Insincere Believers

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This was my presentation at B.A.H.A.con 2023 in Sarnia Ontario Canada.
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[@Roadiedave]

One of my favorite quotes is "If an honest man is shown to be wrong. He can either stop being wrong, or stop being honest."

[@Snowy_shroom-tb4zj]

Who said that?

[@Roadiedave]

@Snowy_shroom-tb4zj dunno. Some say Lincoln, but I can't confirm. I don't remember where I heard it. For all I know, Aron probably said it. I'd believe either. At the heart, I guess the source of good proverbs doesn't matter.

[@Snowy_shroom-tb4zj]

@@Roadiedave In any case, I appreciate you sharing!

[@impartialthrone2097]

​@@RoadiedaveI believe Lincoln said the quote about how if you say something without knowing for sure, and it turns out to be true, you still told a lie, because you didn't know for sure at the time.

[@Roadiedave]

@@impartialthrone2097 that one is Lincoln. Dunno who said mine

[@MgtowRubicon]

"In all of human history, the supernatural has never turned out to be the right answer to anything: Natural explanations of phenomena have replaced supernatural ones thousands upon thousands of times, while supernatural explanations have replaced natural ones exactly never." -- Greta Christina

[@theargonianmercenary184]

Facts ⬆️

[@Peekaboo-Kitty]

Excellent Point!

[@theboombody]

Agreed. But some natural phenomena is still pretty weird. See time dilation.

[@AlkisGD]

@@theboombody - It is weird and counterintuitive, but it's also a natural occurrence. We don't have to pray to a god or perform a ritual for it to happen. All we have to do is place GPS satellites in orbit around the Earth and their atomic clocks will need to take time dilation into account and perform corrections for GPS to work 😛

[@rekunta]

I’ve never understood how supernatural is even defined. If something happens in nature, isn’t it by definition, immediately natural? How can something _”super”_ exist? It simply exists. At best, we can only claim that we don’t have a good understanding of a natural phenomenon. But nothing can be supernatural when it operates in nature.

[@caribbeanman3379]

"An agnostic is someone who doesn't know that they're atheist". That's a really good one Aron. I'm stealing it!

[@Roxor128]

Another angle to approach the problem: "'Agnostic' is an adjective, not a noun." You can be _agnostic about_ something, but you cannot be "an agnostic" any more than you can be "a tall". "A tall _what?"_ "An agnostic _what?"_

[@Imperial-Socialist]

Maybe you didn't continue your English lessons past grade three. I can say I am agnostic, I am tall.@@Roxor128

[@blackswan8653]

@@Roxor128 noun a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God. Straight from a dictionary. So, you're wrong. But I get your point.

[@Roxor128]

@@blackswan8653 The dictionary is wrong about a lot of things. Aron has many a time ranted about the matter.

[@mrmagoo9249]

No… Gnostics claim to know Agnostics claim to not know To not know, is not the same as saying I know there is no God, therefore I am an atheist There is a compass of belief Agnostic theist Gnostic theist Agnostic atheist Gnostic atheist An agnostic atheist is not someone “who doesn’t know wether they are atheist or not” It’s an admission that they don’t believe in God but they don’t know for sure if a God exists or not And if we’re being reeeeeeaaaallllllly picky and honest, technically everyone falls into either two categories Agnostic theist or agnostic atheist, as nobody can know for certain It comes down to the person and their own conclusions

[@tvtubeme7605]

"I gotta be honest, and that's my biggest problem with religion." -AronRa The most concise expression of real integrity with any unfounded belief.

[@Kenneth-ts7bp]

All lies are true to Aron.

[@theargonianmercenary184]

@@Kenneth-ts7bpbutthurt that he can most succinctly debunk your unfounded beliefs? Thought so.

[@Kenneth-ts7bp]

@@theargonianmercenary184 Aron? Does he still think rain overheats the planet?

[@theargonianmercenary184]

@@Kenneth-ts7bp “Does he still think rain overheats the planet?” When did he say that, and in what context?

[@Kenneth-ts7bp]

@theargonianmercenary184 When he covered the Noahic flood. He claimed heat that was already in the atmosphere could somehow overheat the planet or literally that the amount of heat given off by the rain would have amounted to more heat than what the atmosphere could contain.

[@topdawgshadic]

It's better to understand than to believe.

[@sbnwnc]

Thanks!

[@MgtowRubicon]

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods and they are unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." -- Marcus Aurelius

[@rhyantrick8178]

❤

[@tjcoetzee]

❤

[@drewharrison6433]

If there is a creator god, they are not just. Look around.

[@phyrath5]

Going to have to show this one to some relatives.

