Do Atheist Have Morals | Steve-NY | The Atheist Experience 880

[@hegyak]

"We do the same thing you do. We just don't need to use the book." -Matt Well said Matt.

[@ajclements4627]

What’s moral about sexual abuse by clergy in multiple denominations? What’s moral about hiding it and relocating clergy and settling abuse cases out of court? That’s as immoral as it gets, but “the church” is above petty concerns like that, right? 🤬

[@kinglyzard]

@@atheismkills2844 Immorality=racism, homophobia, slavery, misogyny, genocide, pedophilia and violence. All squarely in YOUR court, boy. Lies=anything in your buy-bull.

[@freddan6fly]

@@atheismkills2844 Atheism Kills is a liar. Atheism Kills have no moral. Atheism Kills have never demonstrated anything in his whole life more than it is a stupid theist troll and immoral being.

[@ajclements4627]

@Jimmy Kirk Congratulations, you are wrong from the first word to the last.

[@ajclements4627]

@Jimmy Kirk I don’t give a damn if you respect me or not actually, and it’s cute you think you can dictate how I reply to you.

[@davidh5020]

Matt: "I have no idea what you just said." made me chuckle, because I had no idea what he was saying as well

[@JeesonQuadros]

@Hunter Green hahaha same

[@MrDonquichotte]

Ha! Ha! Ha! It means you are all as smart as Matt, and much smarter than poor dumb Steve. Good for you guys.

[@MrDonquichotte]

I find myself wishing the person who liked my comment understood its irony, so let me be clear: I think poor, simple, modest and unsophisticated Steve is actually smarter, in a deep and subtle sense, than arrogant, pretentious, sectarian and superficial Matt Dillahunty, who, like most atheists, and like all militant atheists, does not even know what religion is really about. The short answer is: it's about him. His whole thing with religion is obviously and hilariously religious, and so are his sheepish little followers.

[@davidh5020]

@@MrDonquichotte the dude was literally spouting out nonsense, are you telling me you actually understood that sentence?

[@mattg6390]

@@MrDonquichotte How is your comment or attitude any less smug or arrogant? You're quite the hypocrite!

[@drewbeedoobeedooooooo4821]

Sometimes I find myself frustrated with Matt because at times he comes across as arrogant, and flaunting intellectual superiority. Then I watch a video like this where he eloquently pieces together a complex series of thoughts, probably better than just about anyone, and understand why he is the way he is!

[@sahulianhooligan7046]

Probably because of the relaxed position of the caller regarding his religious views and him admitting that slavery in the bible was immoral. Matt is passionate about the topic of slavery in the bible and does gets heated whenever a caller tries to justify or do mental gymnastics on it. But because the caller agreed that slavery was immoral, Matt didnt really have an axe to grind with him.

[@92brunod]

@@sahulianhooligan7046 Not only on the topic of slavery, this caller was clearly quite honest in general. Dishonesty is the reason Matt gets heated. Slavery in the Bible in terms of morality is just such a clear and cut topic that discussing about it is one of the simpler ways to see if someone is being dishonest when they try to defend it or come up with excuses.

[@FlyingSpaghettiJesus]

@Viktor Tandofsky Learn to construct sentences that make sense. That way you don’t end looking a fool when claiming “he’s not very bright ”. You only prove that in comparison to you he does.

[@drewbeedoobeedooooooo4821]

@Viktor Tandofsky I have no rules? I have plenty of rules

[@92brunod]

@Viktor Tandofsky Or that you have a conscience and rules not muddled by immoral delusional beliefs. One of the two. I threw you a peanut troll, I shouldn't feed you but meh.

[@opalacios666]

Refreshing to hear someone speak about their honest journey and questions along his path.

[@theophilussogoromo3000]

An atheist that shuns evil and does good does so for goodness sake. A theist on the other hand does so out of fear of an eternal punishment and for an eternal reward. Who is more moral?

[@dandotvid]

Not necessarily. Sometimes good things are done for selfish reasons. Doesn't mean they shouldn't still be done though.

[@theophilussogoromo3000]

@verygoodusername name from a morality derived from our humanity and empathy that has been engrained in us as social creatures through evolution.

[@ajclements4627]

@verygoodusername name Empathy allows people to build social connections with others. By understanding what people are thinking and feeling, people are able to respond appropriately in social situations. Research has shown that having social connections is important for both physical and psychological well-being. Why was that even a question?

[@theophilussogoromo3000]

@verygoodusername name I just gave you the definition of what I define as good. Morality and goodness are abstract concepts, which means they only exist in minds of men. We define what they are. For the sake of the discussion, could you please clarify if you're a Christian?

[@theophilussogoromo3000]

@verygoodusername name to a degree, yes. In my opinion, morality is not objective, strictly speaking. The best we can do is have a collective morality that is based off of our empathy, apathy, conscience, and logic that is for the benefit of the whole and the individual. P.S. are you a theist?

[@RickyisSwan]

A believer asks me where I get my morals from. I say that I get my morals from the bible. Rather confused, the believer asks, “what do you mean?” I say well the bible teaches me everything that is immoral, so I simply do the opposite.

