Christian Apologist Impersonates an Atheist, Atheists Respond

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

If you liked this video, you’ll enjoy Paulogia’s content. Go check it out! kzbin.info

[@harveywabbit9541]

An easy refutation of the biblical madness is revealed in The Science of the Bible or Hebrew Mythology, by Milton Woolley.

[@elminster298]

Yeah, I watched it as well. I don't remember exactly where I realized he was not an atheist, but I think it was his answer about the origin of the universe.

[@nicolasandre9886]

@Ryan Flynn : it might not be a promising lead, the point of god is to be eternal, so that by definition he would escape the question of his own origin.

[@_Tp__]

which would be a special pleading fallacy would it not?

[@nicolasandre9886]

@@_Tp__ : it absolutely is. God is just a placeholder to avoid answering 'I don't know' to the question of the origin of the unvierse.

[@Mathewrath]

After i declared myself an atheist, my father said that he finally understood when a friend of his said that she would have preferred that her sons died than seeing them going further away from God. So basically my father told me that he wished that i died early as a christian, rather than live longly as an atheist. So much love in christianity.

[@DrFouFou]

Some Christians are cult-like…

[@clevernamerighthere9240]

i dont think he should have said what he said. but you have to see it from his perspective. to him there is life after death. to him he'd rather youd stop living now and experience bliss for eternity over you living through the ups and down s of life and then living in unimaginable horror for eternity. he rather you be safe sooner, then in pain longer. that is love.

[@sebasblos1]

@@clevernamerighthere9240 but in anyone else eyes is just a big f*ck you

[@htran18]

@@clevernamerighthere9240 that is not love.

[@sloanekuria3249]

@@clevernamerighthere9240 No child has to see it from their parents perspective, that's called PARENTING. The OP's father abandoned his role as parent when he treated his child with this hateful cruelty. Actually, according to Eli Weisel, the indifference the father shows to his child's life is worse than hatred. I agree.

[@autonomouscollective2599]

The one thing Sean couldn’t do that an atheist will, is to say “I don’t know.” He *had* to give an answer to everything, no matter how cringe-worthy was the answer.

[@aazhie]

yes this is so annoying... both religious and atheist scientists can say "we don't know and we may never know" but Sean really cant?? so wierd

[@justincarroll1836]

I like knowing how things work but I'd rather be honest than wrongly assert things. That's a very succinct point that I can appreciate

[@Salsuero]

I believe he was attempting to give answers so they could be rejected... debunked... countered. If you only say I don't know, which is an entirely acceptable answer, you don't give anyone fuel to defeat you with a counterargument. Christianity, among other religions, refuses to say I don't know itself because that's an open door to criticism since they have to know or else their beliefs break down under scrutiny. There must be an answer for everything so it can't be undercut. But that's not how atheism works. Atheism doesn't have to know any answers. It just refuses to agree with terrible, incomplete, inconsistent, illogical answers in an attempt to provide one. They can't reconcile that. And that's why it's so difficult to change their minds -- because they aren't open to change -- they have all the answers already.

[@justincarroll1836]

@@Salsuero I think that is a great point. Very Aron Ra but I agree

[@benbae5530]

sure , atheist Just give in to where the evidence points? Ignorance is bliss my friend. Ciao

[@Funnysterste]

Imagine a debate between an atheist and a christian, while both playing the role of the other without knowing the opponent does the same.

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

Funny it would be

[@benwil6048]

Lol

[@humphryshan9494]

it would probably be better than a real atheist and christian debating lol

[@vishvarupa7948]

Hey, that's a good idea, someone should do that.

[@independentRestorationServices]

You sound high. But seriously, that would be awesome; I’d watch that.

[@moseptyagami606]

Him: uses a ton of atheist arguments One of the Christian students: that actually makes sense, I think I’m an atheist now. Him: wait-

[@AC_memes]

Mission failed

[@oof9762]

Mission failed successfully

[@nathanlabrador7664]

*Task failed successfully*

[@1mol831]

Emotion is used mainly for solid believers.

[@25dollarbill24]

LOL @ your nonsensical phrase, _"atheist arguments"._

[@DissedRedEngie]

"We wanted to teach what atheists are, so here's not an atheist"

[@FabbrizioPlays]

Wouldn't want to be too convincing, might actually lose a few christians.

[@kdot78]

@@FabbrizioPlays lol

[@CallmeOzymandias]

@@FabbrizioPlays Can't have that...

[@donaldhanning1359]

@@FabbrizioPlays You know what though, I bet they DID lose a lot of Christians that day. Some of those kids REALLY wanted to be debating an atheist & seemed very frustrated by the answers "Atheist Sean" was giving. I'm betting the reveal that he was lying to them and playing a character did more to hurt their faith that day than any of the non-answers he actually gave.

[@1mol831]

@@donaldhanning1359 it doesn’t matter much. What benefit does he have to have more or less of ‘Christian’s’

[@miguelquintana8076]

The students should have known this guy was a Christian. He never says "I don't know".

[@EiferBrennan]

Without context, or as someone in that audience, I'd like to believe I'd smell his bullshit from a mile away.

[@vincegonzalez2171]

@@EiferBrennan I would just be confused. I think one or two of his answers were fine, but the majority of them didn't really make any sense. As an atheist, I had no idea what he was talking about.

[@EiferBrennan]

@@vincegonzalez2171 just his vocabulary alone would have tipped me off that he was full of shit.

[@AWindy94]

@@EiferBrennan Also, his voice, with a lot of his answers, sounded like they ended in a question mark. You know when you have that upwards tone your voice when asking a question? He had that at the end of a lot of answers. Definitely a red flag.

[@EiferBrennan]

@@AWindy94 exactly, and let's not forget his body language, he looks really uncomfortable "roll playing" as an Athiest.

[@MrRipley3]

His atheist arguments still sound like he is a Christian. It’s odd.

[@SgtD85]

Not odd. Can't trully protray someone else unless you can actually understand them. Wolf in sheep's clothing.

[@kateofone]

Yeah but at least he does not sound simple minded like Christian Sean

[@adrenochrome_slurper]

His body language screams preacher.

[@christaylor9095]

It doesn't seem that odd to me. Pretty much what I would expect.

[@SgtD85]

@benji X cool story bro. Prove it.

[@ayumi7916]

I’m a closeted atheist in a strict Muslim household. Thank you for your videos, they really inspire me to keep going on :)

[@SMAB2007]

fellow closeted atheist in a Muslim household here; my closet is a bit translucent at this point but I'm just trying to ease my parents into the idea that they won't go to hell because I wasn't Muslim myself. I wish there were more atheist content about Islam from ex-Mus.

[@Router-we2eh]

@@SMAB2007 I believe there is one channel called the Apostate Prophet, if you haven't already seen his videos.

[@SMAB2007]

@@Router-we2eh thank you!

[@SMAB2007]

@@jouglexander my parents are extremists who have repeatedly said that apostates should be stoned to death.

[@wbwam7710]

Christian household here, my parents wanted me to join a conservative or christian club at my college when they saw all the liberal and LGBT stuff

[@mattcraig163]

This is such a terribly stupid exercise. “Here’s what an apologists thinks an atheist sounds like.” They’d be so much better off actually having an atheist come and speak to the class. What a waste of time and back patting exercise.

[@themousethatroared3371]

Why the charade? Why not invite an actual atheist to speak for themself? Maybe because they're afraid the athiest might make more sense than apologetics and actually encourage critical thinking.

[@AJenbo]

It even sounds like they have done this before, but with the students knowing that it was role play. I wonder if they would believe that it was for real at this point if an actual atheist where to come to the school

[@matthewhenry9044]

@@AJenbo it even sounds like? He clearly says that every time before this time he does it that way but the person that invited him asked him not to...

[@matthewhenry9044]

@@themousethatroared3371 or maybe not. He doesn't even like to go in without telling him he's not really an atheists first. These kids clearly didn't like him being there very much. If a real atheist wants to do this, let them find their own way in. Why would someone that seemingly really believe in God bring in someone has the potential to lead people astray. Jesus clearly states that everyone will stumble but the ones that causes his children to do so is in for a bad time.

[@zemorph42]

@@matthewhenry9044 Why would someone who really believes in God be afraid to examine those beliefs, or allow them to be examined? Truth welcomes scrutiny; it doesn't condemn it.

[@Paulogia]

It's not easy to take on 90+ minutes of content in 47 minutes. Well done! Proud to contribute a part.

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

I couldn’t have done it without you, my friend!

[@onedaya_martian1238]

@@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic Great shout out to Paulogia !

[@onedaya_martian1238]

The community grows !!

[@ckcnkc]

Perhaps a misleading 12+21=33 on the Josephus references?

[@jacobvictorfisher]

Paul’s channel is probably my favorite on KZbin right now. He offers thoughtful, clear analysis and the perfect tone. Along with Drew, I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.

[@pgbollwerk]

The biggest problem with the “fine tuning” argument is that the universe is very clearly NOT fine tuned for life. 99.99%+ of the universe is extremely unsuited for life. Even our tiny planet has vast regions that are unsuited to life. I don’t get how anyone thinks this is a good argument.

[@cfromnowhere]

There are examples of not-so-fine-tuned worlds at our doorstep. Venus, Earth and Mars are all in Sun's habitable zone, yet only Earth has conditions that allow complex lives to exist and evolve. There may have been very simple lives on Mars, but that's all.

[@XavierGobble]

Exactly another reason why I don't think the fine-tuning argument works is that if the universe wasn't fine-tuned then we would have no way to perceive it meaning. Our perception would lead us to believe that all universes can support life because those are the only ones that we can observe

[@EskChan19]

Right. It's like someone once said: We're a puddle of water, fitting so neatly into that sinkhole on the road that we think someone must have created this sinkhole specifically for us, because how could we fit so perfectly into it otherwise? They think that the human is the end of all means and everything was made to fit us, when in reality, we were just the most successfull in fitting into surrounding we were thrown into. We just adapted to life on earth the best, that doesn't mean the earth was made for us.

[@kornclown7815]

right these people just want to believe what they want to

[@jtveg]

Yes indeed, the universe seems to be *NOT* finely tuned for life at all but what is even worse for the theist is that they are by implication admitting that a universe can *only* exist in this one precise way which limits an omnipotent god that theoretically could make a universe with any constants or any way he wanted. If anything fine tuning is perfectly consistent with naturalism and is something the theist needs *to explain away.*

[@MrWynne-zb4kp]

I'd honestly be so upset if I was talking to someone claiming to be an authority figure in a subject I am trying to understand more only for them to reveal it was an act and they didn't believe a thing they were saying. I came to the class with trust and now I'm going to not only have less answers to my posed questions, but I'm going to be skeptical about speakers and that class going forward. This only has the opposite effect of what he wanted.

[@seand.g423]

It... it _really_ didn't... This was just another Wastelander Fundie shitboot tightening the anti-intellectual trap even further and letting their own bullshit self-righteousness pat them on the back where their own """piety""" would supposedly forbid them doing even _that_ much themselves...

[@yannickm1396]

Don't ideas stand un there own? Can't you separate the massage from the messenger?

[@bskinner22rianna]

​@@yannickm1396ideas don't stand when created disingenuously. I don't think a dude that admits using word salad is being genuine about the ideas they're talking about.

[@hankschwiebert1457]

@@bskinner22rianna From what I have heard, Sean presented the atheistic arguments better than most atheists would. Tbh, I think peoples jimmies are getting russled a bit too much over this. Sean did a good job of not just presenting strawmen arguments, he clearly stumped his students

[@Mehki227]

​@hankschwiebert145 No he didn't. He didn't sound like an atheist at all.

[@mr.f613]

As an educator, it would be really weird for me to bring in a speaker who was pretending to be who they say they are. Why not just bring in a real atheist? His students were asking questions in good faith and were being gaslit by an impersonator.

[@alisaurus4224]

To assure them they’re actually right in the end and all the atheist’s claims have solid refutations.

