# No F#!Ks Left to Give: A Thanksgiving Livestream

An episode of [TheThinkingAtheist](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/412308695), 26 Nov 2025, 1 h 25 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/mgln.ai/e/711/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/68759891/podcast844_nofstogive.mp3

With the holidays upon us, there's never been a time to be at your wits' end. Enjoy this pre-Thanksgiving mix of rants and calls! 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 in 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.
[0:22] Speaker 3: I put my hand on a book and made a.
[0:24] Speaker 1: Wish and working together for a more rational world.
[0:29] Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking feels so much more happiness.
[0:32] Speaker 2: 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 2: Hey, good morning everybody. I know tomorrow is the Thanksgiving
[1:00] Speaker 2: holiday and some people are getting ready to travel, others
[1:04] Speaker 2: are getting ready to do absolutely nothing. I thought it
[1:06] Speaker 2: might be fun to hang out for just a little bit.
[1:09] Speaker 2: I've been working on a secret project with my friend
[1:14] Speaker 2: and constitutional attorney Andrew Seidel with Americans United for Separation
[1:20] Speaker 2: of Church and State. Now he's operating on his own.
[1:23] Speaker 2: He's gone rogue on this particular project. He reached out
[1:27] Speaker 2: last week and he said, Hey, I need a video producer.
[1:29] Speaker 2: Do you recommend anybody, And I, having absolutely no free time,
[1:35] Speaker 2: said I'll do it because I'm stupid, but I kind
[1:39] Speaker 2: of liked the idea of the project, and so we
[1:43] Speaker 2: put it together. He sent me his clips, I put
[1:46] Speaker 2: all of my bells and whistles on top. It should release,
[1:49] Speaker 2: I think on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, of the
[1:53] Speaker 2: weekend after Thanksgiving, and it will solve one of the
[1:57] Speaker 2: great dilemmas. It will answer one of the most deep
[1:59] Speaker 2: and pro being questions that the Ages has wrestled with.
[2:03] Speaker 2: And it has to do with a Christmas holiday and
[2:06] Speaker 2: a certain action movie starring somebody that you know. And
[2:10] Speaker 2: that's all I'm going to say. So that's been a
[2:14] Speaker 2: nice distraction. Granted I can't do it halfway. You know.
[2:18] Speaker 2: We're like, ah, I'll just throw some stuff together. And
[2:20] Speaker 2: then Natalie raises an eyebrow at me as I'm up
[2:23] Speaker 2: here for hours and hours and hours and hours going
[2:26] Speaker 2: you know what would be fun? You know what, it'd
[2:29] Speaker 2: be cool? What if I added this, Well, this will
[2:31] Speaker 2: be animated and this will explode, and before you know what,
[2:35] Speaker 2: I've spent the entire weekend in the studio and then
[2:38] Speaker 2: I have to go back and apologize and say, a
[2:41] Speaker 2: I just get away for every ims Azari. Of course,
[2:46] Speaker 2: a lot of people are wrestling with whether or not
[2:48] Speaker 2: to attend their Thanksgiving holiday. I'm going to cry to attend.
[2:54] Speaker 2: Did I just say cry? Is that a Freudian slid?
[2:57] Speaker 2: I'm going to cry to attend. Oh, I don't know
[3:02] Speaker 2: why part of me thought about doing this. And I'll
[3:06] Speaker 2: share this because it popped up on my feed. Oops,
[3:10] Speaker 2: hang on, let me remove this. It was a tweet
[3:14] Speaker 2: by a guy named Zeddi and it said avoiding politics
[3:17] Speaker 2: at Thanksgiving is how we got Trump. Put on Juggalo
[3:22] Speaker 2: war paint and politicize everything. Redistribute the bread rolls, nationalize
[3:28] Speaker 2: the monopoly game, you unize the flag football league. Incite
[3:33] Speaker 2: a kid's table. Uh shit, I can't read that because
[3:37] Speaker 2: there's a chat on the screen. Can you remove that
[3:41] Speaker 2: from me so I can thank you. Insite a kid's
[3:43] Speaker 2: table uprising, make a guillotine for your table centerpiece. Thank
[3:49] Speaker 2: you very much. Be ungovernable at the holidays. I thought
[3:56] Speaker 2: about showing up. I entertained the idea for a high
[4:00] Speaker 2: minute of showing up at Thanksgiving with a shirt on
[4:04] Speaker 2: that said quiet biggie, this quiet piggy. No further explanation,
[4:13] Speaker 2: just to see what happens. Because as Jojo from Jurors
[4:18] Speaker 2: has said in her recent article, I have no more
[4:22] Speaker 2: fucks to give. Did you see that article? Let me
[4:24] Speaker 2: read this real fast for you Before I do that.
[4:29] Speaker 2: Hang on, let me show you this. We have some
[4:32] Speaker 2: events coming up. I have some events coming up. I'm
[4:36] Speaker 2: going to be in Denver, Colorado, December sixth for Secular Hub.
[4:41] Speaker 2: There are still tickets for that. And then looks like
[4:44] Speaker 2: we are about a quarter twenty five percent already sold
[4:48] Speaker 2: out for the event with Forrest Valci got sick given
[4:52] Speaker 2: than myself. That's going to be at ou Schustermann Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma,
[4:57] Speaker 2: March the seventh, And there's a look at the auditorium
[5:00] Speaker 2: for the video viewers, and I've got a page with
[5:04] Speaker 2: profiles and directions. There's a map and all that you need.
[5:09] Speaker 2: And so you know, it's not even Thanksgiving and we're
[5:11] Speaker 2: already a quarter sold out, and so we're pretty excited
[5:15] Speaker 2: about that. I'm expecting it to fully sell out, possibly
[5:19] Speaker 2: by the end of the year. I don't know. It's
[5:22] Speaker 2: hard to stay with this stuff, but if you want
[5:23] Speaker 2: to go to Seth Andrews dot com, you will see
[5:27] Speaker 2: the speaking tab at the top of that page. And
[5:30] Speaker 2: there are links to everything that you need. Okay, jojo
[5:35] Speaker 2: from Jerts. Where is that article, Paul, I didn't expect
[5:40] Speaker 2: to read that. You know what? Should I read it?
[5:42] Speaker 2: It goes pretty hard at MAGA. Do I want to
[5:46] Speaker 2: start this show with this before I because I have
[5:49] Speaker 2: some commentary and I want your calls, by the way,
[5:51] Speaker 2: on anything that's on your mind. And everybody's talking about
[5:54] Speaker 2: MAGA and Trump. Magan and Trump. The problem is is
[5:57] Speaker 2: that he makes us talk about it every day. He
[6:01] Speaker 2: makes us talk about it. What's that article? I think
[6:03] Speaker 2: it came out in The Atlantic. It said it was
[6:06] Speaker 2: titled how is anything a scandal? When everything is an outrage?
[6:11] Speaker 2: And now he's going after Senator Mark Kelly, Pete Hegeseth
[6:15] Speaker 2: and Trump. They're going after a decorated military veteran and
[6:24] Speaker 2: former astronaut, the ultimate American hero. Good luck with that,
[6:34] Speaker 2: because Mark Kelly and others, including a former director of
[6:37] Speaker 2: the CIA, came forward and said that military members do
[6:41] Speaker 2: not have to follow illegal orders. Where is that visual?
[6:47] Speaker 2: Hang on? I think I saved share image file. Uh huh,
[6:55] Speaker 2: look at me? Loyalty to the Constitution of This is
[6:59] Speaker 2: a plaque on display at the US Military Academy at
[7:02] Speaker 2: West Point. It says loyalty too the Constitution. The United
[7:07] Speaker 2: States boldly broke with the ancient military custom of swearing
[7:12] Speaker 2: loyalty to a leader. Article six required that American officers
[7:17] Speaker 2: thereafter swear loyalty to our basic law, the Constitution. While
[7:23] Speaker 2: many other nations have suffered military coups, the United States
[7:27] Speaker 2: never has. Our American Code of Military Obedience requires that
[7:32] Speaker 2: should orders and the law ever conflict, our offices must obey,
[7:38] Speaker 2: our officers must obey the law. Many other nations have
[7:43] Speaker 2: adopted our principle of loyalty to the basic law. This
[7:47] Speaker 2: nation must have military leaders of principle and integrity so
[7:51] Speaker 2: strong that their oaths to support and defend the Constitution
[7:55] Speaker 2: will unfailingly govern their actions. Thettion to the purpose, I'm sorry,
[8:02] Speaker 2: that's very small here, and so I'm trying to follow
[8:04] Speaker 2: it with my older eyes. The purpose of the United
[8:07] Speaker 2: States Military Academy is to provide such leaders of character. Okay,
[8:15] Speaker 2: I like that we follow the law and we follow
[8:20] Speaker 2: the Constitution. Where is that jojo from Jers article I'll
[8:26] Speaker 2: just screw it all right. This is informal and largely unprepped.
[8:33] Speaker 2: Pull this up so Jojo from Jers sub snack now
[8:46] Speaker 2: Jojo from Jurors. Her actual name is Joanne Kurdusha c
[8:56] Speaker 2: A R d U C c A. She is a
[9:00] Speaker 2: a political commentator and she is spicy. She is extremely,
[9:06] Speaker 2: extremely articulate, but in a very profane way. And this
[9:11] Speaker 2: speaks to a great many people. You pulled this article
[9:14] Speaker 2: out over here November twenty fourth, twenty twenty five. I'm
[9:19] Speaker 2: all out of Fox. And she's got a meme of
[9:25] Speaker 2: a maga who was shouting, I voted to be racist,
[9:28] Speaker 2: not poor Joe says. You know, I've meditated on this
[9:32] Speaker 2: with the solemnity of a monk on mushrooms, reflected on
[9:36] Speaker 2: it deeply, then shallowly, then in that strange in between
[9:40] Speaker 2: place where you're not sure if you're having an epiphany
[9:44] Speaker 2: or a small stroke. But after a brief but spiritually
[9:48] Speaker 2: exhausting consultation with whatever dying star still fuels my remaining patients,
[9:53] Speaker 2: I have reached a blindingly clarifying, cosmic conclusion. I do
[9:59] Speaker 2: not give a single solitary, microscopic fuck. I don't give
[10:05] Speaker 2: a single solitary microscopic fuck about these drump voters crying
[10:10] Speaker 2: now because they've lost everything, not one, Not a crusty
[10:14] Speaker 2: crumb clinging to the emotional counter, not a flicker doing
[10:19] Speaker 2: community theater in my moral periphery, Not an ember faking
[10:23] Speaker 2: its own death for attention, Not even the faint shimmering
[10:26] Speaker 2: mirage of a fuck appearing on the horizon like a
[10:30] Speaker 2: dehydrated cowboy hallucinating an oasis he will absolutely never reach.
[10:35] Speaker 2: And yes, I mean the cattle ranchers, the teachers, the
[10:39] Speaker 2: nurses who voted for him, the people who cheered while
[10:42] Speaker 2: he gutted their industries, their protections, and their professions. I
[10:46] Speaker 2: mean the soybean farmers, the white working class price of
[10:51] Speaker 2: eggs patriots, and the families with chronic illnesses who voted
[10:54] Speaker 2: for him, all now stunned to discover the policies they
[10:58] Speaker 2: demanded are shockingly the same policies now kneecapping their lives.
[11:05] Speaker 2: I mean the Latino voters who believed the snap, single
[11:09] Speaker 2: mothers working two jobs, and the quote unquote law and
[11:12] Speaker 2: order crusaders, all of whom voted for him before realizing
[11:17] Speaker 2: he wasn't aiming the wrecking ball at other people. He
[11:21] Speaker 2: was aiming it at them. The votes were theirs. The
[11:24] Speaker 2: consequences are theirs, the tears filling the basin of their
[11:28] Speaker 2: busted lives those belonged to them too. And let's not
[11:34] Speaker 2: turn this into some quilted symphony shawl. Because these people
[11:38] Speaker 2: never gave a funk about me. They didn't give a
[11:40] Speaker 2: funk about my family, my kids, my friends, my community,
[11:43] Speaker 2: my country, my planet, my water, my air, my parks,
[11:47] Speaker 2: my public schools, my loved ones with chronic conditions, or
[11:52] Speaker 2: my friends inside federal agencies he bulldozed. They didn't give
[11:57] Speaker 2: a fuck about anyone who didn't mirror their outge, soothe
[12:01] Speaker 2: their grievances, or co sign their spite. But now now
[12:06] Speaker 2: I'm supposed to give a fuck about them, bless their hearts,
[12:11] Speaker 2: But absolutely fucking not. I wanted to give a fuck.
