Armin Navabi - Enlightenment, Hell, And Leaving Islam | The Cosmic Skeptic Podcast #1

[@CosmicSkeptic]

Get early access to episode two with Michael Shermer exclusively on iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-cosmic-skeptic-podcast/id1458675168 Please, even if you plan to watch on KZbin, pop over to iTunes and give the podcast a 5-star rating, and subscribe. Doing so will make iTunes promote the podcast, and give it better statistics, which I can use to reach out to bigger and better guests. It only takes a second! To help convince you to do so, I've released my episode with Michael Shermer on iTunes, long before it will be available here on KZbin. He said it was 'one of the better interviews' he'd done on his book, so go and check it out!

[@deluxeassortment]

I have android, so it would be nice to see you on Google, if you're so willing. Thanks for helping me leave Christianity! Thank you for helping me realize I've really been an Atheist for 18 years! I just needed the logic to get past the fear of hell. You helped me over that fence.

[@A3pig]

The spotify link doesn´t seem to work :(

[@clareashcraft3411]

If you look up cosmic skeptic on spotify it should come up

[@xxx1x47x41x3]

Nice I found it on spotify

[@yeziu3475]

CosmicSkeptic saying atheism is a lack of belief in God doesn’t make logical sense sure it is already a colloquial term in dictionary that Atheism is the disbelief or lack of belief in God but if they’re going to used the colloquial term that atheism is a lack of belief in God it doesn’t makes sense. Lack of belief in God means neither believing nor not believing in God it’s a agnostic or non-cognitivist position if you merely lack a belief you are either an agnostic or a non-coginitivist. Plus I heard in your livestream that all babies are atheist no because atheist has no cognitive ability to take sides in that question he can’t decide if he believes in God or not because if you say all babies are atheist because they have no cognitive ability to believe in God a theist would also say that babies are theist because they have no cognitive ability to disbelief in God yet.

[@EuanMacLennan]

Alex you've come so far, I've been here since 10k subs. Congrats on all your success

[@John-lf3xf]

Euan MacLennan he’s still fringe

[@kira6149]

@@John-lf3xf Huh? Are you trying to belittle him? Or are you saying that you think he is underrated? I need clarification.

[@coop_cap]

It’s crazy to think how much further you got Alex 😄

[@floppaprism2508]

Ex moose here, You and armin are two of my favorite people i follow and are a source of strength and support to me and many exmuslims who are still living in the shadows for their safety. Also whenever i get burned out on the topic of religion you two always bring something new to the table. Great podcast!

[@barebasics]

Clown

[@HalalOrder]

Ex-Muslim here from Belgium🇧🇪!

[@lauralulu7290]

This was very moving. I love listening to Armin speak. Good work, Alex.

[@CosmicSkeptic]

Have to send some love to my friend Arian Foster for producing the intro music! He has a great podcast too (I’ve been on it!) called the Now What podcast. Worth checking out.

[@iruleandyoudont9]

do you do anything related to cosmology? why are you "cosmic" skeptic?

[@yeziu3475]

CosmicSkeptic saying atheism is a lack of belief in God doesn’t make logical sense sure it is already a colloquial term in dictionary that Atheism is the disbelief or lack of belief in God but if they’re going to used the colloquial term that atheism is a lack of belief in God it doesn’t makes sense. Lack of belief in God means neither believing nor not believing in God it’s a agnostic or non-cognitivist position if you merely lack a belief you are either an agnostic or a non-coginitivist. Plus I heard in your livestream that all babies are atheist no because atheist has no cognitive ability to take sides in that question he can’t decide if he believes in God or not because if you say all babies are atheist because they have no cognitive ability to believe in God a theist would also say that babies are theist because they have no cognitive ability to disbelief in God yet.

[@JH-ji6cj]

I would enjoy an exploration of rationality in regards to music, music taste or music inclinations. Maybe also delving into taste buds differences between people and how/if that can be explored through the lens of rationality?

[@yeziu3475]

J H same Nietzsche advocates with that in his book the birth of tragedy especially in science.

[@JH-ji6cj]

@@yeziu3475 great, thanks a lot...now I know what I'll be doing for like 5 hours tomorrow! 😫, lol jk, thx for the recommendation, I will check it out

[@pipbaxter5286]

What a delightful human being Armin is..great podcast

[@habibaezzat2055]

I love the hopeful tone of Armin. Always a pleasure to listen to him.

[@theDyingAtheist]

I completely agree! The progression from the first time I found your channel, about the point you reached 10,000 subscribers, until now, you have been a stable part of helping me become a more critical thinker. Progress for myself, not perfection, is my goal. Thank you, Alex.

[@stevem7945]

That is a perfectly reasonable goal. Perfectionists tend to make themselves and those around them anxious and miserable.