[@bobbun9630]

I found the guy to be a completely unconvincing atheist (based on this video), though I'll concede that since I knew up front that he wasn't, that was an easy finding. It's not just that his choice of responses follows Christian lines of response, just inverted as to reasoning. The problem for me was that I would expect an actual atheist speaker to have better responses altogether. An actual atheist speaker with such low quality answers wouldn't be speaking at very many venues. I don't know that I have ever observed an atheist speaker drag the multiverse idea into the discussion, at least not as anything but pure speculation.

[@robertabarnhart6240]

I came down here to ask the same thing.

[@timq6224]

thou shalt not bear false witness -- in trying to trick others into his version of salvation, he condemned his soul to hell (according to the tenets of his own religion!)

[@michaelmorris1741]

This guy wasn't following Christ when he lied to them.

[@Nn-3]

"The beginning of the universe would imply God exists" said no atheist ever.

[@hopeahooper]

Omg, I thought I was the only one thinking that 💀💀

[@matthewhenry9044]

You recorded the accounts of every atheists ever? May I see?

[@adamx9793]

If a beginning implies a creator, then a creator with no beginning implies a creator too. God is an infinite regress argument that doesn’t work in the real world. Atheism wins.

[@matthewhenry9044]

@@adamx9793 Who's to say that the beginning didn't start by properties coming together to create something completely New and now we argue as to what we call this and what's it capable of and Why don't we know?

[@TorianTammas]

@@matthewhenry9044 Who created that thing? It doesn't answer anything it creates a billion more questions. Was it a five year old playing on her mother's computer create universes?

[@christiangraulau8107]

WHen I was like 13 I had a debate with myself where I was my normal Christian self and then I responded as an atheist to ask myself questions. I wasn't an Atheist but my caricature of an atheist literally ended up winning the debate

[@carlroza102]

LOL😂

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

that must have caused some moments of ''doess not compute'' for your young brain... i be curious if your still theist or gone atheist when older.. but either case you at least sound like you got a decent critical thinking development as young and thats whats important ;)

[@jmlightning8045]

That is quite literally how I became an atheist. I debated myself, and found the christanish argument (I was like 6-7 so it probably wasn't a fair assessment of actual Christian) lacking compared to the new science stuff I was watching on youtube and nova (mainly nova i think).

[@RiskierGoose340]

The way I love to try to solve anything that wasn’t as simple as “how to fix the table” was to argue with myself. I like to take the sides of all my options, argue for their positives and negatives, and see which wins out. Usually works somehow.

[@taynahibanez9952]

Ok, this is adorable XD.

[@MorganHorse]

Can we mention how disturbing it is that there are essentially anti-atheism classes at some high schools.

[@mpleandre]

Just like there are anti religious ones. Why don't we just open the gates for eveyone to have debates? Oh, true... Everyone is unreasonable.

[@iduncareanimore]

wait you had anti religious classes?? education in america seems fun

[@25dollarbill24]

_"Can we mention how disturbing it is that there are essentially anti-atheism classes at some high schools."_ What do you mean by your phrase, _"anti-atheism classes at some high schools"?_ Please name and cite the locations of some of the high schools you are talking about, so we can look up whatever it is you are talking about. Please tell us whence you came up with the idea of saying _"there are essentially anti-atheism classes at some high schools"._ Merely from your imagination? Have fun with your inability to respond rationally to this request, and further demonstrating that your OP is a pile of trash and product of illiteracy that even you know you have no hope of defending! 🤣

[@MorganHorse]

@@25dollarbill24 literally every high school that teaches “apologetics”…you acted like that was going to be hard

[@25dollarbill24]

@@MorganHorse I asked you: _"Please name and cite the locations of some of the high schools you are talking about, so we can look up whatever it is you are talking about."_ You: ** Why can't you answer my request?

[@Sasha-up9er]

The thing with the fine tuning argument, is that the environment we live in has never changed for life, life has always changed for the environment. The reason we "fit so perfectly" into our environment is that those who do not fit so perfectly did not survive and life has evolved and adapted to the environment.

[@Nai_101]

Yeah. I don't get how people don't get that

[@apollo6326]

I saw a funny thing that was like “if god isn’t real, then why do shoes always fit perfectly?”

[@TheOJDrinker]

My favorite response to this is the pothole filled with water, the water thinks the pothole was made perfectly to fit its shape.

[@hamsarris8341]

@@apollo6326 that's a joke. Has to be.

[@hamsarris8341]

The fine-tuning argument is usually about the constants of the universe, not environment. Maybe Sean said that though, idk.

[@rdean150]

"If Christian Sean can't easily debunk Atheist Sean's argument, maybe Sean would actually end up being an Atheist." This gets to the core of the problem with this exercise.

[@isidoreaerys8745]

Our little man’s all grown up now

[@Nerobyrne]

I actually used to be a Christian and have the same objections to Christianity that I do now. I used to think "well I'm sure all the big Christian thinkers know the answers!" But when I found out that they actually didn't, I stopped believing.

[@ianrose6218]

@@Nerobyrne What I like to say is that so many sects of Christianity hijacked the idea of universal respect, made it so someone had to believe in every story from an ancient book alongside following those standards, then failed to reconcile those two things when contradictions arose. It's one of the most common reasons I see people abandoning various forms of Christianity when they look at it with a critical eye. If belief helps someone feel like they're not alone in a universe that doesn't care about them, that's great! I just wish the die-hard ones would realize that some of us believed at one point, then felt as though we were being left in the dark when we dared to ask a question with no clear answer that we were simply supposed to "have faith" about.

[@isidoreaerys8745]

@Truth Inquisitor there is no rational version of a creator. No one believes that chemicals randomly collided together to magically create fully formed life. The first life forms were little more than small bits of replicating polymers called ribozymes. Actually the only reason we cannot say for certain how life began is that we now have so many scientifically demonstrated chemical pathways for abiogenesis to take place. We can’t Pick just one.

[@Nerobyrne]

@Truth Inquisitor if reality really proved God, then why wouldn't people who build things to interact with reality be honest about it? They would need to tell the people at uni that God is real and how it works, because otherwise they won't be able to do science. But the fact that I've been there and we always worked without any regard for God means that God isn't involved in science.

[@dyamonde9555]

he might be roleplaying an Atheist, but he still argues like an Apologist. Apologist Arguments usually only come in one of three flavors: based on false information, based on logical fallacies, or based on pure semantics.

[@TorianTammas]

So true!

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"he might be roleplaying an Atheist, but he still argues like an Apologist" As does Sam Harris, Dawkins, Hitchens et al.

[@flutterwind7686]

@@thomasmaughan4798 Awww did this video ruffle your feathers?

[@thomasmaughan4798]

@@flutterwind7686 " Awww did this video ruffle your feathers?" It did, but a good shake of my tail sorts things out ;-)

[@hossamtarek2272]

Peace, blessing, and mercy of our Munificent creator be upon you, my beloved reader😊. I am inviting you to worship our creator by accepting Islam and to study the evidence of his existence. The scientific, metaphysical, historical, and linguistic miracles presented in the heavenly book (the Holy Quran ) that has been sent by our creator are sufficient pieces of evidence. Study the challenge of creating 1 chapter like the Quran. check out the reason that made all the attempts failed. The scientific miracles in the Quran that was revealed more than 1400 years ago include the chemical composition of the human, the expansion of the universe, the knocking star, the rotation of the earth, the gender determining factor, the orbits, the chronological comparisons of developments of the zygote and the fetus, the origin of the universe, the function of the mountains, the movements of the sun and the earth, the vision in the deep seas, the forbidden breeding ( between some relatives ) , and other scientific miracles. So, raise your hand to the sky asking your Limitless creator who created you, fed you, and put his mercy on you to help you in finding the truth. ask him for everything. www.islamreligion.com/category/33/evidence-islam-is-truth/ quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en kzbin.info Thanks, My beautiful researcher for the truth ❤️.

[@Othique]

Something that stuck with me was how when that girl said "I didn't understand anything you were talking about, why would they go through all that instead of just believing in god?" And I'm floored by it. Instead of taking it as an opportunity to study something they don't know about... they think "it's so much easier to give up and just believe in god". Congrats... that's exactly why you're stuck in a cult. This is why your own bible calls you sheep.

[@toekneeheadless2393]

I do want to point out that a cult is a religion that worships a man instead of a God. Christianity believes in a God, not a man. Be careful using words that could be insulting, there is no reason, even if the other person is wrong or mistreats you.

[@Othique]

@@toekneeheadless2393 Jesus is a man. As much as christians want to scream otherwise. Not to mention the millions of christian cult leaders who proclaim to be prophets they've had over the centuries. Furthermore - you're wrong. You might want to look up what defines a cult... and yes it can be the veneration of an entity such as a "god". Cult = a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. Christianity is a cult.. the deadliest one on earth to date. And deserves to be insulted.

[@pandamandimax]

100% wrong. The definition of cult is "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object." With the added pejoratives of generally being destructive or controlling. Has zero to do with whether the cult worships a god, a person, a person who is also a god (Jesus), a tree, an idea, etc.

[@uzuwi9782]

its unthinkable for some religious people that people want to believe the truth instead of believe the most convenient lie

[@HungryWarden]

@@toekneeheadless2393that isn’t in the definition of a cult. And even so, Jesus was a man at one point.

[@YTho-ev1ej]

Despite his poor ability to make atheistic arguments, Sean deserves credit for acknowledging hardship an atheist might face when coming out in a deeply religious community

[@EiferBrennan]

I do appreciate that.

[@TheBeauyHome]

I also give props to the organizer of the event for telling the students to follow truth even if that means they won’t be Christian

[@Conserpov]

His goal is clearly to convert atheists with "Christian love", though.

[@gauteterning420]

And this, of course, was the point with the whole speech + Q&A. Still, GMM chooses to critique the speakers' mock atheists. I actually found it disingenuous and bad faith to start to argue back, knowing that this professor had this speech in front of high-schoolers to learn them the lesson of listening to arguments from the other side.

[@Conserpov]

@@gauteterning420 _> to learn them the lesson of listening to arguments from the other side_ Nope. To learn to dismiss the arguments from the other side with more confidence, to become more fundamentalist and less susceptible to reason.

[@johnogroats2733]

I like how they couldn't get an actual atheist to come in because he/she might have some valid objections that turn people away from the faith.

[@ChefMimsy]

Yeah. It's like wanting the class to hear about someone's personal stories of racial discrimination, then hiring a blackface-wearing white guy to tell them.

[@Bas-TB]

I think they just want to show of their dishonesty.

[@gregfakerson6998]

@@ChefMimsy that is perfect example of what’s going on here 👍 respect for the analogy

[@harrycooper5231]

@@ChefMimsy That is a great analogy.

[@erikfreeman45]

When I watched Sean's video unaware of him before, I was really surprised that this class was an actual apologetics class and they had terrible arguments and misunderstandings towards faux Sean.

[@kennymartin5976]

"Atheist Roleplay?" Seems dishonest at best and cowardly at worst. Like, just invite an actual atheist speaker. Those exist.

[@Skogles]

Someone asked this on his video, and he states that he usually does, which like, why not just let that athiest talk?

[@TorianTammas]

They should invite a scientist and get a proper education instead of this indoctrination of fine tuning.

[@icecremer]

@@TorianTammas I think you misunderstand the intentions. They don't want to educate, they want to indoctrinate. Think about it like this. Say you want an advertisement for a your new burger. What approach would you take? A commercial with a juicy burger falling on some primo buns and it makes your mouth water. Or do you let a scientist sit there and tell you the truth about it, telling you the risks it poses, the global ramifications etc?

[@clocked0]

@@icecremer I'm certain he understood their intentions just fine. He just believes they should've actually educated, instead.

[@saltedbuttercups]

It IS cowardly. They have to invite someone who can debunk all his own arguments immediately after. They can't invite someone arguing from a point they actually believe in because then they might be convincing. They want to teach them how to respond to people questioning them without risking any of them actually thinking about the questions they're asked. The whole thing is just awful and manipulative.

