Matt Dillahunty - Get Them While They're Young

[@KendallHopkins]

I watched Matt interact with several children at his Magic & Skepticism tour after the show, and he truly does level with them as though they’re his equal. It was heart warming to experience.

[@jackthebassman1]

Steve Not at all, he's not a priest.

[@klumaverik]

That is exactly how I treat my children and others much younger than me. As humans like I am. It's a beautiful way to help shape their future social interactions in a positive way. Respect goes both ways.

[@scarmsaniiaggrey1646]

Kendall from Street Epistemology with Anthony!??

[@WilbertLek]

@Steve No, he is not your father.

[@Toasty5386]

I remember when I started watching his content and someone called in that was clearly pretty young. He didn’t laugh, he didn’t condescend, he didn’t say “oh you’re pretty smart for your age” or anything like that. He stayed completely on topic, took him exactly as seriously as anyone else and was respectful.

[@darrenthomas1000]

Id rather burn forever with true love and peace in my heart than live in fear and submit to a celestial dictator.

[@grimlund]

There is no burning hell. That thing was probably invented by church just to put fear in people.

[@EleanorPeterson]

If you believe you have an immortal soul, it will be an ineffable, purely spiritual thing. You can't burn that. You can't burn a thought any more than you can torture the colour blue. You can't drown an idea in acid. You can't break its bones or torment it in any way whatsoever. Nothing can have any physical control over something that's no more than a notion or an idea. That's not faith or belief or religion or spirituality - it's simple logic. There's nothing in a so-called immortal soul that can be hurt or touched or harmed, because then it would be in some way corporeal, and anything corporeal cannot be immortal. So... if you believe you have an immortal soul, it has nothing to fear from anything. Except priests, of course. Your immortal soul, if you believe such a thing exists, (and you needn't believe, because the idea of a soul was created by priests to gain control over the minds of scared and credulous people) is only subject to things that you believe can affect it. Priests are very good at snaring the minds of children, and filling them with dread and fear and terror. So why not tell the priests to shut up and go and sit under a tree to think about the terrible things they've done to countless innocent minds over thousands of years. You don't need priests and their threats. If you believe in souls, at the point of death, yours will be set free. Once free of your rotting body, YOU decide what it does. YOU choose whether any imaginary tormentors are allowed to stab its purely non-material essence with burning pitchforks. YOU decide what it will experience. It has no body, no substance, no nerves, no bones, no brain, no pain receptors, so YOU can choose what it feels - because it can't feel anything unless you want it to. I could order you to count to ten million, but you don't have to obey me. You might count as far as thirty-six, just to see if it was any fun, but then get bored and stop, and think about something else. Cars. Babes. Boobs. Screamimg electric guitars. Fried chicken. Whatever. No one and no thing can MAKE you count to ten million if you don't want to. And no one can make your 'soul' suffer, unless you want it to. Especially as a soul is a purely imaginary thing anyway. You can't torture a free mind unless it wants to let itself be tortured. You can't make it think anything. It can't feel pain or distress unless it was indoctrinated to imagine it was going to feel pain and distress back when it was in a body that could feel those things. And it would have been taught or programmed to believe those things by religious fanatics. So why believe in souls and God and demons and angels and heaven and hell in the first place? It's all, literally, nonsense! You don't need it! So forget about 'immortal souls', tormented or otherwise. They're a tool to command obedience, nothing more. Live a good life, do no harm, leave the world a little bit better than you found it, and embrace oblivion when your life is over. You were born free, and, if you choose to, you can die free, too. 🙂

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

@@EleanorPeterson logic lol! You joking right? So how does a cartel member live on this life with everything and dies. So there's no justice lol. Come on plz use your brain

[@matthall22]

@@johnnylovesjesus7809 How does a member of the cartel live on this life with everything he does and then accepts Jesus and dies and goes to heaven? There's no actual justice. Plz use your brain.

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

@@matthall22 I use my brain that's why I say GOD exists.

[@miaomiaochan]

Fantastic speech. It's too bad that the people who really needed to listen to it didn't, and won't.

[@shanestrickland5006]

Your profile picture looks like that women from ghost in the shell stand alone complex.

[@lukeyznaga7627]

In "olden days" of my life or years past, I used to see and believe that when those christians didn't listen or won't listen to truth, the results and outcomes were still a bit not so bad. BUT NOW, after this year's January 6 and with Trumpism and with some fanatics ON BOTH SIDES of politics, the results and ramifications and consequences of people who won't listen and don't listen to reasoning and truth and skepticism and don't read Voltaire or some of Samuel Clemens' quotes or listen to Atheists, are dire. In fact, people have died and are being assaulted by misinformed and very serious spiritual people that LINK UP their spirituality with politics. That scares me.

[@jasonl.466]

Interesting, this story of Isaac and Abraham actually kind of reminds me of Jesus' story.

[@daniloleite5251]

I'm one of those who needs to listen to this speech. And for me it is fantastic too

[@norcodaev]

@@lukeyznaga7627 I’m so tired of this ‘both sides’ argument. It’s basically: tell me you don’t follow politics closely without telling me you don’t follow politics closely. Name me a single thing on the left as fanatical as Qanon is on the right. Name me a single thing the left is advocating for that comes from an imaginary sky daddy.