[@masked0warrior]

I love how Alex plays the devil's advocate here. That's how good ideas and discussions arise. Reminds me of the "socratic dialogue". :) Been following Cosmic Skeptic for a few years now. It's awesome to see how such an amazing project (and person) grew so much. Keep it up, please!

[@mavisedwards]

This may be my favorite podcast guest.

[@Amira-filiav]

At the end you kept cosmic skeptic as a name for the podcast 😂😂😂 Awesome content as usual ❤️❤️

[@BreadofLifeChannel]

Wow! This is an incredible interview. Armin Navabi brought up a point that I never hear anyone talk about- the desire that you have to fight when you become an advocate against something. Example he mentioned: When you see an ISIS terror attack, is there a part of you that gets happy because it supplies fuel for your cause. Amazing insight. And amazing that he is being careful about that within himself. Alex also did a really wonderful job of digging down to the heart of these matters with his interview questions. This is one of the best videos I've seen on CosmicSkeptic.

[@Soapandwater6]

Excellent content and excellent presenters! Armin, I was so touched by your child suicide story. Best wishes for all you are doing to make a better world!

[@jackputnam4273]

This is the most sobering and analytical discussion on the whole regressive left/anti-sjw I’ve heard. Amazing work Alex, keep it up!

[@NieroshaiTheSable]

It's a TERRIBLE one that relies on sweeping generalizations, and criticizing "The Left" from "The Left" in a way that ignores the VAST community of non-regressive activists CS has PERSONALLY spoken to on THEIR SHOWS. The ACA could easily point EITHER of them towards dozens of activists who aren't regressive. The problem is they're letting Conservatives define their image of the Left.

[@monopanda9546]

I asked a muslim girl her opinion about the wife beating verse she dared to answer me there is no beating in islam and that the problem is just that I have hatred and islamophobia in my heart when I read the verse ...

[@abdooljackson1399]

Well I suggest you to read the exegetical understanding of that verse and then you can judge.. Oops I forgot that there’s no objective morality under the atheistic paradigm😅 so your judgement is subjective anyway and it’s not right or false

[@nindroid2125]

@@abdooljackson1399”beating my wife is ok because morality is subjective” u sound like a piece of shit

[@Liberty5024]

​@@abdooljackson1399Slavery is right under your objective morality abdool

[@UmarAli-tq8pl]

@@abdooljackson1399 The hell are you yapping about?

[@octs609]

, he is basically insinuating that atheists can't make moral judgments; reading the verse with the presumption that "wife beating" is terrible is fallacious since we have no grounds for morality. It isn't logically coherent; there are many underlying assumptions, especially on the nature of morality; he is most definitely suggesting that the Quran's objective and our judgments are relativistic, and our grievances are primarily emotional. But yeah it doesn't really follow.

[@martiddy]

3:37 So the newspaper didn't publish it online because they thought the Quran was offensive to Islam?, totally makes sense.

[@jofayne9905]

When you put it that way 😅😂❤️

[@Hario338]

oooh! that intro is slick!

[@Kanzu999]

Wow that was very emotional. When he started talking about suicide, I (as an atheist) never thought about that before, and given those beliefs then it totally makes sense that it would become rational to do. That's so sick and insane. The fact that so many people think it makes sense that an all-loving, wise and benevolent God would send people to be tortured for an eternity (or even just for a couple of thousands of years in this case) for the worst reasons ever, that's something I truly have a hard time understanding.

[@quad9363]

Armin is very smart. Props to him for noticing and calling out the politically-motivated outrage where it is on all sides.

[@John-lf3xf]

Writer John Buck pseudo intellectualism at its utter finest

[@martiddy]

@@John-lf3xf How is that pseudo intellectualism?, a lot of things that Armin said does actually makes sense.

[@fantasyfootball804]

Armin Nawabi - Very insightful discussion sir. Will follow you and your channel.

[@maegangore8163]

A couple of notes: 1. Timestamps in the description (and pinned comment for those on mobile) would be nice. 2. I wish you would have pressed Armin on where he draws the line on overcorrection of social issues and asked for specific examples. It was very vague, and I'm not sure what he thinks makes an idea regressive (or at least a step too far). What do the extreme activsts say that he disagrees with? In a general sense, yes, there are people who go too far. I don't think anyone would disagree. But I can't bring myself to just nod in agreement without questioning what exactly he means. Overall, this is a very nice podcast, and I hope there will be many more to come. Btw, a while back I suggested you check out Oliver Thorn of Philosophy Tube and consider inviting him on. How goes that?

[@Metaporphsycosis]

Maegan Gore YES PHILOSOPHY TUBE IS PENG

[@radioactivedetective6876]

Agree on both counts. Regarding pt 2 - I too am totally confused. What does he mean by they originally wanted equality, now they want priviledge? At least one example of a demand that he considers demanding priviledge would have made things somewhat clear.

[@Metaporphsycosis]

ALEX IS ACTUALLY CONSISTENTLY UPLOADING! this is v exciting!

