The Atheist Experience 744 with Russell Glasser and Don Baker

[@Roblx518]

I love the people praying for the cruise ship missing persons and ignoring the prayers for a safe journey that were unanswered.

[@faircompetition1203]

Statistics prove that prayer does not work . We keep very accurate statistics on medical outcomes for medical insurance for example . There is no difference between those that pray and those that do not or atheists would pay different rates , same goes for car insurance . Insurance is a huge unintentional study of the effectiveness of prayer and it clearly shows prayer does not have any measurable effect . Smoking does , as does drinking , but prayer - nothing

[@auracatalina]

When I started listening to the video, I instantly remembered the stand-up of George Carlin on the subject of praying. I started laughing uncontrollably.

[@munstrumridcully]

you guys are awesome, but you must have the patience of job (lol) to be able to be so nice to he more irrational callers. love the show, so glad i found it!

[@PointsNorth1]

This has to be the best show online. I love it. I just wish they would upload it sooner. I really want to meet these guys one day. Maybe at the next national reason rally. I'm in Australia but it would be worth it just to meet the people in this show. Awesome.

[@n.presley917]

were you in the appropriate vicinity for the "unholy trinity" tour of Aron, Matt & Seth?

[@Ronald21215]

I am a living proof that prayer doesn't work. I am in a wheelchair with a physical disability and my legs don't work very well. You know how many times as a child I prayed to god for my legs to work. No answer at all. PRAYER = FAILURE

[@robinvan1983]

18:42 for the Calls

[@depauw2004]

We need to share these links with everyone. I'm amazed that these shows don't get more viewers.

[@kennyparker1337]

Keep Talking by Pink Floyd was your best intro! Thumbs up if you want it back!

[@superduperjew]

Don and Matt are my favorite hosts.

[@AscendingParadigm]

3:50 For years, I've been using those bible verses to illustrate the inconsistency between Jesus' words and the experience of believers. I'm with you 100% in this argument.

[@frabjous79]

Most trouble I ever got into in Catholic School growing up: My teacher, a nun, said that if you had true faith, you could move mountains. I pointed out the window and said "Hey, watch out, there's a mountain headed this way!" Am I justified in being annoyed that she didn't check if I was right before punishing me?

[@Evolver0410]

Greetings from The Philippines! You guys are amazing! Thank you for these lovely shows!

[@DrMikeE100]

Jay: Gee, I believe in this stuff. Let me go look for a study that backs me up... (Months later) Jay: Aha! I found this one study that backs me up. Therefore, my belief is sound. VERY SAD... She's probably now a Republican Senator...

[@TruthSurge]

@Halflifefan54 "Intellect is what we must train ourselves to use," ouch, ouch.... my sides are hurting.

[@TruthSurge]

I believe pray works. But, I have no evidence. And... I'm not really willing to actually test it either. And... I know that in reality, the facts argue against my beliefs but... I just feel good believing it. Forget about the 2000 years of prayers for world peace and Christian unity that went totally unanswered. I believe prayer works.

[@DickJohnson3434]

I have a suggestion for this show. At the very beginning, put a website up on the screen and say "all the weekly announcements are posted here" and then we won't have to suffer through them every week. Or whoever uploads the video to youtube can take out the announcements.

[@ItsAnOldCroneLife]

Just as it's his WILL that I suffered in silence for 15 years, that I never got a chance for a normal childhood, that I live my life with shame, painful memories & even nightmares sometimes. It was his will for me to be physically, mentally, sexually, & emotionally abused. A stable, happy childhood wasn't best for me. Perhaps it was a "test," huh? I guess I failed. Funny, my life didn't get better until I was LEGALLY able to control it myself instead of letting my parents control it.

[@unusintersepes]

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full."

[@TruthSurge]

@dsrtdawg1 This line "Forget about the 2000 years of prayers for world peace and Christian unity that went totally unanswered." should have clued you in.

[@w215philly]

36:15 I literally laughed out loud!!

[@cdhanks]

For those that believe in prayer and miracles, explain why in the entire history of the world, there is not one proof of god, jesus or so called faith healers restoring a missing limb, or curing a child with a cleft pallet, or a child with down's syndrome. Why not?

[@Danoftouni]

I prayed once that the coin I was going to flip would land on tails rather than heads, it did, divine intervention AT WORK!

[@orqg5000]

Oh Russell have you heard expressions like Please and Thank you? Really nice and appropriate in the context of these calls

[@robertleeluben]

Sorry can't stop any tsunamis this week, too busy influencing sporting events.

[@HalsoftL]

Christian: Takes 10 minutes to make a point. Athiest: Takes 23 seconds to make a point.

