostic, would imply that you subscribe to the opinion that we have no way of knowing for certain if one of the Gods exist or not. It seems you've found a path to certain absolute knowledge that a God exist, as you are no longer an agnostic. Would you mind sharing this absolute knowledge with the rest of us?

[@Ronzo777]

Tbh, as a Catholic, this is a tad patronising and I don't think it will serve to draw many Atheists to the Church. An Atheist could just as easily make this video in response and say "Have you asked these questions, read these books, etc. etc.". Your assumption seems to be that Atheists aren't intellectually sincere. I don't think that's true.

[@stephanweinberger]

Atheists aren't the target audience of this video.

[@PaulDouglas11]

@@stephanweinberger So true!!

[@bubblesbutternuts694]

not true i am an atheist and i do agree with some of the other comments that include protecting some evil people but i do like father c and father p take on things they try and be open father p gave a response to a question on religion when it comes to science when there is conflicting information he did not want to discredit science and did not want to discredit religion so when there is conflicting information just have faith brother, and yes you could say that is a weak way to say god exist when science says one thing but at the end of the day but at the end of the day you would need faith regardless, as a atheist i do believe the church and religion can have merit but only when it used right father c and father p are trying to teach on how to be a better person and how to love one another rather than judging and shunning people unlike most church people i have met, and when these church people judge shun and say such horrible things we wonder as atheist is the church sincere in its hatred for there fellow man,father c and father p kindness and openness to talk and to love allows me to listen to them because in them i dont see that hatred

[@lysyu4372]

My grandfather died for his church, as an orthodox priest he was killed by Soviet Union, I do not take religious service lightly. But sorry, your points are beyond ridiculous. How well have you studied Buddhism, since you are not a Buddhist, how sophisticated are your arguments against it? How well are you informed about Hinduism to be able to be a good non-Hinduist? How well have you studied Tengrism to be able to be a good non-Tengrist? How well have you explored the depth of arguments against Jainism? Since you don't believe in these religions, according to your logic, you should know a lot about it to be able to argue and be a good non-something. Otherwise, bad, bad non-Tengrist. Or are you so superior to anyone else that it's only people who are not members of your religion who need to have elaborate explanation, otherwise they're failures? My grandfather was a good priest, because he knew about humility, he helped Catholics and Jews and atheists, he was not so smug to put himself above others. A lack of belief does not require further study, it's just that - a lack of belief. Atheists don't owe you anything. It's the people who work in church who should have a better explanation for their religion than being born into it.

[@akhiljames3435]

Well you are assuming that there aren't people who have explored all religions. There are many such people throughout history, many who change their religions because they explored deeper and found something more peaceful and true in other religions. And it has happened from Christianity to Hinduism and vice versa in India. To reject all the major religions in the world needs even more intellectual courage and pride than choosing to follow the religion of your parents. So it is expected that an atheist is well read in all that he is choosing to reject. I like well read atheists but they are very few. Very few explore beyond Hitchens and Dawkins. And yes same can be said of religious people as well, very few explore deeply but the stalwarts of catholicism have always been intellectuals be it be Augustine, Aquinas, Joseph Ratzinger, John Henry Newman , Blaise Pascal to name some. I know more catholics who have read Dawkins and Hitchens than I know atheists who have read Aquinas or Pascal or Ratzinger

[@thenitpicker2176]

@@akhiljames3435Addressing: 'It is expected an atheist is well read in all that he is choosing to reject.' While there is something to be said about greater introspection, an atheist isn't necessarily someone that actively rejects all religion. Non-belief is passive. People from all professions be they priests, doctors, economists or government officials make factual claims I have no interest in investigating. The knowledge of how a 1% increase in inflation would impact unemployment rate is useful but not important for me to possess. I have limited time on this earth and cannot spend hours investigating every claim. I am personally interested in history and religion plays a major role. But before such interest, knowing the theology, rituals and practices of religions was of no relevance to my life and thus investigating the claims of the religious did not merit energy or effort.

[@Akkordeondirigent]

@@akhiljames3435 "the stalwarts of catholicism have always been intellectuals be it be Augustine, Aquinas, Joseph Ratzinger, John Henry Newman , Blaise Pascal to name some." There are experts on BATMAN too. But BATMAN also isn´t true. So why should I read that?