[@aplacetobewithmythoughts7428]

That original quote comes from “A believer asks me where I get my believe in atheism from” you butchered it and your analogy doesn’t make any sense. You do the opposite of loving your neighbour?

[@RickyisSwan]

@@aplacetobewithmythoughts7428 No I didn't butcher it. You can cherry pick the very few places where good things are said, but there are tons of awful things like smashing babies heads, against rocks, slaughtering men women and children except the virgins, selling your daughter as a slave, stoning disobedient children to death and condoning rape if money is paid to the victims father etc, and the list goes on and on. The teachings of good moral concepts are very very low compared to the atrocities.

[@RickyisSwan]

@@aplacetobewithmythoughts7428 to answer your original quote, my atheism is because I don't believe any God exists because there is no concrete proof. When somebody wins a Nobel prize for proving the existence of a God I might buy it. Having said that, I would never worship such a psychopath.

[@dwightfitch3120]

@@aplacetobewithmythoughts7428Come on. We’re not talking about the handful of stuff the bible gets right. I suspect that you know that. Maybe I’m wrong. Much of this Collection of ancient writings seems to be saying , in effect, “do what I say, not what I do.” To me, that’s a big problem. Much of the writings give no indication that the writers knew even as much as some of the other peoples mentioned. Could god not at least have given them a hint? Were the Israelites less able to comprehend things than ppl today?

[@krenwregget7667]

I enjoyed this caller, he was civil and wanted to learn.

[@jondorr4011]

I completely agree. Especially in an era where everyone seems to be taking a disagreement on anything as an attack on themself.

[@goinggoinggone535]

Update from 2023: It's even worse now.@@jondorr4011

[@joshuaprescod-campbell6961]

I hope everyone here has listened to Carlin's bit on the 10 Commandments.

[@dandotvid]

Why is Steve so hung up on labels? Just be a good person and forget what that labels you as.

[@XXxCHRISxXX]

Good is subjective and that is why Yahweh defines what is good and/or evil.

[@EustaBAracer]

Because then you can't use an enigmatic feeling to show how much better than everyone you are.

[@92brunod]

It's what happens when you were indoctrinated into someone else telling you what you should or shouldn't believe, what your stances on different topics you should have. He's doesn't believe in the religion he was indoctrinated in but still has that kind of mentality and is simply trying to replace it with something else instead of thinking for himself. It's completely understandable, sadly.

[@smeni9495]

@@XXxCHRISxXX not jehovah please i cronge every time i hear that

[@Dan-Martin]

@@XXxCHRISxXX it’s common sense

[@jahrta]

This guy reminds me of Bubba listing all the ways you can prepare shrimp

[@he-mememan359]

Nah, the things that Bubba were saying made a guy with an IQ of 65 into a billionaire.

[@darthmong7196]

Well. I guess that's about it...

[@Longtack55]

Classic!

[@92brunod]

@@he-mememan359 So?

[@he-mememan359]

@@92brunod So, I don't think Steve's ramblings would be able to achieve the same results as Bubba.

[@bobcosgrove3235]

Atheists keep telling him things that are in the Bible that he did not know. Maybe before he practices a religion he should read the book. For years the Catholic church banned translating the Bible from Latin so the people could not read it for themselves so the Church could tell them what to think.

[@goldencalf13]

@TOS100 Returns one of the major things that led to me no longer being a Christian was there required reading of the Bible, once per school year, when I was a ministry major at Bob Jones.

[@JackgarPrime]

I mean you get raised up in a certain culture, you end up associating with it even if you don't understand or know everything about it. So people raised Christian but never even read the Bible outside of church service are pretty common.

[@Olivia-W]

No, I live a wrenched life of wanton debauchery, bathing in sin and degeneracy. I study STEM. The wanton debauchery is sleeping enough, which is utterly sinful for this career choice. My degeneracy also extends to showering regularly and even sometimes having a social life.

[@grimm2626]

Woo! We atheists sure know how to live!

[@kinglyzard]

Horrors!!! Children, avert your eyes! 😆🤣

[@Nikkithedog-t6b]

Are you single?

[@ScienceNotFaith]

Damn! I should check this out!

[@AndyCampbellMusic]

Morality is an inevitable consequence of evolutionary empathy... The human version is just more complex than the one demonstrated by less complicated animals.

[@walnutoil100]

Your evidence is?

[@freakyzed8467]

@@walnutoil100 reality

[@AndyCampbellMusic]

@@walnutoil100 Prove you can understand evidence. If you can, then look at the billions of examples available to you, in the behaviours of almost every creature on earth.

[@kinglyzard]

And crime, sin or whatever is just our wild side getting in the way of civilization. People are social animals, but still selfish, like everything else in the living world. Often the selfish, tribal nature of humans clash with the communal side, and bad things happen. This is where our sense of justice evolved, to deal with these situations. Also, things like conscience and guilt.

[@ciprianpopa1503]

Morality is a behaviour that takes some of us out of an immoral behavior dictated by evolution.

