# Dave Warnock: Where Have You Been?

An episode of [TheThinkingAtheist](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/412308695), 8 Aug 2025, 30 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/mgln.ai/e/711/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/67217193/podcast819_davewarnockv2.mp3

Dave Warnock was diagnosed with ALS in 2019 and became a common face on the convention and YouTube circuit. Then...he disappeared. In a rare interview, he joined Seth Andrews to talk about his absence. VIDEO of this interview (coming soon) GOFUNDME link Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/thethinkingatheist--3270347/support.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol,
[0:09] Speaker 1: an idea.
[0:10] Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through.
[0:13] Speaker 1: The rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If
[0:18] Speaker 1: I tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth,
[0:22] Speaker 1: not because I put my hand on a book and
[0:24] Speaker 1: made a wish and working together for a more rational world.
[0:29] Speaker 3: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness.
[0:32] Speaker 3: Truth Usian wisdom will come to you that way.
[0:35] Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the
[0:43] Speaker 1: Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews.
[0:56] Speaker 3: Before I play the audio of a conversation that I
[0:59] Speaker 3: had on video recently, and that YouTube link is in
[1:02] Speaker 3: the description box in case you want to watch it,
[1:05] Speaker 3: and I encourage you to do so when you are
[1:07] Speaker 3: done listening here. But Dave Warnock, former minister hardcore evangelical,
[1:14] Speaker 3: comes out of the faith right he's an atheist, and
[1:17] Speaker 3: then a few years ago he is diagnosed with a
[1:20] Speaker 3: terminal disease. Doctors tell him he's going to die of
[1:24] Speaker 3: als in short order, and so he committed himself to
[1:30] Speaker 3: accumulating as many life experiences as he could in the
[1:35] Speaker 3: time he had left before his body essentially failed him.
[1:38] Speaker 3: And so I mean he traveled the world, and he
[1:41] Speaker 3: flew over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter, and he
[1:43] Speaker 3: went sky diving, and you know, he did all these
[1:46] Speaker 3: things encouraging other people to maximize the moments. Right tomorrow
[1:51] Speaker 3: is not guaranteed. His hashtag was Carpe the fucking DM
[1:56] Speaker 3: right sees the day, and he was popular and sought
[2:03] Speaker 3: after speaker on the conference circuit. He was co hosting
[2:08] Speaker 3: call in shows until about a year ago. I think
[2:12] Speaker 3: it's been a year in the he just disappeared, like
[2:16] Speaker 3: where's Dave? I didn't know. I mean I sent him
[2:19] Speaker 3: a text every few months, just checking and I got
[2:21] Speaker 3: a response. I'm still around doing okay. But beyond that
[2:26] Speaker 3: even I didn't know anything. But because people knew that
[2:29] Speaker 3: Dave and I were friends, they were asking me, you know,
[2:32] Speaker 3: did he die? Is he still with us? And I
[2:37] Speaker 3: mean I didn't have a good answer rather than well,
[2:40] Speaker 3: I got a reply to a text. So recently, I
[2:45] Speaker 3: was in Nashville, Tennessee for the Nashville Nuns Conference none
[2:49] Speaker 3: meaning no religion, not Catholic, none, right, And I'm the
[2:55] Speaker 3: keynote on Saturday. So I'm there at the end of
[2:58] Speaker 3: a long day of speaker and panels. But I noticed
[3:01] Speaker 3: in the morning scheduled is Dave Warnock as a speaker.
[3:08] Speaker 3: And so I'm like, Okay, you know he's back, but
[3:12] Speaker 3: where's he been and how and why is he back
[3:15] Speaker 3: and what the hell's going on? And Dave and Bevin
[3:20] Speaker 3: drove me to the airports after the conference and we
[3:24] Speaker 3: had a chance to talk a little bit. We grabbed
[3:26] Speaker 3: a bite to eat. We're sitting over lunch and I
[3:29] Speaker 3: had a few hours before I had to be at
[3:31] Speaker 3: the airport, and I said, hey, you know, Dave, I mean,
[3:35] Speaker 3: I don't know if you're up for this, but you know,
[3:37] Speaker 3: if we can find a little nook somewhere, I got
[3:40] Speaker 3: my camera, rig I mean, we could just set something
[3:43] Speaker 3: up totally impromptu, informal, you know, just shake and bake,
[3:48] Speaker 3: and we can just set you on camera and I'll
[3:50] Speaker 3: sit across from you and we can talk about all this.
[3:53] Speaker 3: And Dave said, let's do it, and so we rushed back.
