Ron Reagan: Not Afraid of Burning in Hell
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- “Unabashed atheist” Ron Reagan is this week’s entertaining and eloquent guest on “Freethought Matters,” FFRF's weekly TV show.
Ron, who has so generously recorded an iconic 30-second TV commercial for FFRF, is, of course, the son of Nancy and President Ronald Reagan. He’s had a dancing career, including at the Joffrey Ballet. And he has worked as a broadcast and print journalist and TV and radio commentator. During the interview, Ron discusses being a near-lifelong atheist.
“At age 12, my father came into the bedroom one Sunday morning; we were going to pile into the car and head off to the Bel Air Presbyterian Church,” he recalls during the show. “I said, ‘I’m not going. I’m done with that.’ And he was wise enough to not try and strong-arm me into it.”
Learn more about the Freedom From Religion Foundation at ffrf.org.
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Atheism is not a religion,it's a personal relationship with REALITY.
Most religious people dont realize that if they go back far enough their ancestors were tortured or frightened or shamed into believing.
Ron Reagan the best Reagan!
Thank you for fighting for our rights to remain secular. ⭐️
Ron Reagan is a VERY effective speaker. Glad he's on the right side.
I never could stand his father but the one good thing he did for us was to bring his son Ron into our world!
I just love this guy!
Ron is great! It's also cool that he's not scared to admit that his dad was flawed.
Thanks to everyone for this very interesting show. Ron is a gifted, well-spoken, and clear-thinking ambassador for "The Cause." 👍
_"Religion is by nature authoritarian". (Ron Reagan)
This seems to cut to the heart of the problem...
The part where his friends and family came to him @8:10 having objections to his personal beliefs or lack there of is a sign of a toxic mentality that exists in religion. Their objections to him not believing in their beliefs is exactly the point that as you pointed out of him saying "Religion is by nature authoritarian".
It does. It's plain fact.
He sure hit the nail on the head with that one. Especially jealous monotheistic gods like the Abrahamic religions.
Ron Regan for president 👍
Cerberus Further to that he is ethical unlike the current incumbent who claims to be devoutly xtian to curry favour and elicit their votes. Apparently the bible is his favourite book and when asked his favourite part declared "That's personal" just maybe because he had no idea of what the xtian bible contains?
I hadn't realized that the FFRF commercial had been censored by networks: Really? Yet televangelists are okay? That's so absurd & disappointing.
ABC wouldn't even run the FFRF ad featuring JFK: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute" during the Democratic debates. I would LOVE to know what's wrong with THAT!
Simple: Hypocrisy of the networks!
America is struggling with fear and childhood indoctrination.
Is freedom from religion possible in Trumpland?
Stay tuned.
Disappointing, but not surprising. I'm not saying that to be a smart a**. It's all about advertising dollars. Unfortunately the internet is not about free speech.
I feel sorry for Americans, the freedom land where you can't choose your freedom, not for real.
When I was about 8-9 years old I said to myself this is stupid stuff people made up because they are afraid of dying. Never changed my mind.
The day you pass away will be the most dramatic experience you will ever have. You are going to have a rude awakening.
I'm jealous that Ron was given the choice to go to church or not, at age 12. When I was 12, my choice was go to church, or get beaten until you go to church. My dad was an iron-fisted pastor, and despite having God's message of caring, love, and forgiveness, pounded into me quite vigorously, and repeatedly, I found the message rather difficult to believe.
jmg94j I am so sorry you dealt with that. I never. Believed though my super catholic mother tried her hardest. I didn’t get physically abused but definitely mentally abused with shame, guilt and threats of eternal damnation. How is any of that signs of love or a so called loving god.
The beatings will continue until morale improves, or something similar. Sorry for your early experiences with religion.
Another example of the HYPOCRISY of religion!
jmg94j - Damn! You wrote the story of my childhood, to a "T". I was also the namesake of my pastor father which was somehow an additional factor for me. I didn't understand my disbelief until later, even considering the ministry at some point.
jmg94j my mom verbally berated me just for falling asleep in church(a lot of mental damage). Even when once I tried looking into other spiritual beliefs before officially secretly becoming a spiritual agnostic.
My brother went the way Ron went and I went the other. Wish I had figured out things sooner then I did. Wasted a lot of my time. Great interview.
I'm a preacher's kid. I can't imagine being raised in an environment where I would have felt confident to think and express my own thoughts, without perceiving the threat of dire consequences.