[@RickyisSwan]

THE GREATEST MYSTERY. Nothing gets up my nose more than the “where do you get your morals from,” subject. Whilst I don’t want to paint myself as a hero, I make no apologies for stating that I have a very good basic moral attitude. Basic morality, (that’s minus the pedantic analysing of objective/subjective rubbish.) means not to hurt, rob, kill your fellow human being. To have empathy and consideration for other people, and any other common sense considerations. I derive these basic morals from the same place Matt said. From an automatically inbuilt understanding of how to treat other people based pretty much on how we expect to be treated, and what is required to live harmoniously with our fellow human beings. The average atheist looks at the bible, understanding that the book is full of highly immoral attitudes and teachings. That the believer cannot see this is the obvious result of having been brainwashed. To anyone with a clear mind, common sense and logical reasoning, it should be as plain as the nose on their face. I actually don’t really like the word indoctrination because it’s being far too kind. To argue against what is written here results from pure unadulterated brainwashing.

[@Joemamahahahaha821]

How is it so hard for people like that to realize - I wouldn’t want to be murdered or robbed or whatever, therefore I will not do that to others. Why do I need a god to tell me what’s good and bad? It’s so ridiculous.

[@RickyisSwan]

@@Joemamahahahaha821 👍

[@RickyisSwan]

@@251rmartin very well said sir.

[@Antebios]

This was a very enlightening and interesting conversation. I really enjoyed this!

[@Bella-vt7ol]

Serious respect for Steve…sounds like he is truly trying to figure things out and that's one of the best things I can hope for...hope you keep it up sir 🥳🫶🏻

[@mdug7224]

Great conversation. Sound questions for a reasonable discussion.

[@EustaBAracer]

Someone who believes that the bible is a moral book is not reasonable.

[@mdug7224]

@@EustaBAracer that is true. This caller saw that well. It must have hard pulling off the bible blinkers.

[@mdug7224]

been

[@crashoverride2345]

@@EustaBAracer OP didn't say the caller was or wasn't reasonable. He said the questions were sound and the discussion was reasonable. People with faith still use reason. They may not use it as much or value it in the way atheists do, but they are still people. And people use reason and logic every day, all the time. I think it would be more accurate to say their position to believe in something without evidence is unreasonable but to just lump all theists into a category of unreasonable people is bullshit. It's also super arrogant.

[@jamesford2192]

When callers say “that’s what we were taught” there’s hope for them.

[@steveyuhas9278]

I agree. Although, hate to put to fine a counter point on it... But I've heard devout Christians in the show say that "it's what I was indoctrinated to believe", then go on to prove that they have very little intention of changing their mind or even listening to the other side. It's unbelievable to me that someone can realize the deep indoctrination is there and not challenge it. I sincerely do not get that.

[@Irongaint]

Atheists have remembered how to just be human beings. Theists still have their costumes on

[@Irongaint]

@Bruce Wayne it’s understandable when dealing with lying theists who want their little fairy tales to be true lol

[@exceptionallyaverage3075]

@@walnutoil100 By not believing in your superstitious nonsense.

[@blubdiblub1723]

@Bruce Wayne Did you even watch this video? Clearly he is not "angry and vulgar to everyone". He does however get angry for example whenever another religious caller attempts to defend genocide and/or slavery for the n-th time.

[@irishdemon9346]

@Bruce Wayne "I'm not insulting anyone behind their backs".... Please tell me your name is really Bruce Wayne....because if its not, then you're hiding behind a false id to insult people. Plus, I agree, there are some calls that I've called the presenters out for their approach and being patronising....but the majority of calls I've heard, like this one, they handle in a courteous manner.

[@irishdemon9346]

@Bruce Wayne really? He's NEVER tried to convert theists. Never. There are calls where he has treated people badly in my opinion. But you've generalised him. And what evidence do you have to show HE cherry picks calls? He doesn't, the calls come through to him. Alot of his calls are handled brilliantly.

[@Immortal_BP]

just follow the golden rule, do to others what you would want done to yourself. also most people are naturally empathetic and dont want to cause harm to other humans if they are raised right.

[@ajclements4627]

Holy crap, it’s Carl Sagan. 😁

[@a10miletooth]

Not everyone wants to be tied up, spit on then pegged until all involved are physically exhausted, though.

[@Immortal_BP]

@@a10miletooth lol, thats VERY true

[@Immortal_BP]

@Anthony haha the golden rule is found in most religions. however its a moral "code" not tied to any higher being/power but instead on logic.

[@bn5055]

The trapdoor in that is that you assume that they WANT to be treated the same way you do. So in fact the more refined Golden Rule is 'treat people how they want to be treated'.

[@tetsujin_144]

I liked the call, Steve just genuinely wanted to learn... But man did it drag on. :)

[@megamus3]

A Religious Humanist is someone who goes to a poor country with a bible in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other and uses the bread as a conversion tool.

[@ScienceNotFaith]

The same with religious charities. Notice how they always hold the meal hostage with a sermon.

[@slackerman9758]

Basically, the only proven way to get people to believe mythology is real is to start young and to threaten them with ostracism.

[@megamus3]

@@slackerman9758 threats and ostracism is what the left are all about, as we are seeing every day now in America, the home of cancel culture.

[@slackerman9758]

@@megamus3 Not just the left.

[@peterriverajr6899]

@@megamus3 i think you mean the right. I dont know anyone on the left who does any of that.