[@Notalloldpeople]

Excellent discussion and making it available via podcast is an excellent development- listen on the move more easily.

[@jamesturner2721]

going to watch later at work a bit long gave it a like and I am part of AR

[@warmflash]

Fantastic work Alex !

[@ccoderproject]

Thank you for introducing me to Armin Navabi. A few thoughts on the creating meaning in one's life (minute 38). You can't will yourself into a particular belief what (well, you can try to engineer). Same with the meaning. I do not think that it is possible to decide and will oneself on the purpose in life. It's good to ponder on the matter, but, IMHO, there are no definite answer.

[@AndreasEduardLexiHoeller]

absolutely fantastico! I love and 100% agree with Armin's point of view on purpose..

[@MusicDementia]

This guy is absolutely brilliant.

[@StopSpammingOriginal]

Great idea getting Armin on. He is really good at describing just how dangerous Islam as an ideology is.

[@MaxPower-cm6ie]

You sound worried

[@Sweeti924]

@@MaxPower-cm6iehave a problem?

[@missmaven.]

Yes! Around 42 I had to start looking up Armin Navabi because he is speaking to my philosophy. ^.^

[@astropartii]

Podcast?! YAAAAY:)

[@alwayslearningtech]

"But still, thousands of years of burning doesn't seem like something to look forward to". Brutal.

[@kyoglesage]

I really don't get the 'it's getting better' notion. I'm an Australian. Our Great Barrier Reef is dying. So are reefs close to Tasmania. There's a 'conveyor belt' of fauna species extinctions happening right now. The weeds Europeans have imported over the years are decimating forests and wildlife habitat. We've just had massive - and I mean massive - fish kills. Our rivers are dying (both from mismanagement and almost unbelievable amounts of water theft by cotton growers. The summer we've just had saw vast tracts of land where mature trees died. Our garden - an hour inland from Bryon Bay on the east coast - managed by us as a wildlife refuge and usually full of hundreds of small birds has lost 75% of those birds. The possums were starving. The imported cane toads have poisoned massive numbers of native animals and birds. Thousands of flying foxes have died from the heat - we had a string of days of 45degC (113degF). Agricultural land not far from the ameliorating effect of the coast is parched, animals are dying in their thousands and farmers are commiting suicide because they've nothing left. Fracking is killing farmland and now we learn that the chemicals that leach into the water and air are a threat to pregnant women and their foetuses. Our government doesn't 'believe' in climate change - but at least they're not openly calling it a Chinese hoax a la Trump. It's hard to believe things are getting better. At 72, I've seen better. 'Peak better' has come and gone. The pendulum is swinging, as it always does. I have no idea what today's youth are going to do about it all. Whatever it is, can they please hurry up. This Old Fart is out of ideas and energy.

[@denright19]

'It's getting better' doesn't mean that everything is getting better at once or certain aspects aren't getting worse (like your examples). It's in reference to most metrics improving for human well being, ala maslow's hierarchy of needs. These 'well being' metrics are definitely starting to plateau though - we may be peaking/have peaked. As an Australian also (who's Dad worked for the EPA) I agree, we've done woefully with our environmental protection.

[@kaloarepo288]

One year later we have had good rains,the rivers are flowing,the dams are full (despite Tim Flannery saying they would never fill again)Climate is cyclical sometimes things are good sometimes bad.Cheer up!

[@yakib4663]

I asked Alex for his height during his ‘250K subscriber Q&A’, he unexpectedly responded by saying that he was roughly around 6’0/1, you’re welcome.

[@farahm7801]

Yakib what about his age? he seems quite young to me

[@muhammadalieesaa3379]

@@farahm7801 I think he's 20.

[@yakib4663]

Lucy Waldorf Sorry this is a bit late but he’s 21 now, birthday: March 27 1999

[@emerald9375]

@Jamal Ramadan Lmaooo right

[@talkno]

A Podcast? Exciting!

[@jonsnor4313]

I grew up in a mostly seculat country with a strong catholic church. And they still have a subtile fear of hell i think despite being interrational most of the time. Armin must have gone through hell to even consider suicide. Thank god he survived. Its treated as symptom of other heavy issues for a reason. Obviously its never good but saying to go to hell is just another layer of manipulation, like, we want you, but we want you alive. Cant imagine how that would go in an actual religious country, like the us bible belt where there are and were way too many mormon kids killing themselves. How can anyone scar a kid foe life willingly. And you can only be brave when you know fear. Armin is brave sharing that in the open and to face the agressive bigotry he knows some people have. Truely believeing bigots are the worst. And conquering the past by moving forward facing that too. And i know its an old show, but shows like classic star trek can get humanism across pretty well. You know, dare to to be optimistic and have a good message that humans can do well and make theseemingly impossible by accepting each other and working together. There is a reason why the church of trek joke is a thing. Its preachy and has a belief, but no gods. Just aliens who are thought of as gods. And i love good scifi because you get humanism and exploringt how humans can overcome obstacles. Positive scifi, even terminator is empowering.

