329 episodes

Talk Heathen is a weekly call-in television show in Austin, Texas geared toward long-form and on-going dialogue with theists & atheists about religion, theism, & secularism. Call 1-512-991-9242 every Sunday from 1-2pm CDT. Talk Heathen is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.

The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop & support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing & friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of government-religion separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists & to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

Talk Heathen Atheist Community of Austin

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.6 • 48 Ratings

Talk Heathen is a weekly call-in television show in Austin, Texas geared toward long-form and on-going dialogue with theists & atheists about religion, theism, & secularism. Call 1-512-991-9242 every Sunday from 1-2pm CDT. Talk Heathen is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.

The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop & support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing & friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of government-religion separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists & to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

    Talk Heathen 08.15 with Dr. Ben and Richard Gilliver

    Talk Heathen 08.15 with Dr. Ben and Richard Gilliver

    00:00 Intro
    44:33 James | Biblical Miracles And Magic Tricks 
    1:06:27 Jeff-KY | All Morality Comes From The Bible
    1:19:38 Christian-FL | Struggling To Find Meaning To Life
    1:43:35 Joseph-NC | Religion Causing Problems At Work


    SHOW NOTES

    Welcome to Talk Heathen! This week we have Dr. Ben and Richard Gilliver taking your quandaries and queries of all things religion/atheism. Who knows what kind of woo they will encounter today. 
    We received a voicemail this week that sparked a great conversation between Dr. Ben and Richard. The voicemail had a number of assertions, mainly they look around and see evil, near death experiences, etc. NDE’s are a great topic when we have Dr. Ben hosting! (In Miracle Max’s voice) There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead, mostly dead is slightly alive. 

    James wants advice on responding to the various miracle claims. An example of a miracle claim James has encountered is a historical figure being murdered then coming back to life only to point out their killer. Keep the burden on the person making the claim and avoid making any claims you can’t prove. Try getting more specific details about their supposed murder, not just accounts from others. Also, point out that miracles are defined as can only be explained by a higher power.

    Littlewood's law shows that events with one in a million odds happen, per person, about once a month. 

    Jeff from Kentucky asserts that all morality comes from the bible. He goes on to say the bible proves God’s morality, even slavery. Slavery is and always has been immoral, despite claims it was done by everyone back then. The don’t murder commandment is at odds with christian history. Biblical justice is not moral at all as it condones killing, stoning, etc. Yikes Jeff, advocating for genocide is a very bad look. Hopefully you are just a troll.

    Christian in Florida is curious how non-believers can attribute meaning to life or find intrinsic right and wrong. Death and suffering are part of the natural world. We have a subjective morality based on objective facts like death and suffering. A moral system should be a work in progress and grows as we learn over time. Atheists tend to find their own meaning in life, like career goals, family, or just living and experiencing life. 

    Joseph in North Carolina struggles to get a diverse workforce on the same page, sometimes due to religious beliefs. Try to remind them they need to adhere to professional standards and set beliefs aside. Advise them to avoid talking or joking about religion at work, 

    Thank you for tuning in for another exciting episode of Talk Heathen! The Question of the week is: What is the sin that made God flood the entire Earth? Post your answer in the comments and the top 5 get read live on the next show!


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    • 1 hr 39 min
    Talk Heathen 08.14 with Jamie the Blind Limey and Jason Friedman

    Talk Heathen 08.14 with Jamie the Blind Limey and Jason Friedman

    Recorded in front of a LIVE studio audience in Austin, TX at the freethought library!

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    • 1 hr 19 min
    Talk Heathen 08.13 with Christy Powell and Richard Gilliver

    Talk Heathen 08.13 with Christy Powell and Richard Gilliver

    WHAT IS TALK HEATHEN?

    Talk Heathen is a weekly call-in internet show in Austin, Texas geared toward long-form and on-going dialogue with theists & atheists about religion, theism, & secularism. Talk Heathen is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.

    Call the show on Sundays 1:00pm-2:30pm CDT, tell us what you believe and why!

    -Use your ☎ and call 1-512-991-9242

    -Or use your 💻 and click https://tiny.cc/callth

    We request pronouns as part of the call screening process on our shows, and we display the pronouns our callers provide.  If you see a caller with no pronouns indicated, this is because they chose not to provide us with any, and we respect that decision.

    Don't like commercials? Become a patron & get ad-free episodes & more:

    https://www.patreon.com/talkheathentome

    The podcast may be found at:

    http://tiny.cc/podcastth

    -------

    The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop & support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing & friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of government-religion separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists & to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.

    We define atheism as the lack of belief in gods. This definition also encompasses what most people call agnosticism.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/talkheathenfg

    reddit.com/r/talkheathen

    NOTES



    00:00 Intro08:36 Miguel-(UK) | A Confusing Spinoza's God31:59 Lise-(CA) | Why Not Criticize Eastern Religions?49:31 Kat-(ID) | Moving Past Religious Indoctrination1:02:42 Jason-CA | Thank You Talk Heathen!1:09:56 Bill-CA | Nothing Fails Like Prayer

    SHOW NOTES

    Welcome to a normal old Sunday here at Talk Heathen. No bunnies or eggs on this show and no “he has risen” junk.  