[@murtaddtohuman7764]

This is a serious question: do theists actually grasp, do they comprehend, that atheism is not a belief?

[@Longtack55]

My fav' analogy is: "Not collecting stamps is not a hobby."

[@peterriverajr6899]

No not the ones i know

[@cdogthehedgehog6923]

@@Longtack55 Non stamp collector

[@he-mememan359]

"It makes people when they look at it and read some of the bible it makes them pretend that something exists." Indeed it does, indeed it does.

[@kinglyzard]

Reading the entire Bible will make one atheist more often than not.

[@Max_Doubt]

Xian: "We should base our morality on God's will." Atheist: "What does that mean?" Xian: "It means that if it comes down to a choice between doing what we want vs what God wants, we should try to put what God wants first; ahead of what we want." Atheist: "Really? OK, hypothetical situation: your god orders you to immediately go and kill the unfamiliar family next-door. The parents, the teen, the tween, the toddler, the baby and the family dog. Kill them all! Will you obey?" Xian: "I see what you're trying to do. If I answer 'no' then I _don't_ base my morality on God's will. None of that 'Let go, let God' or 'Jesus take the wheel' for me. _My_ will is in the driver's seat. _My_ will is the ultimate arbiter of morality. But if I answer 'yes' then it's obvious that my morality boils down to blind, unquestioning obedience and I look like a psycho killer. But I reject this yes/no dichotomy. My answer is: God wouldn't do that." Atheist: "Oh, so Man _can_ judge God. Huh, I thought that was taboo. Also, God _does_ do that; all through the Old Testament: orders people to go kill others. So if 'god wouldn't do that' then your god can't be the biblical god. So it _is_ a yes/no question. So? Yes or no?" Xian: (Shuts mouth in chagrin and retreats into silence).

[@andrew_35]

That's not really how it works in real life

[@rageofheaven]

Brutal. I like it.

[@cdogthehedgehog6923]

@@andrew_35 Yeh, the Xian was way too honest and articulate for this hypothetical.

[@radicalatheist1843]

Yes we have a moral, and a moral far superior to the "moral" of religious/believers.

[@Rob-fc9wg]

Too right.

[@jakesmith5278]

Being an atheist is hard. You got to do the work for everything else yourself. NO LIST to follow.

[@brianharbort6728]

How is atheism hard? Were you a strong believer in God and religion before you became an atheist? For me atheism came very easily and is very easy. You are talking about what to do once you realize you are an atheist (I never had that problem either). The becoming an atheist part is just something that happens. Nothing changed for me once I stopped believing a God exists, because while I believed in God once upon a time I took everything said within religions with a grain of salt. The stories always sounded like nonsense to me.

[@jakesmith5278]

@@brianharbort6728 Were you not listening to the video??

[@brianharbort6728]

@@jakesmith5278 Yes, but I still don't understand. I was responding to you, not the video.

[@brianharbort6728]

@@atheismkills2844 I love you Atheism Kills. Kisses.

[@jakesmith5278]

@@brianharbort6728 OK....here is a hint, notice how many question the caller ask.

[@shroomer8294]

The problem is that people are never thought what subjective morality actually is. If they were there would be a lot more moral subjectivist. Another misconception is that agnosticism is a position of belief except I explicitly remember that one being thought in two different high schools. (I moved during my high school education.)

[@brianharbort6728]

I used the word agnostic for most of my life, because I thought it just meant "maybe there is a God, maybe there isn't. I don't really care." I also used it just to avoid having to talk about my beliefs. If you say you are agnostic most people just leave you alone. That is in my experience.

[@shroomer8294]

@Scott Scotty Which is why they do it worse. Dan Prager has legitimate struggles with giving a reason for why he thinks murder is bad apart from “mUH GOd sAiD It!”

[@brianharbort6728]

@Scott Scotty Depends on the theist.

[@icepick1514]

I appreciate his seemingly genuine effort to understand.

[@CorgiMessiah]

Is Matt’s shirt a portal to hell?

[@freakyzed8467]

He looks like Bam Bam Bigalow to me, and shout out to anyone who gets that reference!

[@canderson5098]

The Beast from the East, baby.

[@grocerygoat06]

@@freakyzed8467 The wrestler? LOL

[@freakyzed8467]

@@grocerygoat06 bingo!

[@Paul-ts5qw]

@John Wood What film reference? Bam Bam Bigalo was a wrestler back in the day... not sure what film you're talking about.

[@somrigost]

Respect to the caller. He reminds me of teenage me realising I'm not straight and trying to figure out what it means to be lgbtq

[@TheAntiburglar]

As a Brooklyn born, raised Roman Catholic, current atheist, I can say that my morals come from basic empathy. It's a pretty solid basis, all things considered. :D Edit: I hope Steve has found his way, even if not to my beliefs, at least to a grounded sense of morality independent of the bible :)

[@Deebz270]

Basically, Steve is very basic and basically at a tipping-point. Basically, he should continue questioning every basic tenet of religion/s. But yes, from this angle, Steve is basically an embryonic atheist.