[@Antis14CZ]

I used to work in a bookstore. Not in the US, so our section on religion was small, but we did carry a few titles of this kind - bible stories for children. I remember one that was about the Noah's flood. It was for really little children, I'm talking hard cardboard pages. Cute little illustrations of cute little bible characters. Cute little boat, cute little animals, all the colors of the rainbow. Oddly, there wasn't any mention of genocide.

[@bazingaburg8264]

The omitted consequence of Noah's family being the lone chosen survivors is that the rest gets drowned, kids learn halftruths before they grasp what 2 plus 2 is or can look like. Don't harp on that, you villainous scoundrel intent on destroying the American family and its values. Jesus is word! Or was it the bird? Ah baba baba baba ooma mamow mama ooma-mamow... Imagine the bird in the song is the one that supposedly returned to the arc with a branch.

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

I think the fact that I was not fully indoctrinated as a child helped me a great deal . I wanted to believe but I was rational .No matter how hard I tried to make sense of faith I couldn't .

[@WilbertLek]

Same.

[@jasonl.466]

Can I pray for you to try harder? Don't give up:)

[@kaletovhangar]

@@jasonl.466 What a load of BS.Prayer is mockery of reasonable being, and you are proving that.

[@glennjoselane1690]

I adore Matt! He tells it like it is and is a breath of fresh air! Wonderful!

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

Matt is one of the biggest fools we have on our planet. Keep following him you will end up next to him in hell.

[@WilbertLek]

@@johnnylovesjesus7809 Yes.... You've already shown us what a reprehensible piece of human trash your reality denying has made you. Or how you are using reality denying as an excuse to be a failure of humanity. Congratulations...

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

@@WilbertLek so insult and lies is what you are about? We see why you dont want GOD. Criminals dont like cops! Have a good day and please use hermeneutics and become born again to understand the BIBLE. GOD loves you and died for you and want to have a relationship with you.

[@WilbertLek]

@@johnnylovesjesus7809 Talking about yourself again...

[@manuelpatino7863]

@@johnnylovesjesus7809 Fuck you!

[@ChampionofVardenfell]

The most hated words I have EVER HEARD: BecAuSE i SAid sO durrrrrrrrrr. Still wana slap my parents for every time they told me that.

[@TheSecondR]

this comment perfectly encapsulates every atheist origin story, it's a teenager that never grew out of that phase of hating their parents and instead put a spiritual/political system to it to justify their impotent rage at their parents but instead projects it at God with the added benefit of pretending to be better than his followers by going after the worst examples of the faith by doing online slacktivism

[@ChampionofVardenfell]

@@TheSecondR That's an excellent theory. I would posit a potential alternative explanation, however. Perhaps, I *did* grow up, and upon doing so, I realized that I didn't have good reasons for believing what I believed. Perhaps I then came to the further realization that the insistant assertion of "because I said so" from parents/spiritual leaders/law enforcement/politicians (pick your "authority figure") etc, lacked any sort of explanatory power whatsoever, and was therefore an illegitimate cop-out from someone who claimed to have authority and answers but proved ulimately unable to provide them. Just a thought! But thank you for your insightful and prescient analysis of my psyche, ad-hominem and assumption laden as it was. 😂

[@bommelhiro6312]

At the end I had tears in my eyes. I'm on the journey to find my way out and this helped a lot. What religion had done to me and still does to my friends and family is aweful. I'm so happy to be free from all of this. Matt, you helped me to allow myself to ask questions and use my brain and don't be ashamed of it. Thank you to be out there and sharing your story and your thoughts.

[@matthewaustin9790]

"Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen." Did you pray this prayer?

[@bommelhiro6312]

@@matthewaustin9790 More than once.

[@idontcare9661]

@@bommelhiro6312don’t listen to this asshole he’s spammed this prayer everywhere thinking it counts for anything, keep doing what you’re doing man

[@Berbs73]

Priests most certainly do.

[@PRHILL9696]

Yep look what is happening with Catholics yet again in Pennsylvania!

[@natashaestes154]

This is the most personally relevant talk at the moment, as I've seen a new period of un-friending on fb due to like-&-share of anti-woo stuff in addition to atheist stuff, complete with the mental health advice that essentially I'd feel better if I just ignore injustices & the people being hurt & instead focus on good & pseudoscience things bc they wanted to see happy things in their feeds, lest I be pernicious by not contributing to their bubble. Sounds like a good loss to me.

[@WilbertLek]

The audience of Facebook is just as ridiculous as the audience of creation.com. It's a shame healthy, sane people even go there.

[@garethtatler6886]

"I talk to them as if they are real people." That made me chuckle.

[@larryfulkerson7206]

I regret ever having been religious. I'm glad I graduated finally. It erks me that I have to keep my mouth shut around my religious family.

[@Crow-me1er]

larry fulkerson lol true I rolled my eyes when someone said thoughts and prayers and almost got into a fist fight!

[@peteraschaffenburg1]

Wow When I read larry´s comment the exact same words you wrote, went through my mind. I was about to comment and then I read yours ;-)

[@Stuit3rb4l]

Regret is the poison that could destroy the positivity of your negative experience...

[@brianwright1901]

Crucify someone on the Christmas tree this year.

[@musiqal333]

I deeply regret it too. It's annoying af.

[@harkema8090]

You did great mr. Dillahunty...a sermon for atheism, humanism and scepticism! For a good world!