[@stevepenn2582]

@@akhiljames3435 So I hope you know the intricacies of darksouls lore because it is my religion

[@joebell1623]

@@akhiljames3435 The problem is, life is short. My wife is dying. Do we really have to spend decades working our way through the library of religious superminds to be absolutely sure we have the 'right belief?' Or 'right non-belief?' It's utter nonsense, because it's not practical. What if we don't have decades? What if all we have is days and maybe only weeks? WTF. It's basically a con, trying to get the doubter to waste years of their precious life flooding their mind with all the religious gaslighting of the ages. I think it's more honest to the uncertainty and brevity of life to say, Put up or shut up. Show me this invisible friend of yours, or let me live my life in peace, and let me occupy my mind and my days how I choose, not how you choose.

[@needbettername8583]

So atheists are actually better people because they live as good people without expecting a reward in the after life for doing so? I never thought I would hear that from a priest. Also, a word of advice priest guy. Your cadence and attempt at speaking in a "fatherly" tone only works on your "flock." If you want to have an honest conversation about atheism, you need to talk to them like adults, and drop the dismissive attitude towards questions you can't answer. Stay safe.

[@scambammer6102]

agree his tone comes across as condescending, even if that isn't his intent

[@needbettername8583]

@@scambammer6102 He relies on a lot of loaded questions and a lot of poorly based assumptions. Also his requirements to be in his eyes a "good atheist" have some pretty terrible requirements. Imagine if to be a Christian I required you to read all Christian texts and also all christian philisophers literature and texts ? It's dumb.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Science may not Bite Religion per se, but Logic sure does. It sure does - hence why Atheist-Channel have more and more very-valid Criticism for Christianity and Religion overall. I implore you all, dear comment-readers, to inform yourself a lot, even though it’s admittedly time-consuming, but Religion and Atheism are Big Chunks of this World, so they deserve your time, I’d argue. Valid Questions are asked all the time by people like ‚Genetically Modified Sceptic’ and ‚Believe it or not’ and the harshest aka most direct of them all: ‚Viced Rhino’. And Forrest Valkai literally asks Religious Scientists directly in his longest-yet Video: Why do you ‚suspend your Disbelieve’ and make ‚Exceptions’ for Religion like you do for literally Nothing else? Why do you accept things you wouldnt accept elsewhere, he asks with great arguments.

[@jazzycup9274]

Honestly, I don't know too many Catholics that think they're going to heaven. I mean one hopes so but purgatory would be fine too or if hell is decided so be it as one can't argue their case; what I have noticed between 23 years as an Atheist and my conversion is that a lot of Atheists say, "I don't believe in God but I'm a good person so if there is a heaven I'm definitely going". Too much Ego.

[@technomancermagus8357]

@@jazzycup9274 You are missing the last part... "I don't believe in God but I'm a good person so if there is a heaven I'm definitely going.... as long as God is Just and Fair. If God is not Just and Fair, I don't want to be in Heaven because it's ruled by a moral thug."

[@billycalifornia1112]

Aron Ra and Rationality Rules absolutely crushed this video with amazing responses 🤠

[@promethium-145]

I don't take RR too seriously. His understanding of theology and history are quite poor. Also, Aron has many of the same problems that RR does (poor historian and theologian), but he's more abrasive and hostile. At least RR tries to appear reasonably open.

[@phill234]

@@promethium-145 His response to this video doesn't even go deep into theology or history. In this case these two topics hardly matter at all, so maybe give his video a shot rather than just disqualifying his content from the beginning?

[@promethium-145]

@@phill234 I've seen some of both channels. I think RR has better presentation and sharper quality. When it comes to Aron, I prefer his older videos to the newer ones. So I wouldn't view myself as being dismissive of them.

[@phill234]

@@promethium-145 Sorry for that assumption then, but you said you didn't take RR seriously and I think that's still a mistake. Especially his response video to this is really atrong in my opinion.

[@promethium-145]

@@phill234 I said that because I found him a bit pretentious. His attempt to debunk the Kalam Cosmological Argument was pretty poor imo. I might look at his new response. However, I do have to admire him for having discussions with people about the Kalam, even recently. I prefer him over Aron, who has a bitter and abrasive manner.