[@ScarredRomeo]

To say that the Universe "doesn't care" is a metaphysical claim rooted on the idea that there is no underlying consciousness to the Universe, whether in itself or in the being for which it is a symbol or sign, i.e., God. To presuppose this raises the question as to how consciousness arose in the Universe in life forms such as ourselves from an unconscious Universe. This implies that a form of being (consciousness) came from another form of being (unconsciousness) wherein the prior form was not contained in it either virtually, formally, or eminently (Scholastic terminology). In other words, some form of being inexplicably, i.e., without explanation, arose from non-being. To believe this then is entirely irrational, because to reason is to engage in the power of Intellect for an explanation, which is nothing more than a search for causes - material, efficient, formal, and final.

[@Puchuchi747]

What if the universe always "was". And the big bang was just a insignificant speck of the other insignificant specks in this UNFATHOMABLE universe. Just a thought.

[@txopenjauer]

something can emerge from other thing that didnt contain it, to say the contrary is the fallacy of division. the propertys of water show up in the macroscopic level at wich we percieve it, but the atoms themselfs do not have those propertys, and ar not water them selfs. In the same way conciousnes defined with the property of percieving experiencie could be said to only make sense at the level at wich data is processed complexily enough to produce that property, and with the components that make it up or led up to it not being concious themselfs

[@pinball1970]

Great stuff

[@steakismeat177]

Its becoming more and more the case but religion is still a major factor. Religion is definitely the biggest issue not because if we get almost every believer to stop believing everything will be magically solved. Religion was invented by us and we can invent something just as terrible in the future. The thing the atheist movement should be striving for is increasing the value of complete skepticism. To be reasonably skeptical about everything and to demand higher standards for belief. If we can prepare humans for future instances of harmful ideologies they will be able to reject them with their own critical thinking skills instead of them just learning blindly that some ideas are bad and you shouldn’t believe them.

[@JH-ji6cj]

Armin and his exploration of religious VALUES and trying to quantify the way those values and beliefs profit society @30:00 is incredibly important imo. His investigations into how we can morph a bleeds/it leads social mentality is intriguing as well. These are the ways I wish more people were splitting from Peterson, not because I believe Peterson is the horrible person some make him out to be, but because the ways he sees his version of Truth is really better explored as the difference of Truth vs Value and how we can better evaluate and accomplish Value (besides -just/only- relying on strict adherence to historical systems that contain antiquated dogma). The far Left and the current fascination with protest vs outreach is like the crusades vs missionary work in my mind currently thinking of these things, when comparing that I think both religions and protesters are trying to accomplish perceived good in the world.

[@mjb405]

I don't understand why people like or dislike a video this soon after it was posted. It was posted less than 10 minutes ago and it's got 50 likes and a couple dislikes

[@arxant914]

Seriously, its 1:30 hours long

[@ryanxvx]

I love this guy.

[@evanpyne4729]

Love the new intro XD

[@bobbabai]

I'm on the left and sometimes agree with people like Sam Harris about the problem of deplatforming. But in these podcasts (this one, Sam Harris's, Dave Rubens'), they always use shorthand "regressive left" and they never even hint at what the "regressive left" is doing that they object to. And they keep harping on groups like feminists, and they leave it as a generalization, that all feminists are committing the same abuse has that these guys won't describe. Maybe it's just my bad luck, but this is what I experience.

[@jamjinn786]

Regressive left = the ones siding with the globalists and are pro censorship. In my opinion that is semantics as left ideology (socialism) always ends up with gulags or concentration camps , no matter if its driven by Communism (Stalin) or Nationalism (Hitler). If you are pro freedom and anti censorship then you have to be a libertarian.

[@marichan6514]

@@jamjinn786 Who are they?

[@radioactivedetective6876]

Very vague and confusing. Some specific examples of which views he considers regressive would be helpful. Also its unclear what exactly he is referring to when he says they used to demand equality but now they demand priviledge. Also also, are they using 'liberals' and 'the left' as synonyms? Coz that's not it really.