[@pietervanzyl1564]

Thank so much. I grew up being indoctrinated by these BS religious fairy tales. From a young age we were made to love god, with fear. After school i partake in the SA Bush war in the late 80's and killed people while i believed the little red bible in my shirt pocket protected me. We killed with no emotion, for fatherland and god. We did this believing god is smiling down on us. Only once my 1st son was born in 2000 did i woke up and realized i was lied to all the time. Its been a helluva long road to de-program myself and i am proud to say today that I am a whole human. Wishing you only the best and may all the messed up kids hear what you have to say.

[@ericscaillet2232]

I hear you Pieter,stay strong ,from a fellow SA.

[@jasonl.466]

It's sad to hear that some people have used (and will use) ideologies to brainwash you. I have read the 10 commandments and somehow it says "you shall not kill". The bible is clear on that one...

[@carolstrachan4197]

Excellent speech from an intelligent, caring human being.

[@eric_the_red5600]

Caring yet veiws everyone with religion as ignorant pieces of garbage that are brain washing their kids. Seems more like a comedian than anything else and also seems pretty ignorant to seem so sure of which he speaks..

[@WilbertLek]

The only two "people" here WHICH don't agree are a bunch of trolls. What a surprise.....

[@Monev360]

It's mind blowing that I used to think that the Abraham and Isaac story was encouraging, inspiring or good in any way.

[@grom3852]

it's mind blowing that a fraction of the country still endorses this filth! >.

[@8698gil]

I remember my parents reading me this story when I was a child, and holding it up as an example of a “good” Christian. Funny how a theist’s mind can play such insane tricks. In any other context a Christian would regard Abraham as a dangerous lunatic. Hesring voices, attempting to murder his child, etc.

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

The story is actually pretty awesome. Why you ask? The story is about a man that desired a child and couldn't have one. You know that right? He had one only because of GOD mercy and HIS amazing love....now GOD wanted to show abram faith. What if his son would of died, would that be wrong? Why? In your worldview we are stardust that evolved, we are just matter in motion, so how can anything be a absolute? so how can you say anything is right or wrong? How can you call a line crooked if you never seen one. See what you are expressing is what I call you must borrow from GOD to deny GOD. Abram son wasnt a toddler he was actually a grown man. So abram couldn't of done it without Isaac permission. If he would of died (which he didnt) he would of went to heaven or GOD would of brought him back and abram knew that and understand that what GOD gives could be taken away at any moment. If you deny GOD and/or dont get touch by the JESUS dying for your sins (and mine) then you are truly wicked and I am glad theres a hell for the wicked.

[@8698gil]

@@johnnylovesjesus7809 Of course we can say what is right and what is wrong. It is wrong to cause harm to others. It is that simple. Treat others as you would be treated. Why do you need a god to tell you that? Would you not care who you hurt otherwise? Do you secretly want to hurt people and only being scared of god is holding you back? Well, I don't hurt others because I have empathy and compassion and I care about the well being of other human beings. If you would really hurt others without caring about it at all without your bible to tell you not to, then you need to seriously assess your character.

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

@@8698gil Matthew 7:12 says do on to others as you want others to do on to you. You see you are using BIBLICAL principles. No I was a bad person befor I found GOD. GOD change my life. What I am saying is as a atheist where do you get your morally from? We have some much bad in this world and those who dont agree with being a good person, how can you say they are wrong? By what standard? Do you believe in absolute truth?

[@ksturmer5388]

Some of the best and loveliest people that I know in this life, cannot have kids themselves. Matt would make a great father.

[@metroidmayhem8463]

My dad could beat your dad up.- kids My God can beat your God- religion.

[@WilbertLek]

Nail, meet hammer...

[@verycaring2387]

I talk to children and tell them to believe in themselves to do well with school and making friends. I tell them to use your own mind and make the best decision that helps you and someone else if needed. I tell them we can all look up in the sky and IMAGINE what "god" is. The truth is....is that you are REAL and can think for yourself. I ask them, "Do you see a "god" in the sky that you should be afraid of right now??" They say no. Then I say, " Way to goooo!! You didnt make up a story or lie! Your life is yours to do the best things with, so do it right for YOU!" I offer them time for questions...they usually just want to play! lol The parents agree with me. Its a beautiful thing to be FREE!🙃💜

[@jasonl.466]

Note: invisible things do have an effect on society. If you can't see it doesn't mean you can ignore it. ("Do you see a "god" in the sky that you should be afraid of right now??" They say no. Then I say, " Way to goooo!! ) As an alternative to letting those children do whatever they want, you could teach them about respect, kindness, friendship, ..? Cordialement :)

[@thepassionofgodshousetpgh8763]

The same people who say get them while they are still young are the same people who advocate for abortion…!!!!!

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

No they aren't...!!!!!

[@idontcare9661]

Aborition is nessecery and should not be illegal

[@fishysnake1]

Brilliant, Matt. Thank you.

[@vilkoskorlich259]

In a study that was conducted by the University of Chicago, a link was found between non-religious upbringing and kindness. In fact, children who were raised without religion were not only kinder but also showed more empathy towards others. While most would believe that religion and a higher power breeds a better upbringing, this study seems to indicate otherwise. Led by Professor Jean Decety looked into the perceptions and behavior of various children located in six different countries. They looked into the children’s likeliness to share, as well as their habits regarding judging others or punishing them for bad behavior. “Overall, our findings … contradict the commonsense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind towards others,” “More generally, they call into question whether religion is vital for moral development, supporting the idea that secularization of moral discourse will not reduce human kindness - in fact, it will do just the opposite

[@jasonl.466]

Whoops?! www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/10/3/20895240/study-typo-religion-children-generosity-retraction

[@clarkelaidlaw1678]

Two Nudists appear from nowhere,take dietary advice from a talking snake,and the Hebrew,Christian,Muslim and Mormon religions are off to a great start.

