Desert Heathens

Ever since the earliest day's, Christianity hasn't worked that well.

How to instantiate probability when everything is dynamic!

The proposition is that we'd be better off if we treated people as unique, instead of treating them as equal.

Should you pursue short-term gratification, or long-term?

Spoiler alert: god loses.

Is this true, or is it the exact opposite: religion teaches you that is unacceptable not to have answers for everything?

If you aren't worried about something, does that make you wrong?

Where we compare Santa Clause to other religious figures. And look at how reality is shaped by our beliefs. See you in 2021!

We were working on getting Zoom working with DH. We finally got it, but this video was pretty rough. We were all really tired too! But if you want to see a more relaxed and more "real" broadcast... this is the one. We definitely let our hair down and "Just talked". Still... we talked about some spiritual stuff, like normal.

Do you want to untether yourself from the physical world and lose your desire? Or are people just lying about it.

Why do people need an excuse to be good? Does God change people, or do people just project their own views onto him? Is it better to be perfect, or to be flexible?

Do we want to get along with people who disagree? How much disagreement before it's called off?

Are there any such things as ghosts? Are there portals to the spirit world in Sedona? Or are they in the North and South poles? If not, then what is it that leaves someone when they die?

Following up from the end of last week's episode: when you're talking about the balance of freedom vs. security, which kind of freedom were you talking about? Let's be honest, this episode gets mostly political, and only a little bit related to religion, so if you're not into that, you can skip it and come back next week...

Having decent conversations about topics that are tied to someone's identity.

Does believing in the afterlife make grieving worse or better?

In which we discuss short-term vs long term strategy and tactics, and the balance of giving and receiving.

Cognitive biases and such.

Will civilization end by 2015? Could Noah's Flood have occurred? Does anybody *want* the world to end?

Was the thing about the tree of knowledge a lie?

If God is so great, then why would so many people be walking away?

If you could do magic, would you? Also on the end of the world, and the consequences of calling on the forces of nature. You might also like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_d%27Abano

Is a spiritual system that encourages learning and questioning the path to inner peace? If the two factors that feed into generosity are the cost to you and the benefit to others, then how can people best be encouraged to be generous?

If you could do it all over again, would you do it differently?

What's it all about? Love and humility? Approve and disapprove? And is "not asking questions" really a way of showing humility?

What is the meaning of life?

As Christianity gets attacked during this pandemic I want to say something about the spirituality debate. You don't believe in God? Fine. Why is it so important for many of you to mock those of us that do? If we're wrong, what have we lost when we die? Nothing! How does our believing in Jesus bring you any harm? You think it makes me stupid? Gullible? Fine. How does that affect you? -- recent Facebook post

Is it our job to tell other people what the truth is? The answer is, probably, no.

With all the angels, demons, and, of course, gods working behind the scenes, are humans responsible for anything?

What happens when you pray? The typical answers make no sense.

If Christianity took over the world, then what? It probably wouldn't work out as well as the Evangelicals hope.

Chris gets an email from an old Open and Affirming Christian site for the "Homosexuality and the Bible" sermons. What's the right way to answer the question without hurting anyone? How should anyone disengage from a decades-long religious life with so many open threads hanging on?

How do you stay true to yourself during funerals?

A definition of religion and spirituality: A belief system that you create or adopt that helps you cope. It allows you to avoid dealing with the hard truths of life, and in reality it applies whether it's a monotheist religion, polytheistic, magick, Buddhism, or hero worship, it's all pretty much the same thing. I prefer a story to reality.

Do you really want everyone to be honest all the time?

Can humans exist without violence?

How do you tell the difference between Christianity and Battered Wife Syndrome? How can you have a healthy relationship with thin air? Why were even the Israelites in scripture so eager for a way out that they would literally fashion a brand-new "god" just for someone that wouldn't abandon them for little reason? Do modern people worship things without admitting that what they're engaging in is "worship"? Does love punish your relatives and countrymen for your crimes? Is "karma" a form of victim-blaming?

Alex brings up subjectivity, Chris brings up the Royal Institute talk "There is no Algorithm for Truth" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leX541Dr2rU and Michael brings up the Holodeck and the resulting post-truth world.

Arguing about standards of evidence, media bias, the difference (if any) between values and biases. Secret Gospel of Mark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Gospel_of_Mark Seeing Germs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5-dI74zxPg

In the second remote episode, we went video! We also talked about the intersection of guilt, faith, giving, and taking. And a throw-away reference to the Circumcellions, a sect that really believed that martyrdom was the path to eternal bliss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcellions

It's the COVID-19 episode, both about what's going on, and how the church is responding to it. Links: https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/shane-idleman/covid-19-things-you-need-to-know-from-a-pastoral-perspective.html and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ro4jd5RjY