[3:58] Speaker 3: It was in his apartment building and they had a
[4:01] Speaker 3: little room upstairs. It wasn't optimal. If you watch the video,
[4:05] Speaker 3: you'll see I'm sitting in front of a window and
[4:06] Speaker 3: the sun's blaring in behind me, but there weren't a
[4:09] Speaker 3: lot of options in the room. And most importantly, Dave
[4:12] Speaker 3: looks good. You know. There he is Dave Warnock in
[4:15] Speaker 3: four K right there sitting in his chair is motorized chair.
[4:20] Speaker 3: And we did about thirty minutes just talking about his journey.
[4:24] Speaker 3: And a lot of folks are going to want to
[4:25] Speaker 3: hear this because it answers some questions as to where
[4:29] Speaker 3: he has been. So this is the audio of the
[4:34] Speaker 3: chat that I had just a few days ago with
[4:38] Speaker 3: Dave Warnock. And after the interview itself, I'm going to
[4:41] Speaker 3: make a small request, so hang on for that. So
[4:48] Speaker 3: I had the opportunity in Nashville, Tennessee to have a
[4:52] Speaker 3: conversation totally unplanned. We just found a room to talk
[4:56] Speaker 3: with someone that many would consider to be a ghost,
[5:00] Speaker 3: and yet this apparition has appeared before me, Dave Warnock, Dave,
[5:06] Speaker 3: where you been? So you've been?
[5:08] Speaker 2: I've just been around. I've been here. I've been Nashville.
[5:12] Speaker 2: I'm still here, not dead, not dead yet. Didn't know
[5:16] Speaker 2: I'd be here for this many years when I got
[5:19] Speaker 2: diagnosed with this thing. I just turned seventy, So that's
[5:24] Speaker 2: a big number that. I don't know if I like
[5:26] Speaker 2: the idea of being seventy, but the alternative is not great.
[5:30] Speaker 3: I mean, I'm going to say things and ask questions.
[5:34] Speaker 3: I'm going I'm going to let the audience participate vicariously
[5:38] Speaker 3: through me, and I'm going to say this stuff that
[5:40] Speaker 3: they might be thinking.
[5:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know hous.
[5:42] Speaker 3: To say this, But your past your expiration day, right,
[5:45] Speaker 3: I mean the doctor said you had how many years?
[5:50] Speaker 2: The standard diagnosis is three to five years. They tell
[5:55] Speaker 2: you you've got ALS, You've got three to five years.
[5:58] Speaker 2: That can vary wildly with ALS patients from six months
[6:03] Speaker 2: to twenty years. Twenty years is an outlier, but many
[6:07] Speaker 2: people go in six months, two years, whatever. It's just
[6:11] Speaker 2: every case is completely different. So I've been at it
[6:15] Speaker 2: over six years, almost seven. Now.
[6:17] Speaker 3: I feel like there are some believers praying for you
[6:19] Speaker 3: that think this is a miracle.
[6:22] Speaker 2: It has been said to me. Has it such that,
[6:25] Speaker 2: as one person put it recently, perhaps God has given
[6:30] Speaker 2: you some extra time so that you can reconsider your
[6:34] Speaker 2: deconstruction apostasy ways, sure.
[6:39] Speaker 3: To see the error of your ways and come back
[6:42] Speaker 3: to the fall.
[6:42] Speaker 2: As though God couldn't do that quickly he needs a
[6:44] Speaker 2: little extra time extend my suffering a few years.
[6:49] Speaker 3: I have to do my due diligence here because there
[6:51] Speaker 3: are some who are being introduced to you for the
[6:53] Speaker 3: first time.
[6:54] Speaker 2: How could this be?
[6:55] Speaker 3: I know everyone should know your name. You are a legend,
[6:58] Speaker 3: a man among men, all those things, the hero we need.
[7:02] Speaker 3: Good man, Dave, you have ALS? Can you tell everybody
[7:08] Speaker 3: what is ALS? And when are you diagnosed?
[7:10] Speaker 2: I'm going to try to pronounce it correctly. Ameotrophic lateral sclerosis.
[7:17] Speaker 2: Most people know of it more commonly as lou Gerrigg's disease.
[7:22] Speaker 2: I've had it well. I was diagnosed February twenty six,
[7:25] Speaker 2: twenty nineteen. The diagnosis followed what I can look back
[7:30] Speaker 2: at and realize were symptoms that I'd had for six
[7:33] Speaker 2: to seven months prior. I just didn't know what they were.