[@Simon-nv5zj]

imagine how many people would be religious if they were not raised to be.

[@krazyhorse448]

RIP James Randy

[@oceangal9327]

What an amazing talk! I've always wondered how I would raise my kids when I get to that point. I am an atheist and I was confused on how I would raise an atheist child in a theist world? I am still young and I assumed if I couldn't figure it out now when will I? But this talk opened my eyes and pointed out the reasons on why I became an atheist in the first place! Of course I want to be as loving and open to my children when I raise them. But I always found myself reasoning indoctrinating them that there is no god like the theists in my life have done. Now I can further my life reassuring myself that I will indeed raise my children as open minded as possible with critical thinking skills! Neat!

[@WilbertLek]

Just don't mention it until they ask you.

[@Rico-Suave_]

Thank you for posting

[@WMTeWu]

This is golden: Being more confident than evidence allows, makes one fear of being exposed as someone who is overconfident or even wrong. And that fear is what makes one stuck with their beliefs - this fear is pushing and pulling them away from being skeptic. Skeptics should avoid that fear. When someone give you proof that the Earth is flat, don't say they're wrong when you haven't even looked at the proof. Don't be afraid to say that you are not proficient in physics, and can't tell if their proof is valid. Don't be overconfident. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know". Tell them that you're happy to believe whatever they want you to believe, as soon as there is scientific consensus that their proposition is true.

[@tyrander1652]

You know those kids who were bored to death in school and couldn't wait to graduate--who would have dropped out if their parents would have let them. That was me during twelve years of Sunday school and Catechism classes (it was also everyone else in those classes as far as I could tell). I never thought it was BS, I just didn't get it. I didn't get why Jesus was a big deal. If you want God to forgive you, pray to God, not his kid. I never learned what the Holy Ghost was or why I should care. I really didn't get why Saul/Paul was the chosen messenger and not any of the Disciples (Why even have Disciples if you are just going to pick some guy after you die and give him all of the information for the future of the Church). Reading the Bible was confusing (we had to memorize passages every week--that really sucked). I liked normal school and was a good student. Normal school subjects made sense. A dozen years after high school, with a couple of graduate degrees under my belt and confidence that I was more intelligent than most at reading comprehension, I started thinking about developing the spiritual anchor in my life and going back to church, so I read the Bible word by word, sentence by sentence (I even slogged through Leviticus). It cured me of any belief that the god I believed in had anything to do with the writing of that book or anything in it. It seemed like Satan had inspire its writers it to make god look bad. It took a few more years for me to realize that if my god had nothing to with the Bible he was just a concept modern people had, and if he was just a concept, he wasn't real.

[@phataton8206]

Tyrander165 very good point. Because (Solomon) Sol/Apollo (Paul) was a ROMAN. but understood Jewish laws/customs etc. (probably Josephus IMO) Roman Empire 2.0

[@YourMomsHouse988]

Well said.

[@wilder11]

"Get them while they're young." Well at least they're just coming out and saying it. XD

[@lukeyznaga7627]

"...instill in them a spirit of inquiry and ..." investigation, ask questions. Excellent. If I had that way back years when I was young.....I spent a LOT of money, time, and my life pursuing, studying, chasing the "god" of the bible and bible knowledge. It blocked a lot of good things that could have happened...out of my life. I can't recapture the wasted years.

[@Джонатан-р8д]

Ironically, buying a book at a Christian bookstore in highschool made me question my beliefs in my religion.

[@dawnpham8394]

That horrific story of Abraham sacrificed his only son makes me SICK. I am beyond happy that I walked away from this sickening religion. I have a son and no God is big enough to tell me to hurt my son....just to test my love for God? WOW...anyone with a logical mind that functions properly cannot fall for this BS

[@philipinchina]

Thank you.

[@Kotifilosofi]

The reason those tribes appreciated boys more than girls (and still do today, on the certain corners of the world), is purely practical. Son "stays in the family" bringing wealthiness to the parents and also protection to them when they get old. Daughters on the other hand, are married off to the husband's family, so anything they can contribute will benefit only the family of the husband. I'm also recalling that it's a custom in certain areas on the Middle East that the family of the dauhter will "buy" a husband, attracting the family of husband with embroidered fabrics and other women's handcrafts to prove the usefulness of the woman for the husband candidate. At some instances, it would take years of work from the women of the family to equip the daughter for a good future husband. So, if a family had many daughters and no sons, they'd face a real economical struggle.

[@mamasaid187]

It’s called coveting the family to a club. A strange man who tells your wife what to do.

[@GodlessFiend]

Fabulous speech.

[@jackcondor9205]

hello all my heathen philosophers.... looking forward to a world without religion.....

[@phataton8206]

Something very beneficial about being a child in a religious upbringing. Since the Bible reader and my translation NIV-KJV were usually different. This gave me a ton of English language skills (comprehension) begat=had/gave etc etc etc. this helped me on IQ tests and reading comprehension. I’ll say that. But when I found out Santa and the Easter Bunny were not real. (I never really believed in the EB) I also questioned the Bible stories.

