I'm 60. By age 5 I didn't believe god was real. By age 6 I thought religious people used religion to harm others. At age 8 I read the bible gifted to my by my grandma and realized it would be safer for me to not to tell anyone I didn't believe in god. The god represented to me in the bible reminded me of one of my uncles who beat the crap out of my aunt. All these alledged god believers pretended it didn't happen. We had many occasions when he would lose it and start hitting her and all the adults would gather us up and we would leave .Walking to our cars while we could hear her screaming and crying. I was a very lonely child. The only thing I could trust was the fact there was no one I could trust. It wasn't until I started babysitting and met a couple who I came to trust and be could be myself with. They introduced me to other atheists and their home became a sanctuary. I am so thankful young people have social media and can know they are not alone. Thank you so much Hemant❣️
TH-cam atheist gave me the tools to be an open atheist growing up. I came from a Christian lgbtq poc activist background, but atheist on TH-cam helped me figure out who I was fundamentally. I honestly owe the Atheist movement so much. ❤
My husband works with a Somali man in his 30’s and he told my husband he was bullied and ostracized by the Somali community here for being an atheist. We live in Minnesota.
I was raised as a Lutheran. I left that when I saw too much hypocrisy. I was a searcher for decades and never found any answers that satisfied me. Someone is always in charge. Religion should be a self centered thing where no one is in charge. I've never read any books about atheism. I came around to it on my own. I joined a local group of atheists and free thinkers and found my place in the world. We're doing our part to make the world a better place at least in our community. ✌❤
Hemant is probably the hardest working man in the business. I listen a lot of podcasts and almost all of them regularly cite Hemant as their source. He digs into stories that would otherwise slip under the radar. Also, such a nice guy.
Yay! I love the Friendly Atheist and appreciate his channel's focus on news and current events. So helpful to hear his perspective on how atheism's voices and focus has changed over recent years and the progress that has been made.
It's funny he puts it this way as I've gone through this transition myself. I was in that group of mid 00's new atheists and I think the culture has shifted from we exist and that's ok, to now fighting for church-state separation and against religious nationalism being the focal point of my atheist activism. I think that's probably true for a lot of us nowadays.
The threat of this insane Christian White Nationalism was not so obvious in the early 2000s. The GOP was still hiding their hoods. One benefit, maybe the only benefit of Trump's elevation, is that the nutjob weirdos, which, turns out, is most of the GOP, felt emboldened to don their hoods publicly and to wear them with pride. Finally, their aims became public, and they stopped hiding, and loudly proclaimed their desire to force us to live according to what they seem the correct way of living. In time for us to stop them? We shall see, but I hope.
Huh. I didn't realize there was a movement around that time. I left religion while attending a religious college (it's amazing what you notice when you start actually diving into it for the first time), and shopped around for a few years, but didn't call myself atheist until I was finally shown the harm it was doing to folks and took a harder stance.
@@EmpressLizard81 like most movements you don't tend to realize your 'in it' until after the fact. I quit believing in God long before I was willing to admit I didn't. In my case I came back from church camp unusually zealous for once ( went every year) and decided I was going to read the Bible cover to cover over about a 3 week period. While I didn't close the Bible and immediately become an atheist that was the beginning and the seed of what made me one. It just so happened I was going through my own religious turmoil at the same time the 'New Atheists' were coming to prominence. Really though what was the aha moment for me when I realized I was was when I was reading Bart Ehams book 'on suffering'
@grigorigahan I decided I was an atheist in the early 90s, after leaving the church earlier. Yet, my deconversion was not a profound experience. It didn’t affect any relationships, my religion didn’t conflict with science, etc. Therefore, I never gave the New Atheist movement much thought. I knew about Dawkins, etc., but I never read any of their works. It is only now with the rise of Christian nationalism that I am engaging in this community.
@@pcoleman1971 That's more than fair -- no that's actually ideal. You want in fact a world where the majority of atheists just 'are' without it being a significant role in who they are. In my case I was raised in a pretty tight-knit family structure with extented family and it was pretty insular. Church was pretty much a 3x a week affair with associated extracurriculars. I w as an independent fundamentalist baptist -- so yeah it was pretty rough. I'm not sure I'd say I was 'in the movement' then in any strict sense. I did indeed read Hitchen's books, but that was it. More just my deconversion mostly coincides with the same timeline so in retrospect its hard to say I had no effect on me.