[@dancahill9585]

So many Christian Apologists seem to have never heard of the concept of it being wrong to bear false witness.

[@c87_archive]

How is the universe "fined tuned" for us? We have one tiny speck of it and outside of that we will literally die. It's almost like we adapted to the surroundings or something.

[@EskChan19]

It's the puddle, saying the sinkhole in the road conforms so well to them that the sinkhole must have been specially made just for the puddle. I also don't get the cosmological argument. Why does the universe need a creator "because nothing can be eternal and just exist", so it needs to have been created by god who "is eternal and just exists"? Why move the goalpost like that? Why does god not need to play by the ultimate rule they just established? If something can apparently just exist and be eternal, because god apparently is, then why can't we just cut the middleman and say the universe is eternal and just exists?

[@shridharbiju7370]

Also the fact that we literally had to destory and rebuild our environments to make it habitable for us.

[@cnault3244]

Earth is fine-tuned for cockroaches.

[@shridharbiju7370]

@@cnault3244 I guess we found God's most beloved species. All Hail Our cockroach overlords.

[@cnault3244]

@@shridharbiju7370 Did you know that a cockroach can live a full week after its head has been removed from its body? While the cockroach can only survive a week without water, it can live without food for an entire month. As soon as a cockroach is born, it can almost run as fast as a grown cockroach. Some believe that cockroaches lived through the Carboniferous era over 280 million years ago. In other words, they've lived through it all, so make sure your strategy to eliminate them is more intimidating than the dinosaurs. The cockroach can hold its breath for about 40 minutes. Did you know that there are over 4,000 different species of cockroaches around the world?

[@ddiamond1572]

Every time I watch this video I always have the same two thoughts a second after each other: 1) that's actually pretty dope! They're trying to represent the other side as best they can without actually inviting an atheist! 2) wait... why not just actually invite an atheist?

[@MrVeps1]

Obviously you can't expose those impressionable youths to an actual atheist, because then there wouldn't be a happy denouement where the guest basically goes "Ignore every argument I put forth for atheism, it was all disingenuous and false!"

[@soliniv1411]

A real atheist would open their eyes

[@NicholasMaus]

why would he feel the need to be so subversive? my only explanation is to completely control the narrative because he could not defend himself without the strawman.

[@mrpop9725]

Answer to 2, their answers might be a bit too convincing

[@REDACTED-USER]

To be fair an not every atheist is the best representative for atheism so I am glad they're at least trying to cover that gap with a single mock atheist that can answer most of their questions, but I would rather them just bring in a well spoken one

[@PraiseTheFSMonster]

Pretending to be an atheist: Nonsensical arguments Revealed as a christian: See, atheism doesn't make sense.

[@onedaya_martian1238]

A christian lies...jesus took the punishment... that's how they "win" in their mind.

[@PraiseTheFSMonster]

@James Patrick That was his point. To be believable enough so that the Christian kids would think he was actually an atheist, but still bad arguments and nonsensical if you actually think about them.

[@digitalian99]

i would change "nonsensical arguments" into "not using the actual atheist argument but trying to pose as one to deliberately mislead people" argument yup, too wordy but more accurate

[@digitalian99]

@James Patrick they were nonsensical in the sense that they are not actual arguments by atheist, he actually "uncleverly" misrepresents the arguments

[@charlee_hotel]

The way this pretend atheist described this phony path to atheism should've been an easy way to tell that this man was not a real atheist. It just sounded way too cliché to be believable.

[@dianadoraen7864]

The end of this video is basically an anecdote: A boy comes home from school and tells his mom: "I don't believe in God anymore, I'm an atheist". Mother slapped him on the back of the head: "What terrible things you say! Go tell this to your father!" The boy goes to his father: "I'm an atheist now!" Father slapped his head and told him to go tell this to his grandfather. The boy went to all the family members, they all did the same and it's time for dinner. Everyone is gathered at the table, and the father asks: "So, what did you learn?" The boy says: "I've been an atheist since noon but already can't stand you Christians!"

[@DAWAHOVERDUNYA2]

He sounds like he's promoting Christianity even when he's posing as a Athiest.

[@Xarai]

Personally the way he talks and walks is pure preacher.ways

[@madams3478]

He certainly is a serious fellow. And asking people to believe only if it’s true is his way of saying, Don’t be a luke-warm Christian. It’s a “stack the deck” choice, I mean, these are teenagers in a Christian school for crying out loud. Instead, I want people to be luke-warm and loosey-goosey about whatever religion they’re in. For example, I’d love to have a Pagan wedding! No, I don’t really believe in it. But I like the ritual and I love the fact that it takes place outside in nature. It would be an “open source” Pagan wedding as it were. Of course, something to negotiate with my eventual spouse! Cheers. 🌈 🚴🏾‍♂️ 🚴🏽‍♂️ , 🚴‍♀️ 🚴🏽‍♀️ , 🚴🏾‍♂️ 🚴🏻‍♀️

[@DAWAHOVERDUNYA2]

@@madams3478 he sounds like he is using reverse psychology.

[@alex-qd6of]

He is.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"He sounds like he's promoting Christianity even when he's posing as a Athiest." As will an atheist promote atheism even while posing as a Christian.

[@lullasings3466]

When I can out as an atheist at age 15, my mom cried and said she feels like she failed as a parent. While I do think she failed as a parent by raising me as a christian in the first place, I don't think that me becoming an atheist is evidence of that. Mom, you taught me critical thinking since I was in preschool. In 7th grade, you made me take a course in logical fallacies. You taught me to be open minded and question everything. And most importantly, you gave me access to a child safe search engine and a precursor to KZbin Kids in sixth grade and later free range of the internet and KZbin. Those are things a good parent does. Yes, it was because of you that I became an atheist. But it's not your fault. It was the best thing that could ever happen to me. That is not a failure as a parent. That is a success.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"When I can out as an atheist at age 15" Perhaps you would be the first on this page (or even all of KZbin) to say what is an atheist, that you can come out as one!

[@carminegiaquinto7426]

in a book which over 2,000 years ago said that in the end, the moon will turn red which is happening now the moon is literally rusting, also in that book Jesus says towards the end times people will claim to be him AND deceive many, and there's multiple people who did that recently. It also says the bottom of the ocean has mountains and valleys while scientists back then believed it was flat. Jesus stated that he's aware people hate him and his followers, even to the point of them being tortured and killed so it's not like he was trying to be a favorited celebrity to the entire public, also there would be no point into creating a fictional figure to target that hatred away from the writer because the writer states that the followers will be hated too, Jesus also stated that in heaven there is no marriage and no one will be given into marriage in heaven so I doubt that's man-made and if you think it's because we say we're all children in the eyes of God that's not a valid argument because what's the difference if we're on earth? I can keep on going but I think you get the point, why live off the assumption that there's no God when there's evidence for so much more? At least look into it more and sorry some "Christians" mistreat you

[@spiceforspice3461]

@@carminegiaquinto7426 The moon turning red likely referred to a lunar eclipse, which literally makes the moon appear red, and not rusting, as there is not enough iron on the surface of the moon for any significant amount of rusting to be noticeable from earth. There have been people who have claimed to be the second coming of Jesus since he died. If you could point me to any verse about the bottom of the ocean not being flat, I would appreciate it. I literally could not find a single verse about the shape of the ocean floor. But overall, there is no reason to believe that "the end times" are coming any time soon.

[@Bill_Garthright]

@@carminegiaquinto7426 _why live off the assumption that there's no God when there's evidence for so much more?_ Evidence? Really? OK, I'll call your bluff. How about *one piece of good evidence* that your god is real, rather than just imaginary? Alternately, I'd accept *one piece of good evidence* that _any_ of the magical/supernatural stories in the Bible actually happened. (Your choice.) I'm not interested in a Gish Gallop of vague claims, but you claim that there's evidence, so can you demonstrate that your claim is true with even *one* example?

[@schoo9256]

Yeah, growing up my parents constantly reinforced how important it was to question every message we received from the world, then were surprised when I couldn't help but apply those critical thinking skills to our religion...

[@nickt463]

I once tried having a logical debate with a preacher when i was young. My dad brought him to my house to "change" me. He asked me if I would read some of his books and it would make me have a new outlook on life. He said I would have to do it without thinking I already know the answers. I said "sure why not, but only if you read some books I have with out the preconceived notion that you are right and i am wrong." He flat out refused. He said "I can't do that because I am right and you are wrong". I said "then we can't have a intellectually honest conversation and this is pointless." It ended with him screaming at me lmfao.

[@rogueninja185]

You live in a country of mentally deranged people. I didnt know people tried to "cure" family members from atheism over there. I thought this was only depicted in some science fiction or dystopian novels/ tv shows. effing scary

[@l3unnies]

@@rogueninja185 correct, it’s terrifying

[@kevinramsey417]

@@rogueninja185 You have no idea how deranged.

[@gustercc]

Alyssa: How bad could it have been? Holden: Put it this way: have you ever heard a nun call an eight year-old boy a f***ing c*nt rag? -Chasing Amy

[@timq6224]

my religious journey ended with a preacher telling me "you must take it on faith" -- If I have to believe something that is contrary to logic and reality, then I want no part of it.

[@VanHalenIsolated]

We are, as atheists, okay with not knowing an answer. We follow the evidence. The best line is by you! You said something along the lines of, “The Christian Sean is presenting arguments as atheist Sean in a way that only Christian Sean knows how to refute. If he actually believed what he was saying then he’d be an actual atheist.” Love this! Lastly, I used to be a Christian too and studied the Bible up and down. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to play devil’s advocate (pun intended) on the part of a Christian apologetic without a good amount of bias. It’s like taking the one color pill in the Matrix (I forget if it’s blue or red) that shows reality; I can’t unlearn such logical thinking that I’d be able to convert back to Christianity. When I was a Christian, I really had a lot of questions, however. There was a part of me that thought, “this all sounds like bull sh|t.” That’s because it is. Now, there may actually be a god! I just DON’T KNOW. There’s isn’t any (not little, or even minute) evidence for a creator that can be proved. Why would an all loving god create me and others to exist then? That’s a cruel god.

[@Tysto]

"How can you not believe in God? The universe is fine-tuned for human life!" he said, as he put on his hat, coat, & gloves for the walk out to his car.

[@realstreetjesus1953]

For real, it’s he universe is not fine tuned for our existence, most of the universe is completely inhabitable. We have simply adapted to our surroundings according to our needs.

[@conspiracycolumbo1047]

Almost every part of the universe is tuned to make life impossible. And deadly to any life that went anywhere near it. If there is other life than us in the universe (there has to be I'm sure). Its very rare and going anywhere other than their own planet is deadly to life. The universe was not fine tuned for life. Even the term "fine tuned" suggests it was the product of some conscious decision and there is no way of knowing that to be true. Life adapted to some tiny fraction of the universe. It came about in spite of the hostile nature of the universe to life. And nature can easily cause any life to become extinct at a mere crash of an asteroid or eruption of a super volcano at any time. Life is fleeting. The universe does not require life in any way shape of form.

[@justanotherhomosapian5101]

Why did i find this poetic👁👄👁

[@AzureViking]

Kinda like when you're looking for something you lost and it's always in the last place you look. Because obviously you would stop looking at that point. Its not some great miracle or coincidence.

[@MaDPuPPeTgames]

@@AzureViking I'll respectfully reject that analogy. "last place you look" generally means you've looked in every place conceivable and the last possibly place it can be is where you find it, as opposed to finding it on the table before you've even looked in the cupboard. it doesn't mean literally the last place you looked before stopping.

[@sheenbro99]

I thought he was an atheist until he took the glasses off. Such a great disguise.

[@fedoraspeaks8962]

I mean hey, it worked for superman.

[@25dollarbill24]

According to the God-despising fools who like to say _"I'm an atheist, but Christians are atheists too; I just happen to believe in one less god than they believe in!"_ he is an atheist.