[7:36] Speaker 2: So clearly, I've had the disease in my body for
[7:40] Speaker 2: over seven years. So I'm on the long end of
[7:43] Speaker 2: things in terms of how long this stuff takes to
[7:47] Speaker 2: kill you. It is a terminal disease. There's no cure,
[7:50] Speaker 2: there's no treatment. They don't know what causes it. They
[7:53] Speaker 2: don't know anything about it. It's this mystery disease. So
[7:57] Speaker 2: I've been told I have a slower progressing version of it,
[8:01] Speaker 2: which has been good. I've been you know, a lot
[8:03] Speaker 2: of people if they had seen me at a conference
[8:07] Speaker 2: a few years ago, I was still walking around, they
[8:09] Speaker 2: could see I was affected in my arms some I think,
[8:12] Speaker 2: you know, the last time we hung out, you could
[8:14] Speaker 2: see that I had trouble feeding myself and stuff like that.
[8:17] Speaker 2: But I was still walking up and down off the
[8:21] Speaker 2: stage or whatever around the conference or wherever I was.
[8:24] Speaker 2: But now I can't. I really can't walk more than
[8:26] Speaker 2: a few steps.
[8:27] Speaker 3: Now I see the chair. So are you chair bound? Now?
[8:31] Speaker 2: I would say, well, chair bound means you have to
[8:35] Speaker 2: be lifted out of it onto a bed or a
[8:39] Speaker 2: shower or something. I don't have to. I could still
[8:42] Speaker 2: transfer myself, which is the medical term for get from
[8:46] Speaker 2: one place to another without assistance. So I can get
[8:49] Speaker 2: up out of this chair and waddle over to the couch,
[8:52] Speaker 2: or waddle to my bed and get in it. So
[8:55] Speaker 2: that's my limitation though, so but I can, like, for instance,
[9:00] Speaker 2: we'll go somewhere in a portable wheelchair, go to the car,
[9:03] Speaker 2: get myself into the car seat and not car seat
[9:06] Speaker 2: like a kid. But into the passenger seat, so to speak,
[9:09] Speaker 2: and I can. Yeah, so I've got that ability still.
[9:14] Speaker 3: So in the time we've hung out, we had lunch together,
[9:17] Speaker 3: I've noticed I haven't seen you move your arms. Are
[9:20] Speaker 3: you able to move your arms like cameras? You're able
[9:24] Speaker 3: to raise it up? Just at even that effort, is
[9:27] Speaker 3: shoulder muscles doing it? I see, I'm not using any
[9:30] Speaker 3: hand or arm muscles. Dexterity of the fingers and all that,
[9:34] Speaker 3: that's gone.
[9:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, almost no hand strength left, because that's where it started.
[9:40] Speaker 3: It was my hands neuropathy kind of thing or no pain.
[9:44] Speaker 2: Just the muscles are the nerves tell the muscles what
[9:47] Speaker 2: to do, and the muscles say, well, hell no, I'm
[9:50] Speaker 2: not doing that.
[9:51] Speaker 3: Is that again? I'm still learning? But does that create
[9:56] Speaker 3: a conflict in your brain? Your brain says, this should
[9:59] Speaker 3: make the fingers the digits move.
[10:01] Speaker 2: Yeah, the nerves. I don't know if it's it's a
[10:03] Speaker 2: neurological disease, so motor neurons that the neurons aren't firing
[10:08] Speaker 2: and the muscles don't ever get the signal pretty much
[10:10] Speaker 2: and so the atrophy. So my muscles are gradually dying.
[10:14] Speaker 2: And I had I guess the reality that I wasn't
[10:19] Speaker 2: aware of at the time. I had strong leg muscles
[10:21] Speaker 2: to begin with, so they've taken longer to deteriorate.
[10:26] Speaker 3: I mean, we're thankful that you're still with Yeah, yeah, no,
[10:29] Speaker 3: I'm glad to be here.
[10:30] Speaker 2: Okay.
[10:30] Speaker 3: I mean I'm not trying to say your past, your
[10:32] Speaker 3: expiration date?
[10:33] Speaker 2: What the hell? I like? So it's long ago. Say,
[10:36] Speaker 2: hadn't they been Dying out Loud for ten years now
[10:38] Speaker 2: or something like that?
[10:39] Speaker 3: Is dying out Loud?
[10:40] Speaker 2: Was your Is it still a webs so to speak?
[10:43] Speaker 3: Is it Dave out Loud or Dying out Well, well,
[10:45] Speaker 3: the Dying out.
[10:45] Speaker 2: Load website was taken, so I went with Dave out
[10:48] Speaker 2: Loud dot org. So it's still there. It's a little outdated.
[10:52] Speaker 2: I haven't done a lot lately because it's just harder
[10:54] Speaker 2: to do, but it's still there. You can find all
[10:57] Speaker 2: my stuff I've done for years on.
[10:59] Speaker 3: There some people who think you're full of shit, Like
[11:03] Speaker 3: Dave said he'd be gone in two years and he
[11:05] Speaker 3: was doing all this activist thing and he wrote a
[11:08] Speaker 3: book and he did the speaking circuit. You know, do
[11:11] Speaker 3: you feel like there's some people that think this is
[11:13] Speaker 3: all theater.