[@phataton8206]

Something I connected very early. Standardized tests did a lot of synonyms etc. I realized. This is just like when the preacher reads from the NAS and I’m following along in my KJV

[@jasonl.466]

@@phataton8206 You could try other language translations? Spanish? Vietnamese?

[@thomaslynas721]

Excellent.

[@yunsohn]

I respect Matt.

[@bluekjar]

Wish I could up vote twice..

[@yikesyikes5974]

I still have My Book of Bible Stories! That was the only book that kept me from going insane as a child at the Kingdom Hall.

[@silverwoodchuck47]

That was some wise advice about kids from a man with no kids. Nicely done.

[@idontcare9661]

Yeah a shame that he knows how to treat children better then all religions parents

[@NetTubeUser]

It is extremely sad that we need to speak about religious people to "normal" people, who think rationally. If you think about it... we all waste our time to speak about this topic. This world, is not perfect, and if it was the case, it would be extremely boring... but those religions and beliefs are destroying our life! Without them, we would be completely different. Free about sex, free about the oppression, manipulation, slavery, and terrorism from extremists that we know, still today and because of religions and beliefs, some people are still killed for no rational reason, and because of that, we must fight against those lunatics every single day! It's exhausting but I really believe that in a few decades, the new generations gonna let those religions and believes behind them. They gonna let those awful, extremely violent religions and beliefs to their grandma and grandpa (that means us, even if I'm still young), and think only about science and real facts instead of manipulating people in general, and I think that the future generations gonna ask us: _"Your generation was extremely violent and ignorant, it was almost like the Middle Ages... how did you survive in this world?!"_ and they gonna be right! -- Every single religion or belief that exists on this planet is an insult to our intelligence and humanity.

[@emperorstarscream8311]

Amen

[@PRHILL9696]

Brilliant!

[@eric_the_red5600]

Isn't the pentagram a symbol of religion..

[@quantumquestthebillionaire1527]

@@eric_the_red5600 Well yea eric but that's not a pentagram is it ?

[@WilbertLek]

@@eric_the_red5600 Aren't symbols for the symbol minded?...

[@WilbertLek]

@@eric_the_red5600 That's a "David's star", moron.... No wonder you are a reality denier. Penta means 5, you fuckwit. Buy glasses or talk to yourself to your imaginary friend why he doesn't fix your fucking eyes.... Or your brain.

[@AbuctingTacos]

When I was a kid my fundamentalist church told me the same story but differently. I remember God told Abraham to murder Issac and an angel came down to stop him as he was bringing the knife to his chest

[@EleanorPeterson]

This is a response to Munkee, who wrote a Comment about his or her 'soul'. If you believe you have an immortal soul, it will be an ineffable, purely spiritual thing. You can't burn that. You can't burn a thought any more than you can torture the colour blue. You can't drown an idea in acid. You can't break its bones or torment it in any way whatsoever. Nothing can have any physical control over something that's no more than a notion or an idea. That's not faith or belief or religion or spirituality - it's simple logic. There's nothing in a so-called immortal soul that can be hurt or touched or harmed, because then it would be in some way corporeal, and anything corporeal cannot be immortal. So... if you believe you have an immortal soul, it has nothing to fear from anything. Except priests, of course. Your immortal soul, if you believe such a thing exists, (and you needn't believe, because the idea of a soul was created by priests to gain control over the minds of scared and credulous people) is only subject to things that you believe can affect it. Priests are very good at snaring the minds of children, and filling them with dread and fear and terror. So why not tell the priests to shut up and go and sit under a tree to think about the terrible things they've done to countless innocent minds over thousands of years. You don't need priests and their threats. If you believe in souls, at the point of death, yours will be set free. Once free of your rotting body, YOU decide what it does. YOU choose whether any imaginary tormentors are allowed to stab its purely non-material essence with burning pitchforks. YOU decide what it will experience. It has no body, no substance, no nerves, no bones, no brain, no pain receptors, so YOU can choose what it feels - because it can't feel anything unless you want it to. I could order you to count to ten million, but you don't have to obey me. You might count as far as thirty-six, just to see if it was any fun, but then get bored and stop, and think about something else. Cars. Babes. Boobs. Screamimg electric guitars. Fried chicken. Whatever. No one and no thing can MAKE you count to ten million if you don't want to. And no one can make your 'soul' suffer, unless you want it to. Especially as a soul is a purely imaginary thing anyway. You can't torture a free mind unless it wants to let itself be tortured. You can't make it think anything. It can't feel pain or distress unless it was indoctrinated to imagine it was going to feel pain and distress back when it was in a body that could feel those things. And it would have been taught or programmed to believe those things by religious fanatics. So why believe in souls and God and demons and angels and heaven and hell in the first place? It's all, literally, nonsense! You don't need it! So forget about 'immortal souls', tormented or otherwise. They're a tool to command obedience, nothing more. Live a good life, do no harm, leave the world a little bit better than you found it, and embrace oblivion when your life is over. You were born free, and, if you choose to, you can die free, too. 🙂

[@nrupenchudasma4101]

Mat... I was life long hindu (due to my parents) and I got the same question from my kid today, are you aethiest? I was happy as well as scared not to put my thoughts in their mind and I used your words of being aethist, be skeptical.