[@stuboy261]

I love that the social study was mentioned. People who care less about what others think are much less inclined to be religious. Its unfortunate that just saying people act more religious because it is tied into the social acceptance of their community is not enough.

[@unit0033]

cant believe in 2016 ppl still think prayer works lol

[@ItsAnOldCroneLife]

The harm of prayer: Being a small child in an abusive family with a religious mother who always feels god's love, while you pray constantly that the abuse will stop and the family can be happy together but it never happens & actually gets WORSE for you - so you feel God must love your abusive mother more than you, & there's something wrong with you, not her, b/c you can't "feel" God like her. And you spend guilt-filled decades trying to get close to god before finally realizing it's NOT REAL.

[@patphilosopher]

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Don : That's Quite Powerful To Move Mountain With Your Voice. Ask The Dovahkiin a little Fus Ro Da , He Has THE VOICE !

[@OurCognitiveSurplus]

Psalm 45:10 Listen to me, O royal daughter; take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away.

[@lenlangevin5150]

The documentary that one caller talks about is called "In God We Trust." It can be found on the youtube channel scottburdickart. It's an excellent documentary.

[@JDMunoz-ct9xn]

Jay: "I feel, I feel, I feel". But what can you show?

[@drfitnessnow]

I was speaking to a christian that mentioned that her brother was 'depressed' and that she and her mom were praying for him...so I suggested some natural and allopathic remedies choices to deal with it...she said that the prayer was enough...So I retorted that if you had diabetes, you'd do more than pray to deal with it...and she implied that you couldn't know if it was prayer or the meds that worked...So I said, "You could worship Satan and the drugs would still work - Faith is not required!!"

[@NoNamesLeft0102]

4:16 "Move mountains with your voice." Sounds a lot like the Thu'um.

[@FinFunnel68]

Finally, another video! You guys have been falling behind.

[@aduffield]

Pray: Did it get answered?: Yes = Praise the Lord No = God works in mysterious ways

[@LaMaisondeCasaHouse]

holy fuck these guys are so patient i cant believe it.

[@securitytutorials]

13:25 ahahah love how he compared mental illnesses with replies to prayer

[@ItsAnOldCroneLife]

To this day, I STILL mourn my childhood. I can't look at a happy family without tears in my eyes, because I never had that. And you honestly think the pain I endured & the pain I STILL endure is part of some divine, "wonderful" plan? That I NEEDED that? That I'm SELFISH for wanting a happy, normal family? If you believe that, you are warped in the head.

[@13aBOC]

Love this show! Thank you

[@GabrielIncertis]

To pray is the craziest way to talk to yourself.

[@cynt123able]

Wishful thinking a great way to describe prayer. It makes you feel as though you've done something about something when you have'nt.

[@NukedWaffle]

Jay: "...PERAYEAH..." Me: *cuts off ears*

[@stjamal11]

"Don't be a douche" Timeless.

[@mackleswimbaits]

you know...an open mind isn't open anymore after it's closed on an idea to accept and teach as truth.

[@Flayed221]

"eventually there's no more thought" "and then your a theist" lmao russel

[@TheSatan222]

Q: Being purely hypothetical, If prayer worked and people were healed because god intervened and helped those people what does it say about all the people who weren't helped when they were prayed for, is god biased? And if so how do you know if he care about you?

[@MiceHendrickson]

Does anybody else smoke a bowl before watching this in the morning?

[@kotoroshinoto]

As an atheist with aspergers I can tell you, my resistance and I_don't_give_a_fuckery regarding social pressure did play a role in my ability to reject the idiocy of religion

[@cdickenson64]

To be a winner, SOMEBODY has to lose.

[@fegu]

Sweet, the opening song sounds less obnoxious

[@SnakeMan448]

My college chapel has been displaying "weekly prayer intentions". So far, one was for missing children, and another was for unity of christianity. This is in England, as well. I don't take issue with prayer when someone uses it to try and contact their deity. I take issue with the attempt to affect the real world via prayer, as opposed to actual effort. And I don't tolerate the attempt to claim prayer is effective.

[@8698gil]

@Mindlessfroot Thanks. It was a long time ago. I'm over it. My life is pretty good now.

[@josh19dow88]

Was that the biggest factor in you losing faith you had, or do you just not pray anymore?

[@ChristianIce]

@robinvan1983 I was hoping for your comment before clicking on the video :)

[@Jagjamin]

@me25422 I didn't say belief in a deity, I said faith. If you've read the Pali suttas, you'll be aware that Saddha is one of the seven dhanas. It is one of the bases of our spiritual power. It is also one of the five indriyas. Ananda and Vakali both show that faith is more important to Buddhism than objective reasoning. In short, Faith is found throughout all of Buddhism, in it's writings and it's teachings, to say Buddhism does not require of you faith, is nonsense.