[11:14] Speaker 2: So it was Dave in the wheelchair. You just did
[11:16] Speaker 2: that for sympathy and attention. No, I don't. I don't know.
[11:19] Speaker 2: I haven't had anyone directly say that, but I you know,
[11:23] Speaker 2: like I said earlier, in the first couple of years,
[11:26] Speaker 2: I would see in the comments of some show like
[11:28] Speaker 2: hasn't they been dying out out for ten years or
[11:30] Speaker 2: something like that. I you know, honestly, when I got
[11:35] Speaker 2: diagnosed seth, I thought I may have a year or two,
[11:38] Speaker 2: so I'm going to make the most of it. And
[11:40] Speaker 2: then it, you know, went longer and went longer and
[11:43] Speaker 2: went longer, and I thought, okay, I'm going to be
[11:45] Speaker 2: around a little longer than I thought. Can be good,
[11:49] Speaker 2: can be bad.
[11:51] Speaker 3: We've talked about this, but when you got the diagnosis,
[11:54] Speaker 3: like day.
[11:54] Speaker 2: Of yeah, you terrified. I don't know, Oh, I guess
[12:02] Speaker 2: numb was a better word. I don't remember being afraid.
[12:08] Speaker 2: I remember like it settled in like a wet blanket,
[12:12] Speaker 2: like this is my new reality and I'm going to
[12:15] Speaker 2: have to adjust to that. And so it was a
[12:18] Speaker 2: sense of like unreal It was like this is this
[12:23] Speaker 2: happening to me? Because you you know, by the time
[12:26] Speaker 2: I've gotten diagnosed. I had a lot of testing and
[12:29] Speaker 2: been online and researched what als is and what it
[12:33] Speaker 2: looks like. You know, there's videos of people in really
[12:37] Speaker 2: bad shape at the end, and I thought, Okay, that's
[12:39] Speaker 2: going to be me, that's my destiny. It was a
[12:43] Speaker 2: surreal feeling. It's more what I remember experiencing. Are you
[12:48] Speaker 2: afraid of death again? I don't know why not, but
[12:52] Speaker 2: I'm really not. I guess when it comes down to
[12:59] Speaker 2: those final moments, I may have a little bit of
[13:02] Speaker 2: a panicky feeling. I don't know, but I don't think
[13:08] Speaker 2: I'm afraid. You know, the process sounds pretty simple. I
[13:13] Speaker 2: go to sleep and I don't wake up, and I
[13:16] Speaker 2: don't think that's a very fearful experience. But again, it's
[13:23] Speaker 2: the thing that none of us have experienced and then
[13:26] Speaker 2: been able to talk about afterwards. So we do it
[13:29] Speaker 2: one time, and my time is approaching. I don't know
[13:33] Speaker 2: how much time I have left. I'm more afraid of
[13:37] Speaker 2: not having a quality of life and being compromised in
[13:40] Speaker 2: such a way that life is no longer worth living.
[13:43] Speaker 2: That's what I'm more afraid of.
[13:46] Speaker 3: What does that look like? You tell me how much
[13:49] Speaker 3: you want to share have you decided when the time comes,
[13:54] Speaker 3: I decide, I take control, whether it's medical and dying
[14:00] Speaker 3: or I don't know what the even I don't even
[14:02] Speaker 3: know what the laws are in Tennessee. I mean, because
[14:05] Speaker 3: people are really is it like you're playing God?
[14:09] Speaker 2: Is that the attact they're taking here, that's the approach.
[14:12] Speaker 2: I think that's exactly why most states do not have
[14:16] Speaker 2: a medical aid in dying law in the books. Very
[14:18] Speaker 2: few states do, like Canada has. I think it's because
[14:23] Speaker 2: of the undercurrent of religion that is pervasive in our country,
[14:28] Speaker 2: and there are a lot of people who say those
[14:31] Speaker 2: very words, that's you're playing God and God decides when
[14:34] Speaker 2: to take you home, or you know, God's the one
[14:37] Speaker 2: that decides who lives and who dies. I don't know
[14:44] Speaker 2: what my line is. I've probably moved it already a
[14:48] Speaker 2: couple of times, you know. I think I've probably said
[14:52] Speaker 2: back in the day, whenever I can't walk, I'm out
[14:54] Speaker 2: of here. Whenever I can't do this, I'm done. And
[14:58] Speaker 2: that's okay. I mean, we don't know do we get
[15:01] Speaker 2: up to the edge of the line.