[@64ElMariachi]

That's all well and good. Has this priest ever tried to prove any other religion wrong? Has he ever tried to prove his own religion wrong? I appreciate demanding atheists be "good atheists" - but that's really easy - demanding others to have good reasons for their conclusions. The hard part, is demanding it of yourself.

[@petermirtitsch1235]

I'm just waiting for the "good Roman Catholic Church" to appear. He seemed to forget to say if he wanted people to be ",good Christians" too. Doesn't that involve bring honest and giving up criminals in your ranks to the legal authorities, instead of hiding assorted criminals?

[@alfresco8442]

It's a perfect example of the callowness of youth...and the shallowness of religious doctrine.

[@multismashify]

@@petermirtitsch1235 What makes you think he isn't in favor of giving up criminals in the ranks of the Catholic Church to the authorities?

[@petermirtitsch1235]

@@multismashify still waiting for any sign of one of the largest criminal organisations on the planet doing anything yet. You can't refer to "good Christians" in good conscience if you don't openly and routinely condemn their organisations. Btw, it's not just the RCC, so no excuses.

[@multismashify]

@@petermirtitsch1235 I don't think you answered my question. Even still, more than $3 billion dollars in payment to abuse victims is nothing? The multiple priests found credibly accused being defrocked and given over to the authorities is nothing? If you don't think it's enough, fine, but it's not nothing. I understand it's not just the RCC, though I myself happen to be Catholic and I tend to hear about abuse in the Catholic Church the most. But apply the same principal to all Christian denominations, and I still find myself wondering why people are so quick to hold the entirety of the church accountable for the wrongdoings of a few church officials. Priests guilty of molestation? Horrible, and they should be brought to justice, but that's still just a certain percentage of priests. Higher ups in the church hierarchy knew about the abuse and try to cover it up? Again, horrible, but that means it's just a particular group of church officials who are corrupt, not the whole church. The pope himself knew? Very sad, but the pope is not the church. Again, those church officials who are guilty should be brought to justice. And, indeed, as stated above, action has been taken to try to weed out as best as humanly possibly the wrongs of old. But holding the entirety of the church responsible for the actions of a corrupt few seems grossly unjust.

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

Came here after seeing the response from Rationality Rules, hope you watch his response

[@LGpi314]

“Where there is evidence , no one speaks of " faith " . We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round . We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence .” ― Bertrand Russell

[@dustthewanderer6756]

Hey there, Athiest here. I've actually been watching your stuff for a while now and I've found it very informative actually. So thank you for that. I suppose my answer to this challenge is perhaps a little simple, I try to do what I can to be a "good" person. Minimise suffering, help out others where I can and so on. I may not live with the promise of heaven or an ultimate reward in the end, but I've chosen to live on through my works as a teacher trying to pass on my passion for learning and knowledge to those who will succeed me. If I can change the world for the better, even just a little I'd say that's close enough to immortality for me. As for why I've chosen an Atheistic worldview, it's not because I hate religion or religious people. I actually see quite a lot of value in the structures created by religion. I'm not even particularly against the idea of god(s) or higher powers so perhaps it would be more accurate to call myself agnostic, but that's usually interpreted as "Atheist" anyway by many. But in short the main reason I don't hold any particular faith is a simple question, "which one is the right one?" I've read a number of holy texts, the Bible, the Quran, the Tripitaka, admittedly only some of the Vedas, and I've come to my own conclusion that not a single one can prove that what they preach is more "right" than the others in any quantifiable way. So to reconcile this I've just decided not to devote myself to any faith and focus on myself and living in a way that I feel is right and just, and if after I die I stand before a creator who would admonish me for living as good a life I could and trying to do what I could for the world with my own two hands just because I didn't worship them. Then that's not a god I want anything to do with. Once again Father thank you for what you do, and I also appreciate anyone who actually took the time to read this.

[@damookster5919]

Hi, Christian replying, I loved this comment. I often while learning about other religions ask myself these questions of “which is the right one?”, and often can’t find a true answer(though I remain Christian). In the past few years I have had to switch churches due to continued suppression of certain communities from the church I was in. If these are the people supposed to be operating on the same values as myself, how can I be one of them? Then again, can any religion truly be perfect with humans being the ones running them? I find it hard to believe that any one organized religion can be what is right, but I do believe that there is a God that my past churches have preached about. Oftentimes the best conversations come between atheists and those who are religious. This prevents the effect of just speaking with a mirror, and strengthens the bonds that tie us together for the true end goal: love and unity. Love to see an atheist in the comment section and loved your comment❤️.