[@bitofwizdomb7266]

The most basic foundation of morality is the golden rule . Caveman figured out long ago that it’s much better to cooperate than to be hit over the head with a club

[@freddan6fly]

Did we actually get an on-call deconversion here? Listened once more. At 23:35 "We don't believe in sin"

[@n.o.a.h.-northernontarioaq7991]

Is this an EARLY call from Canadian Catholic? Listen to the inflection...I think it might be.

[@ScienceNotFaith]

I'm so sick and tired of the "Do atheists have morals?" question I could puke. EVERY LIVING PERSON has morals. It's a stupid and useless question, one that is designed, by the way it's asked, that the assumption is they don't. A more honest and useful question is "Do the origins of the morals of theists and atheists differ? If so, how?"

[@joeclark1621]

Of course many atheists have morals, but what you fail to understand or maybe you will is that certain things that are considered immoral from a religious stand point are not immoral from an atheist point of view: fornication, homosexual acts or even adultery should not be considered immoral from an atheistic point of view and do not get me wrong, most of these I have no issues with but do not give me this we never get any morals from a spiritual source, of course we do, now somethings are obvious, like you should not murder, rape, steal, testify falsely to a crime cause we see the effect of these but what is interesting is that when a pro-life person argues that killing the unborn is wrong, you atheists and lefties talk about how we must be using religion to oppose it, interesting irony.

[@hamster4618]

@@joeclark1621 you didn't get your morals from a spiritual source, you got your morals from evolution, the country and timeframe you were born into and the backward, heinous beliefs of a desert tribe. While I do not think homosexual acts, or sex outside a marriage are immoral, I certainly think that the Abrahamistic views on it, Moses laws (claimed to be God's laws) and repercussions such as stoning and killing people over it, are HIGHLY IMMORAL. We saw ISIS rule around 2014 in Syria and Iraq: Moses rules, laws and repercussions, verbatim. I don't think I ever saw anything quite as sick. A truly, horrifying immoral society. Yet old testament "morals". Thankfully we have evolved away from "God's laws". Thankfully enlightenment and secularism found its way into our society.

[@joeclark1621]

@@hamster4618 Ok, I do agree with you that morals can and are presented absence of faith or god etc. but what I am saying is that there are certain things deemed as immoral like fornication and homosexual acts which once again I do not consider them problematic however are deemed as immoral through religion. What is interesting is that often times, atheists and lefties would say something like I do not need religion to be moral which is true but when you point out how let us say abortion is wrong regardless of religion, they always assume we oppose it on religious grounds except I do not.

[@hamster4618]

@@joeclark1621 indeed, I don't think homosexuality or fornication are immoral. I see no reason why it would or should be immoral. No religious person could ever explain why it would be immoral other than that it is listed in their ancient book describing a narrow-minded harsh tribal people. I do however think it immoral to persecute, harrass, ridicule, bully, belittle homosexuals as some religious folk and their churches do. Even in their well meant way, "we will pray for you, you sinner", it is degrading, harmful and hateful. And indeed, one can be hateful and discriminatory against homosexuals without being religious.

[@hamster4618]

@@joeclark1621 People will assume you oppose abortion on religious grounds the moment you start making claims "athiests and leftists" are immoral because they don't have a bible to tell them what is wrong (murder, homosexuality, adultery etc) and what is right (praying, begging forgiveness, repent to God etc). But indeed, one can be against abortion on non-religious grounds, as well as for the right to abort a pregnancy whilst being a religious person. While it is a matter of interpretation, I'd say the bible condones abortion in Numbers 5. Furthermore, according to the bible God himself seems to not really care about the lives of even born innocent children. He destroys, terminates them during the flood in Noah's time, during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, all first bornes in Egypt. God orders adulterers be stoned, and obviously, if you kill the carrier, you kill the embryo or fetus. Etc. So no, I'd say according to the bible religious people have no reason to claim to be against abortion based on the bible. Furthermore, the way christian societies chose to treat kids outside a marriage, them being "bastards", shows they do not really care for the kids that do get born. Ireland just recovered from scandals concerning the heinous treatment of (and deaths among) actual born children in "child care facilities" in the previous century. So to me it seems ridiculous to make religious claims against abortion. An odd thing to witness is how some religious folk will bend over backwards with terrible arguments as to why it would be justified to murder a 3 year old ("God had to, because the farao would let his people go", sure, although God, being omnipotent and all that, could have obviously killed the perpetrators of slavery, rather than committing infanticide, but hey, difference in morality I guess). As for abortion, I can understand why someone would oppose it, because it all boils down to when you perceive there to be an actual child, an actual human being. Most people who are pro choice will regard a pregnancy as a process during which a child will be formed. Scientific consensus points to around 24 weeks when conscienceness sets in, which is also the time when a fetus would be viable outside the womb. However, one can debate at what point in time a bunch of cells can be considered a human. Personally I can't see the tadpole-like being in week 5 to 6 as a person - at all, however, that changes over time, because indeed, at 24 weeks it is. I would be OK to limit abortion from 24 weeks to say 20 weeks, just to be certain, with the exception of medical reasons. Like a car on an assembly line, there is a point when you consider it a car, and not just parts. You would consider it a car when only a side mirror was missing, but not when the doors or motorblock was missing.