[15:03] Speaker 3: Isn't that about control? Though? Like when I spoke to
[15:05] Speaker 3: the folks at Final Exit. They were talking about the
[15:09] Speaker 3: fact that people who have control of how they manage
[15:15] Speaker 3: end of life decisions, having that control gave them peace
[15:19] Speaker 3: and it allowed them the flexibility on their terms to
[15:22] Speaker 3: decide the who, what went, and where right exactly.
[15:25] Speaker 2: Yeah, I've worked with Final Exit Network in years past,
[15:28] Speaker 2: and I think they told me like fifty to sixty
[15:31] Speaker 2: percent of the people that sign up with them never
[15:34] Speaker 2: use their services. They dislike knowing that it's an option.
[15:38] Speaker 2: So it is about control. It's about me being the
[15:41] Speaker 2: one who decides what I'm comfortable with in terms of
[15:46] Speaker 2: a quality of life. And when you're not encased in
[15:50] Speaker 2: religious ideology, when you don't have a god that you're
[15:55] Speaker 2: answering to, and you know that your own destiny is
[16:00] Speaker 2: in your own hands, then you're free to make those
[16:03] Speaker 2: kind of decisions without any thoughts of am I displeasing
[16:07] Speaker 2: some deity who's going to be upset with me? I
[16:10] Speaker 2: don't even think about that anymore. So I'm completely in control.
[16:15] Speaker 2: And now you know, I want to be sensitive to
[16:17] Speaker 2: those around me, those who care for me, care about
[16:21] Speaker 2: me and care for me. And you know, am I
[16:26] Speaker 2: being purely selfish when I say Okay, I've had enough,
[16:29] Speaker 2: I'm out of here when they may want me around longer,
[16:32] Speaker 2: because there's a benefit to that, and so I have
[16:35] Speaker 2: to consider that as well. I love a clip I
[16:40] Speaker 2: saw years ago where Stephen Colbert is asking Counta Reeves,
[16:45] Speaker 2: what happens? What do you think happens when we die?
[16:47] Speaker 2: It was kind of a gotcha question, and counter Reeves
[16:51] Speaker 2: pauses for a minute and he says, I think when
[16:54] Speaker 2: we die, the people who love us will miss us.
[16:58] Speaker 2: I thought, my God profound, and Colbert, being a Catholic,
[17:03] Speaker 2: he thought, oh, I'm expecting that. Yeah, But Kena kind
[17:06] Speaker 2: of threw it back on him. And that's what I
[17:09] Speaker 2: think about now more than ever, is you know, I
[17:11] Speaker 2: may be tired and ready to let it all go,
[17:15] Speaker 2: But what about those around me who maybe paid a
[17:18] Speaker 2: price to be with me through this journey? Am I
[17:22] Speaker 2: being fair to them? What do they want? And it's
[17:26] Speaker 2: a balancing act and I don't really know the answers yet.
[17:29] Speaker 3: The playing God thing was always bullshit anyway, right, because
[17:32] Speaker 3: I mean, if I'm diagnosed with an illness and I
[17:35] Speaker 3: intervened with a hospital visit or you know, antibiotics for whatever, or.
[17:40] Speaker 2: You know, so you don't take medicine, go to the doctor.
[17:42] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, are you're not getting chemo for cancer? That's God?
[17:45] Speaker 3: What are you playing God?
[17:46] Speaker 2: And someone on a show like that that did that
[17:48] Speaker 2: playing god thing, and I turned it back like that.
[17:51] Speaker 2: I said, so when you're sick, you don't go to
[17:53] Speaker 2: a doctor take medicine. No, I don't actually a said,
[17:55] Speaker 2: oh shit, you thought you had a god.
[18:00] Speaker 3: You know, there are those who argue that people who
[18:02] Speaker 3: believe that prayer heals should be denied like medical care
[18:07] Speaker 3: to see what they really believe. I'm not quite that sadistic,
[18:11] Speaker 3: but I take their point right. I mean, we pray
[18:14] Speaker 3: for healing, but we pay for doctors. That's the first
[18:19] Speaker 3: half of my chat with Dave Warnock. We're going to
[18:22] Speaker 3: continue and get more of his story, talking more about
[18:26] Speaker 3: where he's been, what he's doing, and what his needs
[18:29] Speaker 3: are these days. Stand by. This is the second half
[18:39] Speaker 3: of my conversation with Dave Warnock, as recorded a few
[18:43] Speaker 3: days ago when we spoke at the same conference in Nashville, Tennessee,
[18:47] Speaker 3: and had a few minutes to talk afterward. Dave Warnock,
[18:54] Speaker 3: where you've been, Mike. You were hot and heavy, You're
[18:58] Speaker 3: on the speaking circuit. You disappeared. Yeah, everybody said, shit,
[19:03] Speaker 3: Dave died and we no one told us. That is
[19:07] Speaker 3: what I heard on all my pages. Has anyone heard
[19:10] Speaker 3: about Dave? Did he pass away? Where's the service? What
[19:13] Speaker 3: do I do? Is there anything I can do to
[19:14] Speaker 3: help him? Or is he in pain? I mean people
[19:17] Speaker 3: were really speaking with compassion about that. So when I
[19:20] Speaker 3: saw your name on a speaking roster, I was like, Okay,
[19:24] Speaker 3: there he is. But everybody's thinking, Dave, what's hot?
