https://www.catholic.com/audio/cal/7866
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Religion, Faith, and Spirituality
AtheismBecauseReason — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 09:30 PM)
https://www.catholic.com/audio/cal/7866
For those following my recent thread that I had called a radio show, here it is. You can skip to minute 16:00 where they start to ramp up to the actual call and it concludes near 38:00 with a few minute break around 26:00 after which they come back and pick up the conversation.
The call begins with the idea of being convinced along with the concept of nothing and progresses through the functions of time, space, and gravity.
I found it to be a very productive conversation.
Some insider info. FIRST, I highly respect the show for discussing atheism in a productive manner, and for the hosts being cordial throughout the conversation. I sincerely thank them for the opportunity. I only found the show as I was flipping through AM stations to find news, and did not realize the show had essentially just begun and that I was the first caller. This was my first radio show call, as well as my first attempt to discuss these topics in a large public forum, and certainly my first effort to do so against a published author. Apparently they had no other callers on the line as my call was answered immediately and I was on the air within 2 minutes of dialing. The only question I was asked by the call screener was the same question the host asked me right at the start, "why are you an atheist?" I was not told to hang on the line during the break, and I thought he had ended the call, but I waited on the line, listening to the ads during the break, and then after a couple of minutes of them coming back, he asked me to continue just as you hear in the broadcast. Apparently they still had no other callers, and I take one key observation from that. Very few atheists are listening to this type of show, and while that isn't particularly surprising, it does mean there really is very little outreach occurring. I legitimately wonder about the concept of shows such as these quite literally preaching to the choir. What type of benefit does a person who believes derive, and would other believers such as the host enjoy a more nuanced and mutually curious discussion with atheists?
I do wish I had responded to his comments coming out of the break regarding "if we can show that there is no natural cause" for certain elements to reality, then he can posit a god for those elements. I assume he is referring to things such as life, and we can in fact show that there are viable natural causes, which I could have addressed, and probably should have. I am hoping to reach the show again via e-mail.
Similarly I would like to get his thoughts on models showing energy can be created in a pure void compressed by gravity and additionally, I would like to reverse the question he posed me, and ask if he would consider a reality in which there was no god as possible.
Lastly, I don't know that I'll converse with them again, but I am curious about their perceptions of the conversation. -
Miscella — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 10:16 PM)
From your other thread, entitled "I Challenged A National christian Radio Call In Show":
So to those of you here who think I've never held influence outside of this board. Just consider how many people who were sitting on the fence, questioning their faith, heard me and realized I was honest and made sense.
I think there were probably a lot more people who thought you sounded like a bumbling doofus who was struggling with the questions. I'd like to believe you were more nervous than intimidated, but that's proving to be difficult because it sounds to me like
he
challenged
you
, and you failed to meet it. -
AtheismBecauseReason — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 10:53 PM)
First of all, I never failed to answer any question he posed.
Second, you'll notice in the second half of the call I don't bumble, and that is largely due to being comfortable with the direction of the call, and their dialogue at that point. I honestly had no idea how it was going to go down at first and I was attempting to be especially careful with the direction, measuring words more carefully.
Third, by the end they are clearly highly interested in asking meaningful questions and he had clearly acknowledged at least the concept of a temporal state in which the universe doesn't require a creator. That is not to say he believes it, but he had an understanding of my proposition. He says right after that the only question he has left is to ask if I find it to be a productive question to ask why there is a universe instead of nothing to which I say it is a compelling question, and we end in more or less a truce.
So to suggest I didn't have a level of respect from the hosts is just you being a troll.
It was clearly a productive call. -
Miscella — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 11:23 PM)
You say you were "being careful with the direction" and "measuring words carefully," but I say you barely bumbled your way through it, and you're patting yourself on the back for a job well done. Sorry, but if you don't want honest critique, perhaps posting it wasn't a great idea.
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Miscella — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 05:50 PM)
I normally have no objections to following off topic tangents, but in this case, I'm just not all that interested. I listened to your call, and I've said what I wanted to say about it.
You wanted feedback, and I gave you some.
You're welcome. -
Miscella — 9 years ago(February 05, 2017 10:15 PM)
I think you're particularly silly given how you see religious violence even when there isn't any to be seen. Remember all those threads you started then mysteriously disappeared from when it was pointed out to you that the tragedy you were blaming on religion didn't actually have anything to do with religion? I do. You remind me a lot of a friend of mine who took art classes in college. All of a sudden, all she saw was art. Everywhere. Even "negative" art in the spaces between the lines. She was obsessed and so that's all she saw. Just like you with "religious violence." You hear about a murder on the news, and you immediately jump to the conclusion that it's religion's fault. Get a grip, you delusional nutbag.
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Superdude6090 — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 04:26 AM)
That's pretty harsh bro.
Since I consider ABR a troll and am sceptical that phone call is actually him I gave a trolling response.
The "mumbling stumbling f@ck " quote is a nod to Goodfellas and Joe Pesci dealing with the mentally challenged Spider:
I consider ABR to be like Spider.
My son has a speech impairment, always hurts to see how some people might treat him when he's older.
No offence was intended.