[12:17] Speaker 2: I really really did. I tried. I searched high and low.
[12:23] Speaker 2: I searched the depths of my soul, not a polite rummage,
[12:27] Speaker 2: but a full scale emotional excavation, like the world's most
[12:31] Speaker 2: frantic tsa agent rifling through spiritual carry ons. I combed
[12:37] Speaker 2: emotional crevices, psychic alleyways, metaphysical broom closets, existential crawl spaces,
[12:44] Speaker 2: and the psychological drunk drawer where old gum wrappers of
[12:48] Speaker 2: compassion go to die. I dusted for prints, I opened
[12:52] Speaker 2: trap doors. I poked around like a deranged archaeologist, brushing
[12:57] Speaker 2: sediment off the ruins of my empathy. Nothing. Not a
[13:02] Speaker 2: footprint of a fuck, not a fossilized fuck trapped in amber,
[13:07] Speaker 2: not even the silhouette of a fuck fleeing the premises
[13:11] Speaker 2: in sunglasses and a fake mustache. I dug deeper vaults
[13:16] Speaker 2: sub basement's therapy loop, only zones that abandoned psychological cross space,
[13:21] Speaker 2: where I once stored my last shred of patients. And
[13:24] Speaker 2: at that point I was Yukon Cornelius, tapping every surface
[13:28] Speaker 2: of my soul for anything valuable, licking the pickaxe, grimacing,
[13:34] Speaker 2: declaring nothing, trying again, nothing, one more dip nothing. The
[13:41] Speaker 2: fuck minds were barren. I tried to give a fuck
[13:46] Speaker 2: about the cattle rancher, the one standing in his dying pastures,
[13:50] Speaker 2: whispering the most honest sentence he'd ever uttered. I voted
[13:53] Speaker 2: to be racist, not poor, spoken like cruelty, came with
[13:58] Speaker 2: a customer loyalty punch card. Still nothing. I trying to
[14:04] Speaker 2: give a funk about the nurse who once adored him
[14:07] Speaker 2: for telling it like it is, proudly repeating he literally said,
[14:11] Speaker 2: I'm going to rob you all blind and sell out
[14:14] Speaker 2: this country to its enemies. And I love him because
[14:17] Speaker 2: he tells it like it is. Now, she's holding on
[14:21] Speaker 2: to her decertified profession like a snapped ivy bag, shocked.
[14:26] Speaker 2: The monster she fed was now gnawing her face. Still nothing.
[14:32] Speaker 2: I flipped my soul like a messy person. A target
[14:35] Speaker 2: parking lot shook the drapes, checked the events. Nothing zero.
[14:40] Speaker 2: The Conscience warehouse reported no fucks in stock and none
[14:45] Speaker 2: on back order. I tried to give a fuck about
[14:49] Speaker 2: the teacher, the one who stapled alphabet letters to walls
[14:53] Speaker 2: and bought classroom supplies from her own paycheck, the one
[14:58] Speaker 2: whose entire career was taught into a bureaucratic shredder and
[15:02] Speaker 2: reclassified as miscellaneous labor. She whispered, I didn't vote for this,
[15:08] Speaker 2: and the universe replied, that's the best part you did.
[15:14] Speaker 2: Still nothing. I tried to give a fuck about the
[15:17] Speaker 2: soybean farmer, the one who applauded the terrafs like he
[15:21] Speaker 2: was cheering for a hometown team instead of watching his
[15:24] Speaker 2: own livelihood get crushed under the policy boot. He begged for.
[15:29] Speaker 2: Now he stands in a collapsing barn, mumbling, now that
[15:33] Speaker 2: I owned the Libs, the oligarchs get to own my farm.
[15:39] Speaker 2: Still nothing. So I stepped outside and shouted into the
[15:43] Speaker 2: cosmic abyss, Has anyone seen a fuck? Just one? A
[15:48] Speaker 2: refurbished model the universe ancient and Board replied nope. I
[15:55] Speaker 2: tried to give a fuck about the white working class
[15:58] Speaker 2: Dad the Price of eggs warrior who called my empathy weakness.
[16:03] Speaker 2: Now he sits under a flickering kitchen bulb drafting his
[16:07] Speaker 2: future Facebook masterpiece. I blame Biden. He should have done
[16:11] Speaker 2: a better job explaining how Trump's policies were going to
[16:14] Speaker 2: screw people like me. That's why I'm still maga. Still nothing.
[16:22] Speaker 2: I trying to give a funk about the people with
[16:24] Speaker 2: pre existing conditions, the ones who voted for the man
[16:28] Speaker 2: who spent four straight years trying to rip their healthcare
[16:32] Speaker 2: out of their hands like a toddler throwing a toy
[16:35] Speaker 2: into traffic. I tried to care about the diabetics who
[16:39] Speaker 2: cheered for the guy who treated insulin affordability like a
[16:42] Speaker 2: personal insult, and the immunocompromised voters who believed expired vitamins
[16:48] Speaker 2: and Facebook memes were a medical strategy. Still nothing, and nothing,
[16:55] Speaker 2: nothing compares to the Obama care crowd. To be completely honest,
[17:01] Speaker 2: I never even pretended to give a fuck about them.
[17:04] Speaker 2: They're just too fucking stupid to give a fuck about.
[17:08] Speaker 2: These are the ones who stayed alive because of Obama,
[17:12] Speaker 2: who could breathe, walk, function, and parent because of Obama,
[17:16] Speaker 2: and still shriek repeal Obamacare because they hated his name
[17:20] Speaker 2: more than they loved living. The geniuses who only realized
[17:26] Speaker 2: their beloved ACA was Obamacare when the policy was already
[17:31] Speaker 2: halfway into the woodshipper. And now they're hero. A man
[17:35] Speaker 2: who can't even pronounce the seat to minifin but insists
[17:38] Speaker 2: Taylanol causes autism is gleefully chainsawing the healthcare Obama handed them.
[17:47] Speaker 2: Still nothing. I tried to give a fuck about the
[17:51] Speaker 2: Latino families whose loved ones disappeared into the detention machine.
[17:56] Speaker 2: They once applauded nothing and then the snap single mom,
[18:00] Speaker 2: two jobs, three kids. She voted for him before he
[18:03] Speaker 2: dragged their nutrition assistance all the way to the Supreme
[18:07] Speaker 2: Court to make sure her children starved, before he litigated
[18:11] Speaker 2: their hunger into federal policy, and now she's crying about
[18:15] Speaker 2: the consequences she helped create. She whispered, I didn't vote
[18:20] Speaker 2: for this, and the Cosmos replied, you absolutely did. She
[18:27] Speaker 2: finishes still nothing. Look, there are innocent people suffering who
[18:32] Speaker 2: did not vote for this. I hate that. I'm a mother.
[18:36] Speaker 2: I don't want anyone hurting unnecessarily, But sometimes the only
[18:39] Speaker 2: way people learn is the hard way, touching the hot stove,
[18:43] Speaker 2: licking the frozen flagpoles, sprinting across pavement with their hands
[18:47] Speaker 2: shoved in their pockets like Darwin's. In turns, so many
[18:51] Speaker 2: ignored suffering because it wasn't happening to them. So many
[18:56] Speaker 2: shrugged at cruelty, until the cruelty boomerang. The world they
[19:02] Speaker 2: begged for has arrived, and it's carving its initials into
[19:06] Speaker 2: their futures with the tenderness of a prison shank. Be
[19:10] Speaker 2: careful what you wish for, because now now I hope
[19:14] Speaker 2: every day is the day they fucking voted for until
[19:19] Speaker 2: the rest of us, and in a perfect world, with
[19:22] Speaker 2: their help, can fix the fucking mess they handed us,
[19:26] Speaker 2: the mess their selective stupidity forced down our throats. But
[19:30] Speaker 2: in the meantime, I'll be the one telling them to
[19:33] Speaker 2: cry harder. And maybe that's me. Maybe it's cold, maybe
[19:37] Speaker 2: I should be the bigger person, or maybe just maybe
[19:43] Speaker 2: I just don't give a fuck. And she linked the
[19:47] Speaker 2: Phil Collins song I Don't Care Anymore. She reminds me
[19:55] Speaker 2: a little bit of James fell in the way that
[19:58] Speaker 2: she just lays his f bombs into it every piece
[20:00] Speaker 2: of commentary that she has. But you can see why
[20:03] Speaker 2: she's popular, and she is well known across the United
[20:08] Speaker 2: States and even in places around the world for her commentary.
[20:12] Speaker 2: So I would welcome any commentary that you have on
[20:17] Speaker 2: pretty much anything that is on your mind. The switchboard
[20:20] Speaker 2: is wide open. Let me close some windows so I
[20:23] Speaker 2: can actually function as a host. By the way, and
[20:29] Speaker 2: total digression here, but I think it relates. I watched
[20:36] Speaker 2: for the tenth of time the Robert Eggers film called
[20:41] Speaker 2: The Witch. Now you would expect me to talk about
[20:43] Speaker 2: this more around October Halloween time horror films, it said.
[20:48] Speaker 2: I don't know if i'd even call it a horror film,
[20:50] Speaker 2: but I was watching it again, and every time I
[20:52] Speaker 2: see this movie, I see something new in it, and
[20:57] Speaker 2: I see and there are spoilers in what I'm about
[20:59] Speaker 2: to say, so skip forward eight minutes or five minutes
[21:03] Speaker 2: if you haven't seen the Witch and you want to
[21:05] Speaker 2: be surprised. But if you're going to take the journey, great.
[21:10] Speaker 2: If you've already seen it, great. If you don't care
[21:12] Speaker 2: and you're going to watch it afterwards with this commentary
[21:15] Speaker 2: in mind, great. Here's the gist. So there is a
[21:20] Speaker 2: Puritan family back during Puritan times, and there is a
[21:24] Speaker 2: very pious father. He's played by Ralph is it In
[21:28] Speaker 2: or In. He has one of the type those forces
[21:31] Speaker 2: you have ever heard. He speaks like this sent it's amazing.
[21:36] Speaker 2: And he is standing in front of a kind of
[21:39] Speaker 2: a counselor tribunal in the town, and he is apparently
[21:43] Speaker 2: a pain in the ass because he doesn't believe that
[21:46] Speaker 2: the Puritans are pure enough. They are not christianing well enough.
[21:51] Speaker 2: They've allowed sin and wretchedness and the devil into their lands,
[21:55] Speaker 2: and he says, we need to be better about this.
[21:58] Speaker 2: So he's kind of holding up this high moral standard
[22:01] Speaker 2: and he's telling them that you need to be more godly,
[22:04] Speaker 2: and the council and the townspeople are gathered around, going
[22:06] Speaker 2: what the hell's wrong with you? Like you're not the
[22:10] Speaker 2: judge of us. You're not the moral arbiter of us.
[22:13] Speaker 2: And he's like, you know, I stand here condemning all
[22:18] Speaker 2: of you. And they're like, fine, take your shit and leave.
[22:21] Speaker 2: So he willingly, but he's kind of banished, but he
[22:25] Speaker 2: willingly leaves the village with his family. He's got his
[22:28] Speaker 2: wife and his daughter, who is played by Anna Taylor Joy,
[22:33] Speaker 2: and then two very scary young children, like screw those kids.