[@the-trustees]

"If you want your life to have meaning, give meaning to someone else's. - Aron Ra

[@lightningfirst689]

"Last week, somebody criticized me for being biased towards objective truth." Just think, that person will most likely never know what a compliment they payed you.

[@theargonianmercenary184]

It’s sad to think that there are people out there who’s religion literally teaches them that critical thinking is just a tool of the devil to deceive them. To think we live in a vast, curious world filled with discoveries and ideas to be made and they instead prefer to live in a shut in, abusive system because that’s more comfortable than challenging themselves once in a while.

[@matimus100]

Aron you love really easy we noticed time and time again

[@Mark73]

The proper response to that is " Yes, I am. Why the hell aren't you?"

[@nonseans]

Good speech!

[@thedragonofechigo7878]

This should be fascinating. I watched a lot of presentations like this from Aron. My favorites are "Give the Devil his due" and "The ten commandments." They helped me greatly in the pursuit of truth.

[@kinglyzard]

I love his science centered videos, esp the ones concerning evolution and phylogeny.

[@lewid019]

Big fan of the ten commandments videos

[@theargonianmercenary184]

@@kinglyzardsame here. Learning about the taxonomy of snakes and spiders was a lot of fun!

[@anghusmorgenholz1060]

Give the devil his due is one of my favorite things to listen to. I listen to it when I can't deal with the lunacy of life it has a calming and organizing effect.

[@kaktus24232]

used to be a creationist thank you for saving me not just from creationism but from religion as a whole

[@Kenneth-ts7bp]

Hell is eternal

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

Which hell? The nordic goddess or the physical garbage dump outside old Jerusalem?

[@kaktus24232]

@@Kenneth-ts7bp hell isn't real

[@theargonianmercenary184]

@@Kenneth-ts7bpthen your God is a douche.

[@Kenneth-ts7bp]

@@kaktus24232 Tell me about it when you get there.

[@Mitlipse7]

You are brilliant, Aron. I always enjoy hearing you speak. Thank you for your work.

[@riparianlife97701]

No one actually acts as if they think an invisible sky man can hear them think. They think they constantly get away with defying him. The word "amen" at the end of a prayer means "Okay! Stop listening to me now."

[@SpeakerWiggin49]

Um, I just want to point out that I and many other apostates experienced "thought crime" conditioning from religious parents.

[@riparianlife97701]

@@SpeakerWiggin49 Yes! I was also told my thoughts were being monitored, but I was also taught to end my prayers with "amen", which is how you hang up a phone call with the sky man.

[@KianaWolf]

@ConontheBinarian I had the same question, back when I was a believer. Everyone in my church got very upset when I asked. They were also the sort of people who loudly pray for the most mundane shit, purely for the attention (y'know, despite their own book saying not to do that), which infuriated me. My step mother loved to scream to the sky for Jesus to give her _a parking spot._ She'd drive around the parking lot multiple times, chanting away in her insanity, then conclude that Jesus answered her prayer when, after 10+ minutes of wasted gas, someone left a spot.

[@JewelEzra]

If they were not in church and jumped around,babbled some nonsense language, wallowed on the floor etc they would be taken to the psych ward.

[@SpeakerWiggin49]

In my family, praying was the act of asking for something in the most groveling manner. "Amen" was the demarcation between _talking_ _TO_ _the_ _big_ _man_ _upstairs_ _with_ _reverance_ and everyday life where you listen closely to your own thoughts for _spiritual_ influence.

[@vegasflyboy67]

Removing the evil atheist tag has helped me tremendously. Once I point out the fact that they are atheist to other gods, you can see the wheels starting turn, and you can start to pierce the veil.

[@Spudmay]

"if my personal experience doesn't matter to me, then yours matters even less" Lololol, bro you had me rolling! You can tell you've been doing this for a while

[@rhecb]

Great work keeping the 10 commandments out of Texas schoolrooms. 🙌🏻 Your work debunking YEC and pseudoscience is so important. Personally so grateful for the insight your videos have given me. Cheers 🍻

[@lawrence5117]

A good talk Aron, thanks.

[@tulpas93]

This video is so dense with awesome that you better watch it before it collapses in on itself! ❤

[@johnfox9169]

Brilliant and very explanative.

[@stevenhogenson4880]

Loved this episode. To hear more of your backstory. Thank you for sharing that!

[@XEN-ZOMBIE]

Damn Aron, that was excellent.

[@Antis14CZ]

"What is materialism (also known as philosophical naturalism)? It's simply accepting evident reality as it is, and also not assuming magical alternate reality on top of that." -Aron Ra I'm framing this and putting it on a wall. This is so beautifully expressed and it pisses me off so much when people just act as if assuming magic was the norm. No. Magic is not the norm. Deal with it.