[19:28] Speaker 2: Man?
[19:28] Speaker 3: Where you been?
[19:30] Speaker 2: I stepped back a year and a half or so
[19:33] Speaker 2: ago rather suddenly. I do know that, and that part
[19:37] Speaker 2: is unfortunately I apologize for that. It wasn't fair to
[19:41] Speaker 2: people as I look back on it, but I needed
[19:44] Speaker 2: to for personal reasons. I'd gotten myself in a bad
[19:47] Speaker 2: personal spot.
[19:48] Speaker 3: And to be clear, I don't want to peer in
[19:51] Speaker 3: your windows. Man, You know this is really you take
[19:54] Speaker 3: me where you want to go.
[19:55] Speaker 2: That's fine, all right, I just need you know. I
[19:59] Speaker 2: just got in a place where I wasn't doing well
[20:02] Speaker 2: mentally and I made some bad decisions that hurt people
[20:06] Speaker 2: and actions that hurt people, and I just it kind
[20:12] Speaker 2: of caved in on me and I needed a step
[20:14] Speaker 2: back and get a kind of reboot my own personal
[20:19] Speaker 2: life and not being on a camera, not being on
[20:22] Speaker 2: a show, not being on a stage, just dealing with
[20:26] Speaker 2: my shit and being accountable to those people that I
[20:30] Speaker 2: had hurt and I wanted. I needed to do that,
[20:33] Speaker 2: and I did it, and I'm not coming back, by
[20:36] Speaker 2: the way. I just did a brief speaking thing at nanocon,
[20:41] Speaker 2: a local thing here in Nashville, and it, you know,
[20:44] Speaker 2: just it was not a hard thing to do because
[20:48] Speaker 2: it's here. But I don't really want to do any
[20:52] Speaker 2: more of that publicly, the YouTube shows and things like that.
[20:56] Speaker 2: It would be hard for me physically to begin with
[21:00] Speaker 2: setting up and doing these things. I mean, if a
[21:02] Speaker 2: camera's turned on, like now, I can talk, but even
[21:05] Speaker 2: that you can hear my voice is becoming more difficult
[21:08] Speaker 2: for any length of time.
[21:09] Speaker 3: So without a crew and all that stuff, it's logistically hard.
[21:13] Speaker 3: Travel would be.
[21:14] Speaker 2: Travel is getting really really hard. Yeah, yeah, we can
[21:18] Speaker 2: still do it, but it's just it's a lot. And
[21:22] Speaker 2: so I just, you know, I just needed to take
[21:24] Speaker 2: care of personal things and deal with with that part
[21:27] Speaker 2: of me that I'm not real proud of and it
[21:31] Speaker 2: needed some attention.
[21:32] Speaker 3: You struggle with how much of that to share publicly.
[21:35] Speaker 3: You want to be transparent and you want to say,
[21:38] Speaker 3: you know, we're all human and and acknowledge and go there.
[21:42] Speaker 3: But at the same time, you know you are allowed
[21:45] Speaker 3: a private life, you know. So it's it's a balancing act.
[21:48] Speaker 2: It is a balancing act. And when you put yourself
[21:50] Speaker 2: out there as I did, as you do as a
[21:54] Speaker 2: public figure so to speak, in this particular world we
[21:58] Speaker 2: dwell in. I know, it's a small pond so to speak,
[22:02] Speaker 2: you know, on the world stage. But when you put
[22:05] Speaker 2: yourself out there as a public person, I think to
[22:08] Speaker 2: some degree you owe it to the public to be
[22:12] Speaker 2: a little more transparent, not just be a complete asshole
[22:15] Speaker 2: and disappear, which I did, which again I apologize for it.
[22:18] Speaker 3: Does you know people do see them made up for
[22:22] Speaker 3: broadcast version of public figures in many cases. I mean,
[22:26] Speaker 3: it is true that people are people, no matter of course.
[22:30] Speaker 3: Then now people that are out there in the audience
[22:32] Speaker 3: going holy shit, Dave Warnock, is he an asshole? And
[22:36] Speaker 3: so I'm like, well, I had lunch with them. He
[22:39] Speaker 3: didn't seem assholeish to me.