[22:38] Speaker 2: Kind of kids. Like you look at them and you're like,
[22:40] Speaker 2: I want nothing to do. Well, I don't want to
[22:43] Speaker 2: be in the same zip code as those kids. Creepy, creepy,
[22:46] Speaker 2: creepy kids. So they get on their wagon and they
[22:48] Speaker 2: go to stake acclaim elsewhere fertile barren land. Well it's
[22:54] Speaker 2: it's bear, not barren. And he is going to build
[22:57] Speaker 2: a cabin and they're going to make their own little
[22:59] Speaker 2: home church and get closer to God and be the
[23:01] Speaker 2: kind of Christians that he had always said that we
[23:04] Speaker 2: needed to be. Okay, So the second they put up
[23:12] Speaker 2: stakes and they bless the farm and they try to live,
[23:18] Speaker 2: everything goes wrong. Everything goes wrong, and the clueless father
[23:26] Speaker 2: continues to spout scripture and talk about how wretched we
[23:31] Speaker 2: are as sinners, and how in all of this trauma
[23:34] Speaker 2: and pain, this is our way of God bringing us
[23:38] Speaker 2: closer into his embrace. How lucky are we? I think
[23:41] Speaker 2: he actually says something along those lines. After they lose
[23:44] Speaker 2: an infant child. The mother's devastated in grief. She can
[23:50] Speaker 2: barely get herself out of bed. She's weeping, she's sobbing,
[23:53] Speaker 2: and he's like, how blessed are we that God would
[23:56] Speaker 2: bring us to this low point so that he might
[23:59] Speaker 2: draw us nearer into his embrace? Right, I mean, it's
[24:02] Speaker 2: that kind of and we see this often in the church.
[24:07] Speaker 2: And shit continues to go down. He does not prosper,
[24:13] Speaker 2: he can't get food to grow, he can't hunt game
[24:17] Speaker 2: in the forest. They are so hungry they're ripping off
[24:20] Speaker 2: tiny little pieces of bread. And the whole time he's like, Jesus, God, Jesus, God, God, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Well,
[24:26] Speaker 2: this teenage daughter, I think she must have been fourteen
[24:30] Speaker 2: at the time, maybe fifteen. They're freaked out because she
[24:34] Speaker 2: is starting to enter her womanhood and they talk about, well,
[24:38] Speaker 2: we need to banish her away or something. I don't
[24:41] Speaker 2: know where. They would banish her for a while until
[24:44] Speaker 2: she has gone through puberty, because sexuality in young people
[24:48] Speaker 2: freaks them out, totally freaks them out. Oh my god,
[24:50] Speaker 2: she's developing breasts and she's you know, she's doing womanly things,
[24:55] Speaker 2: and yet she is a child. Then the father is
[25:03] Speaker 2: guilty of tremendous hypocrisy throughout the film. He does dumb shit,
[25:08] Speaker 2: he does dishonest shit. He essentially backs himself into a
[25:13] Speaker 2: corner time and time again, and he lets others take
[25:16] Speaker 2: the blame for it. All the while the whole farm
[25:19] Speaker 2: is dying around him, His children are disappearing and dying
[25:23] Speaker 2: around him. It's a horror show. Now, this is the
[25:27] Speaker 2: point I'm trying to make. Okay, there is a suspicion
[25:34] Speaker 2: that one of the kids is in league with Lucifer,
[25:37] Speaker 2: epitomized by the black goat, Black Philip, who's a scary
[25:42] Speaker 2: ass goat living in the barn. Okay, the father suspects
[25:50] Speaker 2: it is Thomason. The daughter, the teenage daughter. So they
[25:53] Speaker 2: are outside after the latest tragedy, and he's trying to
[25:58] Speaker 2: get her to admit she's a witch. You're a witch.
[26:01] Speaker 2: You've made a pack with Lucifer. You're a witch. If
[26:04] Speaker 2: you'll come clean. Jesus can forgive you. Otherwise, I'm going
[26:08] Speaker 2: to have to go and tell the elders somewhere that
[26:11] Speaker 2: you are a witch, and they are going to freaking
[26:14] Speaker 2: kill you. This is the warning. Speak truth to me,
[26:20] Speaker 2: he says, tell me, just come clean. And she turns
[26:25] Speaker 2: around and she exercises what in the film is a
[26:30] Speaker 2: moment of women's liberation. It's one of the most feminist
[26:33] Speaker 2: moments except for the climax. It's one of the most
[26:35] Speaker 2: feminist moments in the whole movie. And this is a
[26:38] Speaker 2: movie about repression, hypocrisy and feminism, about female empowerment. She
[26:44] Speaker 2: turns and she looks at her father and she says, oh,
[26:46] Speaker 2: you want to talk truth. You want to talk truth.
[26:53] Speaker 2: You lie all the time. You let other people take
[26:56] Speaker 2: the blame for everything that you've done. You know, you're
[26:59] Speaker 2: a a You can't hunt, you can't farm. Only thing
[27:05] Speaker 2: you can do is take the axe out here and
[27:07] Speaker 2: chop wood. And there's a giant pile of wood next
[27:10] Speaker 2: to the house, more than they'll ever be able to burn.
[27:13] Speaker 2: Because that's the only thing he knows how to do.
[27:16] Speaker 2: She calls him out on his bullshit. He's like, you're
[27:19] Speaker 2: weak and pathetic, and you do nothing. For all your
[27:24] Speaker 2: moralizing and all your sermonizing, and all your scripture quoting
[27:29] Speaker 2: and all your prayers and all this piety, you're just
[27:31] Speaker 2: full of shit. And he, for the first time in
[27:36] Speaker 2: the film, shows his true self and he calls her
[27:42] Speaker 2: a bitch. He screams at bitch, and he lashes out
[27:46] Speaker 2: at her. Right, that's what was underneath the whole time,
[27:51] Speaker 2: the whole time, he actually finally said what he was thinking.
[27:55] Speaker 2: He reduced her, he dehumanized her. He was a sexist
[27:59] Speaker 2: pig about her.
[28:01] Speaker 4: Bitch.
[28:03] Speaker 2: That's what he was really like. And I, since I've
[28:08] Speaker 2: told you everything else, it wouldn't matter. But I'm not
[28:10] Speaker 2: going to get into the finale of the film. But
[28:12] Speaker 2: it's it is. It's a it's a movie about about
[28:14] Speaker 2: female empowerment over the hypocrisy of the pious. And I
[28:20] Speaker 2: look around and I see I see that father. I
[28:28] Speaker 2: see him. I see him throughout Maga, I see him
[28:31] Speaker 2: throughout fundamentalist Christian culture. And I don't know, I don't
[28:36] Speaker 2: think this is a stretch. I don't think I'm trying
[28:38] Speaker 2: to armchair philosophize this too much. But we see outward piety,
[28:45] Speaker 2: right the whole messages. They are not wholly enough for me. Right,
[28:52] Speaker 2: they are not wholly enough for me. We must construct
[28:55] Speaker 2: for ourselves a place that is more grand or actually
[28:59] Speaker 2: more humble. And it's grandeur because it is a place
[29:02] Speaker 2: where we will do Christianity correctly to the exclusion of
[29:06] Speaker 2: all others. Then the same people who were sermonizing, chest thumping,
[29:12] Speaker 2: huffing and puffing about the Lord, those same people destroy
[29:17] Speaker 2: everything they touch. They just just destroy it. It goes
[29:22] Speaker 2: to shit, the crops whither, the people starve, their children die,
[29:30] Speaker 2: and in their cluelessness, they continue to huff and puff
[29:33] Speaker 2: and protest and bleat and pray and do all the
[29:36] Speaker 2: things that they do the Puritans do, until at some
[29:42] Speaker 2: point someone close to them stands up and says, no more.
[29:48] Speaker 2: You're a hypocrite, right, you're Maybe you're the witch. I
[29:53] Speaker 2: don't know, you're the witch of the woods. I don't
[29:55] Speaker 2: know if she. I don't think she was saying that
[29:56] Speaker 2: in the film. But I saw parallels. Every time you
[30:00] Speaker 2: see a Puritan or repression culture, you see rampant hypocrisy.
[30:07] Speaker 2: You see people who are so myopic and small minded
[30:10] Speaker 2: and tribal and pathetic and divided. You know he didn't
[30:16] Speaker 2: want to be a part of the community nearly as
[30:18] Speaker 2: much as he wanted to be superior to his fellow
[30:21] Speaker 2: human beings. And I see a lot of that fueling
[30:25] Speaker 2: the cruelty and the hypocrisy that you and I see
[30:28] Speaker 2: all around us today. Am I stretching on that front?
[30:31] Speaker 2: Is that just me trying way too hard to sound
[30:35] Speaker 2: somewhat wise? Very possible? It is very possible, But that
[30:45] Speaker 2: was something that was on my mind. Terrific film. I
[30:48] Speaker 2: had to watch it with subtitles the first time because
[30:50] Speaker 2: the old English was so thick. I couldn't understand it.
[30:54] Speaker 2: I could not get through it, so I had to
[30:56] Speaker 2: go back and put the subtitles on. And then the
[31:00] Speaker 2: second time my brain locked into place and I was
[31:02] Speaker 2: able to understand every word. It was wild. Okay, rant
[31:06] Speaker 2: over Calls are next, and we have a bunch of them.
[31:10] Speaker 2: Hang on, just an extra show as we edge toward
[31:19] Speaker 2: the Thanksgiving holiday. Thought you might want something to listen
[31:23] Speaker 2: to while you're driving due wherever, or just cooking, cleaning,
[31:27] Speaker 2: or skipping all together. So glad you are here, let's
[31:31] Speaker 2: go to the phones. Clint, Are you there, Hi, Seth.
[31:36] Speaker 5: I've told the story quite a few times since. Back
[31:40] Speaker 5: in twenty twenty one, I met I was post COVID,
[31:44] Speaker 5: was gone, starting to go out on dates and stuff,
[31:49] Speaker 5: trying to get out. And I met this girl, this
[31:52] Speaker 5: woman who had had health problems before I met her.
[31:56] Speaker 5: She had existed with pulmonary high pertension, which is a
[31:59] Speaker 5: long busy for twelve years, had a double lung transplant,
[32:03] Speaker 5: had all the scars, you know, and so I, you know,
[32:09] Speaker 5: she had a plan. She was motivated. She was a
[32:13] Speaker 5: you know, she was a scientist. She wanted to be
[32:16] Speaker 5: She wanted to create the cure for the disease that
[32:21] Speaker 5: she had, and so she was in college to get
[32:25] Speaker 5: the degree. Then she wanted to go to grad school
[32:29] Speaker 5: and get a doctorate and become a scientist. And so
[32:32] Speaker 5: I decided to hop along on that ride. And it
[32:35] Speaker 5: took us all the way to Chicago when she was
[32:39] Speaker 5: in grad school, and then we moved there a year ago,
[32:43] Speaker 5: back in July last year, and she went through her
[32:46] Speaker 5: first semester and then her health went down. We were
[32:52] Speaker 5: our wedding was scheduled for July fourth, I mean January
[32:57] Speaker 5: fourth of twenty twenty five, and we went through it
[33:01] Speaker 5: and she was very could barely walk and so we
[33:07] Speaker 5: still went through it. She wanted to, she planned the
[33:10] Speaker 5: whole thing, and and then a month later she went
[33:14] Speaker 5: to the hospital and lasted ten days unconscious and passed away.
[33:21] Speaker 2: And I've been.
[33:22] Speaker 5: Dealing with that ever since and trying to I've been
[33:26] Speaker 5: to grief counseling. I have a grief counselor, and I
[33:29] Speaker 5: went to Greek Grouf group counseling, and that's where I
[33:33] Speaker 5: experienced sort of a prejudice towards me being an atheist.
[33:42] Speaker 5: And I was because all of these people, it's mostly
[33:45] Speaker 5: women that were there, not many men, And I went
[33:49] Speaker 5: all the time and I, you know, they all talking
[33:52] Speaker 5: about God and and their stuff, and then when I
[33:55] Speaker 5: talk about mine, everybody gets offended and all of this stuff.
[33:59] Speaker 5: And they didn't tell me. They told the counselor head,
[34:03] Speaker 5: the woman that was running it, and I think they
[34:05] Speaker 5: booted me out. They told me I couldn't come back
[34:07] Speaker 5: because and they wouldn't tell me why. They told me.
[34:11] Speaker 5: I was, I don't know, said some stuff they didn't like,
[34:14] Speaker 5: So I, you know, I stopped going. I still go
[34:17] Speaker 5: to my personal counselor, and it's just been the toughest
[34:21] Speaker 5: thing that you could all could imagine other than losing
[34:24] Speaker 5: a child, because that's the only thing I could imagine.
[34:26] Speaker 5: This's worse. I still, you know, emphathized with her mom.