[@theboombody]

Magic and inherent morality share a lot in common. Neither one is present in materialism. Heck, is even relative morality present in materialism? I'm not sure.

[@stylis666]

@@theboombody I am pretty sure that relative morality is present in materialism because it's an emergent property and an inevitability. And I prefer to say that everything is contextual, meaning everything we say or think is contextual, because all of reality to us is translated to thoughts and words. So I'm not saying that the height of a cube is contextual, but what we consider or agree is the height and not the length or weight is some length _compared to_ some context. We could say it's 1/5th the length of something 5 times as long, or that it's a number of inches or cm's, depending on context. If we're building a space shuttle and we're using international people to build it, we're probably better off agreeing that metric is the better context and that switching can and will lead to unnecessary problems. So I'm not speaking of relativity here, which is also a thing, but even with a space rocket the length contraction isn't relevant to the context. We don't need to measure the cube's height aboard the rocket from a stationary place on Earth with picometer precision. But we can predict what we'd measure and what someone aboard the rocket would measure and how much those measurements would differ. And conclude that the rocket doesn't go fast enough to make any relevant difference to the accuracy of any measuring devices we could use in those situations. Not right now anyway. Our rockets don't go fast enough yet, and we can't measure the height of a cube that's aboard a rocket from Earth with enough accuracy for relativity to matter in that case. But it's still real and something to take into account in other situations, like GPS satellites. And the same goes for morality. Stealing is always bad, but the context matters. If a mother who can't afford to buy food steals food for a hungry child, that's a good thing compared to the child staying hungry, but them being in the situation where she'd need to steal is a bad thing. Who is/are responsible for improving the situation? That depends on a lot of context. Generally I think we all are and more weight should be put on governments and companies because those have a lot more power and resources. Who or what is responsible for causing the situation is contextual. The root cause is the start of the universe, but it's hardly useful to try and use that to fix any problem. So we look at more useful context. SOcio-economic status, statistics, situation of the mother, the laws and regulations of local governments, culture, and so on and so forth. So no matter how you look at anything, everything that matters to us in dealing with anything or learning from anything is inevitably contextual in one way or another and usually somewhere between a lot of ways and infinite ways, so that inevitably includes subjective, relative morality inside materialism/philosophical naturalism. Or how I would rather say it: morality is inevitably contextual and as much part of nature as the waves on the water. Have you ever considered that everything on our planet is powered by the sun? :p That includes poetry, love, economics, and literally everything else. Diesel is essentially solar powered. Pissing in the wind is solar powered. Most things are powered indirectly by the sun so we usually explain those contexts instead of going back to the source, but the source of all of our energy that everything we have and are arises from is the sun. So, in that context, everything we have and are is solar powered. I think that's pretty cool, or hot if you prefer puns. Physics is everything, but for us everything is contextual because we can't get around filtering and choosing what to focus on, otherwise our communication and understanding will fail and be a mess. That's also a huge part of why we disagree on how much truth matters and when it does. Does the height of the cube matter more than how pretty I think a butterfly is? Yes it does. There are just times when I can just let it all go and sincerely enjoy being in the moment with looking at the butterfly. One of the neat things of reality is that it won't change if I stop believing it. So if I forget all about the cube but it's part of a machine that diagnoses a cancer patient, it still works. All of a sudden the context of what is considered height and how much the measurement matters is fixed in its context. Context is as much a tool as a toy ;) It allows our minds to swing from one place to another without even moving :p

[@nickguy8037]

@@stylis666I almost agree with you, but have to challenge the statement “stealing is always bad”. The example you have is a common one, but a better example… Stealing a gun from someone who was trying to use it to commit murder is not bad. This is not an example of the good outweighing the bad. It is an example where the good is preventing the bad.

[@stylis666]

@@nickguy8037 Exactly my point. The situation where stealing is good is bad. But I can see that I wasn't too clear on that by saying "stealing is always bad". The act of stealing itself doesn't need to be bad. The way I look at it involves even more than just: the situation where stealing might be the best or least bad solution is always bad. How I'm looking at it is that anyone in such situations will have to live with consequences of the situation. A mother still lives with the frutration that it might be nigh impossible to sustain the life of themselves and their child. Someone who stole a gun still lives with the knowledge that someone wants to murder and someone else might be scarred for life. So when I say "stealing is always bad", I'm thinking of the whole picture of how we got there and what the consequences are and that we as a society are better of with better solutions, like spotting the mother before she steals and getting her sustainable help, or preventing a shooter from reaching their victims. Practically such situations can't always be prevented and that's bad. But yeah, considering I didn't explain that and my having literally said that "stealing is always bad", you're absolutely right that that sentence isn't correct in your example and in many other situations. If you're in such a situation, then the act of stealing is good. Perhaps I could've better phrased it by saying that there's never a situation where stealing is good that is also a healthy situation.