[@carlosreyesf19]

Important message for us Christians as well. Reading Ratzinger has been one of my best experiences with my faith. Actually, I had my reading on pause but your video inspired me to keep going, so thanks!

[@douglasthomashayden2566]

So Benny the Rat, the Grand Inquisitor, is somebody you admire? NOT something to admit to...

[@carlosreyesf19]

@@douglasthomashayden2566 I'm not sure I understand the reference haha

[@romfernandez7917]

Going to show this to my friends. I also hope I get accepted to the Capuchin. Will reply again when results are out.

[@AmyHoward13]

Best luck!

[@brandbw]

Bon chance mon ami!!

[@vanessam9266]

Prayers!!

[@nick-xz2ej]

God speed!

[@vb3474]

Do attend adoration with Divine Retreat Centre Uk on KZbin for great guidance.May God be with you.🙏🏽

[@ethanpintar5454]

Thank you for making this video, Fr. Casey. I sometimes cringe in anticipation at "Dear Atheists" content, but this I can only describe as in incredibly good faith (no pun intended). I welcome the question you pose, which of course is one of the most important that we non-believers should constantly ask ourselves, as believers should. It's unfortunate that so many of the comments under this video seem to be accusing you of a double standard for asking atheists to examine themselves and read, while of course you constantly ask the same of believers in your other videos. All the best.

[@zeejoo]

Your god in your literature flooded the whole world, killed the first borns of everyone in Egypt, and told Isaac to murder his own son. He also hates gays, and somehow tribes in the amazon that will or have never heard of Christianity go to hell. This is patronizing nonsense. I've never killed anyone, never hurt anyone, never stolen anything, and yet Christianity and the bible advocate murdering sinners. Do you wear more than one type of fabric? Sinner. I don't need 2000 year old texts to dictate the basic human capability to know right from wrong. Christianity is wrong. The Vatican SOLD indulgences. Religion is a scam. You're gonna die and there's nothing after, and that's ok. It makes life now valuable. I would argue atheists have better morals on average than Christianity teaches

[@ethanpintar5454]

@@zeejoo "Your god in your literature"? Who are you talking to?

[@zeejoo]

@@ethanpintar5454 I replied to the video not your comment unless I mis-clicked something

[@ethanpintar5454]

@@zeejoo well you replied to my comment

[@galahad9895]

I used to be catholic, now I am an atheist and I Iove this channel. I do good things not because I believe in a "god", but because I know that's the right thing to do, because that's what my parents teached me. I don't believe in any God but I believe in the good things and behaviors that the various religions teach.

[@Fernanda-tg3ox]

That's awesome! Have you ever heard of Natural Law?

[@johnk6346]

You sound like a good person but you need to believe. Please do this, once everyday say one sincere prayer. The prayer is this. Ask God if He does exist to please show you a sign in some way that He does. Say this prayer for a few month in sincerity not sarcastically, I believe after some time God will answer that prayer and show you he is real.

[@quisutdeusmfl]

he's a little confused but he has the right spirit

[@quisutdeusmfl]

I was just memeing but the guy right on me said something so true even if you're Christian you ask God to give you faith, you need it, and you get it throught prayer and penance and only if you truly want to have it tho

[@KTougaw]

I respect your beliefs, but many would say that the good in all things that you believe in is God, and your knowledge of right and wrong you got from your parents is the tradition of faith. It reminds me of the parable of the son who said he would not do his father's will, but did do it.

[@vtfrancisco]

This is a brilliant challenge to every one of us, not just to atheists. We definitely need to be better at our faith. Thank you!

[@godisinchargesueowl8599]

Amen 💖

[@helenabara2092]

GOD bless you Fr Casey.Thankyou for this channel.

[@tomandrews1429]

Let me ask you same question then. As (I'm assuming) a Christian, are you a good Christian?

[@takoja507]

Do better at your faith? You mean to follow the bible better? Have you even read the bible? Most things that bible think are good is despicable behaviour in modern society. Or do you mean that you need to believe harder in supernatural and deny the evidence and science that can be shown to be true and real? Just wondering what you mean by doing better at your faith?