[34:31] Speaker 5: Her mom I'm still in contact with, and she's a
[34:33] Speaker 5: wonderful human being. And the girl I was, you know,
[34:37] Speaker 5: her name was Caitlin, and she was awesome. You know,
[34:41] Speaker 5: she voted for the very first time under me, and
[34:43] Speaker 5: she got to vote for Kamala Harris last year and
[34:46] Speaker 5: in a blue state in Illinois, and I was awesome.
[34:49] Speaker 5: You know, my whole family is read except for maybe
[34:53] Speaker 5: two people. And I, you know, I I was listening
[34:56] Speaker 5: to you before and all of that. You know, I've
[34:58] Speaker 5: been listening to you for ten years.
[35:00] Speaker 3: And you know.
[35:03] Speaker 5: It's just you know, I had wanted to call and
[35:06] Speaker 5: try this again by calling you, because the last time
[35:09] Speaker 5: I called, I was so nervous.
[35:10] Speaker 2: You just so much. No. No, no, no, Clayton, you
[35:13] Speaker 2: did fine. I'm sorry for your loss. I know those
[35:16] Speaker 2: words bring empty people grow for language. I will also
[35:20] Speaker 2: assure you that both women and men in hospital, hospice, counseling,
[35:25] Speaker 2: et cetera. Positions all come up with those platitudes that
[35:29] Speaker 2: drive you so crazy. And I think many of them
[35:31] Speaker 2: also whisper around or behind the ears of non believers,
[35:37] Speaker 2: you know, and sort of piggyback their faith on the
[35:41] Speaker 2: tragedies of other people. And I'm so sorry that happened
[35:44] Speaker 2: to you, but I'm glad she had you, and I'm
[35:47] Speaker 2: glad you got to share those those moments together, those
[35:50] Speaker 2: days together, and you know, even because of your union,
[35:54] Speaker 2: because you got to mark that with a marriage, you know.
[35:57] Speaker 2: I mean, she got to die at your side in
[35:59] Speaker 2: that way. And I know that's feigned comfort, But are
[36:03] Speaker 2: you hanging? I know it's it was just this year
[36:07] Speaker 2: you're dealing, Clint. Is there anything we can do for you?
[36:12] Speaker 5: Well, you know I had to. You know, when I
[36:14] Speaker 5: was living up north, I had a job and I
[36:17] Speaker 5: had to quit my job because I didn't want to
[36:19] Speaker 5: be by myself up there, and so I don't have
[36:23] Speaker 5: I've been trying to get a job for the last
[36:25] Speaker 5: ten months. Oh not ten, but I left it a
[36:28] Speaker 5: couple months where I would try to get my bearings
[36:31] Speaker 5: a little bit. And I've been trying to get a
[36:33] Speaker 5: job since probably about April or May. And you know,
[36:38] Speaker 5: I've been on interviews and it's been really hard. This
[36:41] Speaker 5: economy while Fearless Leader has been so bad. You know,
[36:46] Speaker 5: it's hard to get a job right now, especially down
[36:49] Speaker 5: here in Louisiana, where you know our governor's a nut.
[36:53] Speaker 2: Yeah, in a strong field, in a strong field, the
[36:57] Speaker 2: Louisiana's I forget where you're ring in terms of education
[37:01] Speaker 2: as well. I know you're in the bottom for your
[37:04] Speaker 2: like forty Oh yeah, somebody look it up for me.
[37:08] Speaker 2: I'm not a vocational counsel or anything like that. What's
[37:12] Speaker 2: your skill set? And maybe you know, if there's somebody
[37:14] Speaker 2: who in the chat might have an option for you,
[37:18] Speaker 2: like what do you do?
[37:21] Speaker 6: Oh?
[37:22] Speaker 5: The last two jobs I had had to do with warehousing.
[37:26] Speaker 5: I was a supervisor of the last job I had
[37:29] Speaker 5: in Chicago in in restaurant equipment delivery service. They would
[37:38] Speaker 5: sell them and then deliver them, and I had to
[37:40] Speaker 5: schedule all of that and talk to customers and stuff.
[37:43] Speaker 5: I only got to have seven months experience, having not
[37:47] Speaker 5: enough to get a job down here because they want
[37:49] Speaker 5: you to have at least one, two or three years
[37:51] Speaker 5: of experience, and I don't have enough for that. And
[37:55] Speaker 5: so I have a previous job before that, I was
[37:58] Speaker 5: a shipping receiving person basically did everything. I know where
[38:03] Speaker 5: to drive a fark left, I can, you know, do
[38:05] Speaker 5: all of that. And that's the job. And I've been
[38:07] Speaker 5: a quality inspector in two different industries I've done. I've
[38:11] Speaker 5: done a lot of different things. And that's another detriment
[38:14] Speaker 5: being in the workforce for over twenty the little over
[38:17] Speaker 5: twenty years. And you know, I have so many different
[38:20] Speaker 5: jobs that I've done, you know, so you.
[38:24] Speaker 2: Tell me, let me contract out my weaknesses. If somebody
[38:28] Speaker 2: who is listening or watching in the chat, you know,
[38:31] Speaker 2: drop drop a line attention, Clint. You know, if you
[38:35] Speaker 2: know it of an opportunity in Louisiana somewhere or even elsewhere,
[38:40] Speaker 2: you know, let us know. I would be I'd beaton
[38:43] Speaker 2: Rouge area. Okay, well I'm.
[38:46] Speaker 5: In the Baton Rouge area.
[38:47] Speaker 2: Big hugs from all of us to you, Clint. I
[38:50] Speaker 2: know the holidays can't be easy, but you you are
[38:53] Speaker 2: appreciated and you do have support and I appreciate your
[38:56] Speaker 2: call very much.
[39:00] Speaker 5: Thank you very much. And one other thing, you and
[39:02] Speaker 5: I do share the same.
[39:03] Speaker 2: Birthday, April twelve.
[39:07] Speaker 5: Yes, sir, April twelfth, my birthday.
[39:11] Speaker 2: I heard that David Letterman's birthday is the same, and
[39:14] Speaker 2: I think there are some other celebrities. I don't know
[39:16] Speaker 2: why I am curious about such things, but all.
[39:20] Speaker 5: Right, will you and I are I don't know, I
[39:21] Speaker 5: have the same thing. Go ahead, it was the same thing.
[39:25] Speaker 5: It's oh sorry, I didn't mean the same date. The
[39:29] Speaker 5: first the first shuttle was launched on my birthday, in
[39:34] Speaker 5: the year I was born. So that's another thing that happened.
[39:37] Speaker 5: The very first Space shuttle was launched.
[39:41] Speaker 2: Well, we're hurtling toward April of twenty twenty six, so
[39:44] Speaker 2: happy birthday, way way way in advance, and take care, okay, Clinton,
[39:49] Speaker 2: I'm sure.
[39:49] Speaker 5: I'll be listening to you. You too, Seth. Thank you
[39:52] Speaker 5: for taking my call.
[39:53] Speaker 2: You bet we'll see you later. I said that line
[39:57] Speaker 2: many times. Life's like a roll of toilet paper. It's
[39:59] Speaker 2: been faster and faster as you get closer to the end.
[40:02] Speaker 2: All I know is is January, and I blinked, and
[40:05] Speaker 2: it's almost December, Like where'd the year go? Where the
[40:10] Speaker 2: year go? Speaking of December, as I go to Denver
[40:13] Speaker 2: to speak for Secular Hub, we're geared up and preparing
[40:16] Speaker 2: for our snow skiing excursion. She's never been. I might
[40:21] Speaker 2: as well have never been. We ordered clothes, warm clothes,
[40:25] Speaker 2: and we've been watching YouTube video tutorials. Yes, we're going
[40:31] Speaker 2: to take lessons in person, but we're like, okay, So
[40:34] Speaker 2: to slow down with your feet, you make the pizza,
[40:38] Speaker 2: and if you want to go faster, then you open
[40:41] Speaker 2: your skis up. Parallel in that you do the French fries.
[40:45] Speaker 2: So we've been practicing our pizza and our French fries
[40:49] Speaker 2: on the mountain. We've been practicing actually in our living room.
[40:54] Speaker 2: We crack each other up. We crack each other up.
[40:58] Speaker 2: I've got Margaret who is dialing in from looks like Denver, Colorado. Margaret,
[41:02] Speaker 2: are you there?
[41:05] Speaker 7: I sure, am, Seth.
[41:07] Speaker 2: What's on your mind?
[41:09] Speaker 7: Can you hear me?
[41:10] Speaker 2: I can?
[41:11] Speaker 7: Well, I just you just mentioned. The thing that has
[41:15] Speaker 7: gotten me so excited is I have a ticket to
[41:18] Speaker 7: see you on December sixth at the Secular Hub. I
[41:23] Speaker 7: heard about it from you and then found the location.
[41:28] Speaker 7: I have been to their small building. You've been there
[41:33] Speaker 7: before from what I understand, and I've been able to
[41:36] Speaker 7: I'm in assisted living. I'm seventy three and have some disabilities,
[41:41] Speaker 7: but I can't tell you how excited I am to
[41:44] Speaker 7: get to see you in person, and so you got
[41:50] Speaker 7: me a hold Secular Hub, which is only two miles
[41:54] Speaker 7: from where I'm living, and now I've been able to
[41:57] Speaker 7: get the Sunday Services bus service to their location, and
[42:03] Speaker 7: I have just had the best time the last two
[42:06] Speaker 7: Sundays getting to meet with I talked to a physicist
[42:10] Speaker 7: last Sunday, and it's just a great group of people.
[42:14] Speaker 7: So thank you for letting me know that I had
[42:17] Speaker 7: this kind of resource so close to me. And I'm
[42:20] Speaker 7: very much looking forward to seeing you. I love, I
[42:23] Speaker 7: have a little story I was wanting to do.
[42:26] Speaker 2: I'm just walking all over you here, but thank you
[42:29] Speaker 2: and I'm looking forward to meeting you. I don't know
[42:31] Speaker 2: if you're a hugger, but I will queue a hug
[42:34] Speaker 2: for you coming up. Oh surely, okay, you and me, all.
[42:37] Speaker 7: Right, I can't wait. As far as your skiing trips,
[42:42] Speaker 7: hopefully we get a little bit more snow. We have
[42:45] Speaker 7: still not had a flake of snow in Denver this year.
[42:49] Speaker 7: We are already working on the second latest date and
[42:53] Speaker 7: may actually pace past the first. So hopefully we'll get
[42:57] Speaker 7: a little bit more snow.
[42:58] Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I'm just out there.
[43:00] Speaker 7: I wanted to tell you.
[43:01] Speaker 2: Gravel and rock and yeah, it's going to be awesome. Yeah, yeah,
[43:05] Speaker 2: I look forward to whichever. Al all right, go ahead,
[43:10] Speaker 2: I'm Minnesota talking, Margaret, go ahead, go ahead.
[43:13] Speaker 4: That's okay.
[43:14] Speaker 7: Oh no, you're you just made my day, not just
[43:17] Speaker 7: my day right now. But I was going to tell
[43:20] Speaker 7: you this story. I didn't know if you were going
[43:22] Speaker 7: to take questions and answers when you're here or anything.
[43:26] Speaker 7: But back in I got Medicare in late twenty seventeen.
[43:32] Speaker 7: My birthday was just a week ago and stuff, and
[43:36] Speaker 7: so in twenty eighteen I needed to go to the hospital.
[43:40] Speaker 7: But the thing that's kind of started me on this
[43:44] Speaker 7: this story that I'm gonna tell this fact that at
[43:47] Speaker 7: least in Denver and our suburbs, most all of the
[43:50] Speaker 7: hospitals have religious names. We've got Saint Anthony's, Saint Joseph's, Presbyterian,
[44:00] Speaker 7: and Lutheran, and that just seems to be pervasive in
[44:05] Speaker 7: the hospital environment. But so I'm in Saint Anthony's Hospital
[44:10] Speaker 7: and they have a very large chapel, and I was
[44:16] Speaker 7: praised by a Roman Catholic mother and an Agnostic father.