[@MsWildtiger]

@Akira625 that is exactly the point of the video I posted the link to. It shows a starving kid praying for food while God is busy helping a football game to be won.

[@hunga224]

When I was young I used to pray to God to give me a bike. Then I went to Sunday school and was told,that that's not how it works... so I stole a bike, and prayed for forgiveness.

[@bishop8000]

ROFL. Russell's expression is classic at 53:36

[@ruinofgaiasw]

I think the caller Jay was talking about the power of positive thinking and not necessarily prayer.

[@TheLivirus]

Jay: Sure, prayers may certainly trigger events that wouldn't have happened otherwise, and according to the "butterfly effect" no event is too small to make a difference. But the question was if a prayer can trigger those exact events of which ripples has an effect IN YOUR FAVOUR. Butterfly effects on it's own can just as well end up in a catastrophy.

[@aidanhoward213]

Fred claimed (at 46:30) that he wrote a "homonym", which at first I thought was a mistake for "homily". But when he came back a few times to the notion that "faith is a homonym", he became wrong for a different reason. A homonym is a case when a word has the same sound as a different word which is unrelated, e.g. "fair" (light), "fair" (just) and "fair" (a public festivity). A subset in which the words also sound the same but are spelled differently are homophones, e.g. "alms" and "arms". The situation to which he refers does not have a specific name; it is just considered to be a semantic variation, e.g. "house" (dwelling) and "house" (dynasty or lineage, esp. of royalty). Perhaps the universities and English teachers did not respond to him because he made it clear that he did not really understand what he was talking about.

[@sagerider2]

I've seen some insanely fat christians wearing insanely huge crosses on their hairy chest. I can't say naked. Because they weren't.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

P.S. I was strong believer once (but not a Church member), to a point "I don't believe, I KNOW god exists". I wasn’t sure if god,if it exists, is a person or just some life force (Star Wars, anyone?) that doesn’t really tinker with our lives. So, the only thing I asked for was an answer, and to my amazement the very next day there was the sign, a real world event (very specific, no coincidences possible) I was asking for. However there might be another explanation, like my brain fooling itself.

[@thegrimyeaper]

So addicted to these shows now.

[@betlamed]

I just don't get that there is a negative effect if you know that you're being prayed for. How does that happen?

[@Spinobreaker]

if i ever make it over to the US, asuming SOPA doesn't make it implode even more, id like to swing round to El Arroyo when u guys are there, assuming ur still doing it then lol

[@Ozzyman200]

Faith can't move mountains, but it sure can shift those skyscrapers.

[@itscat92]

Since so many (religious) politicians believe in prayer, is it illegal anywhere to pray for bad things to happen?

[@YetAnotherInfidel]

@LCButcher333 "But, just look at the TREES!!" ---- Best argument from most theists when questioned.

[@BottleConcreteBlond]

I've heard xtians claiming "prayer works" when anything good happens, with no evidence that anyone involved prayed.

[@hardinmichael1981]

@betlamed I don't know the details of the study and it could just be chance. But, one explanation I've heard is that it could be due to stress from a form of performance anxiety. Basically, if you know you're being prayed for then you may feel more pressure to be healthy, and to the extent that added pressure causes you added stress then you could experience complications. It's like worrying yourself sick. But as always further study would be necessary.

[@scottayar5136]

I feel that it is important to look at things from all points of view, and hear what others have to say. I am Catholic and I do believe in god but keeping opened mind is important to me. Just before my aunt died of cancer, I asked if I could pray with her.Despite the fact that she was so weak and in pain. She got up and was sitting for a few minutes, and we prayed and a since of calm seemed to come over us both. She even smiled as we prayed. Even though the prayers did not save her life. For me and, I hope for her it brought some closer to both of us, just be for her life ended. So if there is a god or higher power, then our prayers where heard. If not then perhaps prayer can hold power in a way that it can calms you. Like people use mediation after a stressful day, but that is just my take on it.

[@knightone57]

I learned late in life that I would of been better off relying on myself than on prayer.

[@iviewthetube]

Apparently prayer follows the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. :-) The more you observe it the more it acts like a placebo.

[@me25422]

@Jagjamin What aspect of Buddhism requires faith? I am very much interested in Buddhism. I am not however interested in faith.

[@8698gil]

@hardinmichael1981 Thank you. Yes, I am ok. It happened a long time ago. I think the experience gave me more empathy and caring for other people. I am an atheist, and when I gave up faith and prayer I became a stronger and better person. It isn't about god pulling the strings, its about making the best of your own life and the lives of others while you are here. I have my own family and a good life now.