[@hankkingsley9183]

I agree that secular humanist morality is far superior to the moral pronouncements from a Bronze Age fictional text written in a time before any enlightenment. Where is the modern revision to the 2,000 year old text from the invisible sky daddy that reveals anything about science, logic or rational thought? Further, if that sky daddy is all powerful and all knowing and exists outside of time and is loving, why didn't he drop these knowledge bombs right after the first humans were magically conjured up? Not very loving to let humanity wallow in darkness and ignorance for centuries.

[@RichardJCrane]

I played his Brooklyn greeting, “Ayy, how you doin’?”, over and over.

[@heavymeddle28]

So if its possible to misinterpret the bible, how can theists be sure that "thou shalt not steal" isn't interpreted wrong?

[@JnWayn]

When a religion asserts its monopoly on morals, it doesn't strip humanity of its natural ability to be moral. Morals are just a touchy subject because the religious understand it as a physical existence that exists somewhere, owned by some authority. Well that authority is the individual and the location is his mind

[@turbacamp506]

1:34 “I have no idea what you just said”

[@brianharbort6728]

I am very confused on the "studying to become an atheist" thing the caller says. I have a disconnect with many of the people who become atheists, because I was not heavily indoctrinated and I have always been skeptical. I never "studied" to become an atheist, it just happened. The way the caller words it is just odd to me. I never needed to study anything to find morals. You find your morality by observing everyday life from when you are a child combined with your empathy. That is how my morality came about.

[@wtfjesus8251]

I'm sorry, but U are so wrong! 😶

[@brianharbort6728]

@@wtfjesus8251 That doesn't tell me very much. No need to be sorry. LOL Also, are you a theist or an atheist?

[@wtfjesus8251]

Example: only by watching others do their math homework instead of doing it yourself, you can only "hope" that "those others" were right! But how will you know what is actually / real?

[@brianharbort6728]

@@wtfjesus8251 I go by the well-being stance. Morality is subjective at it's core, but most people seem to generally agree about the big ones. The ones that we don't agree about we think about and talk about and come to an understanding (in terms of laws I mean). I live by what I consider right and wrong and I come to these conclusions by observation and thinking and the empathy that is there by nature. This is after we agree to well-being. There is no OBJECTIVE morality, but most people care about their own well being and their families well being and in order to assure those you realize it is much better to fight for everybody's well-being. Empathy and caring about other human beings is a big part. That is just natural to human being, though it is still a spectrum.

[@grahvis]

@@brianharbort6728 . Remember that there are those who simply cannot imagine life without a belief in a god, they use it as a comfort blanket and have to learn to do without it. Like you I was sceptical when young and came to see how contrived the Christian religion was in my early teens.

[@ga0tza]

Steve: “can mayonnaise atheist”

[@brucebaker810]

Also playing with atheist as verb: "Do you even atheist?" Something a concern troll caller might say?

[@nickyaerobones]

@@brucebaker810 Ots a Spongebob reference and a brilliant one at that !

[@kinglyzard]

@@brucebaker810 "Do you science?" 😆

[@brucebaker810]

@@kinglyzard 1. I trience. 2. Is that a test? I thought this was You Tube. Not Test Tube.

[@kinglyzard]

@@brucebaker810 😆🤣

[@stephensepan291]

No, thank you for calling.

[@tedgrant2]

We all have morals,. Even Adolf Hitler cared for his dog.

[@vchill79]

Matt lookin like Bam Bam Bigelow in this one! 😂

[@pilsung26]

While the call might seem tiresome for some of us who’ve already ruminated on all these thoughts. It’s good to remember not everyone is as far down the path. This call will be instructive for many.

[@AbleAnderson]

I believe Steve is a troll caller who thinks he’s making atheists look absurd with these questions but in reality he’s failing.

[@wynlewis5357]

I got the impression Steve perceives atheism as some sort of religion ! I hope he played back this video where it was clearly explained it has nothing to do with religion whatsoever. Then, google the word for a most accurate definition of the word.

[@Prcnjau]

Impressive conversation

[@johnredman4568]

Steve's every other word is LIKE.

[@adithyarajchoorikat9904]

So many questions and same answers. But the guy is a decent person, best way of asking questions.

[@n0w3lly90]

The simple answer: yes!

[@drmojo5439]

Had to tap out after 10 minutes. Wanted to bang my head into a wall.....

[@Deebz270]

Video to audtio sync is suffering some latency on these recent uploads. Also the video rssolution is not as good as in the past, so what has changes?

[@linklawson5633]

A lot of Christian "morality" is nothing but PRUDISM anyway, which I think people can really DO WITHOUT.

[@Orochi_001]

This guy has no idea what happened in Robocop.

[@timcollett99]

Nihilism is not an 'atheistic' position.

[@Leith_Crowther]

Eh, it’s atheistic in the sense that nihilism excludes theism. But it’s a dangerous abuse of language to take that true statement and use it to mean that nihilism is inherent to atheism.

[@ngcastronerd4791]

For many its belief that a god exists but the actual bible isnt to be taken literraly. I always tell those, then why believe in god at all?