[44:22] Speaker 7: There were four girls. Two of us went the agnostic
[44:25] Speaker 7: I can say atheist now, and two of them stayed
[44:29] Speaker 7: with the within the religion. So but I've always when
[44:34] Speaker 7: I first went to a different church, a like a
[44:38] Speaker 7: it's Methodist or something, and will I said, well, why
[44:41] Speaker 7: don't they have all the statuary that they have in
[44:44] Speaker 7: the Catholic Church I was being forced to go to
[44:47] Speaker 7: until I was eighteen. So I'm in this hospital and
[44:51] Speaker 7: it has a big chapel with the big statue of
[44:54] Speaker 7: Jesus and everything, but in each and every room of
[44:58] Speaker 7: this hospital they had a little small they still have
[45:03] Speaker 7: of like eight inch crucifix with the Jesus figure on it,
[45:09] Speaker 7: with the stabbing in the side and the blood dripping
[45:13] Speaker 7: and everything. And so I'm in this room having to
[45:16] Speaker 7: stare at this cross for several days, and I kept
[45:20] Speaker 7: asking them could you please remove that from my room?
[45:24] Speaker 7: And it was just, you know, an inexpensive cross, But
[45:28] Speaker 7: I just politely asked them for several days, could you
[45:32] Speaker 7: please remove that from my room? And it was just
[45:35] Speaker 7: bugging me a lot. So finally I I went over
[45:39] Speaker 7: in my wheelchair and took my cane and it was
[45:42] Speaker 7: just barely attached above the doorframe, and I just came
[45:46] Speaker 7: out off. I just popped it off and set it
[45:48] Speaker 7: over to the side.
[45:50] Speaker 3: And.
[45:52] Speaker 7: A hospital person came in and she saw that it
[45:57] Speaker 7: was sitting there, and she picked it up and looked
[46:00] Speaker 7: at me strangely and walked out. And as I said, oh,
[46:04] Speaker 7: that seemed to go well to remove that icond of
[46:09] Speaker 7: you know, out of my room. It was personally offending me.
[46:13] Speaker 7: And so I'm sitting there and all of a sudden,
[46:16] Speaker 7: these two men, the head of security for the hospital
[46:22] Speaker 7: and his goon, this extremely large African American man, come
[46:29] Speaker 7: flying into my room and he starts and I've got
[46:32] Speaker 7: my computer and my phone. They slammed my computer shit
[46:37] Speaker 7: and tried to knock my phone out of my hand,
[46:39] Speaker 7: and he goes, I'm going to have you arrested for
[46:43] Speaker 7: felony destruction of hospital property. He just went I just
[46:48] Speaker 7: started laughing at him, chuckling, except when I'm going, I
[46:54] Speaker 7: don't believe I destructed anything, and except in Grand Grand
[47:00] Speaker 7: something would have to I would assume be over the
[47:03] Speaker 7: five hundred dollars mark, and.
[47:04] Speaker 6: This was just a possibly fifteen dollars calculating.
[47:14] Speaker 7: But he thought he was just going to so intimidate
[47:16] Speaker 7: me by his roughness and his authority, As Cartman says,
[47:22] Speaker 7: on South Park and uh and stuff and stuff. So
[47:25] Speaker 7: I just sat there and just very calmly that do
[47:29] Speaker 7: not touch my equipment and I did not destruct anything.
[47:35] Speaker 7: And he's just sitting there trying to pull this this
[47:39] Speaker 7: stunt on me as I considered it at the time,
[47:43] Speaker 7: and uh and everything. But then what I just I
[47:46] Speaker 7: just couldn't keep myself from it. I started calling the
[47:50] Speaker 7: security office on the phone next to my bed, asking
[47:54] Speaker 7: for days, because I felt like I needed to be
[47:57] Speaker 7: able to have some discuss with him about the fact
[48:01] Speaker 7: that he had done this and stuff. But he didn't
[48:05] Speaker 7: answer the phone, so I just would leave the message.
[48:08] Speaker 7: And so finally one time I called from the phone
[48:11] Speaker 7: and he picked up the phone and he yells on
[48:14] Speaker 7: the phone, how did you get this number? And I said, well,
[48:20] Speaker 7: I took my hand and I went over here to
[48:22] Speaker 7: the side table and I picked up the phone and
[48:26] Speaker 7: dialed zero and asked him for this security department, and
[48:31] Speaker 7: I got you. This man is so stupid that he
[48:36] Speaker 7: called the the switchboard people and told them not to
[48:43] Speaker 7: forward my calls to their office to his office. Okay,
[48:48] Speaker 7: Well I did was pick up my personal phone and
[48:51] Speaker 7: call from the outside into the switchboard and asked for
[48:55] Speaker 7: the service and stuff, but of course I was. I
[49:00] Speaker 7: was discharged the next day. So but I just found
[49:04] Speaker 7: it so strange.
[49:06] Speaker 2: Hang on, Margaret, can I jump in? So you're telling
[49:10] Speaker 2: me that you just popped the little five dollars cross
[49:15] Speaker 2: off its nail on the wall, and somebody came in
[49:19] Speaker 2: and tackled you for destruction of property.
[49:25] Speaker 7: He didn't tackle me, but he slammed my equipment down.
[49:28] Speaker 7: He you know, I you know how you get the
[49:31] Speaker 7: blue screen on your computer when it's not shut down
[49:34] Speaker 7: properly and stuff. He slams my computer. Shit, tried to
[49:39] Speaker 7: get the phone. The big guy tried to get the
[49:41] Speaker 7: phone out of my hand, and then he starts and
[49:44] Speaker 7: then he starts giving me this. I'm going to have
[49:48] Speaker 7: you arrested for felony destruction of church property. Oh okay,
[49:53] Speaker 7: And I just chuckled at him.
[49:54] Speaker 2: Okay, But I mean, it just sounds extreme, even for
[49:57] Speaker 2: a Catholic hospital. You know, we've got one in town
[50:01] Speaker 2: Saint Francis Is the same way. They've got that little
[50:04] Speaker 2: cheap ass dime store cross hanging in every room. And
[50:08] Speaker 2: I promised, if I'm ever admitted, Margaret, for any condition,
[50:12] Speaker 2: I'm just going to sneak over and flip it upside
[50:14] Speaker 2: down and see if anybody notices. Oh, yes, yeah, upside down.
[50:19] Speaker 7: Yes, all I did was remove it from the wall.
[50:22] Speaker 7: And he thought he was going to have me in
[50:24] Speaker 7: jail that afternoon or something. We're selling the destruction.
[50:29] Speaker 2: Margaret, fugitive from justice destroyer.
[50:33] Speaker 6: You know of sacred.
[50:35] Speaker 7: Value system does this Christian man have if he can't
[50:40] Speaker 7: handle just having a having this, like you said, a
[50:44] Speaker 7: five ten dollars little coss removed from my wall?
[50:47] Speaker 2: And how dare you? How dare you call him on
[50:51] Speaker 2: his professional line asking about the ethics of his role
[50:55] Speaker 2: as a security officer. You you have committed the heresy,
[51:00] Speaker 2: You have committed the blasphemy. What an affront to law
[51:02] Speaker 2: in order you are, Margaret, Yeah, that's all. Well, I
[51:08] Speaker 2: will say this. I look forward to meeting you in Denver.
[51:11] Speaker 2: Secular Hub always has a great credit and lovely people,
[51:16] Speaker 2: and they are just one of those instances where they
[51:21] Speaker 2: know that secular people need community, most of us, and
[51:26] Speaker 2: we love people and we want to sort of do
[51:28] Speaker 2: life if I can borrow that from the church, and
[51:31] Speaker 2: they're good at it. So I look forward to seeing
[51:33] Speaker 2: you in just a few days. To save that hug
[51:36] Speaker 2: for me. Okay, Margaret, I will do it.
[51:39] Speaker 7: And if you would like, I have a photo of
[51:42] Speaker 7: a lunar eclipse that is in all the stages that
[51:47] Speaker 7: my niece is Flint. I was going to get a
[51:50] Speaker 7: copy made over here at Walgreens and see if you
[51:53] Speaker 7: would like to have it and just add it to
[51:56] Speaker 7: your collection of you know, stuff and everything would be
[52:00] Speaker 7: the very cool picture.
[52:02] Speaker 2: I would be honored. Yeah, I would printed and bring it.
[52:07] Speaker 7: Okay, I will, all right, Thank you so much, Seth.
[52:11] Speaker 7: Tut me on to a new community of people.
[52:14] Speaker 2: Well, I'm so honored that you're that you called and
[52:18] Speaker 2: and thanks for sticking to your guns up there in
[52:19] Speaker 2: the room. You're a hero. You're the hero we need, Margaret.
[52:23] Speaker 2: You take care.
[52:26] Speaker 7: Thank you, Bye bye, sir.
[52:27] Speaker 2: I get to bring Natalie to Denver. That's gonna be fun.
[52:30] Speaker 2: She doesn't come to hear me speak very often because
[52:33] Speaker 2: she hears me speak every day and she's kind of
[52:36] Speaker 2: over it. It's not over it, but she's like, ah yeah.
[52:42] Speaker 2: Everyone's like oh Seth speaking and she's like ah yeah, okay.
[52:46] Speaker 2: And she's a good grounding force. You need somebody who
[52:49] Speaker 2: knows you're bullshit. You need somebody who's not going to
[52:52] Speaker 2: be like and ladies and gentlemen joining us for the
[52:55] Speaker 2: big presentation today is Seth Andrews. Yeah, you need someone
[52:58] Speaker 2: who's gonna be like. Okay, there he is again. Okay,
[53:05] Speaker 2: who's hungry. That's my doll, that's my wife, that's my lady,
[53:11] Speaker 2: my queen. She keeps me centered. Lots more to talk about,
[53:16] Speaker 2: and you will decide what the subject matter is. We
[53:19] Speaker 2: continue with your calls. Next, I mentioned some of the
[53:28] Speaker 2: events that are coming up in twenty twenty six. There
[53:31] Speaker 2: will be an increasingly populated events page. Just bookmark that
[53:35] Speaker 2: sucker and you can see everything from local things to
[53:39] Speaker 2: national conventions at the Thinkingatheist dot com slash events. Faith
[53:47] Speaker 2: is dialing in from two five to four high. Faith.
[53:50] Speaker 2: Are you there, hello, mister Anders, Oh call me Seth
[53:58] Speaker 2: Shallow's on your mind, Faith, let's chat. What's happening? Well?
[54:05] Speaker 3: Okay, Well, this is the first time I've ever called
[54:08] Speaker 3: into anything.
[54:09] Speaker 2: So glad you're here.
[54:14] Speaker 3: Okay, and my voice I have the same thing as R.
[54:17] Speaker 2: FK Oath.
[54:20] Speaker 4: I like it.
[54:21] Speaker 2: It's got texture, it's got ganache, it's got personality. I
[54:24] Speaker 2: can understand everything you're.
[54:26] Speaker 7: Saying you're not. I'll give it that you're.
[54:28] Speaker 2: Doing fine, So I try to enunciate what's on your mind.
[54:33] Speaker 3: Okay, all right, now, I have a very dear friend,
[54:39] Speaker 3: I'm sorry, and she is quite religious, and she used
[54:51] Speaker 3: to tell everyone you know that she could talk about
[54:55] Speaker 3: religion with me because I didn't, you know, judge, And
[54:59] Speaker 3: I'm atheist with a name like faith, Oh my God.
[55:06] Speaker 3: And recently her son, who is autistic, has started acting
[55:13] Speaker 3: out somewhat and he says he's an atheist. So I
[55:20] Speaker 3: think she blames me.
[55:24] Speaker 6: For that.
[55:25] Speaker 2: Why would it be your fault?
[55:27] Speaker 3: And she because I'm an atheist and I'm open about it.
[55:33] Speaker 3: And he has spent he was he was comfortable at
[55:35] Speaker 3: my house. He had never been comfortable, so he ended
[55:41] Speaker 3: up spending a lot of time here.
[55:43] Speaker 2: So he was exposed to someone who was non religious.
[55:47] Speaker 2: Maybe you indoctrinated.
[55:48] Speaker 3: Him with the atheism he had never.
[55:52] Speaker 2: You've got it, Okay, I'm tracking.
[55:55] Speaker 3: But here more recently, she just she hasn't she She
[56:03] Speaker 3: only comes over to bring him over. He's an adult
[56:06] Speaker 3: now and comes over because my house is born and
[56:12] Speaker 3: I think that is comfortable for him because if something
[56:18] Speaker 3: gets dramatic, he you.