[@nickguy8037]

@@stylis666 true, and fair enough. The reason I raise it is that the “someone else is harmed “ defence given in the stealing food to feed a child example does not hold. As I stated, I pretty much agreed with you and was nit picking.

[@marktunnicliffe2495]

I have so much respect for this guy, the time and effort he puts in must be huge. Im learning so much, thankyou for the ammo you provide for my interactions with theists.

[@mikaeljohnledet1060]

"Its all Mind Over Matter, just a matter of mind and never mind, it doesn't matter." Love that sentence and I am blatantly gonna steal and use it forthwith!! 😂🤣😂

[@mintybadger6905]

I think Houdini would have enjoyed this talk. I recall he spent a lot of his life trying to convince people not to believe in magic only to come to the same conclusion that you can’t convince people who want to believe.

[@GuerillaBunny]

Matt Dillahunty had a similar experience. Even as a believer, he was fascinated with stage magic, and presented it to their family. They thought it was actual, real, devil-worshipping sorcery. He then showed them how he did the trick, and their response was "That's not what you did last time."

[@theboombody]

@@GuerillaBunny I still think magnets are magic even though I've been exposed to Maxwell's equations. Nature has some strange inherent properties.

[@GuerillaBunny]

@@theboombody That is indeed strange.

[@brian.the.archivist]

Not long ago I had a "world view" discussion with a family member because I told them they were being lied to about the dino blood find. They attributed the difference to world view interprations. I had to put it like this: it isn't you restating it, or necessarily the preacher who heard it, but someone who claimed to have the intellectual background intentionally took the literature and misquoted and misrepresented the findings in service of their message. Lying is wrong and lying for christ is still lying.

[@jojobizarrelivingstone594]

Where can i find stuff on this supposed dino blood and what people were misrepresenting

[@thatblondartist1295]

I went to a christian elementary school. The teachers told us we should be crying and distraught that Jesus sacrificed himself for us, yet none of the teachers were doing it themselves. It makes me question whether they really believed what they were spewing, were lying to everyone and themselves to keep the delusion alive, or they got off on control.

[@jasonappleton149]

I can’t believe I missed this

[@blackswan8653]

Religious people want to reject magic, while still believing in a magic man in the sky, while not recognizing that it's a magic man in the sky.

[@nickguy8037]

I disagree… they want to reject all magic, except THEIR magic. Not just magic man in the sky, but demons below and angels in between and all the rest. It’s all special pleading.

[@kevspeedruns9947]

I used not to be moved by Atheists' arguments because I was not really, seriously, considering them with an open mind, and that includes yours Aron. What triggered my skepticism for the first time in religious matters was this story you tell in this video and others: the story about you going through what you thought were spiritual experiences, and about your subsequent awakening to the fact you were fooling yourself and others. This is SO important in your Atheist testimony honestly, for me it hit me harder than all the other arguments, even though from a purely intellectual standpoint the others arguments are ultimately what matters the most. I would love for you to go into detail on this someday, especially on the birth of the skepticism and self-doubt that ultimately led you to reject it all. Surely this could be a 15 minute video! I think you would get through to a lot of people this way, some of which won't be convinced by reason for now.

[@latheofheaven1017]

Believing 2+2=5 is straight out of O'Brian's ideology in George Orwell's 1984. When I read that scene in the book, my reaction was to be as mystified and horrified as Winston Smith. Little did I know that people really think like that.

[@Pooknottin]

It is a disturbing trend, this culture of dishonesty. Thanks for calling it out so clearly.

[@herbieshine1312]

Fantastic talk as always Mr Ra. Thanks from the UK 🫡🫡🫡❤️❤️❤️

[@secularbynature8415]

Masterfully done!

[@xero8583]

I've only been an atheist for a few months, but it's probably one of the best decisions, if not the best that I've ever made in my life. Thank you for all the hard work you do, Aron!! Hail Satan!

[@rickalta2770]

You shouldn't "hail Satan" because he's not real either...

[@xero8583]

@@rickalta2770 I don't believe Satan is real, most Satanists don't think he is either, they see him as a literary figure. When you hail Satan, you're hailing yourself

[@phantomstarsx9343]

It is quite a sigh of relief that's quite difficult to explain. It was quite difficult for me during deconversion, but thankfully I was quite young when I got out.

[@xero8583]

@@phantomstarsx9343 I hope you're doing okay!! It was rough for me, too. In my last few months as a Christian, I kept questioning things, thinking to myself that maybe God isn't real. I kept refusing it because I didn't want to believe it at the time, but I'm doing so much better now.

[@phantomstarsx9343]

@@xero8583 it took me years to get over the fact that, "omg just questioning this is gonna make Him so angry with me" lol luckily I was pretty young when it started so I'm pretty far over it at this point.