    Miguel in England subscribes to Spinoza’s views about god, claiming god is everything that exists in the past, presence and future. What we fail to understand is how you get from the universe to someone creating it, not to mention your claim that god created himself. Atheists don’t have any codes or beliefs and we have searched for many gods, all seem to fail to critical scrutiny.
    Lise in Canada has seen some other atheists bash abrahamic religions but romanticize eastern religions. Atheists should look into all religions critically but not all atheists are critical thinkers. Most of the callers are christian so this show kind of skews that way. Most of what we encounter is a western version of these eastern religions so they don’t see the history of harm caused by Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.

    Kat in Indonesia picked the perfect show to talk about the harms of religious indoctrination, they wonder if they can move past that trauma. You CAN change and in fact are currently changing. These ingrained thoughts will be with you for a long time, but you can heal from them. 

    Jason in California called in his thanks to the show for helping him deconstruct his religion. Thanks and congrats for doing the hard work to deconvert!

    Bill in California shares his experience of losing his faith while watching prayer fail to heal his wife. We’re sorry for your loss and thank you for sharing your story. Happy Co-opting Pagan Holiday Day!

    Thank you for tuning in, Heathens! Question of the week is: Why didn’t God ban slavery?

    The views and opinions expressed by hosts, guests, or callers are their own and not necessarily representative of the Atheist Community of Austin.
    https://www.youtube.com/TalkHeathen is the official channel of Talk Heathen. "Talk Heathen" is a...

    • 1 hr 21 min
    Talk Heathen 08.12 with Richard Gilliver and Phoebe Rose

    Talk Heathen 08.12 with Richard Gilliver and Phoebe Rose

    00:00 Intro12:11 Cadence-FL | Religion Influencing Politics32:15 Terry-(CA) | Seven Day Week Serving Is Inadequate48:45 Luke-FL | We All Have The Same Brain1:10:24 Miguel-(UK) | Eternal Reality Proves God1:30:55 Buddy-MI | Friend Feeling Hopeless About Losing Faith1:41:14 Adam-TN | Zodiac Signs Within Churches

    SHOW NOTES
    Welcome to Talk Heathen where Richard Gilliver and Phoebe Rose sort through religion influencing politics as they digest inedible seven-day-week food before discussing the singularity and zodiac signs in churches.

    Cadence in FL asks what the hosts think about how religion influences politics and uses the Palestine/Israel situation as an example. Whenever religion is involved, people bring their own personal politics into things. If something that affects us deeply and is a tragedy, we begin to move towards extremes, which becomes the pollution. It is important to listen and understand people to know how they might end up during deconversion.

    Terry in Canada serves the hosts an appetizer of universal sovereignty with a main course of the seven day week argument. Are these arguments that can easily be falsified all you got? You could choose any verse in the entire Bible for desert. You must have universal compliance and we are sending it back because no one at the table complies. You claimed to the call screener you were serving steak but what you served is not even food. Christians, if you don’t call, the above caller is what you are left with! 

    Luke in FL says that humans are a connected species and all have the same brain. How would this differ from a Utopian society? What do you mean by same brain? What about people who are neurotypical? If we work backwards in time, and look at the brain of a fish, would you say that humans and fish have the same brain? If humans are all the same with the brain, how do you explain what is missing with the evolutionary process? Stating that something is a proven fact does not make it true. When you as a caller are asked not to do something several times, please thank the hosts for their patience. 

    Miguel in England wants to read a poem that shows that proof of god is that reality is eternal. He then asks if reality can be created from nothing. If you have an absence of something, how do you create something so there no longer is an absence of anything? How does the universe not being eternal get us to god? How are you demonstrating the universe was not a singularity and was created by god? What is your understanding of a singularity and why are you asserting this was caused? Don’t talk sh*t in the chat; if you have a problem, call in and hit us with it. 
    Buddy in MI has a friend who is feeling hopeless because of losing her faith. How long has this friend been experiencing what they have brought to you? Street epistemology where you ask the base questions and breaking down things can be a good place to start. 

    Adam in TN asks the hosts about the zodiac signs that churches have and how it relates to Biblical mythology. Are you saying that these things can occur today?

    Thank you for tuning in, Heathens! Question of the week is: It was f*cked up when god (blank).


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    • 1 hr 50 min
    Talk Heathen 08.11 with Sofia Spina and Jimmy Jr.

    Talk Heathen 08.11 with Sofia Spina and Jimmy Jr.

    Show notes upon receipt

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    • 1 hr 38 min
    Talk Heathen 08.10 with Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. and Doctor Ben

    Talk Heathen 08.10 with Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. and Doctor Ben

    Show notes upon receipt

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/talk-heathen--3195702/support.

    • 1 hr 44 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
48 Ratings

48 Ratings

Minimanukuk ,

Very easy listen

This is much more relaxed and less adversarial than some of its contemporaries - Very easy to listen to.

Len Baker the Third ,

Thoughtful

No browbeating, just intelligent discussion.
A great way to point out the failings of all religions.

Chad H. ,

Start Listening Now!

The hosts engage with people where they're at and rather than yell and scream at their interlocutors, they have a proper genuine conversation and try to find the real nugget of the issue.

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