[@vtfrancisco]

@@takoja507 Neither. I mean that we need to be better at loving God, and learning to let him love us.

[@Peapolop]

Thank you Fr. Casey. I was a piarist seminarian for 4 years. I ended up losing my faith because I wanted to understand atheism better and my own faith as well. I wanted to see if what I said I believed in had any ground. It took time but eventually I decided that atheism made more sense for me. I didn't want to be an atheist, heck I still don't want to. I miss seminary and the piarist lifestyle with all my life. I wish I could just "fake it 'till I make it" in terms of belief. But that would be a lack of integrity and honesty with myself. If I ever regain my faith (or any faith for that matter), I'll accept it naturally for there is no shame in acting in accordance to our knowledge. Until then, I can't let my want to believe obscure what I know to be true. Reason above all, even in faith, reason above all. Thanks for all your excellent work in educating people in matters of faith and church history. Stay strong!

[@cheshirekat3050]

For members of the clergy, from all ranks and faiths (priests, nuns, monks, ministers, preachers, rabbis...etc.) who are still "in the closet" about having become Atheists, there is the Clergy Project. It's an organization run by Atheists who were former clergy members; which helps Atheists still in the closet, to openly leave their former religion behind. For some, it's very difficult because they are financially dependent upon their religious life. For others, it's a matter of being afraid to lose their families and loved ones. But it's completely anonymous, and has helped many.

[@stevengentry9396]

Good grief, we really do see ourselves as Yoda addressing the benighted, don't we? Sad. Even the rural Protestants that this guy casually craps on have moved past this kind of apologetic.

[@robertgramley8383]

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. ... If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” Is a quote I try to live by. I do not believe in god but I do believe in good.

[@ATigo-nu9xt]

It is excellent to try to live a good life and to follow what you believe is morally correct, king. But keep in mind that if there is a God (or if there are gods), it means that devotion is also a virtue, and one of the most noble ones.

[@efandmk3382]

@Brian Farley No. Some moral principles never change. Violence is always wrong, unless in self defense. Selfishness is wrong if it hurts others. Lying, cheating, stealing and murder are always wrong. These things are inherent. You don't need to be taught.

[@aregulargamer1]

@@efandmk3382 It tends to be the ones that give an evolutionary advantage for the ones that practice them. All the people that stole from their tribe or murdered tribe members were consistently put to death or exiled; which is probably a part of why humans developed to be so effective at working together. Sure, bad eggs pop up here and there, but its far from being a situation where EVERY person is inherently predisposed to screwing the group for his own benefit. It can also be looked at through the cultural lens too, where societies that did that and/or allowed it to happen were weak and fell apart all the time, leaving them ripe for conquest by tribes that worked together and followed superior moral principles.

[@BrickworksDK]

@Brian Farley People tend to change their mind on things as they grow up and learn. I see nothing wrong with that. Personally, I went from not really caring much about euthanasia to being a firm supporter of it after seeing several family members die horrible, painful, and drawn out deaths, kept alive by modern medicine long past the point where they had lost the will and desire to live. And I sincerely hope that when I reach that point in my own life, euthanasia will be acceptable and readily available. I'd much rather die a dignified death at a time and place of my own choosing, rather than wasting away in a hospital bed, pumped so full of morphine that I'm entirely unaware of what's going on around me.

[@crazydevil2525]

First time commenting, but have been watching this channel for some time now and enjoy it, its very informative. I was raised Catholic and have been struggling with my faith for many years, to the point where i consider myself to be on the border of agnostic/atheist. Though lately i have felt a bit of an urge if you will to go back to mass and it has left me very confused. This channel answers many of my questions, and i greatly appreciate the way you approach it. Thank you.

[@emiliawisniewski3947]

Give mass a go! You have nothing to lose. I went to mass (not taking communion) even when I was agnostic and never really knew why. I inexplicably cried through most of mass for years, particularly during the creed, but always left mass feeling comforted. In my most difficult moments I used to just sit in the pews of the local cathedral, not praying to anything (because what was I praying to?), just sitting in the silence staring at the tabernacle. It took me a long time post agnosticism to figure it out, but maybe God just wanted to sit with me, patiently, until I returned.

[@SolarJacky]

Man, that was surprisingly ignorant AND condescending. Don't know how you did that at the same time great job.