[56:20] Speaker 2: Know, sure he's not over stimulated. You, I get that, right.
[56:26] Speaker 3: Yeah, cardboard is my favorite color. And so she thinks
[56:32] Speaker 3: that the end of the world is here and she
[56:36] Speaker 3: might go to hell. She keeps talking to me, which, okay,
[56:47] Speaker 3: that all right.
[56:50] Speaker 2: She thinks that, but every time I.
[56:53] Speaker 3: Try to talk to her that she's going to go
[56:56] Speaker 3: to hell if she keeps talking to an atheist.
[56:58] Speaker 2: That she will and go to hell if she engages
[57:04] Speaker 2: an atheist in conversation. Yes, okay, all right, thank you
[57:13] Speaker 2: for the clarification. I'm just trying to Okay, follow out,
[57:16] Speaker 2: keep going, You're doing great.
[57:19] Speaker 3: Okay, that's kind of a toughie. Yeah, but every time
[57:23] Speaker 3: I try to talk to her about something, I think
[57:25] Speaker 3: that I tried to talk to a little bit about politics,
[57:28] Speaker 3: and I offended her horribly because I was just at
[57:31] Speaker 3: that time, I was just appalled with the red cal
[57:33] Speaker 3: thing where they had led four red heifers through Gus.
[57:42] Speaker 3: I guess to try and bring about the end times.
[57:47] Speaker 2: You'll have to forgive my ignorance on the red cows story.
[57:51] Speaker 2: I'm going to have to check it after we speak today.
[57:53] Speaker 2: So she's terrified of you.
[57:55] Speaker 3: I'm not sure where it in revelation somewhere.
[57:58] Speaker 2: She's worried she's going to lose your Salvation's worried you're
[58:02] Speaker 2: going to taint her son. And your question is what, Yes.
[58:06] Speaker 3: But she still brings me her dog and her kid
[58:09] Speaker 3: to watch.
[58:10] Speaker 2: Well.
[58:11] Speaker 3: Question is is there some is there some mindset that
[58:16] Speaker 3: you bring yourself to to be diplomatic because you are
[58:23] Speaker 3: the most diplomatic person I have ever heard.
[58:26] Speaker 2: I don't feel diplomatic face.
[58:28] Speaker 3: You just seem to have exactly. I know you don't,
[58:31] Speaker 3: but you are. You know, it's amazing. You just bring
[58:35] Speaker 3: something to it that people immediately seemed to quit feeling offended.
[58:41] Speaker 2: I wish I was the hero you need. I've I
[58:47] Speaker 2: am a mess. I think a lot of people feel exactly.
[58:50] Speaker 3: I'll bet you well, you're very public. Okay, Oh, I
[58:56] Speaker 3: want to sit in the corner and set my thumb.
[59:00] Speaker 2: Well. I think the question for you is just rapidly.
[59:04] Speaker 2: I think the question for you is how far are
[59:09] Speaker 2: you willing to bend to be able to spend time
[59:12] Speaker 2: with you know, her son, to give him that safe
[59:16] Speaker 2: haven if she allows it.
[59:19] Speaker 3: Right, I've spent a lot of time with her. We
[59:23] Speaker 3: became great friends. I used to volunteer at a food
[59:26] Speaker 3: bank here I'm in Central Texas, and we became great friends.
[59:33] Speaker 3: I mean, I've been the food bank, did a distribution
[59:38] Speaker 3: every two weeks, and I've spent that whole time there
[59:41] Speaker 3: with her, you know, moving food around, going and getting
[59:46] Speaker 3: things just all over the place, and we became great friends.
[59:51] Speaker 3: So it's kind of and I've thought through a lot
[59:53] Speaker 3: of gospel music that I detest.
[59:58] Speaker 2: So help me understand, because i want to make sure
[1:00:01] Speaker 2: I'm honoring the time of the people still on the switchboards.
[1:00:04] Speaker 2: So you have a good relationship or you don't.
[1:00:09] Speaker 3: We had a good relationship, but it seems recently it's
[1:00:13] Speaker 3: just kind of falling apart. I believe that it may
[1:00:15] Speaker 3: be that she's really frightened inside.
[1:00:19] Speaker 2: I believe so the lat things are going now, you
[1:00:22] Speaker 2: think about how insecure someone would have to be to
[1:00:25] Speaker 2: think I'm saved, sanctified, going to Heaven, right, and yet
[1:00:31] Speaker 2: just the physical presence the voice, yeah, Uh, connecting in
[1:00:37] Speaker 2: conversation with someone who's a believer might strip me of heaven.
[1:00:41] Speaker 2: Tells you you're dealing with someone who is essentially steeped
[1:00:43] Speaker 2: in fear. Yeah, And I think that does deserve to
[1:00:46] Speaker 2: a degree. Well, she is in some compassion, but that means.
[1:00:53] Speaker 3: That I need to be Yeah, I need to be
[1:00:56] Speaker 3: out a little bit more. And I hope that I
[1:00:59] Speaker 3: keep that in my mind. It's I'm not a real
[1:01:04] Speaker 3: diplomatic person. I tend to say something, want to see something.
[1:01:09] Speaker 2: I get that. I can't tell you how to proceed
[1:01:12] Speaker 2: except that in your situation, it's a cost benefit as
[1:01:15] Speaker 2: to how far you're willing to bend to be able
[1:01:18] Speaker 2: to spend time and give safe haven to her son,
[1:01:21] Speaker 2: to you in a caregiving way, or something along those lines.
[1:01:25] Speaker 2: You're not going to change her mind. I don't think
[1:01:27] Speaker 2: that's the goal. But I do think it's just fine
[1:01:30] Speaker 2: to stand up for your values, to say this is what.
[1:01:34] Speaker 3: She believes, that religion saved her life. Okay, all right,
[1:01:39] Speaker 3: And I've pointed that out to her son many times
[1:01:43] Speaker 3: because they're getting in bad fights. I think being a
[1:01:48] Speaker 3: new atheist is almost like when you get said, you
[1:01:52] Speaker 3: just want to talk about it all the time.
[1:01:54] Speaker 2: Yeah, I did it for years. I was obsessed. I
[1:01:59] Speaker 2: was obsessed, And it's.
[1:02:01] Speaker 3: Understanding the same thing. It's the same you know, Yeah,
[1:02:05] Speaker 3: it's that same mindset, and but she can't see it
[1:02:09] Speaker 3: that way, and she's she's wanting to get out of
[1:02:11] Speaker 3: her house. It's just it's craziness.
[1:02:15] Speaker 2: And it's unfortunate because I want.
[1:02:18] Speaker 3: Her to lose her son over this, because she's not
[1:02:22] Speaker 3: saying she's somebody that managed a food bank for years.
[1:02:25] Speaker 3: She's a giving, generous, kind.
[1:02:27] Speaker 2: Person except when she's not. And I think it would
[1:02:31] Speaker 2: be her son losing her because of rules and stipulations
[1:02:36] Speaker 2: that she put in place, which is tragic. It's a
[1:02:39] Speaker 2: tragic byproduct of her very insecure faith. All I know
[1:02:44] Speaker 2: is only you can make the decision as to how
[1:02:46] Speaker 2: far you are willing to bend to be able to
[1:02:49] Speaker 2: spend time with him. I don't think you get sucked
[1:02:51] Speaker 2: into arguments. I don't think that's going to take you
[1:02:54] Speaker 2: anywhere productive. But I do think you stick to your
[1:02:57] Speaker 2: guns in terms of you, I don't your own values,
[1:03:02] Speaker 2: and and I think you know, do your best to
[1:03:06] Speaker 2: stand your ground, be who you are, and and then
[1:03:09] Speaker 2: draw the line where you want.
[1:03:10] Speaker 3: Okay, faith, all right, Well I hoped you would have more.
[1:03:19] Speaker 2: I don't have the magic bullets. I do not have
[1:03:23] Speaker 2: the magical I'm not a magic bullet. I'm not a
[1:03:26] Speaker 2: Relationship and family counselor. I'm not an expert. Honestly, if
[1:03:29] Speaker 2: I could fix these types of family problems, I would
[1:03:32] Speaker 2: have fixed my own. And so all I can say
[1:03:36] Speaker 2: is I share.
[1:03:36] Speaker 3: That's true, that's true.
[1:03:38] Speaker 2: I share your frustration, and I always encourage people to
[1:03:42] Speaker 2: find out where their line is. Personally, only you can
[1:03:45] Speaker 2: decide how much you're willing to tolerate and where you're
[1:03:49] Speaker 2: willing to put that line in, how you would reinforce it.
[1:03:52] Speaker 3: Okay, Faith, Okay, well, thank you very very much.
[1:03:58] Speaker 2: You're very kind. Thanks.
[1:04:00] Speaker 3: I really appreciate that there are people like you.
[1:04:03] Speaker 2: You're very You're very kind. Okay, be safe over the holiday.
[1:04:06] Speaker 2: We'll see you later. I hear these pauses or what
[1:04:12] Speaker 2: I feel are pauses in the conversation, and I jump in.
[1:04:15] Speaker 2: But apparently the pauses are not pauses. So I hope
[1:04:18] Speaker 2: I haven't frustrated anybody. I was trying to find the
[1:04:23] Speaker 2: trying to find the windows there. Let's talk to Garrett,
[1:04:27] Speaker 2: who's dialing in out of Phoenix, Arizona. Are you with me,
[1:04:33] Speaker 2: my friend?
[1:04:35] Speaker 4: I am Seth.
[1:04:36] Speaker 2: How you doing, I'm good? What's on your mind?
[1:04:41] Speaker 6: So I've kind of experienced when I was a kid
[1:04:44] Speaker 6: that I can't explain, and it's like the one thing
[1:04:49] Speaker 6: that I'm kind of hung up on. So I don't
[1:04:52] Speaker 6: believe in ghosts or anything like that. But when I
[1:04:55] Speaker 6: was a kid, my mother was sick and my dad
[1:05:00] Speaker 6: had to go out to get some like food. Family
[1:05:03] Speaker 6: five took the two other siblings and I played. I
[1:05:08] Speaker 6: stayed back and I played a board game. My mom
[1:05:10] Speaker 6: was like Battleship or something. We were sitting there playing
[1:05:13] Speaker 6: and all of a sudden, we heard like glass break.
[1:05:16] Speaker 6: So I get up and my mom can't get up
[1:05:20] Speaker 6: off the couch, and I go and take a look
[1:05:22] Speaker 6: in his china cabinet and a tea cup from like
[1:05:26] Speaker 6: I guess her mom was just split in half. Just
[1:05:29] Speaker 6: a cup, not the saucer. No big deal. But my
[1:05:33] Speaker 6: dad comes home a little bit later and he goes
[1:05:37] Speaker 6: to my mom, Hey, you're not going to believe what happened.
[1:05:41] Speaker 6: I saw your mother in the store. My mom, grandma
[1:05:44] Speaker 6: passed away right before I was born.
[1:05:46] Speaker 4: And he goes and she was just smiling at me,
[1:05:50] Speaker 4: like in the counter or something.
[1:05:51] Speaker 6: So I went to go find her afterwards, couldn't find her.
[1:05:55] Speaker 6: You know, I left the store, she wasn't there. My
[1:05:57] Speaker 6: dad also not like a believer spirits or anything like that.
[1:06:01] Speaker 6: So my mom is she's she's pretty spiritual or something.
[1:06:06] Speaker 6: She Native Americans. She went to a tea Lea Freeder
[1:06:10] Speaker 6: and the Tea Lea Freeder tells her, Hey, you know
[1:06:14] Speaker 6: you're sick. You need to get treatment. You need to
[1:06:17] Speaker 6: go to a hospital. I think my mom was trying
[1:06:18] Speaker 6: to just like wait it out, like it was a.
[1:06:20] Speaker 4: Flu or something could have been something much worse.
[1:06:23] Speaker 6: And and so she gets this treatment, she gets better,
[1:06:27] Speaker 6: and the Tea lea freader tells her, hey, this was
[1:06:29] Speaker 6: your mother trying to send you a message, blah blah blah.