[@johndavid4831]

I think Steve is dishonest, and is quite proud of how much of Matt and Tracy's time he wasted.

[@satie321]

Didn't get that vibe, just a confused person wrestling with a particular worldview.

[@Antebios]

No, this wasn't wasted time. It was for the benefit to inform the audience... US. It actually gave me additional tools to put into my toolkit when discussing religion. This was a very informative discussion.

[@sahulianhooligan7046]

Atheist watching the show is cool (but preaching to the choir), and the religious people who watch will remain arrogant and wont change their minds. Then there are those who are in the midde that are unsure (like Steve)..thats the important demographic worth fighting for!

[@n0w3lly90]

Yes, lots of them thank you

[@4thInches]

Some people are simply too desperate to be part of a group. They define themselves by it. I have some disdain for them, but it's mostly pity.

[@24magiccarrot]

I didn't know Bam Bam Bigelow was a host on the show.

[@FourDeuce01]

Steve keeps going down his list of things and asking if atheists do them, even after being told that atheists are individuals who do many different things.🙈

[@Max_Doubt]

If you're an atheist you are free to hold slavery, torture, genocide and punishing - even killing - innocent people for what others did as absolutely (i.e. without exception or condition) immoral. Xians are not free to consider these absolutely immoral for that would be to admit that God acted immorally in the bible. So to Xians no act, no matter how much pain, suffering, misery and grief it causes, is absolutely immoral. Because if that act is condoned, commanded or committed by God, that's a "different situation." What's that called? Situational ethics!

[@nickgagnon3626]

Anyone can.

[@Nikkithedog-t6b]

If I'm hunting for a person of morality, integrity, honesty, intelligence...my starting point is atheist. I had a religious dude hit me with atheists just believe in suicide recently and I hadn't heard that one before. The entire publicly accepted insanity of religious belief is some crazy shit.

[@iraceruk]

"It's hard work to sit around and think about why something is wrong"? No, it's really not. Well - apparently it is for a great many people, and that's frightening.

[@minutemansam1214]

I mean, it depends on the thing. Some things you really need to think about the moral implications of it, and it isn't that easy or black and white.

[@brianharbort6728]

@@minutemansam1214 Exactly. Stuff like murder, rape, stealing etc. are obvious. Stuff like abortion, lying etc. is not as easy. There are also many people who will just throw out some of their morals when it becomes inconvenient. I know it is wrong to drive drunk, but I don't want to get a cab. I think the easy thing is for people to figure out what is moral. The hard part is caring whether you do immoral things or not. Some people will stick to their morals more strongly than others and some people don't give much of a fuck. Some people do bad things because they get a personal thrill from hurting other people. It is very easy to justify to yourself doing bad things, especially if you don't believe there is a Hell. Even more easy for someone who doesn't care all that much about whether they live or die. I think Matt over-simplified this part often. It is the Santa lie. The more harsh the law and punishment is, the easier you can get people to follow the law. The same applies to not doing immoral things. How many people would do bad things if they didn't think they would get caught? Who can say?

[@kinglyzard]

Piltdown Man puzzled scientists for years before they figured out why it didn't fit.

[@heavymeddle28]

@@kinglyzard was that the one yerth creationists put together just to prove evolution wrong? Man, and yerthers still use that as an argument against evolution 😅

[@92brunod]

Of course it is. It is hard for you too unless you're so stuck up in your own butt that you think you have every single possible answer to every question about morality and moral actions. It's easy in some topics like rape, slavery and the such but you can't come here and pretend assisted suicide is a clear and cut easy moral choice for example. Not to mention questions about morality that not even the brightest people can 100% answer, specially when there is a conflict between two actions similarly moral or immoral.

[@JnWayn]

You are already an atheist if your definition of it is, anybody that doesn't believe gods are real. While the definition for theists is, anybody that believes God claims, in practice a theist is anybody that has or believes in a religion, and you're only a theist because you have a religion but you've already realized that it's most basic claim, that there's a god, is wrong

[@stephensepan291]

yes, we read the atheist bible.

[@majorhowell1453]

The constitution once condoned slavery and was amended, same thing happened in bible. Maybe we should be atheist to the constitution?

[@Ben-no4lz]

Same thing happened in the bible? Where does the Bible ever condemn slavery or say it’s not to be done anymore?

[@stephenmason5682]

Who thinks up these silly questions? It's child like.

[@davidforshaw4810]

Matt will get you through times of no Christ, better than Christ will get you through times of no Matt!

[@ravarga4631]

Follow some parts of the basic tenets of buddhism, some of sikhism, a bit islam, judaism, xtianity, confucianism, good luck, no wonder fascism and bolshivism were so attractive .

[@adicleme5]

Listening in 5/22, This sounds like Canadian Catholic. Perhaps an early sighting.

[@seanspreckelsen3496]

It's difficult to be an atheist or theist in general. I am extremely far from believing in any particular God or religion, but we, as humans, just don't know everything. There could be beings on an entirely different plane of reality that we are entirely unaware of. There is just no way of proving or disproving any of this. For any individual to say, without a doubt, there is no God or there is a God, is just an example of human hubris. There could be infinite things we do not understand yet as a species, so a much better way of looking at any of this is to just say to yourself "i/we don't know for sure and that is ok".