I wasn't even raised on a religious home, just a religious community - and the scary words of scary preachers still take their toll.
Love you, RON!!
The biggest problem I have with religion is the unyielding hypocrisy. You can never judge a book by it's cover. The majority of the religious do not practice what they preach. If being religious is so great and their faith so cherished, then why are most of them hypocrites in every sense of the word. Their hypocrisy is so bad they can't even be honest with themselves. The numbers of the faithful are in rapid decline with every decade that passes. The human species is evolving beyond this nonsense known as religion and gods. Religion was conceived by an ancient peoples from ancient time of ignorance and for this reason cannot stand on it's own merits in a modern time of science and knowledge. Hypocrisy is unbecoming, I sure as hell don't want to be like them. I would rather embrace reality over the hypocrisy that is religion. It's time to call religion out for what it is, the time for silent respect is over. If your religious and you are offended, then forgive me (pun intended).
I wish I was 8 instead of 68, and everything was getting up to speed like it is now, thanks to the internet. 👍 Good for him!
*The "Not afraid of burning in hell" is perhaps the best part of the PSA*
Facts and logic destroy theist nonsense every time
I agree, I want a shirt with this.
I totally agree, Louis. :-)
Hell doesn't exist so i'm not going to be doing anything in it.
You guys are great !!!..LOVE YOU GUYS ALOT !!...was 40 years child indoctrinated christian , NOW SAVED ATHEISTAND SO HAPPY & FREE INDEED !!!.GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA ..
From South Africa as well, exmuslim.
I'm a Christian, and I enjoy this channel and I enjoyed the commercial! I was not offended at all! I'm a firm believer of separation of church and state! Ron Reagan is a wonderful human being!
Fantastic show. I'm always glad to hear the intelligent views of Mr. Reagan.
I was about 7 years old when I thought it was all BS. My mother was extremely religious and my only thought was to feel sorry for her.
I am glad to see Ron is doing well. I had never seen anything that was critical of religion on TV until that Ad. I immediately was interested in learning more about Ron, and I was also amazed how his father handled his refusal to go to church. I wasn’t a big fan of his father’s political views, but I gained some respect for him after hearing about that. Thanks for your bravery in publicly admitting to being an atheist. It definitely has made a dent in the fight for reason!
I stopped believing when my dog told me it was nonsense. I can't hear my dog, I can touch my dog. I believe in dog.
I was about the same age as Ron when I told my parents, they forced me to go to church for a few years then just before my 16th birthday they moved away without me, I’d advise against telling parents until you are not Financially dependent on them, it left me homeless. But none the less I’m still an unabashed Atheist.
Wow it be nice to see if there are any statute of limitations in the state you lived in on your parents abandoning you while they were still your legal guardians. Possible criminal charges maybe? I'm just the vengeful type I guess. We all have weaknesses .
Fuck, Dude, so sorry! Yeah, see, I was too indoctrinated to be able to comprehend that I didn't believe, until later in life.
Brian Eroh
I hear these stories like yours
and they strike me like....
THIS IS THE STUFF THAT SHOULD HELP BELIEVERS SEE THE HARM IN RELIGION!
But it doesn’t seem to matter to them when I mention it.
Sorry you went through it.
unbelievable that parents would do such a thing and at the same time believe in God.
My fear of burning in hell is right up there with my fear of being devoured by the kraken. I would also like to add that this is the longest interview I’ve seen with Ron Reagan, and I must conclude the man is very smart and articulates these issues very cogently. He sharpened some of my own thoughts on these matters.
I just don't believe in hell - not sure what I believe especially now, but hell no - just so we are good to each other I think that is all that really matters
Your last sentence is exactly what happened to me too.
I called religion "make believe for grown-ups" when I was a kid. I think hearing that people lived to be 900 was a major turning point.
Reminds me of that song in Porgy and Bess "It ain't necessarily so......"
I remember the first time I watched Ron's ad on TV, and how I was teary eyed happy and proud of Ron and the FFRF. Same thing happened tonight, watching this interview.
A breath of fresh air does exist. 👍
Thank you, FFRF, and thank YOU, Ron Reagan!!!
I love the Ron Reagan - Unabashed Atheist ads. I've been an unabashed, unapologetic, atheist as long as I can remember. I look forward to hearing his side of the story of how he became an atheist. :)
He is so eloquent. Love his style. Great job.
