Humanize Me

John Tucker used to be a literalist Christian, but says he has now rejected the 'belief paradigm' to move beyond either accepting or rejecting the claims of religion. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, John lays out how he sees truth now, and says that he thinks religious claims should be expressed only as catch-22s. An example of a catch-22: 'The only acceptable evidence for religious belief is evidence that is unacceptable.' Confused by this, Bart explores what John means by it.

Bart and John answer a question about the sci-fi that humanists might love.

Yasmine Mohammed wore the hijab from the age of 9, but never felt comfortable as a Muslim. Now, having been out of the faith for many years, she's able to reflect on her remarkable life, on the Islamic world and on religious indoctrination in general. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Yasmine talks about the differences between Islam and Christianity, the powerful, debilitating effect she felt of being covered from head to toe, how easy it is to indoctrinate children, how western governments protect subjugation out of cultural sensitivity, how western liberals protect abusive behavior, how corporations are demonetizing her and others like her, and how humanist values should pertain to Islam.

The question being asked this week: 'Hey Bart, I listened to a speech by Attorney General William Barr at Notre Dame University, in which he denounced ‘militant secularists’ and said they were trying to destroy the ‘traditional moral order’. Does this worry you as much as it does me?' Bart Campolo sits down with John Wright to answer this question, and - spoiler - it's a resounding 'Yes.'

Josh 'Phantom' Strider is an Australian YouTuber known for his commentary on cartoons. He's also an avid listener of the Humanize Me podcast and one of our supporters on Patreon! In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Josh talks about the secularism of Disney, the messages of VeggieTales, the importance of cartoons for those like him on the autism spectrum, the business model of YouTube, Hank Green and the online content ecosystem.

A solo podcast by Bart Campolo with poetry, songs and nepotism.

How do we decide whether it's good or bad to intervene in global warming or growing inequality? Or how to treat our dog? Phil Zuckerman has written a new book giving a foundational framework for secular - nonreligious - morality. In this conversation Phil talks with Bart Campolo about the four reasons you can't get morality from God, and the ways to build a secular ethic that, he thinks, is a better one. They discuss the problems with a God-based morality, the Euthyphro Dilemma and the nature of morality itself. They get into a debate about how objective morality is, and talk about how to get an 'ought' from an 'is'. And, hopefully, they'll leave you with the idea that the basis for how unbelievers act in the world is not grounded on nothing.

In Episode 423 of this podcast, David Fleischer talked with Bart Campolo about changing minds with the methodology of 'deep canvassing.' In this episode, David returns! He and Bart talk about the next election, Trump as the opposite of loving and humanist, how to encourage people to vote without shaming them about not voting last time, how the lessons of deep canvassing relate to the conversations people are having about faith in God, and more.

Joshua Harris's well-known 1997 Christian book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, shaped the relationships and sexual ethics of many of the young people who read it. In recent years, Harris has apologized for the impact of his book, which he now regards as largely negative. Earlier this summer, it emerged that Harris has separated from his wife and no longer considers himself a Christian. Marty Sampson was a worship leader and singer-songwriter with Hillsong United, a band born at Hillsong church in Sydney that routinely topped the Christian charts worldwide. He recently wrote an Instagram post announcing the deconstruction of his faith. Bart and John discuss both.