[@bororobo3805]

He just needed a spandex underneath some Victoria secret panties and a cape

[@xyzedits1]

@@25dollarbill24 And according to the science-denying bozos who like to say, "I'm a Christian, but Atheists are just 1 step away from agnosticism and then 1 step closer to Christianity!", all atheists are just 2 steps from being Christian.

[@Dalek59862]

​@@25dollarbill24nobody says that.

[@undine8750]

"I'm trying not to set up a strawman." Well he's right. He isn't setting up a strawman, he is becoming the strawman.

[@corberus3119]

i'd say muppet with the way he flails his arms around whenever he talks

[@universenerdd]

@@BobSmith-ew5oi This is unreadable

[@liranpiade4499]

I do believe that his attempt, although unsuccessful, was genuine.

[@marthaworc7873]

The scare crow, made of straw, in the Wizard of Oz: "If I only had a brain".

[@Dalek59862]

@@BobSmith-ew5oi was this the love child of a monkey and a typewriter?

[@pixywings]

"Sometimes it sucks to be an atheist here." Tell me about it! Quite often I just pretend to be a Christian because I don't want to start an incredibly annoying debate about it. I just pretend to be Christian and never talk about it because I don't like being on the receiving end of ridicule and hate. Even though Sean can never truly 100% represent an atheist, it is refreshing to see a Christian who can treat us with respect and empathy, and at least tries to understand.

[@DRKLRD-kv4cm]

Does people around you gives a damn about your belief system so much?🫠🫠🫠

[@stephenpowstinger733]

I’m not sure how enthusiastic Sean’s “pretend” atheism is. As pointed out, his “atheist” arguments are weak and diluted from the philosophical original argument.

[@atoms-to-atoms]

In my country praying before a meal is customary while holding hands...as a sign of respect you hold hands, then look for the other wide-eyed atheists in the room while the host says a prayer.

[@bullscott12]

As a former secret Atheist Science Teacher at a fundamentalist Christian school I guarantee you that there were many students in that crowd that were secretly atheists. At my school they flocked to me like moths to a flame because honestly I’m terrible at hiding my beliefs and because I was the only person in their lives that made them feel able to ask questions. Even despite that small story of the atheist girl at the end, I would expect that a number of them were crushed by this bait and switch. For the first time they were being acknowledged and then they had that ripped away. Just awful.

[@firephantom115]

"I would expect that a number of them would be crushed by this bait and switch. for the first time they were being acknowledged and then they had that ripped away." EXACTLY. that's partially why what he did annoys me.

[@treacherousjslither6920]

I was fortunate enough to never have to hide my atheism. Was still forced to attend church though.

[@bullscott12]

@@treacherousjslither6920 To be honest I have never had to hide it either besides the 2 years I worked at that school. I frankly lied about my involvement in religion to get that job in the first place to land the position as it was the first teaching job I got out of University so in the end it was probably my own fault lol

[@treacherousjslither6920]

@@bullscott12 Yeah sounds like it was lol

[@An_Idiot_in_the_Wild]

Absolutely, yep, it's a pathetic and revolting little tactic, on many levels.

[@RickReasonnz]

Imagine an atheist doing this as a "Christian." The uproar would be deafening.

[@mysteriiis]

I demand this be the plot of Borat 3!

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

no no I would like us to set up a new religion teapotism based on teapots lets make the doctrines and copy most if not all arguments for christianity and make some of our own to demonstrate the flaws of christianity

[@EiferBrennan]

I'd love to do that, or at least see it.

[@martifingers]

I am not so sure. It would be an acid test in a way for atheists ability to steel man the argument..

[@queerlibtardhippie9357]

Lemme guess... you also think that people would get in an uproar if the genders were switched in a even more trivial matter

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

Nothing says "defending the faith" like bearing false witness.

[@onedaya_martian1238]

Ironic "Amen" brother.

[@onyxtay7246]

Lying for Jesus!

[@spiritbx1337]

Good thing that there's nothing about this in his book that would mean that he is going to suffer for eternity. Wait... What was that last part of you comment again?

[@brotbrotsen1100]

It's not a problem, whenever Jesus is angry you just say "sorry for the sin and stuff J.C" And your good again.

[@seand.g423]

Well it benefits them, and locks the uncertain down that much tighter, so, _of fucking course_ it could never _possibly_ count...

[@sun1one1]

As if a Christian school would ever invite an atheist to speak.

[@fje_grg]

some would - not all christians are apologetic or evangelist

[@shadwkeepr9107]

“I’m not trying to set up a straw man” *Becomes the straw man

[@justincarroll1836]

Bruh he's so full of straw that a farmer could line a horse pen with him

[@bluedragonfly8139]

Dude should be skipping down the yellow brick road with Dorothy and Toto.

[@procrastinator99]

I'M THE STRAWMAN NOW lol

[@stylis666]

I think that's an unfair assessment. Sean came really close to understanding the arguments and he just really doesn't understand them better than that. Genetically Modified Skeptic explained and showed that with footage of Sean making the apologist arguments. I think that Sean honestly tried his best and he is just sincerely wrong.

[@Joelkiioncharles]

What a chad

[@atheisticallypleasing6158]

I'd have been extremely disappointed if this had been my experience: there would have been students there experiencing doubt regarding their beliefs with associated relief that finally an athiest was speaking up - only to feel duped by the very school that has imposed and enforced their rules & regulations up until that point.

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

YES. This was my first thought when I watched this. I just imagine feeling like, “Finally, a safe person. Maybe I’ll be able to tell someone.” and then finding out they were an apologist who might talk to my teacher if I tell them. It’d be awful.

[@austinlincoln3414]

Yeah thats uhh.. thats uhh.. cancer

[@SuperCraft1999]

I thought the same yeah. Allthough that is to no discredit to Sean. I think he's a genuine person that's trying his best to make Christians more accepting.

[@thestraycat907]

@@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic Its gaslighting...hiring a fake atheist, a poser. I would like to see these schools hire real atheists who have the ability to answer students questions accurately. Do you do any public speaking?

[@Maladjester]

Great that he tells them to be nice, but he still reveals himself as a professional liar who fears the opposition far too much to ever actually face it. To me, typical. To the students, we can hope it's disillusioning.

[@Goldenrod6901]

This reminds me of the time I went to service where the preacher talked about athiest views and brought up a bunch of things that we don't (we come from rocks, we just want to sin, evolution is false bc abiogenesis) and when I talked to him after about how athiests don't think that way and he said "I know" and that's when I stopped going to service

[@muchotexto4248]

Two sentences. He admitted to be aware of the exposure to bullshit and his will to take it as truth in two sentences

[@boianko]

@@muchotexto4248 It's one sentence and two words

[@Name-ru1kt]

Remember the goal of many of these things is to make money. Taking advantage of one’s religion is one of the many services out there people do. Saying stuff like that makes it much easier to keep them coming back because they will refuse to speak with atheists.

[@whoeverofhowevermany]

This is awful 😂 those students should feel completely coddled at that point. Even when they are exposed to a real opposing worldview it has to turn out to be faked.

[@skyholmes5322]

"We know this because of philosophy" no we don't. That's not what philosophy is for

[@crawbug8932]

If you think really hard, you'll eventually get to the right answer.

[@zenithquasar9623]

Like, somehow philosophy is universal truth or something! Christian apologists rely so heavily on it!

[@Grantalope10]

What is philosophy for if not answers?

[@crawbug8932]

@@Grantalope10 For philosophy to get you the right answers, you need to start with the right information. Saying "We know this because philosophy" is akin to saying "we know this because of logic". Both are just processes.

[@Marniwheeler]

@@crawbug8932 yet that is considered a legit argument by many I have interacted with. Logic exists - Therefore God

[@orsettomorbido]

Those poor students :( And that poor girl who literally went to him and told him she was an atheist :( Hope they're all doing well.

[@Name-ru1kt]

I mean there is a reason why atheist are a minority in Texas. If you are not a Christian then pack your bags and leave as soon as you can.

[@killeanmcchesney5138]

Just screams closeted something we just won’t ever know until he winds up on a list lol

[@Steef_Lee]

If a Christian ever figured out how to convincingly portray an atheist I’m pretty sure they’d just be an atheist lol

[@lockevalentine997]

Lol, and this is why we have yet to see one.

[@douglasdixon8027]

Spot on!

[@MyNameIsChristBringsASword]

I was an atheist so I know how you think already fool - and by the way, you're going to hell without faith in what Jesus did for us.

[@Steef_Lee]

@@MyNameIsChristBringsASword well at least you got the hatred and immaturity down like a true Christian.

[@MyNameIsChristBringsASword]

@@Steef_Lee poor thing your feelings are hurt. Did my free speech upset you?

[@Hideotronic]

I’m very fortunate that my parents, who have been christian missionaries my entire life, are still willing to have dialogue with me about religion, politics and existential questions. I first told them I was not a Christian when I first got to college, but the seeds for the deconstruction of my faith had been there as early as middle and high school. Even when I came out as bisexual to them, they did take it personally, they cried and said they “fear for my soul”, but they didn’t cut ties with me or shame me for leaving the church, which I’m told by most of my friends is an extremely uncommon reaction. It’s so tough to talk with them sometimes because they are both well educated, loving people, but they have absolutely committed their entire lives to Jesus and spreading Christianity to the world that it seems impossible that either of us will change our minds. The best thing I can say about them is that they value their connection with me as their son more than their faith or any ideologies they posses, and I think that’s worth celebrating at least.

[@WackWacky-vc5ed]

That is an uncommon reaction. This is why I will never tell my parents I don't believe in god and just go along with whatever they say

[@SenhorAlien]

"This is a problem science can't answer, it doesn't have evidence, but it isn't a problem for Christianity, because we don't have to prove any of our assumptions!"

[@Dozav7]

Someone had to create the universe, but since god is outside of space and time and has always existed, we don’t have to explain what created god.

[@deesott5123]

Hhahaha You say presumption we say welcome to knowing a God who is just that amazing and can do all things. Jesus loves you and died for our sins amen beautiful day to serve the Lord Jesus

[@SenhorAlien]

@@Dozav7 go ahead and explain how something can exist outside of time and space, first of all, and then explain why the universe didn't come about by itself. Good luck.

[@SenhorAlien]

@@deesott5123 ridiculous.

[@maxuwl]

@@Dozav7 i dont think the bibble says anything about space and time

[@hannahbeanies8855]

It would almost seem a person who was previously Christian would be better at playing a Christian than Sean, who has never been an atheist, is at playing an atheist.

[@betadecay6503]

Sean has been an atheist. Everyone has.

[@laislyra5512]

I can't even pretend to be a Christian anymore. Last time I pretended to be a Christian to a member of my family I deliberately said I accepted evolution, because it was the only way I could still retain some of my intellectual integrity.

[@TorianTammas]

@@laislyra5512 A lot of Christians accept evolution, most of them are outside the US

[@laislyra5512]

​@@TorianTammas I think Brazil is unfortunately not one of these countries XD This cousin I talked to went on saying "there's little hope for a Christian who believes in evolution" and literally admitted he wouldn't accept any scientific evidence if it didn't support the Bible and that it is devil's work. But I mean, what can I do? Pretend I didn't go to school and that I didn't have to remove my wisdom tooth?

[@jakeand9020]

@@TorianTammas Funny, so many people have a hard time grasping how vast and diverse the US really is, especially Americans. I'd say at least 50% of christians in my area believe in evolution, there are very few literalists around here.

[@moonbeam0099]

I like how Atheists allow people to say "I don't know". That is how I live my life. I have explained to many people that there are questions in life that are simply unanswerable. I respect those who need religion to help them cope with that, but I personally don't need someone who soothe me and hold my hand because it's scary not knowing how the universe works. Just calm down. It changes nothing in the end. What matters is whether you are a decent person for your short time here. Would appreciate religious people not pushing beliefs into laws and politics though.