[@BruceS42]

"You should beat your wife lightly"...and I could wake up dead tomorrow! This guest, Armin Navabi, is great! Clear, concise, and with a very sensible outlook on things like free speech. He must also have a lot of courage to be an apostate of Islam, openly criticizing it. This is a taboo subject among many, but the fact is that Islam has a *lot* of very violent fanatics who will commit any crime they can think of to try to stop or terrorize those who oppose them, especially those who used to be in the religion. Time and again, listening to Armin speak, I was either laughing at how spot on he was, or internally saying "YES". The regressive left he speaks of certainly is very vocal, and I also hope that they're nowhere near as numerous as they seem. Neoliberals don't follow traditional liberal values at all, even when they parrot them. They've become, in that sense, very much like their neocon brethren, pretending to values they don't follow. At this point I'd say no, you cannot save the word "liberal" (aside from using it in a phrase like "classical liberal") any more than traditionally conservative (e.g. fiscally conservative) people can retrieve the word "conservative" from its toxic modern usage. "As a response to regressive left, we're going to empower more racism, more sexism, more homophobia..." My only argument on this is that he's using the wrong tense. I'm already seeing an uptick in that sort of response, from young white males who see themselves as under attack by the radical left's anti-white, anti-male, anti-straight etc. agenda. I find myself arguing with some I know about this, telling them no, your fight shouldn't be against minorities, women, gays, etc., but rather against those who are specifically targeting you and people like you. The fundamental problem is that it's easy to generalize, to form an "us vs. them" mentality, and go to the mattresses. I can see a significant possibility of a new generation of militant young white males, making all the wrong choices about who is their opposition. It reminds me of the mentality that to oppose radical Islam, we must embrace fundamentalist Christianity, that somehow the remedy for one brand of primitive superstition is another.

[@MaxPower-cm6ie]

Did not read a single fucking word

[@tausifkarim8861]

@@MaxPower-cm6ie Your loss.Was quite well written actually.

[@folly9360]

I've been looking at heaps of Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris lately and I've been watching all your old videos like some sort of addict. Much love from Australia, keep up all the great content man.

[@Metaporphsycosis]

Yo Philosophy Tube just put out a new video on Peterson ,you may have already seen it, however if you haven’t it maybe worth a look.

[@michaelrch]

Rosie Or the Contrapoints video on him which is a work of art! kzbin.info/www/bejne/an3Ui5ehoKd3l9U

[@heyhorinshi]

From know on I’ll be listening to Alex while I walk my dog so wait for me to quickly hit the pause button if you want to pet the dog

[@gabesawesome5766]

good doggo (:

[@anything704]

Love Armin. ❤❤❤

[@deluxeassortment]

I would love to figure out the psychology behind human needs and fill the void left behind by religion with something far more useful and progressive. I have been reading a researching and it is a very complex issue. Humans have needs that are very tough to fill and until someone figures this out religion will continue to be the only place people have to turn.

[@SolitaryReaper666]

are we going to have Cosmic Skeptic and Sam Harris ??

[@alwayslearningtech]

I'm super keen to see this as well.

[@carinseein]

so this video touches on a problem I have with creationism: we should worship & obey our god. why? gratefulness, I didn't ask for existence, and I don't pay for something someone forces on me. otherwise you'll go to hell, that's black mail I'm not going to worship someone who threatening me otherwise. you'll prosper, that's bribery and that's not OK either. if you are a creationist, ask yourself: if it applies to my god, can it apply to someone else I would treat equally as my god. my parents made me, I don't worship them, and never will. if someone points a gun at me or tortures me I would hope that I don't obey them and live life as they command, and if I would, I would not credit it as mercy or love unless i was mental damaged. if someone offers to pay me to live a certain life in service of them and their rules, I would be a slave, and i am not OK with that either. all powerful just mean a god can threaten you more, omniscient just means a god is stalking you. why is god more important to you than human beings, why do you thank god more than a doctor who saves your life? if you believe in a god, why is that god above you and other humans? if god is better than you, by what standard?

[@MaxPower-cm6ie]

Din red

[@mm-rj3vo]

Podcast. Yes.

[@michaelangela8264]

just started... HERE WE GO!! gimme some of that lovely logic and reasoning plz.... watched to much religious shit in debates today :p

[@everythingnessawesomeness5886]

Alex, get this: positive news don't sell!!!!!

[@xxx1x47x41x3]

Amazing!

[@exponent8562]

Great podcast

[@moonandstars1677]

If life is pointless, then so is death.

[@Noa......]

Yes. In a way, there is inherently no point to life or death.

[@jonatha_nbarron]

Have you considered talking to Atheism-Is-Unstoppable? Think you guys would really hit it off.

[@harleycarmichael1694]

Looove this intro wow

[@mariaangelova8275]

It's good to care for many causes 🙌👍✌️

[@RebeccaKatsuya]

As for the question of why we ally ourselves with minority groups despite their radical ideaology being one that does not mesh with our worldview is simply that you can support the minority group of people, without supporting their world view. I can support a person's right to believe whatever they believe without agreeing with the belief myself. I can only speak from the experience of myself & people I know, but most of the atheist feminist friends I have are supporting their religious friends & allies as fellow human beings with rights. We should all be able to respect & support each other so long as no one is trampling on the rights of others. There are religious people who do not try to stop anyone else from living as they choose, & they should be free to live as they choose aswell. The idea that by supporting a person's rights means you are also supporting the most harmful ideas that can be found of their ideology sounds absurd to me. I have friends, family & colleages with all different backgrounds & religions, & I can support them just fine without believing exactly as they do.