[22:42] Speaker 2: You know, No, I have been asholish to some people
[22:44] Speaker 2: that are very close to me.
[22:46] Speaker 3: I'm not trying to turn that screw.
[22:48] Speaker 2: I know what you're saying. I want to do my due.
[22:50] Speaker 3: Diligence, and you know, I think people care. I think
[22:53] Speaker 3: people care to see you in a good place and
[22:55] Speaker 3: those around you in a good place. I think people
[22:58] Speaker 3: still take you very personally, whether you're on the circuit
[23:01] Speaker 3: or not, which is one of the reasons I was like, day,
[23:03] Speaker 3: would you talk to me today?
[23:04] Speaker 2: Sure?
[23:04] Speaker 3: Because I think they're asking these questions vicariously through me.
[23:08] Speaker 2: It's a fair question. You got a guy you're relating
[23:10] Speaker 2: with on a YouTube show or a podcast, you feel
[23:14] Speaker 2: like you know him, and you know he's got a
[23:16] Speaker 2: termal disease, and all of a sudden he disappears, and
[23:18] Speaker 2: you're going, fuck, did he die? All of a sudden?
[23:21] Speaker 3: Did he get Jesus? Now he's on the church circuit?
[23:23] Speaker 3: What happened?
[23:24] Speaker 2: I can make a lot more money doing that.
[23:25] Speaker 3: You would know how to do it for those who
[23:27] Speaker 3: don't know, Dave, And it is true, very few people
[23:30] Speaker 3: watching probably don't know the story. But you were a
[23:33] Speaker 3: like Jesus freak, Minister Pennecostal, your tongue speaker, you really
[23:40] Speaker 3: spoke an other tongue.
[23:41] Speaker 2: I still can did you.
[23:42] Speaker 3: Travel when you minister.
[23:44] Speaker 2: No, I was just I was never a big deal
[23:47] Speaker 2: in the church world. I was always like an associate pastor.
[23:50] Speaker 2: My last ministry Gig was a satellite pastor. If anybody
[23:55] Speaker 2: is in the modern church, you will know that term
[23:58] Speaker 2: of a congregation of a couple of hundred pe people.
[24:00] Speaker 2: And you know I did this preaching every Sunday and
[24:02] Speaker 2: that sort of thing. So yeah, I was a pastor,
[24:05] Speaker 2: did the marrying and the burying and all the things that.
[24:09] Speaker 3: You haven't done back you you did not Rea, You
[24:12] Speaker 3: didn't go back to Jesus and say, you know, I
[24:15] Speaker 3: want to go to heaven and all that. It didn't happen.
[24:18] Speaker 2: I don't know how someone does that. I mean, once
[24:20] Speaker 2: you once the genies out of the bottle, once you
[24:23] Speaker 2: see what you see, you can and see it. I mean,
[24:26] Speaker 2: my brother is after me all the time to reconvert,
[24:29] Speaker 2: and he thinks he can convince me.
[24:31] Speaker 3: I mean, I get that though. I mean someone says
[24:33] Speaker 3: I want to go on, I want to see my
[24:35] Speaker 3: loved ones again. I want to be in a place
[24:38] Speaker 3: where my body has not been impacted by disease. And
[24:41] Speaker 3: I have empathy and sympathy for people who go there.
[24:44] Speaker 3: I'm sure you do as well.
[24:46] Speaker 2: Of course. So yeah, I just you know, just if
[24:49] Speaker 2: it was believable, i'd try to believe it. I can't.
[24:52] Speaker 2: I mean, I believe it for a long time, but
[24:54] Speaker 2: once that was unpacked, I couldn't pack it back in.
[24:57] Speaker 3: You at this point, as we draw to a close,
[24:59] Speaker 3: because I've got to run to the airport otherwise we
[25:02] Speaker 3: talk for another hour. My friend, you were at a
[25:06] Speaker 3: point now I've noticed where as your body continues to deteriorate.
[25:10] Speaker 3: I don't know what other word to use, but that's
[25:12] Speaker 3: a good word. You are going to need what adaptations
[25:17] Speaker 3: to the van so that your chair can get in
[25:19] Speaker 3: and out?
[25:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got a van. We just need to equip
[25:22] Speaker 2: it so that the wheelchair, this powerchair here can get
[25:25] Speaker 2: in and out like on a lift and stuff like that.
[25:28] Speaker 3: Anything else going on that would help. And what I'm
[25:31] Speaker 3: trying to figure out is like if we as a
[25:32] Speaker 3: community were to rally and try to help you, I
[25:35] Speaker 3: think a lot of people want to. They just they
[25:37] Speaker 3: need something specific, like the van would be a big thing.
