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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