[@RebeccaKatsuya]

2: (Still around the 20min mark.) Responding to this idea that if we have a certain identity we become like firefighters who "want there to be something out there." Firstly; just a terrible analogy given what you are trying to say. Most firefighters would much prefer there not to be dangerous fires that they would have to respond to on the daily. Believe it or not but they often enjoy the occasional quiet day too, especially that their busy days often consist of people experiencing danger, trauma, injury, loss, etc. However, put in the more likely context of a firefighter who doesn't want to be pulling injured people out of burning buildings on a regular basis it nay be quite a good analogy. You see most of us aren't hoping for human rights atrocities as you seem to think we are (which is frankly insulting) hut rather we recognize it is out there. Much like firefighters who don't want buildings to burn down, but who want to be there to help when they inevitably do. I support several charities like Avaaz or All Out for example, who use petitions & the like to make social change. When I get email about some of the horrific things that happen in the world, it doesn't make me happy. It is upsetting. There are times when I would prefer to unlist from all their mailing lists, but hiding from reality wouldn't make it better. If I didn't know that Nasrin Sotoudeh may have to spend nearly 40 years in prison & get 148 lashes on her body for peacefully advocating for women's rights in Iran, yeah, honestly my day might have been a little bit better & reading that email today wouldn't have brought me to tears. However I'm still glad I'm on their mailing list. I'm glad I read that email, because I can sign the petition that may help her & I can share her story, which could hopefully help her further. We aren't hoping for it to be bad so we have something to do. We are recognizing things that are bad & trying to change that.

[@jewelles]

C'mon Alex. It's 12 AM and I'm about to sleep. Oh well, I guess I'll just watch this ;)

[@timmcgough7714]

I think the issue isn't who is the creator and why they aren't or are important. But rather the things you do aren't lasting. The things you do in a system where there is only man. They die. They end. So all the struggle was for nothing. The things you do in a godly system are eternally useful.

[@rembrandt972ify]

Yes, burning people for heresy and witchcraft always improve the world, you complete moron.

[@bbalila]

Am Ex-M. I haven’t seen a single questioning about the fire in the Hell. How it is burning & why you need the Fire in the first place?? The universe is around negative -280c, Just stand 5-10min in negative -25c & fell what am trying to say. Why bother keeping the fire when you can do same job with -25c 🙈🙈.

[@zayan6284]

Hurts more. The freezing would be slow and you'd pass put eventually.

[@JH-ji6cj]

Gonna meditate on whether I watch videos such as this to bash religion, or if I actually want to take responsibility for how I can helpfully participate in ways of positivity I can agree with. Starting to think I may think protest is a bad way to affect change, similar to Hell being a bad/lazy encouragement to affect behavior. Hmm, maybe even seeing Social Justice as a form of protest (telling others what NOT to do), vs acting and showing by example better ways of exemplifying better behavior.

[@SuperSuperspoof]

I REALLY wonder what conversation could take place between Alex and Eiynah

[@MattKaspar]

How bout Alex on Joe Rogan Experience?

[@xorsama]

im like how does it make it so much better if someone (like a god or the universe) tells you to do something than if you had decided to do it yourself? like if your father tells you to go to univ ..is it better than if you yourself decided to go to univ yourself? . .i think basically what people really want is power ...they want their desecions to have a real effect ...bigger than just on this earth... they want the power too avoid death too...they want to enjoy the fruits of their labour forever....and thhat is why pople feel helpless sometimes when they know the scale of the universe ....they feel powerless when they realize they cant change it or have a significant impact on the universe...thats why they turn to gods ...it was always this way ...there were gods of thunder and siles and oceans because ancient people were powerless to change em ... maybe in future there would be gods of black holes and galaxies or a one for all god as it is now ...heavens used to be in the sky now its in a galaxy far far away.

[@hayley4818]

Love your work Alex. What was the song at the beginning?

[@stylis666]

People don't read articles that say how well were doing because we're hard wired to respond to possible threats, so any title that is suggestive, manipulative or has something outrageous or deadly or a blood bath in it or anything of the sorts, it will be read and the rest will be ignored. Then we say that we only get to see how awful the world is and we tend to think it really is the case and we blame the media for our own clicks and views that are just our ignorance of our simple survival instincts that we shouldn't always give in to. There is no monster under your bed, click the article that says we landed a thingy on the moon. Start caring. Choose your actions instead of being a victim of your own ignorance and blaming others for it. ALSO! I resent that remark around the 37 minute mark. I was never religious and I am very concerned with the idea that the universe doesn't care and millions with me. I am not an exception. Many people struggle or have struggled with the idea that if the universe doesn't care there is no purpose and nothing matters, not just people who were or are religious. I was never told nor taught to make purpose or how to solve that problem. I was expected to figure that shit out for myself and I see it as a very real problem that many religious people fear to let go of their faith _because_ of the prospect of going through that and the even bigger fear of not having an answer if there's no god. Many will rather make-belief than take that risk and I can't blame them. Simultaneously I do see that by doing so, they turn their backs on sincerity, integrity and the entirety of humanity and all our future generations by pushing the problem to the next generations. I find that awful and it pisses me off and I often let it get the better of me and I take it out on theists, but I shouldn't blame them.