[1:06:32] Speaker 6: And and so as a kid, like there's a couple
[1:06:36] Speaker 6: of things going through my head, I'm like, well, maybe
[1:06:38] Speaker 6: I remember that wrong childhood. Weird things could happen. My
[1:06:44] Speaker 6: mother certainly remembers it, but even asking like my dad
[1:06:47] Speaker 6: later on, he does remember seeing this vision of his
[1:06:51] Speaker 6: mother his dad, mother in law at the store smiling them.
[1:06:54] Speaker 6: But that same day, and that's the only supernatural experience
[1:06:57] Speaker 6: experience that has ever happened that I don't Again, I
[1:07:02] Speaker 6: don't believe in ghosts. I think there's got to be
[1:07:04] Speaker 6: a logical reason for everything. But just this kind of
[1:07:07] Speaker 6: coordination of a few different events that have happened in
[1:07:10] Speaker 6: my life that I just can't put my head around.
[1:07:11] Speaker 4: It's just looking to bounce at Ideofia.
[1:07:14] Speaker 2: Well, I think we have to lean into Acham's razor, right,
[1:07:17] Speaker 2: What would be the simplest explanation, And does that include
[1:07:23] Speaker 2: someone who is existing in another worldly spiritual membrane, who
[1:07:27] Speaker 2: is you know, somehow interacting with the physical world in
[1:07:31] Speaker 2: these supernatural ways, or was it something else that has
[1:07:36] Speaker 2: a you know, we're patterned seekers, something with serendipitous we
[1:07:39] Speaker 2: connected dots. Who knows. I mean, I tend to fall
[1:07:42] Speaker 2: on the Oucaham's razors side of it. I haven't seen
[1:07:45] Speaker 2: any evidence for the supernatural yet, so my brain does
[1:07:48] Speaker 2: not go there. Sounds to me like though you wonder
[1:07:51] Speaker 2: if it might be ghosts really, which is fine.
[1:07:54] Speaker 8: I mean.
[1:07:56] Speaker 6: Now it's just because I actually, you know, even conversations
[1:08:01] Speaker 6: to the days like I don't.
[1:08:04] Speaker 4: I also don't think there's a.
[1:08:06] Speaker 6: Ghost world or anything like that. I just it's just
[1:08:09] Speaker 6: weird enough where all those like all the little things
[1:08:14] Speaker 6: happening that I guessink coordination just be a fantastical coincidence
[1:08:19] Speaker 6: of events where I don't know.
[1:08:23] Speaker 4: I don't know how to put it. It's just kind
[1:08:24] Speaker 4: of a weird.
[1:08:26] Speaker 2: I think you and I are faced from time to
[1:08:29] Speaker 2: time with things we cannot explain, and I think the
[1:08:33] Speaker 2: right answer is, well, that's weird. You know that's odd.
[1:08:37] Speaker 2: But I think we have to resist this tendency to
[1:08:41] Speaker 2: storytell ourselves into places that may not be supported by
[1:08:45] Speaker 2: the evidence that where are reasonable. I myself am interested. Hell.
[1:08:49] Speaker 2: I went on a ghost hunt a few months ago,
[1:08:51] Speaker 2: and it was a blast. We were seeking all kinds
[1:08:54] Speaker 2: of spirits, and I told all of my ghost hunting
[1:08:57] Speaker 2: peers and friends there that if something happens, I want
[1:09:02] Speaker 2: to know about it. If something moves or a year
[1:09:04] Speaker 2: footsteps I can't explain, or there's a mist in the
[1:09:08] Speaker 2: shape of whatever floating through the hallway, that's information I
[1:09:11] Speaker 2: desperately need. So you know, who really knows what happened.
[1:09:15] Speaker 2: But I keep your eyes and ears open. Let us
[1:09:17] Speaker 2: know if you're hearing anything else or seeing anything else. Okay,
[1:09:21] Speaker 2: oh good man, Thanks brother, We'll see you later. One
[1:09:25] Speaker 2: last break more of your calls than just a second.
[1:09:36] Speaker 2: Thanks for your support on Paytreon. If you want to
[1:09:38] Speaker 2: be a supporter of the broadcast. You can get the
[1:09:41] Speaker 2: show early in commercial free Paytreon dot com, slash seth
[1:09:46] Speaker 2: Andrew's Is this AJ? My friends and fellow activists from Houston,
[1:09:54] Speaker 2: Texas on the line, Hey.
[1:09:56] Speaker 3: Said, yes, it is.
[1:09:57] Speaker 2: Glad you're here. It's always good to hear your voice.
[1:10:01] Speaker 2: We'd like to take photos together AJ and me because
[1:10:04] Speaker 2: I loom. I'm about six' one and how tall are?
[1:10:08] Speaker 2: You A jane.
[1:10:10] Speaker 3: Four eight four?
[1:10:11] Speaker 2: Eight it's. Awesome so you are a giant though in
[1:10:17] Speaker 2: terms of heart and mind and. Character but it's so
[1:10:20] Speaker 2: much fun to take pictures because Either i'm kneeling way
[1:10:22] Speaker 2: way way down for us to be sort of equal
[1:10:24] Speaker 2: for the, camera or you tell me stand tall and
[1:10:27] Speaker 2: loom AND i will stand in your, shadow and that's
[1:10:30] Speaker 2: always a fun. PICTURE. Aj what do you want to
[1:10:32] Speaker 2: talk about? Today?
[1:10:35] Speaker 8: Yeah that last photo was was hilarious where you were
[1:10:39] Speaker 8: looming over me with your hands. Up it's the perspective of.
[1:10:42] Speaker 8: It come up like you, ARE i don't, know at
[1:10:45] Speaker 8: least five feet taller than you actually.
[1:10:47] Speaker 3: Are you, will but, anyways like.
[1:10:49] Speaker 2: A Frankenstein poe's AND i threw my, HAND i flared
[1:10:52] Speaker 2: my hands out and the lens distorted my, hand SO
[1:10:55] Speaker 2: i had a nose farratu kind of fingers that were
[1:10:58] Speaker 2: and then shadowy. Whatever, YEAH i was a Wild, okay
[1:11:01] Speaker 2: forgive me aj go. Ahead what's on your?
[1:11:03] Speaker 3: Mind, no you're. Fine.
[1:11:07] Speaker 8: Food food is in my mind. Always you asked, earlier
[1:11:11] Speaker 8: you were talking about your, introduction and you were, like,
[1:11:14] Speaker 8: well who's? Hungry And i'm, like, Well i'm. Hungry i'm always.
[1:11:16] Speaker 8: HUNGRY i might be, tiny But i'm always. Hungry, Okay
[1:11:20] Speaker 8: so my question to you, was do you like to?
[1:11:24] Speaker 3: Cook or is not only the cook at the house
[1:11:27] Speaker 3: both of.
[1:11:27] Speaker 2: Us both of us enjoy. It she's better at some
[1:11:31] Speaker 2: things And i'm better at some. Things So i'm better
[1:11:33] Speaker 2: at cooking. FISH i just made some like a really
[1:11:40] Speaker 2: delicious sort of curry tilapia. Dish the other. Night she
[1:11:44] Speaker 2: makes an amazing stew and her salmon is to die.
[1:11:48] Speaker 2: For and we can each do, pasta but it kind
[1:11:51] Speaker 2: of depends on the. Dish what do you?
[1:11:53] Speaker 8: Think, oh that's. Good what's your favorite food to?
[1:11:59] Speaker 2: Eat my favorite? Food you, know it changes depending on my.
[1:12:04] Speaker 2: Mood some days it's a sushi, roll some Days i'm craving,
[1:12:09] Speaker 2: tacos and some DAYS i just want. Pasta you Know i'm.
[1:12:12] Speaker 2: Finicky not, Finicky i'm what's the Word i'm looking, For
[1:12:16] Speaker 2: i'm all over the. Map let's say that.
[1:12:20] Speaker 3: A. Foody.
[1:12:21] Speaker 8: YEAH i love. COOKING i always love. COOKING i think
[1:12:25] Speaker 8: because my mom she when we were growing, up cooking
[1:12:28] Speaker 8: together with her was like a really fun thing for.
[1:12:31] Speaker 8: Me so like it's something THAT i carry it into
[1:12:34] Speaker 8: adulthood AND i really like it's one of those things
[1:12:37] Speaker 8: THAT i like to sort of my love. Language you could,
[1:12:40] Speaker 8: SAY i like cooking for people and make them, happy
[1:12:44] Speaker 8: because what makes me.
[1:12:45] Speaker 2: Happy are you going to cook for the?
[1:12:47] Speaker 8: HOLIDAY i, Am, Yeah i'm actually. Cooking, well we are
[1:12:52] Speaker 8: going to my mother in lave, house so she's, cooking you,
[1:12:55] Speaker 8: know the turkey and the ham and some of the
[1:12:58] Speaker 8: sides and. Desserts but SINCE i eat mostly plant, BASED
[1:13:04] Speaker 8: i plant based because of health more, so Although i've
[1:13:08] Speaker 8: been getting into one of the the morality of it
[1:13:11] Speaker 8: thanks to other. Atheists but, anyway So i'm bringing my
[1:13:16] Speaker 8: plant based. Foods So i'm gonna make homemade hummus with
[1:13:24] Speaker 8: that's sort of like the. Appetiser but the main dish
[1:13:27] Speaker 8: is going to be mashed, potatoes because potatoes are. LIFE
[1:13:30] Speaker 8: i cannot live without, potatoes And i'm gonna make a
[1:13:35] Speaker 8: vegan meat loaf with moshroom.
[1:13:38] Speaker 2: Waving i'm, sorry vegan and meat loaf makes me wonder
[1:13:43] Speaker 2: are you doing like a tofu meat? Loaf what's a
[1:13:46] Speaker 2: vegan meat? Loaf?
[1:13:49] Speaker 8: Well there are also really good alternative to, meat which
[1:13:54] Speaker 8: is it looks tastes and have to think text as
[1:13:59] Speaker 8: grumby if but it's not be you, know it's made
[1:14:02] Speaker 8: of like soy or. SOMETHING i don't know that it's
[1:14:05] Speaker 8: like the.
[1:14:06] Speaker 7: Protein what do they call those impossible vegan?
[1:14:10] Speaker 2: Burgers at the impossible.
[1:14:13] Speaker 7: That's?
[1:14:13] Speaker 2: Right, yeah, yeah not miracle. BURGERS i know they have
[1:14:17] Speaker 2: a name for. Them, well it sounds like a party
[1:14:19] Speaker 2: at your, HOUSE. Aj what time should we be? Either
[1:14:22] Speaker 2: if you're cooking potatoes and, Gravy i'm in you, know
[1:14:25] Speaker 2: we'll be right. There, okay we'll be, there coming everybody
[1:14:30] Speaker 2: party At AJ's house tomorrow at noon for vegan meat
[1:14:33] Speaker 2: loaf and mashed. Potatoes so anything else on your? Mind
[1:14:38] Speaker 2: anything else BEFORE i move?
[1:14:40] Speaker 6: On?
[1:14:40] Speaker 3: AJ i do.
[1:14:42] Speaker 8: Yes, so you, know speaking Of, THANKSGIVING i mentioned to
[1:14:47] Speaker 8: you that Since, Nanocon i've kind of like shifted my
[1:14:51] Speaker 8: handling of life. Situations you, know life experiences trying to
[1:14:57] Speaker 8: apply more humanistic, techniques and with the family gathering starting, tomorrow,
[1:15:04] Speaker 8: unfortunately we will be with some family members that are deeply.
[1:15:08] Speaker 8: Religious others Are trump, supporters trump, borders anti trans and you,
[1:15:14] Speaker 8: know other frustrating. Things and although they mostly stay away
[1:15:19] Speaker 8: from religious, talk there are some that usually come rolling
[1:15:23] Speaker 8: at me with ridiculous things like the fact THAT i
[1:15:27] Speaker 8: homeschool my teenager right about, things and it racees my, broath,
[1:15:32] Speaker 8: pressure my heart, weight with the gwillin of my choices
[1:15:37] Speaker 8: not to say my kids to, well specifically in our
[1:15:40] Speaker 8: district where we Are zone two is you can call
[1:15:44] Speaker 8: it mega bully. School little my kids is bullied before
[1:15:48] Speaker 8: we started, homeschooling really really. Badly it's full Of mega,
[1:15:52] Speaker 8: supporters and so that is very triggering for. Me AND
[1:15:59] Speaker 8: i am very verson how the brain, works you. KNOW
[1:16:02] Speaker 8: i like to talk about the brain a, lot but
[1:16:04] Speaker 8: operating it myself is a whole different. Story AND i
[1:16:08] Speaker 8: watch you and admire your ability to remain so calm
[1:16:13] Speaker 8: and collected in a fossful. Situations so do you have
[1:16:17] Speaker 8: any tips for responding rather than reacting in when you
[1:16:22] Speaker 8: face situations like?