[@stbr9571]

Religion was created as another form of governance nothing more nothing less.

[@lumbagoboi1649]

@@stbr9571 exactly, religion started as a way for early humans to creatively represent the world around them, it's in our nature. Then of course, religion was used as a way for laying down rules and morals for governments. History shows us that religion is more a reflection of the beliefs of whatever people created it, not some god.

[@anaalina5964]

There are no questions that are "unanswerable". We just need to live long enough to answer it by learning more about science.

[@nerdfantasyxox]

@@anaalina5964 I mean, there’s always the chance we won’t ever have answers either and need to be ok with that. Humans are obsessed with having “meaning and purpose” in their life vs simply trying to be the best version of themself for themself in a universe and planet so big you’re really unnoticeable outside yourself and those close. The best you can hope for is peace within you perspective, empathy for what you see from your view point, and acceptance of the inevitable; then move on.

[@rianmacdonald9454]

i would rather questions that cannot be answered, than answers that can not be questioned. therefore i will never ever no matter what accept or convert to any religion, period at all.

[@TheVardener]

I was legitimately shocked when he brought up that story at the end. Like, I thought it was going to be a clearly fake story about how he converted someone who was coming out of the faith. But him addressing that and just letting that hang, makes me think he was telling the truth in not trying to set up a strawman, but legitimately just did it on accident.

[@ichabod1370]

*By* accident; *on* purpose. English is and always has been extremely weird.

[@TheVardener]

@@ichabod1370 Huh. Never made that mistake before, it was like 2 AM when I made that comment though.

[@ichabod1370]

@@TheVardener Not surprising -- young people have been "correcting" the oddity of that pairing lately in their speech and writing, so I expect that "on accident; on purpose" will win out in the end, ugly as "on accident" sounds.

[@TheVardener]

@@ichabod1370 It doesn't really matter either way, they honestly sound the same to me.

[@ATTACKofthe6STRINGS]

I’ve been in church long enough in a variety of places to where I can say that stories like this one are told because they’re true, and a painful reminder of how we often fail. I think I know of 2 or 3 stories that I’ve heard told about situations regarding the way people leave or view the church. The infrequency with which the church as a body ever talks about this with this level of candidness is, to me, evidence of how these stories end up sticking with the people who have to live through them. As a Christian who has asked himself all kinds of questions regarding my faith, how I want to live it out, how the values I’ve been taught do or don’t match up with the way I’ve been taught to live them, etc, my time since college has been filled with meeting people outside the church, interacting with them, building friendships with them, etc. I don’t have any stories that stand out to me anymore, other than the ones I carry with me from my childhood, because I have my own experiences with being marginalized by the loudly religious, and because I’ve met so many people that it doesn’t stand out to me anymore. Whatever you believe about religious people, the one truth they share with normal people that applies to this situations are that the stories they tell that demonstrate how they suck tend to have the vivid detail they do because the moment stuck out and stuck with the person. An easy example on a lighter topic, with me as the subject: I was helping out with Vacation Bible School as a teen. I was playing my guitar for one of the activities and, when it ended, a girl who couldn’t have been more than 7-8 years old came up to me and asked me why I was using a pick. Not being sure what she meant, and not really thinking much of her question, I said because it just sounds different than playing with my fingers. She said something like “I know that, but why?” Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to clarify what she meant, as we had to move on to the next activity, but I will never forget feeling so embarrassed that I didn’t take her question seriously. I’m 30, now, and that experience, along with my own experiences with adults not taking me seriously when I was a kid, almost entirely shape the way I talk to kids today. I refuse to allow myself to speak to kids in a way where they might feel that I’m dismissing them or their problems almost entirely because of that single interaction I had as a maybe 15 or 16 year old boy.

[@kimjong-un1136]

He is a polite presenter and I'm glad he didn't portray atheists in a hostile light as I've seen so many Christians do online. That being said, none of his fake arguments for 'atheism' were solid and sound seeming because he wasn't an atheist. You could ask an atheist why they believe what they do, and they'll usually be able to provide many in-depth answers and insights. He didn't present strong arguments that advocated people to agree with him which is not what atheism is for many people. I saw that he merely presented that he disagreed and didn't believe in the Christian teaching, more than represent actual solid reasons as to why. If he were an actual atheist invited to share his opinion on stage, I would immediately consider there were many other people who could offer a much better description than he could. I will be honest, finding out he wasn't an atheist wasn't too surprising for me based on what he said.

[@TheDeath138]

You're right. He didn't portray Atheists in a hostile light. He did however portray them as dishonest and simply contrarian.

[@kimjong-un1136]

@@TheDeath138 It's odd really. In the life I've lived so far, I cannot recall a time I met a dishonest or unpleasant atheist, but I do know many dishonest religious folk.

[@midnytemassacre]

Bruh... If you were a Christian would you present a stance that would, potentially, cause ppl to leave your faith? 🤣

[@aguyontheinternet8436]

To be fair, it was all he needed to say, because the students matched him with equally nonsense/disappointing questions. Like when the girl asked him why he would believe in all that science stuff when he could just believe in God. She then continues that _awesome_ question with saying they perhaps believe in science because it's easier than believing that they are all sinners, before he cut her off.

[@realdavebob]

@@kimjong-un1136 Right!?

[@waterblonk]

“I’m not trying to set up a strawman” “Also multiverse”

[@ChefMimsy]

No shit!

[@erin1569]

Even if we count the comment sections, I have seen a total of 2 atheists quoting the multiverse as an explanation. I guess "We don't know, but adding a personality to whatever started the universe is unnecessary and unevidenced." would make too much sense.

[@erin1569]

Also StRiNg ThEoRy

[@Leszek.Rzepecki]

Most atheists I've come across don't use"multiverse!" as an all-purpose excuse. I find myself that a simple "we don't know" is good enough. It's religious apologists who are arrogant and cocksure enough to be 100% certain how the universe began.

[@creativerealms]

He probably thinks that's an atheist's strongest answer.

[@charliehorse8686]

If you turn down the volume and just watch him move his arms and walk, it's just obvious he's been preaching for years.

[@slevinchannel7589]

Know Atheist Hbomberguy?

[@Killerbee4712]

@@slevinchannel7589 That's a funny one tho lol, he's a youtuber

[@tristanogrambuckley4945]

46:10 Beautifully said. It really was very nice to hear an apologist acknowledge this, and I hope Sean sees this and takes it to heart.

[@larahamilton2273]

You can always tell a Christian by the way they say and pronounce “God” and “Jesus”. It’s subtle but pay attention.

[@swolejeezy2603]

It’s like airy and mystical and drawn-out

[@kdarkwynde]

Yep.

[@pascalsimioli6777]

It's like they cream their pants everytime.

[@quirkyredpanda7201]

Also using adjectives like 'holy' and 'almighty' I dont think I've ever heard an atheist refer to a God as 'holy' God.

[@hossamtarek2272]

Peace, blessing, and mercy of our Munificent creator be upon you, my beloved reader😊. I am inviting you to worship our creator by accepting Islam and to study the evidence of his existence. The scientific, metaphysical, historical, and linguistic miracles presented in the heavenly book (the Holy Quran ) that has been sent by our creator are sufficient pieces of evidence. Study the challenge of creating 1 chapter like the Quran. check out the reason that made all the attempts failed. The scientific miracles in the Quran that was revealed more than 1400 years ago include the chemical composition of the human, the expansion of the universe, the knocking star, the rotation of the earth, the gender determining factor, the orbits, the chronological comparisons of developments of the zygote and the fetus, the origin of the universe, the function of the mountains, the movements of the sun and the earth, the vision in the deep seas, the forbidden breeding ( between some relatives ) , and other scientific miracles. So, raise your hand to the sky asking your Limitless creator who created you, fed you, and put his mercy on you to help you in finding the truth. ask him for everything. www.islamreligion.com/category/33/evidence-islam-is-truth/ quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en kzbin.info Thanks, My beautiful researcher for the truth ❤️.

[@DrCbass123]

Students should have known he’s an apologetics professor based on his use of spiked hair, fully buttoned untucked plaid shirt, and trendy glasses. He’s hip.

[@m0j0b0ne]

If we're splitting hairs, he didn't button the top button.

[@DrCbass123]

@@m0j0b0ne lol very true. He tried to low key play it off.

[@hellkat2285]

@@DrCbass123 Maybe he did it "ironically".

[@IAMTHELION622]

Visit The Book Of Life Project on Instagram

[@jaya1000]

I'm a real atheist and can confirm we dont use hair gel or wear fancy shirts. We also dont fly across the country to speak to a room full of christian children during a global pandemic. The fact these students couldnt call bullshit immediately is exactly why they are the way they are. No street smarts.

[@saltoftheegg]

I LOVE how he takes his glasses off for the big reveal. Peak camp.

[@egg_bun_]

Lmaoooo

[@TalosCreepypasta]

Sean is playing chess against himself with a clear winner in mind, then claiming to be teaching students the best way to play.

[@battlecast9202]

"I believe in the multiverse, and that is the beginning of our universe" I don't know any atheist that LEADS with something like this.

[@aninsimone]

He's the first.....its so dumb. Very condescending

[@JeroenDoes]

as an athiest I would just say : "i do not know" Where does the universe come from? Wel I hold 2 contradicting believes 1. The conversation of energy 2. Everything has a beginning and an end. These 2 believes do not work together but both make logical sense in 99% of the cases. There is the big bang but conversation of energy demands something before the big bang so it is not the start. In the end I must simply admit that I do not know everything, no one does. God has the same problem btw, conversation of matter also demands god is made from something by something.

[@adashofbitter]

I've never come across an atheist who even uses the concept of the multiverse as an argument against god at all... I know some people who tentatively believe in the multiverse, but are also well aware that it's at the fringes of theoretical physics and not supported by any data whatsoever, only that it's a mathematical possibility. But even people who believe in it don't think it either proves or negates the existence of any god. It's just irrelevant to the discussion.

[@haurenox7686]

Yep, since when atheism was about cosmology? The best scientists in the world who study these complex questions don't know yet but believers in a book about talking snakes and zombies know exactly how the universe formed...

[@ditzfough]

@@JeroenDoes conversation LMFAO!!

[@jasondumas3612]

Imagine his plan backfired and he actually convinced a few of them to leave their faith lol

[@Bill_Garthright]

That might actually happen. Who knows? Once they realize he was lying to them about being an atheist, they might start wondering about what _else_ he's been lying about.

[@jasondumas3612]

@@Bill_Garthright I really hope so

[@nayanmalig]

@@jasondumas3612 LOL same here - the irony

[@MyNameIsChristBringsASword]

That's the beauty of salvation. Once saved always saved. You cannot lose it. Nice try Satan. Nice try.

[@iamfilleg]

@@MyNameIsChristBringsASword Does that go for all the atheists that once were “saved”?

[@MisterRorschach90]

Well. Now I want to go to a Christian college and pose as a Christian. Shouldn’t be too hard since I was one for almost 2 decades and also posed as one before admitting I didn’t believe.

[@jtveg]

Well said. 🤣

[@cy-one]

As someone who was never a Christian, I'm pretty sure I'd also be able to fake it convincingly.

[@filthymcnasty7783]

i could fake it. . .and their vow of chastity too.

[@jtveg]

@@filthymcnasty7783 I fake that all the time. 🤣

[@audimaster5000]

It’s kinda like stolen valor only not really. Lolz

[@sjn9195]

as someone from the uk i am actually rather shocked that there is such a thing as a class in "christian apologetics" in any school or university. perhaps i have led a sheltered life!

[@catherinegrimes2308]

Like you, I am from the UK. I find the religiosity of the US to be puzzling and quite scary. The interesting thing is that our country is the second most institutionally religious country in the world, the first being Iran. In our schools we have compulsory religious assemblies, religious instruction/knowledge. We have unelected lords and Bishops in the House of Lords. Yet hardly anybody goes to church. I watched the coronation of King Charles on TV and found the church service to be really bizarre. It is high time that the institutions of our state became secular.