[@pelgrim8640]

Peace, justice, mercy and forgiveness are not exactly the traits i associate with 2K years of catholic history. And neither with a god that openly condones slavery, genocide, torture, racism.

[@danmfigueroa]

I'm a atheist and discovered your channels and loved your content. So here I'm listening. Keep the good work

[@ryanshaun9600]

Glad you listen to this channel. Stay safe and blessed.

[@Maria-xo6de]

Ur Name denotes a man who believed in Almighty, who didn't lose faith in him even at the cave of lions! Daniel

[@danmfigueroa]

@@Maria-xo6de thanks for your kindness

[@NeedSomeNuance]

Dude, hoooooow. This is extremely cringe and pandering

[@vejeke]

You are going to love Paulogia's channel.

[@sulas548]

As an Atheist I am regularly told by Christians that I only 'pretend' to be an Atheist so that I can sin. This is of course absurd because 'if' I actually believed in their god then I would know I would ultimately be punished regardless of what I call myself. My response is this. If I actually believe in this god but want to sin then it is far better to become a Catholic, that way I can sin all I like provided I seek absolution through confession. It has worked a treat for nearly 2,000 years.

[@kevinbartolen5881]

Confesion isn't valid if it isn't sincere though. Just because you're a catholic and go to confession to say your trained verses every now and then doesn't mean you're getting to heaven. I'm sorry to hear christians said that to you, I never understood that argument either.

[@sulas548]

@@kevinbartolen5881 That is interesting to know, who decides if it is sincere though?

[@kevinbartolen5881]

@@sulas548 Well, that would be God. The priest doesn't absolve sins by himself, rather he acts as a mediator while God is the one taking the sins away. If you are insincere or knowingly omit just one sin the entire confession is invalid. Another thing is the differentiation between venial and mortal sins. A sin is mortal when it is done with full knowledge that the action is sinful and is done freely. So if somebody sins with the attitude of „I'll just confess that later“ that sin is classified as mortal and if that person dies without it being properly confessed they are condemned to hell. If somebody dies with attachment to venial sins they can enter heaven but must go through purgatory first.

[@sulas548]

@@kevinbartolen5881 Ok Thanks, would you be kind enough to explain to me the exact method you 'personally' used to verify that anything that you just said is actually objectively true?

[@petermirtitsch1235]

@@kevinbartolen5881 irrelevant, if you BELIEVE you are sincere. Many people are impressively self deluded.

[@marianwaldman6938]

Regardless of what you want, absolutely no one has the requirement to do any scholarship on your religion so you feel better about them not believing in your superstition.

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

If you want to criticize a religion, an ideology or any position you disagree with, you should at least be acquainted with what it says. "But I don't care". Why should I care about your opinion if your opinion rests on unverified grossly exaggerated presuppositions?

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

@@jamesparson Read an introduction to Church History. It will help you narrow down the amount of genuine ones quite a bit.

[@marianwaldman6938]

@@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски Once again for the people in the back - No one has the requirement to do any scholarship on your religion so you feel better about them not believing in your superstition. I said nothing about you caring about my opinion, just like I could not care about yours. Just like I could not care about the cannibalism promoting, fragile ego, capricious, magical sky daddy of the Catholic church and its pantheon. Nor do I attempt to excuse atrocities done in the name of that religion or any other. But you be you.

[@ryanhutton5462]

I find it absolutely terrifying that the only thing stopping you from doing terrible things is a being who even you cannot be sure exists.

[@rebecca4764]

What stops all human beings, if they choose to listen to their hearts, from doing evil, is the fact that we were created out of love, for love. God is the one who placed love, kindness, truth, compassion into our hearts in the first place, my friend- it's the only reason we have those things to begin with. Terror and fear are from the devil- don't let him speak lies over your life- God wants so much more for you. "You are precious in My Eyes...and I love you..."~Isaiah 43:4...The proof of God's existence is any act of love that is given or received..God IS love...love didn't just come out of nowhere, it was placed into our hearts before we were even born. BUT, if you still want to read about real, concrete proof, that exists also :-)...I gently encourage you to read about St. Padre Pio and his 50 year stigmata, unable to be disproven by skeptical doctors/scientists, the Divine Mercy Revelations given by Jesus to St. Faustina (this changed my life forever, and I hope and pray it will change yours too), the Marian apparitions at Fatima (esp. the Miracle of the Sun), Lourdes (countless miraculous healings) and Medjugorje (where countless atheists have been converted), the Shroud of Turin, Mother Teresa's "call within a call," the Eucharistic Miracles...I could go on and on...blessings to you on your journey back to God, I feel it my heart that that is your destiny

[@CJ.937]

Wah?