[1:16:23] Speaker 2: THAT i just feel like such a. Hypocrite everybody tells
[1:16:27] Speaker 2: me how CENTERED i, am AND i, Mean i'm. BETTER
[1:16:32] Speaker 2: i used to get sucked in to debates that would go,
[1:16:36] Speaker 2: nowhere arguments Really i'd be on the phone and it
[1:16:40] Speaker 2: was usually with a religious, parent and you, know they'd
[1:16:43] Speaker 2: be talking about this and talking about, that AND i
[1:16:46] Speaker 2: would use. REASON i would, say, well that's factually untrue
[1:16:50] Speaker 2: and this is not, accurate and you, know blah blah,
[1:16:53] Speaker 2: Blah and the MORE i presented them with the, data
[1:16:57] Speaker 2: the less they, cared or the more they said it
[1:16:59] Speaker 2: was all, false fake, news et. Cetera and then my
[1:17:03] Speaker 2: voice would raise and their voice would, raise and somebody
[1:17:05] Speaker 2: would probably hang up on, somebody you. Know And i've
[1:17:08] Speaker 2: gotten better about. That and the one thing that has
[1:17:14] Speaker 2: liberated me to a degree is THAT i don't tolerate boundary.
[1:17:20] Speaker 2: Violations if someone jumps in and they're, like, well i'd
[1:17:23] Speaker 2: like to talk about, this and they do so, respectfully
[1:17:26] Speaker 2: that's one. Thing but if it's that sort of, condescension,
[1:17:30] Speaker 2: judgment the you, know ostracizing of, someone that's you know
[1:17:35] Speaker 2: What i'm talking, about that piety where they look down
[1:17:37] Speaker 2: the nose at you're like you're some broken. Thing AND
[1:17:40] Speaker 2: i just put the kobash on that and Say i'm not.
[1:17:42] Speaker 2: BROKEN i don't need to be. Fixed i'm not your pet.
[1:17:44] Speaker 2: Project i'm you, Know I'm I'm i'm Just i'm. Good
[1:17:49] Speaker 2: AND i don't allow other people to tell me WHO
[1:17:55] Speaker 2: i am or any of those. THINGS i don't get
[1:17:58] Speaker 2: into sort of these tit for tat data point debate
[1:18:02] Speaker 2: situations with someone who is a closed. System my time and,
[1:18:07] Speaker 2: energy my sanity is. Valuable AND i know that most
[1:18:10] Speaker 2: people don't believe for reasons of. Data they believe for
[1:18:13] Speaker 2: reasons of. Identity they have an emotional, connection which is
[1:18:17] Speaker 2: why data points almost never. Work we have to take
[1:18:21] Speaker 2: a work. AROUND i try to foster an attitude of mutual.
[1:18:24] Speaker 2: Respect if you'll respect, me THEN i will respect your
[1:18:29] Speaker 2: right to. Believe and let's talk about something. Else and
[1:18:34] Speaker 2: IF i don't Think i'm going to get that kind of,
[1:18:35] Speaker 2: LATITUDE i don't. Engage like IF i thought my family
[1:18:39] Speaker 2: was going to say maga shit at the table this coming,
[1:18:44] Speaker 2: weekend there's no way in Hell i'd be. There and
[1:18:47] Speaker 2: even Now i'm on the bubble about. Going BUT i
[1:18:50] Speaker 2: just decide how Far i'm going to throw myself into
[1:18:53] Speaker 2: the firing. Line and if shit goes down THAT i
[1:18:57] Speaker 2: don't agree, With i'll tell them why AND i. Walk
[1:19:01] Speaker 2: and there's been a liberation to. That it's, messy it's,
[1:19:04] Speaker 2: unpleasant but it also feels damn good to, Say, nah
[1:19:09] Speaker 2: you're not going to get away with, that HAVEN'T i.
[1:19:10] Speaker 2: Stay i'm going to go over here WHERE i am
[1:19:13] Speaker 2: respected in the way THAT i. Deserve AND i don't
[1:19:16] Speaker 2: know how you should, PROCEED, aj except if somebody comes after.
[1:19:20] Speaker 2: YOU i, MEAN i know we like to come down
[1:19:24] Speaker 2: and have your, back but, HONESTLY i wouldn't tangle with.
[1:19:27] Speaker 2: You you're a four foot eight. Tornado you just mess people.
[1:19:30] Speaker 2: Up you'll take them. Down you, know you'll put the
[1:19:34] Speaker 2: kebash on THAT. Aj SO i know you're a person
[1:19:38] Speaker 2: of deep conviction who genuinely cares about, people AND i
[1:19:41] Speaker 2: understand the struggle for. SURE i don't know what to
[1:19:44] Speaker 2: do except don't let them suck you in and don't
[1:19:49] Speaker 2: let them ruin the. Day if you feel things start to,
[1:19:54] Speaker 2: DRIFT i think you just disconnect and say. Fine you,
[1:19:58] Speaker 2: know respect starts with self, respect AND i respect myself
[1:20:02] Speaker 2: too much to subject myself to whatever you're dishing. Out
[1:20:06] Speaker 2: that's WHAT i would. Do does that help it all A, Jane.
[1:20:10] Speaker 8: It, does it. Does that's that's really good. ADVICE i like,
[1:20:12] Speaker 8: that you, know mutual, respect respect yourself and when those
[1:20:17] Speaker 8: lines are cross than for the.
[1:20:20] Speaker 3: BOUNDARIES i suspect.
[1:20:22] Speaker 2: This is information you already. Knew maybe you just needed
[1:20:25] Speaker 2: somebody to encourage and remind. You you needed A Tony
[1:20:27] Speaker 2: robbins to say you got, this Aj so that's my.
[1:20:32] Speaker 2: Job i'll tog you you got.
[1:20:34] Speaker 8: This it's always better hearing advice with your. Voice so,
[1:20:39] Speaker 8: Yeah i'll remember that in my head as we callded.
[1:20:43] Speaker 2: That, hey you go and enjoy and your mashed potatoes
[1:20:46] Speaker 2: and big hugs From natalie and. Me, okay.
[1:20:51] Speaker 8: All, right Happy thanksgiving to you.
[1:20:53] Speaker 2: Both thank. You we'll see you. Later you.
[1:20:55] Speaker 7: Do.
[1:20:56] Speaker 2: So speaking of vegan this this is BEFORE i wrap.
[1:21:01] Speaker 2: Up this is gonna sound kind of gross to a
[1:21:04] Speaker 2: lot of people unless you get, it but we make
[1:21:11] Speaker 2: a tofu chocolate pie that is to die. For it
[1:21:18] Speaker 2: is delicious and it's super easy to. Make you go
[1:21:22] Speaker 2: to the store and you buy a little block of silk,
[1:21:27] Speaker 2: tofu not the, firm but the silk, tofu and tofu
[1:21:33] Speaker 2: is like this bean. PRODUCT i guess that takes on
[1:21:35] Speaker 2: the flavor of whatever you put in with. It it's
[1:21:38] Speaker 2: a texture. Thing and you throw the tofu into the
[1:21:42] Speaker 2: bowl and you add, IN i want to, say a
[1:21:45] Speaker 2: cup and a half Of lily's sugar free milk chocolate chocolate.
[1:21:50] Speaker 2: Chips you throw. That you have to actually melt that,
[1:21:54] Speaker 2: chocolate but not too. Much you don't want to burn.
[1:21:56] Speaker 2: It you melt it just enough so it starts to
[1:21:59] Speaker 2: look a little little bit, melty and you can stir
[1:22:01] Speaker 2: it with a, spoon and then you add the two
[1:22:03] Speaker 2: together and you whip it up really really really really
[1:22:06] Speaker 2: really really, good and it becomes a pie filling that you.
[1:22:09] Speaker 2: CHILL i don't know if there's sugar in it or.
[1:22:11] Speaker 2: Splendor there may. BE i think there may be. Some
[1:22:15] Speaker 2: we put splendor in. Ours and then for the, crust
[1:22:18] Speaker 2: we don't buy the store bot, crust but you take
[1:22:20] Speaker 2: pecan and almonds and, butter and you don't melt the.
[1:22:24] Speaker 2: Butter you leave the butter so that it's slightly, softened
[1:22:27] Speaker 2: and then you put it in a food processor with
[1:22:30] Speaker 2: the nuts and you make this lovely textured nut crust
[1:22:34] Speaker 2: and then you put it in the pie pan and
[1:22:36] Speaker 2: you completely sort of maneuver it and manicure the nut
[1:22:40] Speaker 2: crust all around the, pie and then you bake. It
[1:22:43] Speaker 2: you got to bake it for about fifteen minutes at
[1:22:47] Speaker 2: three point, fifty and then you come. Out you let
[1:22:50] Speaker 2: the crust, Cool you pour the tofu chocolate chip filling
[1:22:55] Speaker 2: into the pie, crust chill it, again and you have a, chocolate,
[1:23:01] Speaker 2: mossy lovely, textured, rich amazing dessert that nobody would know
[1:23:09] Speaker 2: was made with. TOFU i swear to, YOU i am
[1:23:12] Speaker 2: not that. Guy tofu does not move Me tofu chocolate.
[1:23:17] Speaker 2: Pie and THEN i go in AND i take actual whipping,
[1:23:21] Speaker 2: cream and we do splenda instead of, sugar AND i
[1:23:25] Speaker 2: whip up some homemade whipping cream BECAUSE i can no
[1:23:28] Speaker 2: longer do the store bought cool whip and the shit
[1:23:30] Speaker 2: out of the. Can once you've had homemade whipping, cream
[1:23:33] Speaker 2: the rest just tastes like. Nothing it just tastes like.
[1:23:36] Speaker 2: You and then you just you literally just make that
[1:23:40] Speaker 2: whip cream dance over the top of The tofu chocolate.
[1:23:43] Speaker 2: Pie you just use your little spatula bakings whatever they
[1:23:47] Speaker 2: call that little and you just make it like waves
[1:23:50] Speaker 2: of homemade whipping cream on top of. It and then
[1:23:53] Speaker 2: you chill it. Again, oh my, god it's. Delicious it's so. Good,
[1:23:58] Speaker 2: anyway that's gonna be part of our holiday. Food and
[1:24:02] Speaker 2: this cooking segment has been brought to you By The
[1:24:05] Speaker 2: Thinking atheist radio podcast and video live. Stream that's going
[1:24:11] Speaker 2: to do it for. Me save travels if you're on
[1:24:14] Speaker 2: the road To grandma's. House if you are or aren't
[1:24:17] Speaker 2: going to family, boundaries remember it's supposed to be a positive.
[1:24:22] Speaker 2: Experience if someone else becomes an agent of ruination for
[1:24:28] Speaker 2: your chi or whatever you want to call, it you
[1:24:31] Speaker 2: have every right to say. Done have a Nice, thanksgiving
[1:24:36] Speaker 2: get your, shit leave and go be around people who do, love,
[1:24:40] Speaker 2: respect and validate you for who you. Are life is.
[1:24:45] Speaker 2: Short in the, meantime you always have a community here
[1:24:48] Speaker 2: and you are greatly. Appreciated so have a Happy thanksgiving
[1:24:52] Speaker 2: And i'll see you next.
[1:24:53] Speaker 1: Time Follow The Thanking atheist On facebook And twitter for
[1:24:57] Speaker 1: a complete archive of podcasts and, videos products like mugs
[1:25:01] Speaker 1: and t shirts featuring The Thinking atheist, logo links to
[1:25:04] Speaker 1: atheist pages and, resources and details on upcoming free thought
[1:25:08] Speaker 1: events and. Conventions log onto our, Website The thinkingatheist dot.
[1:25:13] Speaker 1: Com

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