I don't get why Satan would punish me in hell for all eternity for being evil. Shouldn't he reward me?
It'll be good ol' god who "punishes" you. You'll be welcomed by satan 'cause he be burnin', too, and needs company.
Wow! First time I've heard that angel, uh, I mean angle !
I love Ron Reagan, he's such a great speaker, and so intelligent. Thanks FFRF for having Ron on your wonderful show.
I gave up on religion at the age of 14. At my English boarding school they told us all we’d be taking confirmation courses because the Bishop was coming to confirm us in the CofE. I refused to attend saying that I could not confirm something I didn’t believe in.
They tried hard to persuade me. First it was conformity. “Everybody else is, do you really want to be all on your own, not one of ‘us’? “. Next they insisted that I have several heart to heart ‘little chats’ with the chaplain. When that didn’t work the headmaster insisted on phoning my parents to see if they could change my mind. I only heard one end of a fairly short conversation. The Head put the phone down, looked at me, then dismissed me with a comment I’d never heard before and didn’t understand until my father explained it during the next holidays. “Well boy, run along now, the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.” That was the last I heard of the matter, but on the last Sunday of term I was given a pass out from Matins and allowed to take a packed lunch and my bicycle off for the day.
That was 62 years ago.
Mahalo - I'm not afraid to burn in hell either
I on the other hand am afraid of burning my vegan dinner. What a mess. No talent in cooking whatsoever.
Hell was invented by the Jesus character who imagined he met Satan in the Sinai Desert two thousand years ago after a month without food.
GREAT WORK RON. I WILL JOIN YOUR ORGNIZATION TODAY. FINALLY SOME COMMON SENSE
Thank you sir.
I think because of the fact that my dad went through the deconversion that a lot of atheists have gone through, I didn't have to because I wasn't subjected to the indoctrination. Thanks for that, dad.
No, No,No - You have it all wrong. It is not Hell that bothers me, it is the prospect of going to Heaven and having to live for eternity with all of those Christians.
I cannot imagine what it would be like to have Ronald Reagan as a father. I am glad that your father handled the situation well. It is strange that I now think better (somewhat) of Ronald Reagan, compared to President Trump. Good comments about abortion. - FFRF Member
Apeirophobia - Fear of eternity
Travelier, Good point!
Ron Reagan SHOULD be president. We need one that can think...
Can you imagine rational Ron as president instead of the Trump nightmare of power seeking religious nut bags?
I don’t think an open atheist can get elected president in the US.
Good for Ron. Neither am I. Nor am I afraid of being gored by a unicorn or trampled by Bigfoot.
But Bigfoot exists!😮😅
I’m a conservative anti theist, married with wonderful children. It always struggle with my conservative brothers and sisters with there constant attempt at categorizing the US as a “Christian Nation”, but one by one I will fix this.
I have utmost respect for Ron Reagan.
I've been a life long atheist too. When I was 5 I was shipped off to live with my grandparents for a year. That was when I was introduced to church and religion. I loved the bible stories told to us in Sunday school. It didn't occur to me until years later that people actually believed them or thought that they were morally instructive. When I was about 10 mom started taking us to church. I told my parents that I didn't believe in God when they wanted me to start confirmation classes in the 7th grade. My father who I have never seen going to church insisted that I go. We had to do a work book for the class and I quit for good when I could no longer even guess what it was I supposed to be getting out of the class or what it was I was supposed to believe.
I'm a life-long atheist who tried for more years than I should have to belong to a religion. When I was in my early 20's, a friend introduced me to the Baha'i Faith. I was impressed with the social teachings and met some of the kindest, most sensible people I've ever known. But I eventually had to admit that I had absolutely no belief in God and felt like the worst kind of fraud when asked to say a prayer. When I eventually resigned from the local Assembly, I felt as though a very heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Fortunately, most of my family members are free-thinkers, and I live in the sort of community where, when the Pro-Lifers held a demonstration at a local park, the Pro-Choice faction was able to gather enough supporters to form a peaceful chain and block their view from the street. It will be interesting to see what happens with our imminent Canadian federal election, as there seems to be the start of a rather worrying American-style increase in fundamentalism in the country.
I love that he brings up the Stoics and Epicureans !
Yes it's all carrots and sticks
How fortunate that reality and reason are recognized by intelligent beings in spite of the ease and prevalence of superstition and tribalism still existing, to a degree, in modern societies.