[@siddharthabanerjee6155]

He never said that?

[@lazarus_alonsius]

This isn’t a very good argument, I used to use it as an atheist, but it falls flat because Christians don’t believe that God is the only thing stopping them from doing bad things. In fact, you can do bad things despite God’s existence. What Christians believe is that if it weren’t for God, nothing at all would be, so it would be impossible for him to be the only thing “stopping” you from doing horrible things, because you wouldn’t exist to do horrible things in the first place. Christians believe that morality itself (which we agree humans can naturally intuit, whether you believe in God or not) comes from God, and this is why there can be moral atheists, since everyone has that sense of morality implanted in their consciousness from God. So it’s more something everyone naturally has, rather than something God has set as rules to be followed. The argument then is what causes this sense of morality, but you’re saying something that no one believes, and you can’t really have a conversation with a real person like that

[@HuxtableK]

@@lazarus_alonsius It sure seems like that's what Christians believe. After all, they keep asking why atheists are able to do good things and stop being bad without a god in our lives.

[@leonais1]

I find the desire to engage with atheists to be false based on the rejection of Richard Dawkins. Every church should have engaged fully with Dawkins and rejected literal creationsism based on the genetic evidence that Dawkins, and others, presented. Dawkins is the good atheist.

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

Check Matt Fradd's channel (where he has a video about Aquinas vs. Dawkins) and Bishop Barron's channel (where he has an entire playlist on atheism and scientism). In short, Dawkins's forays in philosophy are amateurish at best. He never bothers to truly understand Aquinas's points and argues from a giant strawmen of them. Also, creationism is something Biblical Fundamentalists believe in, and those guys have pretty poor theology. No, the Bible is not to be taken in its entirety as a litteral text. It's a compilation of books from various genres - there's poetry, law books, stories, letters, prophecies... No serious Christian would believe the claims of Fundies.

[@leonais1]

@@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски 'No Serious Christian would belive the claims of the Fundies ' because Dawkins won that war. I'm old enough to remember in my lifetime the fight made by Christains to keep creationism and entirely reject evolution.

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

@@leonais1 Dawkins won? How? With strawmen? Also, I meant mostly Catholics and Orthodox. The creationis crowd is exactly those loonie fundies I mentioned in my previous comment.

[@leonais1]

@@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски Dawkins won with sceince. You seem to be denying the modern history of religion and the widespread acceptability of literal creationism before the advent of genetics. Theological argument does not change this modern history.

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

@@leonais1 Dawkins is a biologist who tries to do philosophy but fails miserably. Also, who's the father of genetics? Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk. Ironic.

[@MartinLewison]

"...we've done some pretty atrocious things over the years..." Love your little grin there at 5:39. You should respond to AronRa.

[@MZONE991]

given Aaron's debate with Inspiring Philosophy, I'd say engaging Aaron Ra seriously is a waste of time

[@wfemp_4730]

@@MZONE991 I'd say, why not challenge Ra yourself, and kindly leave out the ad hominem fallacy

[@bladerunner3314]

@@MZONE991 It is - why waste time with a debate you have lost before it even begins?

[@MZONE991]

@@wfemp_4730 not gonna waste time myself, Aaron ra has been exposed publicly as an anti-intellectual he has rejected tons of peer reviewed science based on his opinion in his debate with Inspiring Philosophy

[@MZONE991]

@@bladerunner3314 Lol you poor soul looks like you did not watch his debate with Inspiring philosophy go watch it and see how your boy is a science denier

[@bobwheeler3220]

As strange as it may sound, I now see more genuine and thoughtful dialogue regarding religion than I do in the secular society. Republicans/Democrats, Progressives/Conservatives should also take the advice from Fr Casey.

[@tenebrisrex333]

Amen!

[@xXBlackIce7Xx]

Goon one, where is pun though?

[@tylerbranch7524]

I don't need someone to tell me not to murder someone, it's a purely secular idea of morality in which universal well being is the main goal.