[@moniquesteiger5273]

Si Dieu existe, les athées et agnostiques seront les 1er au paradis car ils ont l'esprit de vérité en eux.

[@laurajarrell6187]

AronRa Thankyou for posting this!!👍💖💙🥰✌

[@godlesspeopleandtheiremptiness]

you see? Those people are just godless and soulless alone people into an empty cult that does not give them anything. not even the dignity as they run to kiss so godless ass... God will judge them too for their Stupidity.

[@kscott8464]

Aron is a treasure

[@rcblazer]

Amazing speech! This is genuinely what I think whenever someone tells me I have to "choose" to believe in Jesus and the fairy tales in the Bible, like that alone will make them true. Why would I delude myself on purpose like that? I too have met plenty of people who would still believe everything it says in the Bible, even the things that are clearly wrong.

[@theboombody]

Thankfully the Bible has a lot of things that are clearly right too, like adultery being a sin and all. No one ever bashes the Bible because it puts down adultery.

[@rcblazer]

@@theboombody Adultery is when someone cheats on their spouse or significant other. Is it morally wrong? Of course. Is it a "sin" like you said? I don't even know what that is, could you maybe describe what sin even is?

[@Anotherperson-m5b]

Aaron is a saint of the Truth!

[@StuffyMc]

This was great to listen to. It's everything I've felt for my whole life, without feeling the need to be unduly polite or gentle. This is how it needs to be said.

[@davidtouma4878]

“Go ahead and hate your neighbour Go ahead and cheat a friend Do it in the name of heaven You can justify it in the end”

[@opticalduck2587]

A fine addition to our collection

[@DarkWater4Eva]

Love this presentation.

[@GreenmanDave]

Yay! I saw my hand! 😂 It was great to get to meet you and Lilandra and I hope to get to again next year. I'm pretty sure I'll be back from Scotland by then. ✌️😁

[@3dge--runner]

Many thanks for carrying the torch with such effectiveness and integrity. Rock on Aron!

[@GapWim]

24:00 _"An atheist is someone who doesn't believe there's a god. An agnostic is someone who doesn't know ... that they're atheist."_ - Aronra That's a keeper!

[@DeconvertedMan]

Well spoken :)

[@Dismal-future]

For somebody who claims to have not been very well-educated you sure do speak quite eloquently and are very knowledgeable

[@valivali8104]

He wasn’t, but got better education later, by himself.

[@Dismal-future]

That's something I respect about you , from watching your channel I've learned that you have self taught yourself a lot of stuff. Not to mention I've learned off of you from watching your Channel

[@valivali8104]

@blankvision2771 what? Did you have stroke?

[@valivali8104]

@blankvision2771 oh, you just have severe case of inflated ego and dunning-kruger... If you want to "destroy" this channel, then prove that your religious beliefs are true by *giving evidence* that those are... Copy-pasted spam and pathetic insults make you look like either dishonest liar or stupid brat. Any evidence that 1) there exist at least one thing which deserves title of god? 2) it's your god instead of some other god(s)? 3) your version of your god is right one instead of version of someone who disagrees with you about your god's characteristics (name, sex/gender, powers, personality, opinions, etc.)? Remember that every fallacy, bullshit and lie makes you look bad and untrustworthy, and your god as glorified imaginary friend and substitute for parent...

[@perfectblindguy]

I heard this one guy say one time: I didn't leave God, God left me.

[@jamesmiller7457]

God leaves no one

[@gowdsake7103]

@@jamesmiller7457 The non existent cannot ever be with someone !

[@valivali8104]

​@@jamesmiller7457 read your "holy" collection of books... Or better yet, give evidence that 1) there exist at least one thing which deserves title of god, 2) it's your god instead of some other god(s), and 3) your version of your god is right one instead of version of someone who disagrees with you about your god's characteristics (name, sex/gender, powers, personality, opinions, etc.) before making baseless claims...

[@herbieshine1312]

​@@gowdsake7103the god concept never got into me in a deep way. I believed as a kid but by the time I was 14/15 I knew god didn't need to exist. Then I started to study, I read the bible the Christian god as written of in the bible was an obvious lie, an obvious monster and obviously of no further interest for me personally. You lied with your comment just lime the theists Aron spoke about in this video.

[@perfectblindguy]

@@jamesmiller7457 If God is not there for you when you need him the most, what does that say about God?

[@istvansipos9940]

thou shall feed the algorithm. And it was so. great points, Sir.

[@hifibrony]

Been following your talks for many years, Aron. This may be your best ever. Non-believer since I was a boy, atheist since I was a teen for all the reasons you so eloquently state. Rock on, brother.