Evolution at work.
Superstition will always be a human weakness... We crave Happy Stories .
We need to know things will be OK.
No other species can project so far into the future, or consider all the possibilities.
Love you guys! You're the best!
Evidence aside, I don't see any *reason* for a god. As far as I can see, God is not really necessary for anything.
As time goes on there are less and less unexplained things for religious folk to attribute to their gods.
I agree. However, the concept of god is useful to the believers as in their minds they can justify anything and it gives an unquestionable power to those who exploit it.
Life as a believer
Life as a nonbeliever
Life goes on.
When I quit the Catholic Church and became a Buddhist
nothing happened.
When I quit Buddhism and became an atheist
nothing happened.
@@JamesRichardWiley ... When u become a pauper from a millionaire, nothing would happen.
Most people need a Sky Daddy to guide them and protect them
from the many bad things that could happen.... so a Sky Daddy was created.
They not only tell kids that they show them horribly emotionally charged videos of it to make sure they know 'the truth '.
Amen brother!
Thanks Mr. Ron Reagan for your devotion to the separation of church and state. I want America become a secular state
Thank you ron😊
Thank you for being there for us. That tv ad is what brought me to the ffrf. I am indebted to you.
He is so clear, articulate and warm. Really enjoy hearing him
Why would anybody be afraid to burn in Hell if it's going to take 40 billion light years to get there.
Good comment!
I have lost many " friends " , some that I have had for over 50 years, when they found out that I am an atheist and do not believe as they do and as they think everyone should.
Sure wish to hell there was a way to get Ron Reagan's FFRF TV commercial back on again! All networks should carry it and to hell with the bloody televangelists! ..and others like them as well!
Maybe the thing is there isn’t an ungodly amount of money in atheism, like there is in religion. Therefore, atheism and it’s message are not aired or promoted.
Awesome show! Loved the super bowl commercial.
I think he hit the nail on the head saying: " . . I'm going to burn in hell for all eternity, while you presumably stay upstairs and look down on me with some pleasure , , ," I think religion is spiritual sadism, a continuation of a time when out and out torture was more rampant, say with the torching of so many live women. How anyone could enable that activity with belief is beyond my realm, but there are 100's of 1000's who do. And he continues with religion as child abuse as is female genital mutilation and male circumcision, more or less the same.
"Religions of today are entertainment for tomorrow"!
Nice, much better than I would have expected; Ron articulates my beliefs (and non-beliefs) perfectly....
Wait! What? Santa is not real?
I'm fifty now and just finding out?
Tee hee hee
LOL
I had the same experience as Ron. A couple of years after realizing that Santa Claus was a myth, it became clear to me that "God" was essentially Santa Claus for adults. Back in the early 1960's as a 12 year old, that wasn't something easily expressed. But, I did tell my parents that none of it made any sense to me.
I was raised Roman Catholic by force and threatened with harm if I didn't attend mass but in my heart, I never believed a word of it because the more than I thought about what I was told the more questions that I had. I'm a humanist. I donated $50 to the FFRF after I saw this video because I wanted to be part of any group that had the backbone to make this video and broadcast it on national TV.
That was the best 30 minute show I've seen in a long time. Thank you Ron Reagan and FFRF!
The fear for most people, is not the invisible character in the sky. The fear, is what people around them will do to them if they don’t pretend that they do believe.
Thank You Ron.
Great video. Now we need one titled "Christians: Not Afraid of Being Kept Out of Valhalla". (edited to change Greta to Great)
Or Helheim.
110 % to Ron !!! What a smart person !
I'm a little surprised he has been an atheist most of his life considering the family he comes from. I was a Christian until I was about 18 and I didn't come from a strict religious family. ironically I was the most religious person in my immediate family until I was 18. I say immediate family because I have a cousin that is a preacher and most of my cousins, aunts, and uncles are very religious (some believe in faith healing and all that crap).
However, my dad was a nonbeliever, both my brothers were nonbelievers, and my mom (although a lifelong Christian) started to have a "crisis of faith" before she died and never had an issue with me becoming an atheist. She later proclaimed she was an atheist too, but I suspect she was just doing this because at the time my brother was dying of lung cancer and she was tired of all the Christians saying "they were going to pray him well".
