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TIME STAMPS & CALL NOTES
00:00 - Intro - Vi Is Solo This Week
02:23 - Can People Choose Their Beliefs? - Javier (he/him) - SC
18:13 - Vi Reads from An Old Deconversion Journal
25:44 - My Family Doesn’t Believe I’m An Atheist - Cameron (he/him) - MN
38:16 - What Kind of Culture Should Atheists Build? - Mark (he/him) - CA
55:53 - Why Is It So Easy to Believe In God? - Steven (he/him) - AZ
1:07:04 - My Friend Thinks God Is Punishing Her… HELP? - Caleb (he/him) - MD
1:15:30 - Jesus Wants Us To Be Mean to Atheists - Jim (he/him) - OH
1:22:16 - How Do I Deal with Street Preachers? - Chris (he/him) - SCT
02:23
Can people choose their beliefs? Vi says that answering “Yes” or “No” are both wrong: this is a “yes, and” situation. People both have the ability to choose what beliefs they strengthen, and are ultimately not in charge of the moment one belief wins out against others. That’s why it’s always dangerous to hold harmful beliefs, even if you don’t act on them.
18:13
Vi has brought an old journal that they wrote almost a decade ago. “The Quest for God” laid out how 20-year-old Vi was struggling with belief, parsing apart what was true and untrue about what they’d been told, and trying to figure out what next steps were. A raw, real moment that hopefully resonated with others.
25:44
This caller is having trouble with his family after coming out as an atheist. They are telling him he’s broken, they are unfollowing him on social media, and generally making him feel unwelcome. They also happen to be in an MLM, which makes things even worse! Vi gives this caller permission to kick these folks out on their ear: “Jesus said to avoid you.”
38:16
Now that atheists are growing as a demographic in the US, what should we be focusing on to make sure we aren’t repeating the problems we are seeing with a Christian majority? Repeat caller Mark is wondering what next steps are, and Vi says something shocking: We need to stop talking about religion.
55:53
This caller points out that God is easy to believe in because the idea of God is so baked into our culture. Vi agrees: this is why apologetics work. You have to believe in God already in order to be convinced by any of the major arguments for God. We need to eradicate the idea of a maximally great God before we can truly be free.
1:07:04
What do you say to someone who is convinced that God is punishing them? Vi points out that it’s actually scarier to imagine that things happen for no reason than to imagine a god is punishing you. At least you’re still kind of the main character, and not just an incidental casualty of the universe. Also, landlords suck.
1:15:30
We talked about some atheists having trouble with their families this episode, but isn’t that exactly what Jesus said to do? Didn’t he tell Christians to desert their families, even end things violently, in order to follow him? Vi once again says “Yes” and “No.” If we’re looking at the historical context of Jesus’s words, he’s actually talking about a political rebellion!
1:22:16
Repeat caller Chris asks how to deal with the street preachers that he’s seeing everywhere. He’s tried reasoning with them and he never makes any progress! Vi says it’s a lost cause to try and debate with them, but what this caller CAN do is make them seem utterly ridiculous.
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