[@SpringyDinge89]

35:12 If their was ever any doubt that the religious hate reality this just destroyed that.

[@Aengus42]

Yup! I'm still in the same state I was when I was born. I think it's easier to grow up untouched here in the UK than in the US.

[@Blue14113]

I miss your talks,Aron. You should definitely do more if you can. You were the first to make me question things. Keep it on, High Klingon Ambassador!

[@Treeman84]

Thank you for sharing.

[@boredumbsleepyhead]

Bringing up how believers try to turn your lack of "faith" in the unproven makes YOU the irrational one hit so close to home, had to deal with this in Tx far too often. The way he explained it is so perfect and relatable. Love what you do and honestly want to find a way to join in help with this cause

[@jakesmith5278]

Great speech! Go Aron!

[@MgtowRubicon]

"When a faithful appeals to emotion by asking 'What will you say to God when you appear before Him to be judged?' I would identify the logical fallacy and reverse the scenario: What if there is no God and when you die all of your thoughts, memories and consciousness are eternally terminated? You will never know that you are dead. You will never know that you voluntarily wasted your one and only life in inane superstition, ignorance and irrational fear. Also, your proselytizing would have condemned others, especially children, to the mental anguish of the threat of eternal agony and torture in a non-existent Hell. Children cannot distinguish between empty threats versus real threats, especially when the threat comes from someone they implicitly trust for honesty and they rely on that person for their survival and well-being. Such threats against children are horrific child abuse, because it leaves mental scars for life." -- Anonymous

[@craig3226]

8:49 😂😂😂. Man that one got me. That was awesome!

[@lrvogt1257]

Based only on my personal experience I find that most people pay lip service to religion out of social conformity rather than any real personal feeling or deep belief. Growing up, everyone went to church every Sunday and no one talked about it otherwise. Most of these people were very pleasant whenever I saw them but were racist or bigoted in some way and felt no contradiction about it.

[@campfireaddict6417]

It's still that way, for the most part. Social conformity is very important to a person who has to conform or else be shunned and talked about. A person who is on the timid side; who hasn't been taught that independent thoughts and ideas are good; a person who is still uncertain but scared to venture from the beliefs of the fold; a person who is insecure. There's also the element of danger from neighborhood extremists who would burn a cross in your front yard or worse, rather than follow the biblical "Love Thy Neighbor".

[@lrvogt1257]

@@campfireaddict6417 : So true but I'm just talking about people who go through the motions because that's what they're used to.

[@kaitownsend8282]

21:01 "But believers will not. They have to dodge or deflect," or as Matt Dillahunty puts it, "tap dance."

[@humbleevidenceaccepter7712]

There are no true Christians at funerals. They don't celebrate with joy at their loved one being in wondrous heaven. They don't say "no-biggie, we'll be together again when I die." No. They mourn just like atheists who know our loved ones are permanently gone.

[@riluna3695]

In the comments section of another video way back when, I saw someone describing their own experience as a believing Christian at their first funeral. (Grain of salt, since this story is secondhand) They were still very young at the time, and their reaction was exactly what you described: happy at the fact that the person they'd lost was now in Heaven with God. Upon seeing this, the Christian adults, rather than realizing that the kid was right and this was ultimately for the best, instead immediately called out the kid on their bizarre actions, insisting that something was very wrong with them for acting that way. They cited that as one of the first few signs that the people around them didn't really believe deep down, despite what they kept saying on the matter, and exploring that and other issues further as time went on showed them the cracks running all throughout Christianity, which they ultimately left.

[@DavidStowers-o7k]

8:18. When Aron did his impression of his minister, my ears (For a second or so.) heard the vampire hating (And later on in the series a vampire himself.) pastor from True Blood.

[@Therian13]

Hate to revive an old post, but for others wondering about this: [SPOILERS] There is a character in True Blood called Pastor Newlin, who is a radical, right-wing, militant Christian Pastor who despises vampires and gays, who in later seasons returns as a gay vampire.

[@somersetcace1]

Yes, the constant attempts of apologists to shift the burden of proof. I just put it as "I've never heard of or thought of a concept of a god that I could say, "yes, I believe that exists." If someone wants me to believe X, then they need to substantiate X. Trying make me prove some alternative is not going to work.

[@godlesspeopleandtheiremptiness]

see? I was right, you are just a godless ass kisser into an empty cult that does not give you anything.

[@valivali8104]

Ah, that old shifting burden of proof...

[@godlesspeopleandtheiremptiness]

@@valivali8104 The universe is perfect, and only a perfect and intelligent being could create it... If that is not a prove for you, then you are a godless alone hypocrite with nothing to offer to us and not even to yourself, but your empty atheism, which is empty air....