[@ack7956]

Hey ho, a silly American here. This sort of class is *not* the norm in my experience; they typically exist in specifically theistic private schools, not in forms of public education. We do often have theology classes, but that is evidently quite different than an apologetics class. Believe me, even though I already know it happens: I'm shocked too. Each and every time.

[@CampingforCool41]

This is a christian private school, not a public school.

[@GruntDestroyarChannel]

True, but the religious studies in my experience in high school, were quite objective and just studied the practices of the most popular religions in the world. Mostly to raise awareness of peoples difference in a melting pot like the uk

[@cutienerdgirl]

There are theologians that study all or many religions in university.

[@vict632]

The "fine tuned" argument is flawed from the beginning. The universe wasn't made to have us specifically. *We* were molded into fitting in the universe and planet we live in. We evolved to fit our enviroment. And with plenty of flaws, at that.

[@ParaSpite]

"99.999999...% of the universe would kill us if we stepped into it without some kind of environment suit. Most would need a vacuum suit, a lot would require some kind of radiation shielding in addition to that. And you think this universe was fine-tuned for life? Are you _crazy?!"_

[@Schnittertm1]

@@ParaSpite You don't need to go that far. The natural conditions on the majority of Earth, as well as some of the critters that evolved alongside us, are also quite harmful. Think deserts, the deep oceans, storms, volcanic eruptions and such for the one and all manners of virii, bacteria, insects, arachnids, snakes or predators for the other. Not even this planet was fine tuned for life and is giving it a constant struggle to survive. Similarly, if we humans hadn't had the luck to have our brains evolved to the state it is in now, we wouldn't be nearly as successful, being able to find ways to survive in many conditions found on this planet. Conditions, that weren't meant for land based mammals like us.

[@LashknifeTalon]

Lots of organisms including us have imperfect adaptations to their environments; humans aren't perfect at standing, we're not perfectly adapted to bipedalism so it fatigues us. The structures of sphincters are...not well designed for the musculature of our anuses, leading to varying problems like hemorrhoids. Several of our instincts that worked really well as hunter-gatherers don't work nearly as well in highly organized agricultural societies.

[@ryderthacker840]

There are 12 fundamental constants in physics that if they were changed at all life in any shape or form would not be able to exist since there would not be enough complexity. That is the argument and it is a real one that physicists are perplexed about atheist or not.

[@gxulien]

A puddle woke up one day and marvelled at how it fit exactly in the depression in the pavement that it found itself in.

[@letsomethingshine]

That schools should have simply invited an actual atheist with some intelligence... But that would be a danger to them, so they had to merely "pretend" with a safety switch (a Christian merely pretending to be atheist).

[@mrfink-lf5pq]

Atheist Sees Unimaginable Levels of Torment in Hell (Bryan Melvin NDE) - KZbin

[@Sunaki1000]

Currently beeing Atheist means your rejected by 40% of the People in Elections. A Americal would rater vote for a Muslim then an Atheist. Only Socialism is less popular. So it was likely bias.

[@thenotsoamazinggracetnsag3463]

@@Sunaki1000 I wouldn’t see a problem with voting a Muslim as long as they keep there religion separate from their job (as any theist president should). But yeah it’s a problem when people won’t vote for others just because of their religion.

[@Sunaki1000]

@@thenotsoamazinggracetnsag3463 Yeah, thats a good Philosophy. I share that. (I was not implying anything negative about Muslims, but they usually face a lot of Prejudice, so seeing Atheism lower was surprising, and worrysome)

[@ilovecookiesization]

@@Sunaki1000 Imagine needing to have your countries leader be of a certain religion to be president instead of proficiency and actual skill I can solve America's debt and create a surplus but I'm an atheist

[@josephmatthews7698]

My god these questions from students absolutely breaks my heart. "Why you do hard stuff like science? Ain't God easier?"

[@SillyRoneo]

I'm disturbed

[@gamingguard1an167]

Nice quote. However, I couldn't seem to find that anywhere throughout the hour-long full debate video. Where'd you get it from?

[@imfamoushippo0423]

Second on gaming guardian

[@josephmatthews7698]

@@gamingguard1an167 No problem we all make mistakes. I'm paraphrasing obviously but it's the young lady at 9:00 who asked what I simplified.

[@josephmatthews7698]

@@imfamoushippo0423 9:00 young lady. I paraphrased obviously instead of writing the several sentences she said.

[@winderps]

It's almost like this conversation would be better served for both sides by having an actual atheist do the debate with the students. Crazy thought.

[@Slythe01]

I like this saying I heard - "God is not an answer to any question. God is just another question masquerading as an answer"

[@aazhie]

That's a great one!

[@goldenalt3166]

They define "God" as "the answer" and that answer is "shut up!".

[@vincegonzalez2171]

So then, what created god?

[@DoctaOsiris]

Typical, a theist self-gratifies himself about how good he acted as an Atheist and still doesn't realise how badly he failed at it... 🤦‍♂️💥

[@onedaya_martian1238]

I thought he was pretty good actually. He actually made a rational person state out loud that they don't believe in a christian god. If that didn't make McDowell's Grinch mind grow 3x more critical, I don't know what would.

[@DoctaOsiris]

@@onedaya_martian1238 I haven't gotten to that part yet tbh, I'm still only halfway through the video, but from what I've seen upto now he's been blatantly dishonest at least twice and used word salad at least once, not to mention that no Atheist worth their salt in debating apologists would never have done any of that or used any of the arguments he's used so for now I'm relatively unimpressed 🙃

[@Salsuero]

How many would even try? Credit where credit is due. At least there was an effort.

[@Salsuero]

@@DoctaOsiris To say that no atheist would do what he did or say the things he said is 100% dishonest. You can't make claims for all atheists. We aren't all intellectually superior to the rest of the world and plenty of atheists don't know what they're talking about when they engage in debate. This guy at least gave it a go, which is far more than can be said of most hyper closed-minded Christians, or representatives of other religions. He wasn't perfect. He's a Christian, so he does have a bias. And he's not an atheist, so he doesn't exactly believe the things he's talking about... which means it's difficult for him to "honestly" represent them. But he is trying to be fair. The fact that he's a Christian means he's simply unable to adequately serve the true atheist perspective. But for a Christian, he did a pretty reasonable job... something I could have sat through and at least not been constantly rolling my eyes. I might have cringed once or twice. But that's way better than listening to him talk about Christianity.

[@DoctaOsiris]

@@Salsuero Actually, what you said is the dishonest part, what I actually said (had you bothered actually reading it properly before deciding to immediately berate me over a strawman version of what I actually said) was: "no Atheist worth his salt when debating an apologist" so no, I wasn't referring to all Atheists at all, just a select few so maybe don't try to strawnan what I said and that might go a bit further into opening up a dialogue rather than blatantly misrepresenting what I actually said 🤷 Or did you learn nothing from the video?

[@Ropetupa]

...when you actually bring real life straw-man to teach people outdated ideas, you have to ask yourself: why do you have to lie to defend those ideas?

[@jaya1000]

White supremacy.

[@matthewhenry9044]

Commands of Jesus are not outdated, need not be defended and requires no lies be told.

[@jaya1000]

@@matthewhenry9044 thats what plantation owners used to say.

[@matthewhenry9044]

Rope, You're deleting my replies to this dude why? Because you has an hidden agenda in your atheism and want me to appear a certain way? This is the atheist behavior I know well. I screenshot my last and I will this one and I wont be back

[@biblebot3947]

@@matthewhenry9044 YT often deletes comments. Nobody’s maliciously deleting them. If you find a comment deleted, then repost it until it isn’t. Maybe change a few things that might make YT flag it…. Or just use it to fuel your persecution complex.

[@coltonius]

The fundamental flaw in Sean’s argument is the assumption that “I don’t know the answer,” is the same as, “There IS no answer.”

[@monitoradiation]

"I thought I'd bring in someone who does what I do to you, but this time, he's not pretending...." *a few 30 minutesses later* "I was totally pretending". Way to build trust with your students, lol.

[@liamfarranree4433]

If the students take any lesson from this stunt it should be the need to question everything told to you by authority figures, most especially when they insist you can trust them.

[@jarrodpurvis2611]

If only the Bible said something against lying, then they probably wouldn’t do this stuff. Oh well.

[@crono276]

@@jarrodpurvis2611 If you're talking about bearing false witness, they already have an answer for that.

[@NissaMaezHartman]

"Ok, I'm unenrolling now, and transferring to a REAL college!" 😂

[@NissaMaezHartman]

@@liamfarranree4433 Absolutely! Question everything!!!

[@Augustus-mk1du]

I actually have respect for this guy who acknowledges the pain an atheist goes through coming out. I still have not because my family is basically the population of Arkansas and my close family is the only people who know of my atheism, my dad especially. My dad is great at answering my questions respectfully and encouraging my curiosity. Props to dad and this guy.

[@salasyk8708]

Someone gets the point. People kept asking why didn't they being an actual atheist. Well, that wasn't really the point. The point was to have people learn their bad and contradicting behaviors. It was to show that Christians can really be at fault. So, go out and treat an atheist good. Treat them with respect and stay calm. Be friendly. Being noticably defensive and showing any negative emotions will contradict you as a person and what you believe in. Too many atheists here missing the point.

[@dimanarinull9122]

@@salasyk8708 wait a minute. this whole operation was your idea in the first place! do you think we have forgotten the Library of Alexandria? Pepperidge Farm remembers. "Well, that wasn't really the point" it WAS, bringing an imposter that use deception and lies is detrimental to future interaction ESPECIALLY when the intention is to prevent future hostilities. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is a perfect description of what it's doing.

[@salasyk8708]

@@dimanarinull9122 bruh what, i gotta be honest mane, all i thought about was among us when i read your thing

[@dimanarinull9122]

@@salasyk8708 how? do you not remember the Library of Alexandria?

[@nopeuarentgettingmyname7887]

Hey, our families are the population of AR

[@jeffc5974]

"The universe had a beginning, therefore the creator is personal..." How does that follow?

[@Eseerrowez]

with weird mental gymnastics. I found it so baffling for him to claim that and intelligent with its creation.

[@MartinLeong25]

Even if there is a god, we may not know what it wants, if it even wants anything. We dont even know what it is. For all we know we are a byproduct of the creation and the god really dosent care if we exist or not.

[@opperattum3315]

It might be Aquinas’ Cosmological argument. Wherein since everything in nature is contingent upon something else there ultimately must exist a “cause” or “mover” that is not contingent upon something else. This would be God. It doesn’t stand on it’s own to prove Christianity, but it’s a start in the right direction. Peace be with you atheists! ~A former Atheist and practicing Catholic

[@Eseerrowez]

@@opperattum3315 Nope. You assume that there has to being something like a being that caused or a mover. You have to first think that you must have that so there should be something like a god. That is still just you putting a requirement there that doesn't need to exist so you can fill the answer with god. So its still a blatant and unnecessary mind set.

[@nathanmiller9918]

@@opperattum3315 Aquinas' cosmological argument is based on "logic." Ask any physicist about how "logic" applys to reality. Frankly, it doesn't apply at all without a thorough understanding of the subject at hand. On this particular subject one can only pretend to have a thorough understanding. The fatal flaw of that argument is all of the unsatisfied prerequisites. If x is true, then y must be true....Its just mental gymnastics, and it never fully satisfies it's own prerequisites. "If there's a universe, it must have been created," is fundamentally the argument. Its completely unsupported, and the same could be applied to Aquinas' creator. Its evidence of nothing but one's personal confirmation bias.

[@bewing77]

The comment on existing in a conservative context as an atheist is very true. I grew up in a rural community in West Texas and as I realized I was an atheist in my teens it was pretty brutal. Add to this that I'm a pansexual and a socialist (which may be in large parts a result of knowing how conservatives treats atheists and LGBTQ people) and it wasn't easy and has given me a deeply rooted understanding of christians as some of the worst human beings in existence. Now living in a Scandinavian country it's so liberating to know my views on the divine is the norm, not a rare exception.

