JRR Talking

This week I’m happy to have Scott Mellor back to co-host and take a break from the topic of Religion.  But not before discussing what I think are some serious problems with the four most important texts to the Christian faith.

The Bible is a cultural artifact to me, and I accordingly have a lot of respect for it as one of the most important texts from ancient times.  That being said, after time working in ministry and also studying the Humanities there are problems I’m left with when I reflect on the text, and I thought it’d be fun to talk about then before leaving the topic alone for a while.  None of this should offend the ardent bible student, but these 8 points I make are all things that never once came up in Church, Sunday School, Ministry Prep courses, etc.  Not once. That omission is certainly a telling one.

This week I’m joined by Scott Mellor as a co-host to talk about the value of confession.  Owning up to one’s failures is a vestige of the religious life I think is valuable.  Scott was kind of enough to let me open up about some really embarrassing parts of my life, and finally put them out on this site.  I intend to continue this series of embarrassments in later episodes.  Thanks again to Scott for his time and patience.

 After a break the show is back, and I’ve brought on two Bible experts who spend their free time visiting Sunday Schools to engage the faithful in meaningful conversation.  They also happen to be non-believers.  While talking about the Bible is something that even some believers find unpleasant, this is not that kind of episode.

While Rex Burks is a friend of the show and has been on before, he finally brings his partner and pilot Owen Younger to tell his story and deconstruct the New Testament, and explain why churches are so reluctant to be honest about it’s true authors, mistakes, additions, and forgeries, of which there are plenty.  Don’t worry if you don’t like or read the biblical texts, there is more than enough information and hilarity to make a for a fun listening experience.

Thanks again to the Skeptical Texans for giving me their time!

Check them out at www.skepticaltexans.org

This week comedian Steve Cantwell comes on to talk about his experiences in Mormonism, as well as solving a murder case and finding a hawaiian storage locker filled with women’s underwear.

Steve has been one of my favorite guests to record with, this episode being considerably more ribald than the rest.

Follow Steve at @MyFavoriteSteve

This week Darrel Ray, author of “The God Virus” and “Sex And God” joins the podcast to talk about his work in ministry, thoughts on his books, as well as his work with Recovering From Religion.

Darrel is a pleasure to talk to.  When I visited Kansas City to speak last year, he took a day to show me around the city and tell me the local history.

You can learn more about Darrel and his work at https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/board-of-directors/

This week I am joined by Anthony Magnabosco, who is well known for his Youtube series Street Epistemology.  He discusses how he came to start his video series and what inspires him to continue approaching people and asking them how they know if their beliefs are indeed true.

Thinkers like Anthony are an invaluable to the secular community because they demonstrate that fruitful conversations can be had about one’s most cherished beliefs, without disrespecting or insulting the belief or the person endorsing it.  Conversation can accomplish a lot more than debate, and I’m thankful to Anthony for coming on and talking about his work and thoughts on the value of reason.

Check out his site at www.streetepistemology.com

Daniel King (KingMinistries.com) is a Christian evangelist who recently visited the American Atheist Convention in Oklahoma City to see what he could learn about skeptics to understand them, as well as to better evangelize to them.  His sincerity in this pursuit was so charming, and so similar to my friend Rex’s, who regularly visits Sunday Schools as an atheist to engage in dialogue, that I had to invite him on.

Rex, a fellow skeptic and friend of the show, also happened to attend the same convention, so I had him on to talk about his experience as well. While Daniel’s initial write up seemed a tad dismissive, I was happy to find he was a delight to talk to, and a particularly sincere fellow.  While I certainly do not agree with his conclusions, it is a shame that so many atheists have been quick to attack him.  Given his faith, it makes sense that his conclusions about those in the LBGTQ and secular communities are as he describes them.  I wish more atheists would have been charmed by his willingness to enter a lion’s den of sorts, to better understand his fellow man.  This kind of willingness is necessary and I hope to see more of it on both sides of the aisle as religious dialogues continue.

Rex’s input and experience were just as lovely to hear, and he made an excellent co-host.

Daniel’s write up of the convention can be found here: http://kingministries.blogspot.com/2018/04/visiting-american-atheists-national.html

Rex’s site is www.skepticaltexans.org

This week I’m happy to have Rex Burks on to talk about his adventures visiting Sunday Schools of every stripe to engage believers in conversation.  As a non-believer, Rex and I are both fascinated by religion and the congregations surrounding them.

We also talk about our shared interest in Biblical Research and the work of Bart Ehrman.  Rex is a disarmingly friendly man, and was a joy to have on the show.

Rex can be found online or through his site SkepticalTexans.org

Ray Hill returns this week to discuss his experience as a teenage evangelist and what led him away from faith and a career in ministry (the two are very separate enterprises).  Ray is an activist, speaker, and friend whose encouragement has been instrumental in my work on this site.

You can check out his other episode on the site for a better summary of his person, but his wikipedia entry is just as lovely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Hill_(activist)

Michael Paras is a born and bred Houston comedian and winner of the 2015 Beta Bracket Stand Up Comedy Competition. In addition to stand-up he also does improv, sketch comedy, and is on the Performance Company at the Texas Renaissance Festival.

Topics include theories of comedy and non-concluding thoughts on Judaism and Michael’s experience growing up in that tradition.  Also Michael discusses circumcision in the Bible and why my genitals are apart of his comedy act.

Check Michael out this Friday or Saturday to check out his set!