[@amritlohia8240]

Atheism isn't a belief that "there is no God". It's simply not being convinced that there is a god. Therefore, if you do anything other than actively believe that at least one god/goddess exists (i.e. if you are anything other than a theist), then you are by definition an atheist. In this way, the position of "we don't know for sure" is simply one type of atheism.

[@klew83]

When an atheist does the right thing, it's simply because it's the right thing to do. However when religious folk, particularly the evangelicals, do the right thing I always wonder if their actions would be the same if they didn't worry about the wrath of a vengeful god.

[@lobintool]

If God exists..the only logical question is why!

[@vinsanity982]

Man that shirt is FIRE, literally...

[@rikorobinson]

I think what I would've said to this gentleman, as myself a lifelong Atheist that never really had to struggle with this, is that the thing he seems to be struggling with is the leftover tribalism forced onto him all his life. I'm so glad he's on the path of thinking for himself, but if the deconverted folks I know are any indication, the moment he becomes an Atheist isn't the end of the story. He still has to rid himself of all the bugs forced into his programming that allowed him to justify his beliefs. It sounds like he's asking what is okay to think now that he's an Atheist or is in the process of deconverting and I don't think he's getting that reason should be what allows him to define his beliefs going forward, not sort of chasing an argumentum ad populem of what other Atheists think is orthodox. I wish him well on his journey. I'm sure it'll clarify for him soon.

[@MrLittletube]

I love this man. But you can’t expect to wear that shirt and not get some bam bam bigelow comparisons.

[@xavierlopez7096]

Lol LMAO 😂

[@nickgagnon3626]

He was a great wrestler.

[@MrLittletube]

@@nickgagnon3626 sure was.

[@abc456f]

This is an older video. He's lost quite a bit of weight since. But I do see the Bigelow resemblance, minus the tatted head.

[@peterriverajr6899]

Now that you say it I cant unsee it

[@zombine555]

Given my limited knowledge, and armchair psychology degree, -puffs arrogantly on a pipe-, i suspect Steve is on the autism spectrum, based on his speech patterns. I don't mean this as a pejorative, just an observation. Partly to test myself. Obvious disclaimer, only a true professional in the field can say for sure.

[@shrinermonkey1]

and den...

[@dimitrioskalfakis]

another destroyed life by the biblical monster.

[@SumErgoCogito10]

Matt's shirt tho 😍

[@litchfiedr]

What a stupid question

[@woodysdrums8083]

Vatican 2 baby

[@drooten]

This caller asked some pretty good questions, things even I was interested in the answers.

[@eyecontact13]

At first I was annoyed but then i actually learned something

[@iveseen1]

Its amazing how ministers, pastors leave out the inconvenient truths of the bible. When atheists mention these,theists are not aware they exist.

[@ignatiusj.reilly1197]

The road is long with many a winding turn. He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

[@joelonsdale]

A Confederacy of Dunces!!

[@kinglyzard]

Hey Steve.... Everyone has their own vision and concept of God. Your Own Personal Jesus. As a result, God varies from person to person, from ultra liberal to ultra conservative. Why is this? Simple. Individual people embue God with their own home grown morals and world views, independent of the Bible. If we got our morality straight from God, we'd all have the exact same sense of what is or isn't moral. Same goes with the Bible; everyone takes home something different from it, depending on what in the book appeals to their moral sense.

[@dreadfulspiller8766]

There was a christian ad before the video.

[@edgardoibarra5955]

That’s the loudest shirt I think I’ve ever seen

[@kinglyzard]

It's why I'm up at 4:20, well kinda.

[@ishmaelkelly951]

I remember this old clip and even to this day it still doesn't make sense to me, what part of being a secular humanist , believing in evolution, believing in the Big Bang, believe in well-being has anything to do with being an atheist🤨 you can cut a lot of these conversations short if you just simply tell these people that atheism is nothing more than the non-belief of a God or gods. Atheism does not say there is no God, atheism says that we will not believe in any Gods until there is efficient evidence for a God or gods . It not a worldview, it's not a religion, it's just a simple position on a God claim that's all !!! I can never understand why is it so hard for other religious people to understand this 😒

[@XXxCHRISxXX]

I have seen where God said how to treat slaves,but where does it say the Bible condones slavery? Is it a case of if it does condemn then it condones? The Bible does condemn stealing men as many recognize that is what most today would consider slavery.

[@devb9912]

"Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves." Leviticus 25 :44

[@XXxCHRISxXX]

@@devb9912 Thanks

[@pelgrim8640]

@@XXxCHRISxXX the Bible does not even have to explicitly say "slavery is okay". The mere fact that there are rules on slavery is itself already condoning it. Imagine a set of rules on "how to correctly kidnap and rape a woman". Imagine it technically never says "it is okay to kidnap and rape", but it does lay out rules on how to properly do it. Would you think that's okay?

[@patnoonan5281]

Total amount of gods moral laws 650. Total of man's laws 3,000,000 . So who's more moral

[@ryanmccabe1036]

I could hang out with Steve.

[@Dan-Martin]

Lol this caller is so silly. I would have hung up lmao