Truth Wanted

In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Kelley Laughlin and Eli Slack, work through indoctrination before relaxing into some ghost encountering sleep paralysis. Just try to “free will” yourself out of that state!

Adrian, a believer in CA, uses a concordance to support claims of prophecies that have been fulfilled such as the book of Zechariah mentioning piercing. How can you tell the difference between a narrative and a prophecy? How do we know this reference point can be used to get to the truth when there is the potential of bias? How do you prove that something in the Old Testament points to Jesus? Remember, the Bible is not proof of anything; it is just a series of books that make a bunch of claims. It is important to dig deep to discover why and when you started to believe these things. If you were born in India or Arabia, would you still be a Christian? Question the evidence of your beliefs and look for other sources for Christianity besides the Bible. The same standards used to determine if other religious scriptures are real need to be applied to the Bible. Why would you settle for anything less than 100% of prayers being answered? 

Cynthia in IL, describes an encounter with a ghost while experiencing sleep paralysis in an old dormitory that was thought to be haunted. How do you think perception shaped this experience? Looking back at things with skepticism can be an excellent tool for these things. The brain can do some freaky things! 

Stephen in Australia asks about free will and rather we truly have it. Where do you think decision making takes place, within the self or outside of the self? You can do what you want, but you can’t will what you want. There is a difference between free choice and free will. 

Backup host, Jon the Skeptic, joins us to share the question of the week: What is the possible fallout of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding? Thank you for joining us and we will see you next time!

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In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Objectively Dan and Dr. Blitz

Steve in NE informs us of the fringe theory of Mars being nuked. A former NASA scientist writes that there are locations on Mars where explosions occurred and there are certain elevated isotopes. If this happened, why is no one else in the scientific community taking this seriously? His submissions have not been accepted by peer review journals. When someone with a PHD goes off their rocker, how do we educate people to think critically when reviewing their purported findings?

John in CA tells us some prophecies from his deceased grandfather that he believes to be true.This includes a number of ideas such as his mom being the Anti-Christ, LeBron James, the Anti-Judas helping Cleveland end the sports curse, Bin Laden being a good guy, presidential elections, and others all tied into one big prophecy leading to the movie Die Hard. If you do believe this, it is a suggestion that you talk to a professional for your mental health. 

Fiz in CA has been thinking about what it means to live a happy life and asks the hosts what evidence there is to support or deny the existence of free will. If determinism is true, then you do not choose your will, however, this is not incompatible with the idea of being happy. How far do you go when including external forces as influences on free will? If we truly had free will, would that make the world a better place?

Jon from Canada calls to thank the hosts for the discussions they have had with him and now identifies as an atheist. We only want you to live your best life, Jon. Congratulations to you!

Kelley Laughlin, our back up host, joins us to add some commentary and remind us of the question of the week:What do demons do when they are not tormenting or torturing us? Thank you for tuning in this week!

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Show notes will be posted upon receipt.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

Show notes will be posted upon receipt.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Objectively Dan and Jon the Skeptic, discuss religion taught in schools and the best belief systems that explain the world before diving into reliable methods of prediction. 

Prisoner 24601 inTX has a good story and a bad story about religion being taught in school in a small town. The good story describes a teacher who had a way of teaching that allowed for separation of church and state. The bad story is when a math teacher referenced the story in the Bible where god froze the sun to explain the “missing day”. Jon mentions how different things are in the UK and how he went through an entire school year before learning his Geography teacher was a Jehovas Witness. How do you think Evangelicalism affects the differences in how religion is approached in schools?

Josh in KS, clarifies the hosts’ positions and asks if the hosts think atheism explains things better than theism. Why would we see a theist’s position as convincing? There is no argument that some of the greatest thinkers in history were theists, however, Christianity as a whole fails to provide answers. If you grew up in a different place in the world, how would that change the religion you practice? There are many claims that Christianity makes that are hard to justify such as pigs being possessed by spirits and running off a cliff. If these stories are allegorical, how do you know the difference between what is literal and allegorical? We would describe the explanation of things between atheism and theism as a false dichotomy, because the atheist position is not making positive claims.

Jon in Canada, has some thoughts on the harm and fraud of Evangelicaslm. When someone genuinely believes something, it does not come across as fraud in their minds, and they think they are doing a service. If someone genuinely believes a lie that is actively causing harm, what is the best way to move forward once the person learns the truth? As you continue to question your beliefs, think of one thing that has hit you hard and call us to talk through it. This is a true testament that people can change their minds and the lesson is to not give up on people.

Ben in AL needs an idea that makes predictions that come true with some reliability. If every science text book and religious text were to be erased, the science books would be what comes back as word for word for what they say now. 