[@beastshawnee]

I'm an atheist, but I LOVED Bruce Almighty, because it was hilarious. I laughed so hard I gave myself an asthma attack!

[@Arcessitor]

@Quintinohthree In that case, I recommend the video series (2 parts) called "Myopic atheism" (by TrenchantAtheist if memory serves), it explains my views wonderfully. The point is this: arguing is only furthering polarization (a well-confirmed fact of social psychology), and instead we should offer different models for the religious to express their belief in. (Secularist, humanist models that allow for their Faith to be held.) I highly recommend it!

[@barrymundee3394]

Well said.

[@firearmsdefense]

This is a follow up to my other comment. Actually prayer and belief in an external power to intervein in the affairs of man is a destructive and harmful belief. It is harmful because man and man alone is responsible for the state of the world and only man and man alone has the power to change things. To believe in these things relieves us of the responsibilty to step up and address these issues ourselves.

[@Gazgule2]

The whole Texas praying thing? Yeah... literally the day after wild fires started and the daily temp jumped about five degrees.

[@MrDevilstreaker]

Its quite interesting that in the face of all of this evidence - why do people keep praying ? Its so odd

[@TonyEvans96]

@Amsah Aye. I haven't read his book yet, but I did hear someone say that Hitler wasn't actually Atheist, but did have some form of "Higher Power" belief.

[@PantsBeOnTheGround]

I prayed to God for speaking in tongues and now I can't stop! Since prayer doesn't work how do I undo this.

[@Paur]

The mustard seed thing always bugged me; what size quantity of faith equals a mustard seed? When a prayer fails they say either God had something else in mind or your faith was not great enough. If it's the latter, then the quantity of faith preachers and such who have failures in prayer, could be equal with an atom for all we know.

[@ObakeOnna]

Prayer works for people who want to feel good about themselves without actually doing anything helpful.

[@zeldaofarel]

One weird thing that happened to me was a sort of reverse deja-vu. I was just woke up and this weird feeling came over me. I looked at the TV and the picture there was all wrong. I also knew that it was December and that I was sick. Then the feeling passed and I was also sick at the time and thought to myself "I'm going to be sick in December again?" Come December, bacterial infection, coughing out my lungs for 2 weeks. I saw the image on the TV again and it was the latest ep of a new show. ???

[@TheOJDrinker]

You don't have to prove God isn't involved when he's not required, in fact he can still be involved even if he's not required. However, you DO need God to be involved if he IS required, and you need to show he IS involved, or any statement saying he is required cannot be backed up.

[@jknightxx]

@knightone57 great comment! exactly wha I have learned,ookme a long time to finally realize this FACT! .

[@8698gil]

An 8 year old girl with deeply religious protestant parents is told that god loves her and cares for her. Her mother becomes deeply depressed, addicted to prescription drugs, tries to commit suicide in front of her on numerous occasions, even threatens with a knife to kill her daughter while she hides, terrified, under her bed, praying to god. God does not answer after repeated prayers. Eventually, she stops praying because she knows there will be no answer. That was me.

[@Larvemannenz001]

Feel awful sorry for the guy who used to be homeless with posttraumatic stress disorder.

[@O2BSoLucky]

Jay can't seem to differentiate the difference between action and thought.

[@ericmishima]

I think I would ask Jay .. do you mean when you meditate you feel better then go out in the world feeling better and that affects the world? Or during your meditation some force goes out and affects the world?

[@SkepticalBliss]

"...until there is no more thought..." "And then they're theists..." LMAO!

[@AlphaDogOmegaDog]

@jknightxx "he continuesly invoked god in his speeches" Absolutely, he never said anything that makes him anything but a theist. It is just early on (in the 20s), he spoke favorably of Christianity as he consolidated power, but by the 40s, he saw the Catholics as an enemy and denounced the Christian religion (blaming the Apostle Paul) who had perverted Christianity & that Jesus wasn't Jewish. He did like mysticism & searched for the items of power you mentioned as well as Norse and pagan items.

[@DogsBAwesome]

if there is a disaster in a part of the world and they need help to get back on their feet an atheist might send some cash (i have quite a few times) a religious person who tithes so does not have the cash to help so would pray , which one is more use?

[@hardinmichael1981]

@ganggan the point of having a secular government is to protect the rights and religious freedom of religious minorities and therefore of everyone. a secular government is not a goal unto itself. a secular government is the best way to ensure and protect freedom. that's the point. other than that i think i agree with you about the symbology stuff. although there is a slippery slope.

[@DeterministicOne]

The quote from Seneca the Younger is not sourced.

[@then33k4]

yup. we've all heard that before.