[25:41] Speaker 2: That the van's a big one time kind of need.
[25:45] Speaker 2: Ongoing support for caregiving is an issue because that's going
[25:51] Speaker 2: to cost more and more, so that's more like a
[25:52] Speaker 2: monthly thing. Yeah, and that's going to be an increasing
[25:57] Speaker 2: need as time goes on. You know. The balancing act
[26:01] Speaker 2: here is to try to maintain as much independence and
[26:05] Speaker 2: quality of life without it becoming such a financially draining
[26:12] Speaker 2: situation or physically taxing situation where everything you're doing all day,
[26:18] Speaker 2: every day is simply trying to stay alive. That's something
[26:22] Speaker 2: I don't want to do at this point, but I
[26:25] Speaker 2: don't know where the cut off line is and I
[26:27] Speaker 2: don't know how to balance that. So it's just to
[26:30] Speaker 2: figure it out as we go along kind of thing.
[26:32] Speaker 3: And it's insane to live in a developed country where
[26:34] Speaker 3: a major medical event can bankrupt you and those you know,
[26:38] Speaker 3: and it's stupid.
[26:39] Speaker 2: I've known of als people who spent hundreds of thousands
[26:43] Speaker 2: of dollars a year on just caregiving. And I don't
[26:48] Speaker 2: fault anyone for whatever decisions they make, but at some
[26:50] Speaker 2: point you're just bankrupting yourself and others to stay alive
[26:55] Speaker 2: and there's no quality of life there. So it's a tough,
[26:59] Speaker 2: tough line to draw it and figure out. It's just tough.
[27:04] Speaker 2: There's no other ways about it.
[27:05] Speaker 3: Well, Dave, I'm blowing smoke at you when I say
[27:08] Speaker 3: it's I mean, it's good to see you.
[27:11] Speaker 2: You too, and it's.
[27:12] Speaker 3: Good to see your face. It's good to see to
[27:14] Speaker 3: hear your voice, and your voice is strong. Still, I
[27:17] Speaker 3: don't care what you say to hear you speak at
[27:19] Speaker 3: a time when I worried if you would have the
[27:21] Speaker 3: ability to speak, and you're still speaking and thinking and
[27:24] Speaker 3: taking your journey, and you're being pretty raw about it,
[27:27] Speaker 3: and I think people can respect that. Some people can
[27:30] Speaker 3: respect that, maybe some not so much. But you're out
[27:33] Speaker 3: there front and center and people know where you are.
[27:36] Speaker 2: You've been a good friend. So I'll ask you a question.
[27:40] Speaker 2: Uh oh, okay on camera. You can't edit this out.
[27:44] Speaker 3: I won't edit this out.
[27:45] Speaker 2: I know how you are with the editor.
[27:46] Speaker 3: I won't. I know your editor very well.
[27:50] Speaker 2: All right, hit me when the time comes. I don't
[27:51] Speaker 2: know how far it is in the future. Yeah, will
[27:55] Speaker 2: you speak at my funeral?
[28:03] Speaker 3: Yeah, yes I will. I'd be honored.
[28:10] Speaker 2: I'd be honored for you to do it. I can
[28:12] Speaker 2: think of no one better.
[28:17] Speaker 3: That was unexpected. Well, you're a brother. There's no place
[28:24] Speaker 3: I would rather be on that day And I'll be
[28:27] Speaker 3: there for you.
[28:28] Speaker 2: Thank you.
[28:34] Speaker 3: Yeah, that request at the end was unexpected. Now as
[28:39] Speaker 3: I finish here, I just was thinking, maybe you and
[28:43] Speaker 3: I could help be a solution to the challenge of
[28:47] Speaker 3: having you know your body deteriorates with the increasing medical
[28:51] Speaker 3: and living expenses. I know that it has been a
[28:55] Speaker 3: burden forum and this could be our chance to help.
[28:57] Speaker 3: So in the description box there is a link go
[29:01] Speaker 3: fund me link if you would like to donate and
[29:04] Speaker 3: help Dave and his support team, which I think is
[29:08] Speaker 3: Bevin mostly. If you want to be a part of that,
[29:10] Speaker 3: I know it would be greatly appreciated. Our chance to
[29:13] Speaker 3: do something good for someone who's going through something that's
[29:17] Speaker 3: really bad. So anyway, that link is in the description box.
[29:21] Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening.
[29:23] Speaker 1: Follow The Thinking Atheist on Facebook and Twitter for a
[29:27] Speaker 1: complete archive of podcasts and videos, products like mugs and
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[29:38] Speaker 1: and conventions. Log onto our website, The Thinkingatheist dot com.

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