[@harveywabbit9541]

Teach em while they are young, start with this one. Moses, in Exodus 19.3-4., was copied from Greek myth. GANYMEDES (Ganymede) was a handsome Trojan prince who was carried off to heaven by Zeus in the shape of an eagle where he was appointed as cup-bearer of the gods. Ganymedes was also placed amongst the stars as the constellationAquarius, his ambrosial mixing cup as Crater, and the eagle as Aquila. Ganymedes was often portrayed as the god of homosexual love and as such appears as a playmate of the love-gods.

[@aquarianlove1787]

I remember being five and my grandma giving me the book and talking to me about God.

[@worthdoss8043]

Critical thought needs to be practiced AND taught on the left and the right.

[@jasonl.466]

I agree!, we should be critical about what many schools teach on evolution. These days you're laughed at by teachers if you even question Darwin's theory.

[@darthlynx5792]

You're just doing the middle ground fallacy. Oh, there are both sides? They're both wrong. I on the other hand, am superior, and both sides are wrong. One side just has better philosophy. Be a republican, I don't care. But don't do this "both sides are same" bullshit. They are not the same. They're not the same in what they believe to be moral. They're not the same in epistemology. They're not the same in principle.

[@ffederel]

I'm not a Christian, but I assume Abraham passed the test because he surrendered his will to the will of God. I guess that's the point of the story.

[@jasonl.466]

Yeah!, Abraham trusted the Lord so much that he was willing to sacrifice his son. It reminds me of God willing to sacrifice Jesus for you and me. Regards, :)

[@jensandersen7011]

That was Billy Shears.

[@idontcare9661]

Yeah dude what kind of loving person wants you to be in a relationship with them in which someone would kill their child for them, it’s blind trust and faith, it’s fucking stupid a terrible lesson

[@lukeyznaga7627]

I notice most of the comments below are from two years ago and similar or a BIT more recent. How do you all feel about the importance of what Matt Dillahunty said IN TODAY'S cultural climate????

[@justinmartin8637]

Eating lunch today I heard 2 guys talking about challenging their young bible study children to read it every day. Going so far as to give them $1 everyday they read. So not only early indoctrination but relating the written word to monetary gain.

[@WilbertLek]

That's reality denier "morality" for ya....

[@oddoutdoors]

The title of this video is the ethos of the catholic church.

[@Joe99]

I'd watch this, but I don't want to get too upset cuz my kids are getting indoctrinated.

[@ladycav9097]

Joey Eng I’m so sorry. I was brainwashed. What helped me think was casually mentioned arguments, like “if you’re raised in India do you think you’d be a Christian?” That made me really think

[@Joe99]

@@ladycav9097 Thanks Stephanie. Yes, I've used the outsider test for faith with my wife. Didn't seem to help. Maybe it planted a seed though.

[@ladycav9097]

Joey Eng just keep planting! Another one was the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and slowly I started to question why I believed what my parents had been telling me was true. My husband helped me think it through, while still being kind about my imaginary friend. It worked.

[@Joe99]

@@ladycav9097 That's encouraging. Did you ever feel your identity was tied to being a Christian? That's how it is for my wife, which makes her more unwilling to question.

[@ladycav9097]

Joey Eng it was for a long time. As I began to question I also questioned other Christians. People got upset, even called it blasphemy. But I was no longer in my home town, which I’m sure helped. Something that I thought about is this: if my identity is Christianity, then who am I? What am I not doing because I spend so much time wrapping my brain around my beliefs? I began to see how much of my life was spent in self deprecation in my own head. Constantly praising and thanking and asking-BUT knowing he would do what he want and I had to take it. It was eye opening. My thoughts are my own now -and even after I made that decision it was hard to stop those thoughts. I’m finally confident in myself and what I can do. All those times I thanked the “invisible teapot” for getting me through something, well it was actually my strong self. I did all the things that went right, and I’m responsible for all the things I did wrong. And if I’m responsible, then I can fix it. If I took care of it myself I can grow strong and do even more. It’s not some scary darkness where you have no joy or you lose a piece of yourself. It’s where you discover someone else put a big dark block of religion in you, and now you get to fill it with your amazing self.

[@daviniarobbins9298]

I went to Sunday school as a young child(age up to 7). Didn't do me any harm. Mind you then again I don't remember anything about that time in my life, just that I remember going there. By the way I quit going. Do you know why I refused to go anymore? Because they had Jesus depicted in jeans and a tee-shirt. Something silly like that. I don't remember that, I only know because my mother told me some 20. 30 years later.

[@jasonl.466]

If Christianity were true would you believe it?

[@Джонатан-р8д]

@@jasonl.466 If something is demonstrably true you don't choose whether or not you believe it. You accept it or you are irrational. Demonstrate Christianity is true.

[@jasonl.466]

@@Джонатан-р8д Ok, there's a book I recommend called "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist" by Frank Turek. If you're up for reason, you can read his arguments and hopefully you can get some insight on the matter. :)

[@mariusmitre492]

This time Matt was alot like Seth Andrews. He exposes the ugly and shameful side of religion in a funny manner just like him.

[@hakureikura9052]

the walk back home would have been veeeeeeeeery awkward between isaac and abraham. that is... if the writers of the bible are actually good writers. the way they portray abraham and isaac is like they were unfeeling clay pots. they don't sound very human... or alive... they sound like brain dead zombies.