Flabbergasted, our backup host joins us to close out the show as Dan reminds of the prompt of the week: What is an offer Jesus could not refuse? Thank you for joining us this week! 

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Show notes will be posted upon receipt.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.

In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Objectively Dan and JL Warren go back into the womb to discuss whether or not we want the truth and what it would take to get us to believe in god. 

Maggie in Canada, asks for some advice on how to respond to a variation of Pascal’s Wager that involves two babies discussing the possibility of something more than just the womb. The problem with this wager is it ignores all other gods and afterlifes. The minute you start asking questions about the details, this argument falls apart. Where does the one baby that believes there is more get the information from? 

Al in CA watched a movie and now wants to know if the truth is really wanted. Knowing true things helps a person make rational, more informed decisions and increases the odds of survival. People who have problems with evolution because of their god concept will reduce their ability to believe true things and can show intellectual dishonesty. To prevent this dishonestly, allow yourself to ask questions. When wanting to know true things, think of Alder’s Razor that suggests that a claim is not worth debating if it can’t be settled through observation or experimentation. 

Daniel in Australia wants to know what would change the hosts’ position about their god beliefs. This depends on the god claim; some god claims are different from others. We need a predictive model that utilizes the god concept to make better and more accurate descriptions about reality other than the ones we currently employ. What is the difference between a god action and a non-god action? Why do miracles that are supposed to come from god fall apart every time we investigate them? The god evaluation needs to stand on its own merit and be independent of Biblical prophecies. Rather than thinking the hosts owe you something, try to listen to the questions they are asking you if you are sincerely interested in what they have to say. 

Thank you for tuning in this week! Kelley Laughlin joins us to close out the show and state the question of the week: What would the title of Jesus’ autobiography be?

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In today’s episode of the Truth Wanted, Aaron Jenson and Kelley Laughlin, discuss modern views of expertise, the importance of curiosity, and strategies to find facts. 

Choe in MI calls to explain why she does not think that expertise is overrated and asks about the show opening. Aaron explains how disheartening it is to see people use Google search over the expertise of people who have dedicated their lives to subjects. Kelley describes how it is important not to gatekeep knowledge. How does having a sense of curiosity play into the desire to learn true things? When the curiosity of children does not align with the religious beliefs of the church, how does that affect the church’s opinion of experts?

Eric in CO believes that it is more difficult to discern fake from real in today’s world because of the lack of source citing internet. Sometimes we must pay for good information that is accurately sourced. How trustworthy are the top search returns on a subject? What are the advantages to using Wikipedia to gain a high level knowledge on something? Back in the stone age, we actually had to go to something called a library and find real books. People want to believe things and will rely on the websites that agree with them. 

Jon in Canada agrees with a previous caller Choe about curiosity being a good thing and has been more curious in his life lately. Jon asks how people can believe things they have not seen. Kelley explains how indoctrination happens from childhood, and how people are taught not to even question it. How do you know when you believe something just because everyone around you believes it?

Thank you for joining us today! We Want The Truth segment of the week: Fill in the blank: If I were a ghost, I would______just to f*ck with people.

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In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Objectively Dan and Kelley Laughlin revisit a discussion about photos on Mars before diving into the contrasting world of nostalgia and a light summary of a famous Allegedly Ian debate. 

Daniel in Canada, who called in last week as Jupiter 2, adds some context to the second photo he shared and thought it might be a reenactment, and stands by the claim with the first photo shared where a magnifying glass was used to look at the detail. Modern technology allows for us to go far past magnifying glasses to look at photos. How is NASA supposed to do anything if we can just come up with a conspiracy for everything they say? It is not a lie that our technology is more advanced than it was 20 years ago. Why would NASA keep these things from us? Sometimes we just have to admit that pareidolia is nothing more than pareidolia. 

Dee in IA is struck by how differently atheists and theists look at pivotal points in their life. Theists tend to use these times to glorify god. Dee explains how this is contrasted by Kelley who takes ownership of these things and is proud of how they changed him. At the end of the day, the theists are selling their product starting with the indoctrination of children. Dee is motivated today by the desire to alleviate suffering, another stark contrast to what motivates theists. 

Daisy in WA recommends some videos such as the debate between Jordan Peterson and Allegedly Ian where Jordan dodged a question regarding his faith. Dan would love to be hooked up as someone who will debate JP. When JP talks about this and denies it, we find it weird. 

Thank you for joining us this week! Ely Slack, our backup host joins us to close out the show and remind us of the question of the week: What is the least inappropriate introduction for door to door soul winning?

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