[@Bas-TB]

The first rule of apologetics is probably: If you weren’t dishonest you failed.

[@cy-one]

- Abe Lincoln, probablx

[@atheistsfightclub6684]

It's apologetics, making the irreconcilable appear reconcilable, that's why whoever created the practice had a brief moment of honesty and apologised for it by calling it apologetics.

[@Bas-TB]

@@jarrodpurvis2611 It is probably the first application of the first rule.

[@jamesoverholt878]

@@cy-one I was going to say George Carlin

[@angelman906]

@@atheistsfightclub6684 pretty sure it was dubbed by people that weren’t practicing the apologetics.

[@saloneju]

Gotta love the civility and respect you're giving here to Sean. That's some bridge-building dialogue.

[@rockysandman5489]

GMS is always civil and respectful. One of his recent videos is criticizing Kent Hovind's response to GMS. GMS responded to him showing what he was doing wrong with how he wasn't being civil, respectful and basically the opposite of bridge-building.

[@timq6224]

the problem is that being civil has allowed the insanity of religious nutters to permeate and adversely affect our society.

[@Zygmunt-Zen]

I think GMS learnt the best lesson Carl Sagan ever taught. Respect your opponent as a person.

[@josiahbaker8339]

The thing I find disturbing is the fact they actually have an apologetics class. So much potential to train students in education instead wasted on mind washing them to your belief set. The school that I attended didn't quite go as far as The Kings Academy. If anyone ever asks me I will tell them my biggest regret of having to attend that school was the feeling I was robbed of an education that most kids attained in public school.

[@ironichoodies]

I haven't watched the whole video (as in the original Kings Academy video, not this one) - I think so far at least from the perspective of Christianity this is an... okay/so-so thing to do, but it's not the best. We never had this kind of full-fledged talk in our school but the way our school approached religion, it wasn't as much "Jesus is our saviour!" "Repent or you'll go to hell!" than "We're all sinners but we're all capable of love" and at some point we went to the topic of atheists. We have a lot of atheists in our school, so no one was really hateful towards them thankfully. But a number of questions were raised like conflict between Christian and scientific beliefs: Did we come from Adam and Eve or apes? Why shouldn't we go out and evangelize? Answer was pretty much that God created science, therefore we're going to believe in what science believes, that the universe started with a big bang and Genesis 1 is just myth, and Adam and Eve has some biblical symbolism but they never actually existed either. And that if we're going to go out to convert people to Christianity, it's not by knocking on their door or getting mad if they say God doesn't exist or they believe in Allah instead, rather it's just by being a decent person and respecting their beliefs, and hoping they can make whatever choices are best for them, not what you think is best for them. Because, let's face it, even as an extremely religious Christian myself, I think we have more than enough Christians in the world already lol.

[@JustBuyTheWaywardsRealms]

@@ironichoodies we have a good thing in France called "laïcité" that prevent religion from interfering with education.

[@1mol831]

@@ironichoodies still trying to combine sciences with religion, two miniature thing…?

[@25dollarbill24]

@@1mol831 You wrote: _"still trying to combine sciences with religion, two miniature thing…?"_ Still trying to combine words together to create a sentence, something coherent? Try harder. Much.

[@25dollarbill24]

Now that you mention it, you indeed sound like you have never been educated. Still, you're somehow squeaking by just a smidge better than "1 Mol" from the post above. I mean, Yikes!

[@Iwouldn_tdothatifiwereyoU]

your video essays are always so beautifully articulated, i’m so happy to have found your and taylor’s channels.

[@CaptainSweatpants90]

I love how one of the questions boiled down to "I believe in God because the whole science mumbo jumbo is complicated, why don't you?" Like girl, you are the definition of someone who believes out of naivete. You don't want someone to challenge your world view with something that's more complex than "some guy did it". How could anyone even think that was a good argument to bring forth?

[@CaptainSweatpants90]

@@lepidoptera9337 Totally agree with that. And I'm not saying that not understanding the physics behind string theory is a bad thing. Hell, I studied physics myself and understand jack about string theory. But arguing against someone's point by saying "I didn't understand that, so therefore, it must be wrong" is on a whole other level.

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

@@lepidoptera9337 aka the ...scientist is not a 'omni smartness' thing.. its just a term for someone that may have earned expertise or insight in one or more fields ...and most people simply get caught up in the fact human brains are rigged more for the 'social game' in the pack during daily life rather then actually understand the intricate details of the fabric of this universe or how what is labelled chemistry or biology works ;) wich is why striving for intellectual honesty is important or just 'pick up' on what you can regardless how successful it is hehe.

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

@@lepidoptera9337 aye , cant just take a summer course and call yourself 'expert' so to speak..good thing the per preview process became hardcore so to speak ,helps to foster that intellectual honesty.

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

@@lepidoptera9337 hehehe... 5 years ? yes that doess sound like a bit of an exception compared to most comments of 'standard' times needed to achive a phd or such. and true , to live is to learn as they say!..sadly a civilization of only rocket scientists be as useless like a civilization of only carpenters or we all could enjoy nothing but learning & exploring all life ;)

[@fusososososo3507]

She was talking about the multiverse, something that as far as I know there isn't evidence for, just like god. So what she said wasn't an absurd, since they were talking about a hypothesis (maybe this isn't the correct term, but I hope you understand).

[@Olakaseeee]

"this is not western europe" feeling lucky to be honest. I started watching this type of videos some months ago and it keeps shocking me how being atheist or theist can influence your life in USA

[@pecros]

yea, really insane how serious many people take religion in the US

[@vi0let831]

@@pecros Sadly, as someone who’s atheist and lives in the US, I agree

[@rockysandman5489]

I know, right? Like, many theists in the US genuinely believe that the events of Genesis and Noah's Ark ACTUALLY HAPPENED. It didn't shock me at first, but it's crazy for me to observe in retrospect.

[@silvertail7131]

As someone who used to be religious till, well, I heard a better argument. I don't think I realised how easy it was to make that decision, living in, well, western Europe.

[@user-il9ze9py8c]

Being an atheist here can really strongly affect your life. I have had family that would have dropped me in an instant if they knew I wasn’t a believer. It can affect your job, dating prospects, everything. I don’t know many people who aren’t Christian, actually. I do respect that this guy brought up the alienation that can come from being in the out group.

[@Nick-sg2gw]

From Alabama and currently in Texas just turned agnostic atheist after years of slowly realizing the truth. It's very hard in the south for non-believers and my whole family is extremely Christian I could never tell them the truth at this point. I just found your channel I just wanted to say that I really appreciate what you're doing it helps a lot.

[@elgooghosent7080]

kill em

[@pug8714]

Maybe I'm too northern in the south, not sure where Tennessee fits there, I haven't seen many bad Christians or anyone harass anyone for religion, then again maybe I need to go around more

[@Nick-sg2gw]

@@pug8714 they're definitely a lot of good Christians to, I guess for me it's just more my close family is super Christian and very hateful but they don't even seem to realize that they are. Of course I've tried to have conversations with them about this but like I said above it's not always easy. I'm happy your experience is different from mine.

[@jamesnewman8011]

The Christians who are decent toward atheists are the only Christians I see as being actual Christians. It comes down to what would Jesus do... Would Jesus be rude and mean to people who were honest about their lack, or absence, of faith? Not according to how the Bible portrays him. I have no problems with Christians and the ones who make the biggest stink about people not believing are the ones struggling the hardest to believe it themselves.

[@pierrec1590]

I love it. A stunt like that, about 55 years ago, caused me to realize that it was actually possible to ask the question in the first place. I've been working on the answer ever since. Other students mentioned it to their parents who promptly had that teacher fired... life goes on.

[@BoringTroublemaker]

Christian apologetics is a really weird thing. Imagine a college having a science apologetics class or a health apologetics class.

[@kirstencorby8465]

The first time I heard the term, I thought, "That is something I never want to be called." If you have to apologize for something, it's bad.

[@ProsecutorZekrom]

@@kirstencorby8465 That’s not what apologetics means. It comes from the greek word meaning ‘speak in one’s own defence’, and means ‘constituting a formal defence or justification of a theory or doctrine’.

[@SemiPerfectDark]

Exactly! I've often asked the question, do you "believe" in mathematics? What an absurd question. If there are any gods, and they want humans to know about them, wouldn't it be clearly apparently to all?

[@irwinshung809]

YES.

[@andystokes8702]

Why would a Christian college have apologetics lectures? What are they being taught in this class - How to confidently argue in favour of the Christian position regardless of truth?

[@rikardotsamsiyu]

This man really put on some glasses and said, “no one will recognize me in this disguise.”

[@L_Train]

he still dresses, moves, talks, and generally looks like a Christian youth pastor

[@shantymanshep]

This is the best comment

[@Jasonwithadot]

superman be like:

[@rikardotsamsiyu]

@@L_Train 😂😆

[@depressedphilosopherbitch7581]

Cartoon logic

[@MrSpleenface]

I think Sean himself gave the cleanest demonstration of why this is a bad idea. In his "review", he talks about the answer that "any honest athiest" should give. But in his video, HE DIDN'T GIVE THAT ANSWER

[@thedefenestrator2994]

My sisters’ first acknowledgment of my atheism/agnosticism was to present the fallacy, “You know, for someone who doesn’t believe in god, you sure say his name a lot,” after I said “oh my god,” once too many. This shit is why I don’t trust people.

[@lekiscool]

He’s beginning argument, isn’t really an argument I’ve heard from atheists. So I sat in confusion for a bit.

[@aazhie]

same!!

[@thecommunistowl811]

I mean, he isn't an atheist so it was probably difficult for him to argue from the perspective of one, it was a horrible idea but he did his best

[@swolejeezy2603]

@@thecommunistowl811 Yeah this whole “pretend to be an atheist” thing was a horrible idea but it’s not his idea at least

[@betadecay6503]

@@thecommunistowl811 But it shouldn't be difficult for him. He has debated many an atheist, heard these arguments time and time again, he should know and understand what they are enough to repeat them. It wouldn't be difficult for an atheist (educated on the topic) to pretend to be Christian but that's because the atheist understands both sides whereas Sean just cannot comprehend the other side.

[@TorianTammas]

@@betadecay6503 He is building an atheist straw man as he wants to show the superiority of anti-science and anti-intellectualism.

[@Cocytus127]

Yeah, this just sounds low-key bad faith. Even while talking, Atheist Sean still sounds like a pastor or demagogue explaining something to people as if to speak down to them. I have never heard an atheist give a lecture in the same tone as he was speaking or using the same body language.

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

@The Raquel And Ian Show THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN IS JESUS CHRIST! (HERE IS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST) JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS AND HE WAS BURIED AND HE ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY BY FAITH IN GOD'S SON THE LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ONLY SALVATION SHALL BE YOURS AND ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD IN HEAVEN WILL AWAIT YOU WHEN YOU DIE THE BIBLE JOHN CHAPTER 3 VERSES 16 THROUGH 21 AS WELL AS 1ST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 15 VERSES 1 THROUGH 5 THE BIBLE

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

@Justin Gary THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN IS JESUS CHRIST! (HERE IS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST) JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS AND HE WAS BURIED AND HE ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY BY FAITH IN GOD'S SON THE LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ONLY SALVATION SHALL BE YOURS AND ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD IN HEAVEN WILL AWAIT YOU WHEN YOU DIE THE BIBLE JOHN CHAPTER 3 VERSES 16 THROUGH 21 AS WELL AS 1ST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 15 VERSES 1 THROUGH 5 THE BIBLE

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN IS JESUS CHRIST! (HERE IS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST) JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS AND HE WAS BURIED AND HE ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY BY FAITH IN GOD'S SON THE LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ONLY SALVATION SHALL BE YOURS AND ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD IN HEAVEN WILL AWAIT YOU WHEN YOU DIE THE BIBLE JOHN CHAPTER 3 VERSES 16 THROUGH 21 AS WELL AS 1ST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 15 VERSES 1 THROUGH 5 THE BIBLE

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

THE BIBLE

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

@The Raquel And Ian Show THE BIBLE

[@adne4336]

Honestly, Shaun isn’t really too bad, his intentions seem good and he doesn’t seem to egg on against people who disagree with him. He is definitely far better than people like that Kent guy

[@alisaurus4224]

Kent Hovind is a born huckster, slippery as a greased pig. Anytime he can’t answer a straightforward question he says “well explain how rocks came to life” or “so you’re telling me a snake could have kittens” or some other distracting nonsense

[@timq6224]

thou shalt not bear false witness -- in trying to trick others into his version of salvation, he condemned his soul to hell (according to the tenets of his own religion!)