[@mistahtom]

Ancient history demonstrates that literacy rates for adults were extremely low so really only the nobility and the religious leaders that came out of the nobility could read. Books/codices weren’t widely distributed because they were very expensive to mass produce. The average person in ancient times would not have access to this material for study. The religion had to develop stories that pass easily through oral tradition to distribute “the word” to the illiterate masses. Children have simplified world views because of their lack of wisdom and because their natural limits on literacy development. So using religious propaganda that teaches children the religion’s framework through the lens of a competitive historiography, that’s how you get adult adherents.

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

Atheism is not always born of rational thought . I mean you can think gods don't exist because Yoda said something that gave them the impression that it was true . Are you an atheist ? Yep . An atheist is free to accept anything that is not theistic .Rational thought , skepticism , and critical thinking skills are paramount to a better future than we are currently on course to realize .

[@arcenioarchibold6459]

THE CHICKEN EGG dilemma all over the place! GOD BLESS YOU!

[@WilbertLek]

Could you shut the fuck up with your incredibly dumb comment... Same stupid shit on all these videos... You sound like a headless chicken.

[@WMTeWu]

The egg was first. Eggs are not laid only by chickens.

[@arcenioarchibold6459]

@@WMTeWu BUT ONLY CHIKENS LAY CHICKENS EGGS! God bless you!

[@jasonl.466]

@@arcenioarchibold6459 God bless us in these difficult times! :)

[@arcenioarchibold6459]

@@jasonl.466 There are blessings all over the place! Life, mind to reason, the bible, offer of eternal life and ample opportunity to help and do good to others God bless you!

[@PsychorGames]

I don't want to get political but amogus sus.

[@aaronbarreguin.4211]

He is preaching from a pulpit

[@cullenarthur8879]

Religion did not create, nor does it own the concept of public speaking.

[@aaronbarreguin.4211]

@@cullenarthur8879 I feel like modern atheism is secular Christianity. This feels like a sermon.

[@cullenarthur8879]

@@aaronbarreguin.4211 just because he is standing in front of a group of people and speaking, does not make it a sermon or religious. Like I said, christianity or any other religion does not own the concept of public speaking. As far as comparing atheism to christianity, atheism is a religion like baldness is a hair color.

[@aaronbarreguin.4211]

@@cullenarthur8879 I disagree.

[@cullenarthur8879]

@@aaronbarreguin.4211 o.k. I guess that's an argument.

[@aaronsilver-pell411]

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but those who say that the parents should gain some benefit from their children have an incentive to have extra children. If on the other hand you say things like children should be the focus then you don't have as much incentive to have children now do you? This may be one reason why atheists have so few children and theists can have lots. In my eyes at least, my mother and father were close to living gods.

[@tyrander1652]

Much of it is education and economic status. Educated people see the state of the planet due to over population, and people/women with more money have more options for interesting things to do with their lives than just raise children.

[@jossiahnajjar7397]

First of all jesus didnt come to invite people to a religion he came to reconcile the WHOLE world with god because sin ( stealing, cursing, etc) got us separated from him.

[@charlestownsend9280]

If that's the case then we're is jesus? How come there are still parts of the world who have never heard about jesus?

[@jossiahnajjar7397]

@@charlestownsend9280 why do u think he didn't come back yet . That's bcz hes still giving mercy for the people to accept and know him before he comes . He says in the bible that all the nations of the earth will know abt him and then he will come. It's mentioned in revelations

[@haroldrole615]

The oldest trick of all, God is love, spell haha God is good, but it also says God creates evil, don't show the children that scripture

[@jasonl.466]

Would you kindly show me where the bible says God created evil? Then I could prove it to my pastor:)

[@vladtepes7539]

eww. thats when they still knack, huh?

[@studio-flash]

Child abuse..bible stories...wait until they are adults and make their own minds up then. Yes but we wont have indoctrinated them..ow yeah thats true..ok..lets get them while they're young.

[@ClassicJukeboxBand]

I am an atheist, but I am not a liberal. I believe in individual rights. Collectivism always leads to tyranny...I like this guy because he is an atheist, but what right does he have to criticize a fellow atheist for their political views? I listen to atheists because they make logical arguments about the existence of god, not for them to convert me to their non-logical views on politics. I would respect this guy if he would stick to arguing against religion and not criticizing people because of their political opinions. Atheists are not required to be conservative or liberal. They can be whatever they want. I'm just glad they see the light about god...

[@jasonl.466]

Ok, so he can only criticize people who are religious but not those who are atheist?

[@Джонатан-р8д]

We're talking about ideology. You can and should critique positions and claims. Idk what your contention is here.

[@ClassicJukeboxBand]

@@Джонатан-р8д Ok

[@idontcare9661]

Why the hell would he only be able to argue about atheism. “I agree with this man until he starts criticizing things I agree with” stfu

[@thepassionofgodshousetpgh8763]

Atheism is a religion…

[@charlestownsend9280]

In the same way that an empty glass is a drink.

[@timo4463]

​@@charlestownsend9280Homer Simpson voice: "mhhhh aiiir"

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

Wrong.

[@matthewaustin9790]

"Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I want to turn from my sins, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe He died for my sins and that You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and to take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus' Name, amen." Did you pray this prayer?