[@maddi62]

Lol that jonah thing (from a completely different preacher) was what started me on the journey out of religion almost 40yrs ago

[@VanHalenIsolated]

I’m so stealing, “An atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in god and an agnostic is someone who doesn’t know they’re an atheist.” 😂 this was my girlfriend. I asked her, “do you believe anything supernatural actually exists?” And she said, “no.” And I said, “then you’re an atheist.” That actually helped her see that she is an atheist.

[@spybird5870]

you might want to check what the definition of "atheist" is. it's not "someone who doesn't believe in anything supernatural"

[@Mr_badjoke]

DamnAron this is very well done!👌 I like the nod to Onion also😉🤙

[@MgtowRubicon]

"If you want to believe true ideas, then you must be open to belief revision." -- Anthony Magnabosco

[@keepdancingmaria]

Sarnia vs Narnia..... I know which -arnia I'd rather live in!!!!!! Well done, Sarnia!

[@Plankmeister]

Wow, this is the most quotable speech I've ever seen. Some absolute bangers in there...

[@jenniperkins4260]

You’re so intelligent love your vids

[@truepremise2053]

Quoted Me Well.

[@DulceN]

Great disertation, Aron, thank you!!!❤

[@charlesdarwin2492]

Best phrase ever “god is not guilty of existing”😂😂🇨🇦 Please make that into a shirt or flag

[@SteveFromTheBetween]

I remember being taught to fear God and the Bible and not really respect it. It's as if everyone around me thought that "fear equals respect". I knew in my heart that the whole thing was a mixed bag of weird myths and legends and were no more credible than any other mythology. It was still hard to break away, though. I'm just happy that I'm not following those old and tired doctrines that don't work or only partially work.

[@labspeciman7402]

Aron is a evolution rockstar. He can make it make sense for anyone. That is intelligence..

[@marcies3789]

Great talk!

[@AmberAmber]

Hooray! Aron & Seth❤❤❤❤

[@terrywright9765]

A belated welcome to Canada, Aaron.🇨🇦🥳💯

[@ObservantHistorian]

I've often put it this way: it is difficult to find a religious person who BEHAVES as though they REALLY believe there is a god to hold them accountable for their sins in some afterlife.

[@cenedra2143]

😂😂😂 that comment about an agnostic is just someone that doesn't know.. that they're an atheist.. 😂😂😂 I literally laughed out loud!! Then I went back and listened again 😅

[@BaronVonQuiply]

I heard the first few words and thought _"This sounds surprisingly high-end for a KZbin video about a lecture"_ Then Seth came onscreen and I'm reminded of that question of who you would have narrate your life, Morgan Freeman not being an option, and how I always answer "Seth Andrews".

[@Kattlarv]

As a whistleblower, I have BIG issues with people being honest. When I steelman their position, people STILL complain that I strawman them, due to how worthless their arguments are. While even their strawmen of me are ludicriously weak. And same: They don't care about objective facts, they just want to bring up something I can't answer.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I went to a state run, religious school in England. I remember being taught the story of Doubting Thomas, and thinking, that guy had the right idea. Yet he was held up to be excoriated, because he wouldn't believe without evidence. Besides, it'd be cool sticking your fingers in the holes.

[@valivali8104]

Cult leaders don’t like when they aren’t followed and believed blindly.

[@tombaxter6228]

I attended a Church of England school, despite not having any faith, so you can imagine how THAT went down with my forename...

[@jamesmiller7457]

@@tombaxter6228 but, ultimately, he did believe.

[@valivali8104]

@@jamesmiller7457 because that fictional character got evidence in that story... Our problem is that Jesse gets angry when Thomas asks for evidence.

[@jamesmiller7457]

@valivali8104 I am not sure why u think Thomas is fictional and I really don't want to argue Scripture, because u don't even believe in Scripture, but... Jesus was not exactly mean to Thomas for doubting, as u can plainly see: John 20:24-29 King James Version 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. I don't really see any scathing rebuke, or any rebuke at all for that matter.

[@SOREBobb-tl9fc]

I still believe In God i just realize he's in my head

[@russellnolan9212]

If we can look back, I'm quite sure that the man in the sky was like Apolo 's chariot or the eye of Ra, the sun!

[@ProgressOnly]

I wish I would have chosen this event to go to instead of the one that got cancelled :/

[@mazikeensmith2606]

If christians claim they carry god inside them, then why not let a scientist extract their DNA in order to find their god's DNA. Thus, they can finally prove that he exists!....Hmmm...I am sure he's left some traces....somewhere....like, in their brain! Aron, I love your work!!! Big hugs from a Montrealer🇨🇦 living in Deutschland 🇩🇪🤘🥰🤘

[@valivali8104]

If their god left anything in their brains, smell alone in enough to tell...