I use the term nonbeliever separate from atheist because I once was a Christian. I tried to be one of these "liberal" Christians in my teens because I loved science and tried to view the Bible as metaphoric when it conflicted with science. But, eventually that doesn't work anymore. So, I studied the Bible extensively with the early goal of become a minister. Of course the more I studied the more conflicts I had and I was having my own "crisis of faith". My dad and brothers on the other hand never gave religion much of a thought.
"What is the function that a clergyman performs in the world?
Answer: he gets his living by assuring idiots that he can save them from an imaginary hell."
-H. L. Mencken, "Minority Reports"
💖💖💖
Just discovered this channel and have subscribed. Great content. Ron is a good speaker and very easy on the ears. Living in the UK I am always baffled about the religiosity of the US and how difficult it can be to be an out atheist. Kudos to all of you who challenge the religious privileges and power.
3:30 my aunt prohibiting me for telling my cousins that it was a (religious) lie requiring us to nap (age 5!) it confused me very much (especially when my parents gave reasonable explanations when I pushed them).
As opposed to his right wing father I can definitely respect Ron Reagan Jr.
You make really good points RON
I can honestly say I like Ron never believed in god. My parents did not require us to go to church.
What I have always had a problem with is this: why do you need religion to be a good person? Why do you need religion to raise children well? Often you see those who embrace religion as persons who are truly “lost”; addicts, people lost in hedonism, people who treat others poorly and are in trouble with the law. But if you can conduct yourself in a decent manner...”Imagine all the people, living life in peace”? Maybe what we need as a society is a general code of conduct based on common decency; something we can teach our children and support in schools but that does not belong to any religion. Then we can produce better citizens, a safer more successful society, deal with the problems we have to deal with and if people want to practice their own religions... they are free to do so, but there will finally be a separation of church and state.
You should be able to be a devout Christian or Muslim or anything and still strongly comprehend and support a separation of church and state.
10:50 *"it's not even a belief, it's a lack of belief"*
Ron is brilliant.
Thank you Ron. Faith is the denial of unbiased observation in order to preserve belief.
I enjoyed this show. You do good work getting public attention so am sure it’s just a matter of time and the networks will come around. Thank you for all you do.
What a wonderful, clear-speaking, no drama guy Ron Reagan is-enjoyed listening to him.
I've been seeing "the commercial" aired again on Comedy Central every night lately. Way awesome!!!
Great interview. Need more people like Mr. Ron Reagan.
I believe one of the most fundamental reasons for the resistance to stem cell research is the obvious presence of proof of evolution, refuting the magical thinking of creationists.
As a 60 year old life-long A-Theist, I have recently discovered the on-line A-Theist community. (Yeah, late to the party....) I have recently watched a lot of videos and I find this one to be the most “on point “. WOW, Ron Reagan is easy to listen to. I would like to meet him someday!
Only 20 here but who woulda known 6 months later I’d see this and say what’s up. I agree Ron is great at talking made the king video seem so short wish it was hours longer
I agree with Ron on most things including atheism.
I am atheist. I am not pro choice.
The simple reason being the life of the child. Born or unborn, it is a human being and left alone will grow to an adult and very likely thrive.
"Another white guy with a beard" - great, made me laugh right out!
The Abrahamaic religions are all essential to supporting the patriarchy. For men to really know if their sons were theirs, female sexuality had to be rigidly controlled. Enter Adam's rib and all the rest.
That was a VERY good interview! I wasn't aware that Ron Reagan Jr. was an atheist. I especially liked how he addressed the psychology of religion a little bit. In regards to christianity, I've said for a long time that it's more about psychology than salvation.
Now I know why I really liked Ron Reagan, he's one of us, a free thinker who questions the ill logical thinking of radical Religionists. Way to go Ron!
his logical explanation really nailed it!
Wait a minute.
"Not afraid of burning in Hell."
If you're an atheist, then that means there's no Hell to burn in.
A way to test if a religion is true to the love message is to strip it from any fear inducing mechanism and see how many people stays.
I want to see Ron saying " Tear down that "authoritarian" wall!"
Dear, dear Ron is absolutely the best thing Old Ronnie Raygun ever did! I am filled with joy every time I see his wonderful advert.
Ron should run for president. The Whitehouse need smart people.
Ron is the best legacy of his father
I enjoyed listening to this interview with Ron. Thanks.
Absolutely magnificent!!!
Excellent interview! Thank you.
I used to listen to Ron Reagan"s radio show here in Seattle years ago. He was really good. He opened with "All Along the Watchtower" by Hendrix. Good choice of music.