[@idontcare9661]

What do you think would happen if he did

[@Leith_Crowther]

I like this. We have a testable claim that if I pray this prayer, I’ll start to believe that biblical ideas about God and salvation are true. So will you concede that if I’m still an atheist after praying this prayer, your test failed?

[@damianedwards8827]

It's a Shame. God is the Existence of Love. Everybody Believes Love Exists. Atheists Unnecessarily Overcomplicate it. Its Unfortunate

[@charlestownsend9280]

Or you're just oversimplifying it. Also asking for evidence isn't overcomplicating things.

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

Ha, "love". Try actually reading your Bible.

[@idontcare9661]

Dude has not read the bible

[@damianedwards8827]

@@charlestownsend9280 Exactly. Everybody has evidence Love exists. Including You.

[@damianedwards8827]

@@idontcare9661 You don't NEED the Bible to acknowledge Love exists. Don't Comment on the Bible. Because BEFORE trying to examine the Bible, You FIRST have to Admit the immense impact Love has on YOUR life. You know that's true..but won't Publicly Admit it. So by jumping into the Bible, Your ego is making you get ahead of yourself. An Atheist trying to Explain the Bible, would be like a white person trying to Explain Black Culture to a Black person. Haha. It would be Pointless

[@multiyapples]

As a Christian I can't take this seriously.

[@WilbertLek]

We know that. That's why we fight the ignorant drivel you think is real....

[@jasonl.466]

@@headlights4395 Very interesting indeed! However one thing that I did find in that blog is that he uses a set of objective moral principles to explain that God is evil. (e.g. There is evil in the world so God can't be love) These arguments were also used in the debate of C. Hitchens and F. Turek this is F. Turek's argument: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJzIhZp5hqhrq6M Regards :)

[@rebeccadubois8270]

You should take it seriously cause if religion were outlawed for anyone under 18 like cigarettes your religion would dissappear in a decade. Wish I could only hope for

[@jossiahnajjar7397]

And it's not nice to make fun of what other people believe in.

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

It's not nice to lie to children about religious nonsense.

[@jossiahnajjar7397]

@@GoodBrotherGrimm if y know something is true and right won't u tell ot to ur son and daughter abt it. It's not religion or anything. It's how they can be saved from sin and spend eternity in heaven. There is life after death i assure u that. Life came from somewhere and it's from God. U can choose to believe that or not but it's still the truth . I hope y see it someday .

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

@@jossiahnajjar7397 Keep your cult shit to yourself, cheers.

[@idontcare9661]

Because it’s not true moron

[@kylehensley2682]

Oh and there are a few lies in there as well! Beware this fella!

[@timo4463]

Quote one

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

Such as?

[@sydkbs53]

We reverted around 25 people to Islam just within the past couple months here in western NY. And we taught them to be certain and how to arrive at truths because certainty is what drives us and not skepticism.

[@ksturmer5388]

So your prophet rode to heaven on a winged horse and split the moon in two? Evidence please. Verifiable evidence.

[@joelstromberg2392]

A better question, did you teach these 25 people about how if they leave islam, they will be killed? (sura 4:89) Nah ya probably didn't. Let em find out the hard way :/

[@covfefebigly768]

The type of adults that are drawn into a cult/religion are typically terribly insecure and looking for some type of affirmation, desperately lonely and seeking acceptance and/or a bit feeble minded. Especially into a cult/religion as totalitarian and misogynistic as Islam. Congratulations, you've manipulated some fragile people to believe in your version of the magic man in the sky and made their lives worse.

[@ladycav9097]

Skekticasism is the foundation of scientific research. Teaching people that they shouldn’t be skeptical is putting their brain in mind forged manacles

[@Mayordomo32]

Syd Kbs how do you derive certainty?

[@kylehensley2682]

What a joke! This guy is so reprobate and in such a dire need of attention that he resorts to this !

[@SilortheBlade]

Who are you trying to convince? I don't think it's anyone here.

[@GoodBrotherGrimm]

Do you have any actual points? Or just vague pearl-clutching?

[@idontcare9661]

Dire need of attention? He’s a public speaker speaking publicly

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

I feel bad for atheists, you lie to yourself and others. This guy spends his whole life refuting the existence of GOD. Does he believe in GOD! YES he does.

[@Maksie0]

How can you claim to know what Matt believes?

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

@@Maksie0 it's pretty simple. It's called conscience and everyone has one(GOD GAVE EVERYBODY ONE) 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20, NASB)

[@Maksie0]

Not everyone has a conscience. And mine makes me feel like shit when I do something that harms someone else in some way. It has nothing to do with religious belief. So again, Matt says he's an atheist. You say he isn't. How can you claim to know such a thing?

[@johnnylovesjesus7809]

@@Maksie0 it's not hard. I gave you the evidence. We all know we have a conscience, let me show you how foolish you are being. Matt needs air to live. It's simple Why because all life need air......now all human beings has a conscience? Do you know the meaning of conscience? I will break down for you. Con=fore + science=knowledge, so we humans have a foreknowledge of right and wrong and of our creater JESUS CHRIST. I will use the final straw here and tell you the BIBLE says it....and the BIBLE proven to be correct time and time again. It's the number 1 sold book in the world and we all know why.

[@Maksie0]

You're committing an etymological fallacy. Where a name came from doesn't necessarily tell you about its origin accurately. And something written in a book can be false. Even if you're convinced other things in the book are true.