[@michaelmorris1741]

What he did was not very Christ like.

[@UTU49]

"He is definitely far better than people like that Kent guy" Almost everybody is. Kent Hovind is one of the most dishonest, most destructive people anywhere in the world of religious discourse.

[@hankschwiebert1457]

Good to see a positive comment. Most are assuming the worst, and frankly exaggerating.

[@derekvanheel4717]

I’m so glad you made this response. That video came up in my feed as well. I didn’t make it to the reveal at the end, because his arguments seemed too embarrassing. I couldn’t stand it.

[@Richie_P]

He still talks and even moves like a pastor who's been on the pulpit for ages. He even has that same trying-too-hard-to-look-young-and-cool hairdo that 80% or evangelical pastors have.

[@hinteregions]

No he doesn't, and no doesn't. He moves like anyone giving a lecture, he has a pretty standard haircut. With your shallow, snide misrepresentations you do what he does but without skill and in bad faith, pardon the pun. Speaking as an atheist I don't want you speaking for me, kicking own goals all over the place.

[@ericpierce3660]

@@hinteregions Nah, he gives off very strong pastor-vibes. He can't help it, it's just part of their culture. Believe me I know, I've been exposed to it my entire life from infancy and I can recognize it a mile away. He exudes that evangelical persona they all put on when addressing an audience. About the haircut, well that might've been cool back in 1991, but I have to cut him some slack on that, he wouldn't be the first late-middle-aged person to try to hang on to his youth far beyond when he should.

[@hinteregions]

@@ericpierce3660 Nah, I'll pay the pastor vibes, and respect to your past, but not let you get away with calling that evidence. That is more likely what we call 'confirmation bias.' And then with the haircut, you'd not make that charge against someone with similar hair, that you approved of, so that seems very thin too. Now you seem to be adding on the most absurd insinuation of paedophilia? Seriously man, he's a professional missionary and it's his job to corrupt youth. Make substantial allegations or make none, is what I reckon :D

[@ericpierce3660]

@@hinteregions Wait, what? Where did you get anything about pedophilia in anything I said. And "...you'd not make that charge against someone with similar hair, that you approved of..." What charge? I specifically said I'd cut him slack for the leftover 1991 college-freshman haircut. Do you know how to read?

[@hinteregions]

@@ericpierce3660 Do you? Don't bother with the childish insults. Honestly, if you don't understand those three points I made, I cannot help you to. 1. demeanour; 2. haircut; 3. thinly veiled insinuation capable of very extreme prejudicial effect, or what looks a lot like it. You'll simply have to look at what you said, and then what I said, properly. Best I can do.

[@corytheviking5239]

"All this... science-y stuff, I couldn't understand it." - best summary of why ignorant people turn to the god of the gaps. No need to think.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"All this... science-y stuff, I couldn't understand it." Do you understand sciencey stuff?

[@pidayrocks2235]

@@thomasmaughan4798 I know you weren’t asking me, but I understand a good bit, yes. To address Cory, though, I’d like to add that it is not necessary for anyone to understand science in order to reasonably come to the position of Atheism... because Atheism is not based on science, it is based on reason (broadly speaking). Rejecting god claims on the basis of lacking evidence does not require any science. For instance: you don’t have to understand evolution at all in order to reject creationism... all you need to do is ask for evidence of creationism and be capable of spotting fallacious reasoning. When the apologist inevitably throws the question back at you and simply asks “how in the world did all of this get here if not for a god?”, you don’t need to know the science because “I don’t know” is entirely valid. Failing to provide alternatives to a god hypothesis in any situation does not mean god somehow wins by default... you might as well just assert the answer to be “science” without any further explanation or evidence, because that’s what the apologist just did with “god”.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

@@pidayrocks2235 "because Atheism is not based on science, it is based on reason" This may be so for your flavor of atheism. As I read these comments, I do not see much reasoning. A bit, here and there, makes it worth the trouble to look for the better arguments. You can reason your way out of obvious fallacy; I suspect it is impossible to reason your way to TRUTH, because you have no mechanism by which to know when you have found it.

[@pidayrocks2235]

@@thomasmaughan4798 How people in a comment section defend their ideology is independent of the basis or origin for the ideology (not to mention people are often bad at internalizing how they derived their beliefs, and even worse at communicating what little they have internalized) - the point remains that atheism is simply the rejection of theism and the reason to reject theism is that it has not met it’s burden of proof. No science is required to determine that because even if we knew nothing about how the world worked, to accept god as an answer would be irrational considering it’s an unfalsifiable proposition (with most classical god definitions) and just generally lacks verifiable empirical evidence. As far as reasoning your way to this idea of “absolute truth”, you’re correct... there is no mechanism to determine it and religious people have no basis for thinking they have access to it through old books. Science and reason are methods that allow for increasing levels of CONFIDENCE in the MODELS we use to view the world... being reasonable means accepting the models that have passed these rigorous processes because they have the best supporting evidence and are typically being corroborated constantly across many different disciplines. I’m certainly of the position that we cannot be “absolutely” sure of anything (all the way down to the problem of hard solipsism)... but if we go with the most scientifically and logically supported models, we can MAXIMIZE our confidence that our answers comport with reality. Dealing with absolutes is entirely unnecessary and something primarily religious people bring up to obfuscate the true nature of what it means to “know” something. Outside of religious conflict, though, most people tend to agree with regards to accepting the best scientific models and utilizing reason as opposed to non-reason (i.e. faith)... they just cannot overcome the emotional ties to religion forged, in many cases, through childhood indoctrination and the desire to maximize their confidence in finding truths suddenly dwindles with this particular topic while cognitive dissonance takes over.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

​@@pidayrocks2235 "How people in a comment section defend their ideology is independent of the basis or origin for the ideology" That seems unlikely. How exactly I have knowledge of God makes a HUGE difference in how I defend my belief. "atheism is simply the rejection of theism" So all we need is to define "theism"! "reason to reject theism is that it has not met it’s burden of proof." The same reason exist for the rejection of atheism. "No science is required to determine that because even if we knew nothing about how the world worked, to accept god as an answer would be irrational considering it’s an unfalsifiable proposition" God is not an answer to most questions. You seem to mischaracterize theism. Science embraces the "big bang" but that also seems unfalsifiable. "Science and reason are methods that allow for increasing levels of CONFIDENCE in the MODELS we use to view the world." That's a remarkably effective way to describe science. "but if we go with the most scientifically and logically supported models, we can MAXIMIZE our confidence that our answers comport with reality." Indeed, and I embrace pretty much anything remotely scientific. I render unto science that which is scientific, and unto god that which is godly. "most people tend to agree with regards to accepting the best scientific models and utilizing reason as opposed to non-reason (i.e. faith)." You misrepresent faith. There is no definition of faith (that I know) that involves a complete absence of evidence and reason. Rather, faith is extrapolating from observations and imagining or hoping for things such as "god" based on that evidence. An example is the presence of a willow tree in the desert in a dry riverbed; the presence of it is a sign of potential water. One hopes for the water, one is willing to dig in the sand for the water, there might not be water at that exact place or at that moment. But the tree is a sign. "they just cannot overcome the emotional ties to religion forged, in many cases, through childhood indoctrination" I suppose that describes the situation for many people; with atheists being those who did overcome childhood indoctrination. However, I was raised by an atheist and thus my journey is almost exactly opposite. Knowing a thing changes the calculus.

[@h.w.6563]

I think what feels so off about his argumentation is that he desperately tries to find "atheist answers" to every single question instead of seeing that "I don't know" is a valid answer - for example full on embracing the multiverse hypothesis instead of accepting that we (humans) just don't know (yet) what started the big bang.

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

he shouldve done the teapot analogy just an amazing analogy overall

[@marisamatson3103]

Sean came to an Awana Bible Quiz competition and did his "act". I've never seen so many kids who though they knew the answers to everything Bible and Christianity related be so dumbfounded. He wiped the floor with us and I've never forgotten it

[@Desertphile]

"I was a former atheist," as if people are born believing the gods exist.

[@james_fisch]

"I used to be an atheist. I still am but I used to, too"

[@Chrysostomus_17]

Oh boy look at him he's doing the atheist baby argument. You know even Drew himself has argued against this, right?

[@crappyusername69]

@@Chrysostomus_17 What the heck is the argument against being born an atheist? How could a complete lack of beliefs not be the default? Or have I misinterpreted what the "atheist baby" argument is?

[@Chrysostomus_17]

@@crappyusername69 Because atheism is not a lack of belief. Otherwise a rock or a wall or the dirt under your shoes or the number 78 would also be "atheist." It is incoherent and nonsensical to define atheism as a psychological state.

[@crappyusername69]

@@Chrysostomus_17 That's literally what atheism is though? Just like how "atypical" means not typical, "Atheist" means not theist. Theist means a belief in a god or gods, so anything that does not believe in a god or gods, is by definition, Atheist.

[@TenTonNuke]

To be fair, his misrepresentation of atheism caused several actual atheists to defend the theist side of the debate. Not an easy thing to do.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

This is Embarassing. Just Embrassing.

[@matthew77eyes33]

Happens a bit sometimes, as they talk about morality, the origin of the universe, and stuff like that and it kinda treats atheism as like its own religion but it's not. Some atheists have different morals than others, some atheists believe the universe existed forever and others don't. Some atheists might believe in spirits and the multiverse and some might just say "I/We don't know". The only thing that ties them all together is the dictionary definition of atheist which is simply a person who doesn't believe in a God or Gods.

[@haruk2312]

I believe it was an attempt to make atheists look dumb

[@vindric8330]

Dang

[@loturzelrestaurant]

@@vindric8330 Anti-Science is a Rising Problem. And so is the non-identical-but-bloodrelated Issue of Fake-Science. So much so that the channel simply named 'Spirit Science' misuses this word, has 1,16 mio subs, and is growing. So much of a social problem that actively damages our Planet and the human-species that i have even tried to report them. But for a simple factor, it didnt work yet: Not enough people do the same i do. Not enough report such a big channel, thinking 'Ah, it wont do anything anyway, so why even try'. Aka: Would be cool if you help fight-back Anti-Science at least a bit. Hope you try, as it costs literally nothing but seconds.

[@robinthrush9672]

It's nice to see how high regard the Christian school and dude hold the "10 commandments'" prohibition on bearing false witness.

[@mrfink-lf5pq]

Atheist Sees Unimaginable Levels of Torment in Hell (Bryan Melvin NDE) - KZbin

[@reuteratwork8983]

@@mrfink-lf5pq - "Atheist Sees No Unimaginable Levels of Torment in Place That Doesn't Exist" -- fify -- you're welcome...

[@angelbrother1238]

Robin it’s about intention and I’m sure his intention is to represent your religion of atheism the best way he knows how

[@angelbrother1238]

@@reuteratwork8983 I never use ndes to demonstrate one religion to be correct over the other . They are however extremely powerful for showing that science leans towards consciousness in some way we don’t understand seems to survive physical death . This is why if used correctly ndes are the worst nightmare for the adhereNt of the religion of atheism ;)

[@robinthrush9672]

@@angelbrother1238 Nice to see you holding up that commandment too, Mr. "Religion of Atheism".