[@tomsenior7405]

Always a joy to see Aron asking the right questions. I had no idea what Christianity meant until I started Infant School, under the jurisdiction of the CofE, in 1968. By the age of 6, my classmates and I could not accept that grown adults actually believed in this guff. Seriously, our teachers must have known that what they were saying was daft. We were forced to say 'The Lord's Prayer' at every morning assembly. The language of the KJV made even less sense: 'Harold be thy name?', "Arnold be thy name?" I do not care. I wasn't going to ask. I learned very quickly that a slap across the face hurts. "Art in Heaven?". Wasn't Artwork banned by the commandments? = Slap across the face. "Thy Will be done"... In the Yorkshire dialect this means: "You will be punished for that". Who was going to punish god? = Another slap across the face. "The Virgin Birth". We were 5 years old for crying out loud. We didn't know about human reproduction, much less about 'virgins', or 'birth'. Our parents had told us we were found under the gooseberry bush in our garden. We were too young to be told about s.e.x. The Church disagreed. Apparently you are never too young to learn about murder, inc3st, r@pe, hum@n s@crifices, racism, sl@very, Hom0sexu@lity, Statutory r@pe, genocide, infanticide, fratricide, deicide etc, as long as it is in the bible, it is good. We were marched to the local church every week. The hymns made so sense. The Vicar spoke an alien language. The more we were told, the more we were punished. for requesting clarification. Fortunately for me, I was Christened over a font at just a few months old. This means I am saved. I am a Christian for life. Jeebus will always be with me and Jeebus loves me in his own disturbing way, according to the Anglican Church. I even have a Certificate to prove it. I do not call myself an Atheist. I am a Christian (who does not believe an iota, jot or tittle of the Christian Doctrine). This stance confuses the heck out of North American Right Wing Christian Trolls. Thank you Baby Jeebus for saving me from your angry parent/you/ghost.

[@randyhodges8782]

Amen

[@tomsenior7405]

@@randyhodges8782 Respect to you for checking-out an old fart's loophole. (Phrasing). You deserve a reward in Heaven for this. Cheers.

[@valivali8104]

Well, they were right in one thing: it's never too early to know about homosexuality, after all children learn about heterosexuality since birth.

[@tomsenior7405]

@@valivali8104 A valid point. Unfortunately the Church doesn't teach; Homosexuality = Normal. The Church teaches the insane doctrine of "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" Maybe God thinks she is Davros, the creator god of the Daleks?

[@Richdragon4]

​@@tomsenior7405Daleks are the coolest Doctor who villains of all time. Change my mind.

[@YeshuaisnotJesus]

Everyone has evidence for gods existence yet no one has ever won any of the worlds prizes. No Noble prize.

[@DodgaOfficial]

Funnily enough, my parents church believes in every supernatural phenomena that wiccans and other occultist claim to be experiencing. They just think they're evil, they're the "miracles of Satan." I was an occultist at one time, mostly because I had grown up being told that occultist have all this power with their demon contracts and I had spent my entire life seeing prayer utterly fail to do anything so it was time to check out "the other side" since they apparently had all this power. I found spells and all of that tripe worked no better than prayer did, they were deluding themselves just as much as the Christians are, just in a different, much more long winded and complicated package. But of course, if it doesn't work for you it's because you messed up some part of the spell, you didn't say some incantation correctly.

[@rachellight1186]

And I thought only children were supposed to have imaginary friends? To me faith believers still take the Toy R Us theme song seriously.

[@maxdoubt5219]

😄 That's witty, Rachel.

[@DrownedInExile]

I had a "supernatural" experience in late high-school. I was meditating, and believed I was astral-projecting my consciousness into the galaxy. It was quite the endorphin-rush. But it didn't change anything regarding the issues I had with a supposedly benevolent god or gods watching over us. Feelings are not facts.

[@garywhodunit2271]

This was inspiring

[@wizardsuth]

It's ironic that anyone watching Doug Henning's act would think he was practising real magic, given that Henning frequently told his audience it was all an illusion.

[@d.o.m.494]

Atheist all my life.

[@budd2nd]

Me too 👍

[@jpstardom3375]

Well, not me, i live in the philippines, the most retarded... i mean, the most christian nation in SE Asia. You wouldnt believe the bullcrap here. Its borderline insanity...

[@nickguy8037]

I remember when I asked my parents what that building was for (meaning the church down the street). They explained that it was where people who believed in god went each week for religious services. As a 4 year old child, I asked if I could go. They replied “if you want to”. Somehow that was enough… don’t need it… don’t want it. I have never felt the lack.

[@MAJMAJESTIC]

❤

[@malgremor85]

I was banished from sunday school for asking "who poked the holes in the Holy Ghost?