[@RebeccaKatsuya]

At about 31 mins you ask why people don't want to hear about the good news (how infant mortality have gone down, etc) but again I would disagree. People are interested in good news. Whenever there is a new scientific breakthrough or a new hypothesis that people are working on a lot of the general public find this interesting & newsworthy, especially when regards to health. We recently had the first picture of a black hole, & everyone was interested & everone saw that. There are definitely large portions of the general public that are interested in good news stories. Why do you think Russel Howard was so popular? Ok, that may have come across as mean & I do enjoy his work, & so do many others, & a big part of the reason for that was the feel good section he added to the end of his comedy news show. We do want to see good news. If there was more good news I would probably watch the news more, because so much of it is pretty depressing to watch, especially currently in the UK with Brexit. Maybe the news doesn't show it because they see is as less important, I don't know. I guess the problem may be that when you have a bunch of newsworthy issues that are all pretty grim you can't really take out a piece because it is sad & add in a fluff piece for the sake of it, & on top of that the political sphere takes up a lot of time with complete idiocy nowadays.

[@Jacob-jz1pc]

Alex asked him what his view of nihilism was (which appeared to be optimistic), but didn't elaborate on his own.

[@dyslexiusmaximus]

yes yes yes this is amazing! how can i support this?

[@dyslexiusmaximus]

@@topicthunder1 Thanks but I'm a student and I'm very poor. How can I support this without donating money?

[@dyslexiusmaximus]

Should I just like, comment, and share everything? Or is there more I can do?

[@CosmicSkeptic]

Heading to iTunes and giving a 5 star rating would be a great help! Thanks for listening

[@dyslexiusmaximus]

👍

[@haephaestus]

Hey I am from India. I am planning to start a KZbin channel on Rationalism Skepticism and atheism with regards to the social conditions in my country. Thr is no line between politics and religions. .. politics or political parties are just religious organisations wearing masks. Any thoughts ? Guys ?

[@TheCartman283]

Start every video with a quote from deepak Chopra

[@haephaestus]

jonah hill lol 😂😂

[@Tricky_vic_xp101]

Following Gods purpose for man is one thing, but we still have to live, and thrive, things that people create, things that help people and is not detrimental is not bad. For instance, penicillin is good and means a lot to those who benefited form it. However, narcotics are bad, because look at the devastation they cause, and those who profit from drugs are evil, because they destroy lives.

[@bernardofitzpatrick5403]

Armin rocks 🤙🏽

[@kiernanfay8960]

keep it up guys, youre doing gods work lol

[@GBM0311]

I don't want to complain about content, but you need to make a 2nd channel for podcasts. Podcasts on main channels drive down engagement and views. Just throwing it out there.

[@-morrow]

when is the next podcast coming out?

[@painpeace3619]

Spotify is showing ' couldn't find that'...

[@Joseph-bd3pk]

That’s right I hope he fixes that.

[@painpeace3619]

@@Joseph-bd3pk yeah.. I got this podcast by searching cosmic skeptic on Spotify....

[@dewibrillator6346]

Really... Asking for names and then naming it the Cosmic Skeptic Podcast? :p Just kidding. Great Podcast!

[@malik_alharb]

Armin cracks me up lol

[@simonk4174]

Nice. 👌

[@5driedgrams]

Cool, a podcast! Try to get Matt Dillahunty on.

[@tanjavankessel2548]

starstuff8394 I think Matt will be the next guest

[@ebrahim-jx]

Where can i listen in hindi dubbed all his videos😭😭😭

[@ZbjetisGod]

That whole regressive left rant was a joke. "The people I don't like [feminists] don't want their oppression to end because then they'd have nothing to complain about, but we actually want the bad stuff we fight against to stop." this argument is ridiculous and I'm kinda shocked you didn't call him out about it.

[@jamjinn786]

I think you didnt listen properly, he made it very clear the extremism in any shape or form is misguided. Female right activist are fighting for equality, feminist are fighting for female superiority (which is wrong IMHO), but again that wasnt the subject of the discussin but rather the fact that islamic extermists (like Linda Sarsour) are hijacking the the left and women movements for their own toxic ideas...

[@ZbjetisGod]

@@jamjinn786 No one believes feminism is female supremacy. Feminism by definition is the advocacy of woman's rights on the basis of the EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. So no he was wrong and so are you.

[@seikoshinobaka9139]

@@ZbjetisGod I think we have to analyse this. Okay, misandrists aren't feminists. But then why do feminists only fight for women's rights? The only time the advocacy for women is the top priority whilst men don't need to be acknowledged as much is in underdeveloped countries where women are genuinely oppressed. Women and men have the same legal rights in the first world, that's established. Both genders face the same amount of prejudice and double standards. A woman can be masculine but a man can't be feminine. Men can sleep around but women are considered promiscuous for doing so. Females attempt suicide more often, but men commit it with a larger intent to do it, whilst women are more hesitant. Those are two issues right there. There are plenty of female shelters but less for males, especially considering male rape is considered less worse than female rape. Women apparently are favoured in divorce cases and child custody. Women are more of a risk of rape than men and are raped more often. Domestic abuse rates are rising against men. Apparently, men can be drafted into war but women can't. However, I've yet to see many feminists focus on men. They seem to only concentrate on women's issues, but that's not equality. The ideology of feminism may be for equality but the movement certainly isn't. I don't identify as a feminist because of the movement, but I fully support women's rights, their right to vote, work etc. But I always care about men's issues, which are rarely ever addressed.

[@radioactivedetective6876]

Patriarchy ar a hierarchy oppresses men too. Feminism is against patriarchy, hence definitely not against men. I dunno if they actually don't know much about the history and progress of feminism, and then broader gender rights movement, or they are just ignoring all of that.

[@radioactivedetective6876]

​@@seikoshinobaka9139 So a woman can be masculine but a man cant be femnine is a perfect example of how patriarchy pigeon-holes men. A masculine woman is accepted somewhat by society, coz being manly, man-ing up r seen as positives. However society perceives a feminine man as "less of a man", being a sissy, crying like girls and so on - all these atributes of socially constructed 'femininity' are stuff that r ridiculed. Men are then forced into this water tight compartment of what manhood entails, and if one transgresses then he is subject to ridicule. So essentially disrupting the very rigid structure of heteronormative patriarchy is needed for everyone.

[@RebeccaKatsuya]

I'm at the 20mins mark & I have so many issues with a few more of these huge sweeping statements. 1, the fact that the media & people like yourself keep pointing to extreme outliers, (like someone you heard saying atheists don't want jokes made about them, that is an extreme stance & I have never heard any atheists say anything like that) & pointing out those outliers in a crowd & then saying "See, those people being heard is bad for your whole movement & will make it worse." Yeah, no shit Sherlock, that's why we often don't address them so not to point them out. On the other hand moments ago you were asking why we don't address every Tom, Dick & Harry of the insane outlier rhetoric, which first of all would be exausting & secondly is that half the time is all it does is give it more of a platform, & (to use your example) we'll end up with people saying that we can't call ourselves atheists anymore because people just think of this humourless cretin who doesn't want anyone to make jokes about atheists. Btw, has anyone else heard this? I watch a ton of atheist content, & they are usually the first to make jokes about everything!

[@johnwilkins11]

Please review despacito

[@nuanceblacksywin4868]

The first podcast, and you spend like the the first 15 minutes, (if more I wouldn't know), droning on about "the regressive left" etc. That's disappointing. It sounds like something that would fit right in the the "intellectual dark web" guys. I didn't think that Alex was a proponent of that.

[@radioactivedetective6876]

Also doing so in very vague, generalised way with no specific examples. And liberals aren't leftist, at least not the only leftists.

[@jofayne9905]

❤️❤️

[@personalpc7439]

"don't point to every Muslim.." but point to every person who are right of Stalin for some loony who mass shoots? I HATE hypocrisy!!!

[@therealcancer48]

Cant find it on spotify somehow? The link doesnt work for me either. Did i miss something or whats wrong?

[@AndrewRowe]

Hard to stomach all the straw-manning of the “regressive left,” whatever that is, in the beginning. Seemed to add an unexpected political agenda to the conversation.

[@aprilcox871]

I think it's because the 'regressive left' defends Islam

[@radioactivedetective6876]

Perhaps he is mistaking defending the other person's right to follow islam with defending islam.

[@radioactivedetective6876]

Also, the left and liberals r not synonymous

[@lendrestapas2505]

We need to improve the intro music

[@maxsimes]

At first i thought it was sponsored by "EU" lol

[@pierrot-baptistelemee-joli820]

This «purpose» nonsense that apologetics always bring up makes no sense to me as a third generation atheist... I cannot fathom what they mean when they talk of this «special purpose» that religions supposedly offers... What purpose? The fear of being constantly judge by a higher being? Why would the absence of a belief in God make you feel less when you do something significative? If our purpose comes from God, then what is his purpose? It answers nothing...

[@gamerjuice6537]

Haha okay, this is epic.

[@marwanserbout2592]

Any arab atheist watching

[@85mcgreg]

What's the trick when we want to find you on Android? I use Podcast Addict where everything is to be found, no search result for your podcast :-(

[@exiledfrommyself]

Spotify or KZbin.