I certainly agree with the alliance building aspect of this video. Democracy is about alliance. People banding together, making sacrifices for the greater good. But I also have a problem with these bedfellows. Today their belief may mutually supportive but their belief is also founded on texts that include the worst morality conceivable. No one is above shifting their views and beliefs but when your beliefs are based upon texts that include horrific morality, it is so much easier to shift those beliefs and still find it acceptable. While atheists who literally create their beliefs and morality based upon human experience, our beliefs are hard fought and hard won making them less likely to slide into horrific morality. I find much more trust in people who follow enlightenment principles since they dont include things like genocide and slavery. Which is why we need theists to understand what atheism really is. Not the lies their religious leaders tell them.
I totally agree. Those who have invented their happy sweet Jesus character are still clinging to an ancient Bronze Age culture of a middle eastern origin that contains the most heinous tenants of what they call morality. As Sam Harris said years ago, their hanging on to that actually supports those who are the fanatical zealots of fundamentalism. They are at best, tentative allies.
The way I see it is if there are moderate Christians speaking out against nationalism , or fighting for diversity or keeping the church and state separate, I can get aboard and ride that bus with them, we are going in the same direction. I may get off the bus before or after them, but I can ride with them in the direction of those goals. I may disagree with their dogma, but I recognize a ally when I see one.
I live in a deeply religious area and have to deal with them on a daily basis. When asked, I usually reply that I'm non religious just to avoid confrontation. It's refreshing to have the occasional me too come back as a response.
The first video I saw on atheism was David Silverman of American Atheists. He talked about his activism and how it helped to shift the Overton's window, making it easier for the rest of us. It gave me chills. I went on to find the Four Horsemen, The Thinking Atheist, The Friendly Atheist and others. It feels so good to feel so normal!
Most openly atheist people are white men because it's much safer for them to go against the status quo due to their position of privilege. There's less risk compared to women, black people, or other minority. Women and minorities already face discrimination in this white patriarchal society. Openly adding the atheist label makes us a target for further discrimination and prejudice. This is something I think a lot of people can't afford. I'm certain there are many, many more atheists amongst women and the minority communities, we just can't take the same risks that white men can. Hopefully more will feel compelled to "come out" as society inches further towards some degree of equity.
I read a Baptist preacher repudiate everything Jesus taught. That was so repugnant that I finally allowed myself to ask questions. You have been part of my journey. Thank you. I'm happier and have a better quality of life now.
Why did Madalyn use the government to ban prayer , which never harmed anyone ? Instead , she should have attempted to ban , Alcohol Tobacco Porn , which have harmed millions of people's lives .
She didn't ban prayer, she campaigned against it being forced upon non-christians. Those other things have sensible restrictions upon them but are available to people as a free choice.
@@RobertStambaugh-l5r Prayer has never been banned by government in America, unless you mean non-Christian prayers, which are typically never "invoked" in government meetings. If you want to pray, go ahead and pray, but don't expect others to follow. This may come a surprise, but nobody cares what you (or anyone) believe. Facts are what matter in government, not your beliefs.
What's your religion? Atheist, None, Humanist - all work if you need a category. Is it a religion or an educated benign indifference for free exercise? I like Dawkins "The GOD Delusion" as a good starting point ... then the existentially important socio-political issues like state/church separation, reproductive autonomy, tolerance for pluralism ... the issues weaponized to divide us by the Christian nationalist right that actually unite our diverse community. This isn't the Bronze Age anymore ... ancient tribal myth is going out of style. 😊
I'm not a Christian but I was a Buddhist. Even though Buddhism doesn't believe in an all powerful g0d it does believe that Buddha is all knowing and talks about hell and heaven. The arguments atheists give for Christianity can also be applied to Buddhism. That's how I became non-religious. Thanks to TH-cam❤️❤️❤️
@@j19n7200 most of them had some kind of religious trauma, and many have fiery personality. Plus, when you have to listen how dishonest people tell same old lies, 🐂💩, fallacies and falsehoods while being arrogant, rude and insulting and causing real harm to people, you likely start to dislike them and hate their ideologies.
This is a helpful unpacking of what unbelief or non-belief (“atheism”) encompasses. Although it is a somewhat clumsy circumlocution, identifying as being “unpersuaded by supernatural claims” covers the same ground as the label “atheist” … and in today’s Canada describes (in my estimation) about 40% of the population. It would be interesting to see what the responses would be if the well-known Pew Research Survey put the question this way: “Are you persuaded by supernatural claims?”. I think this might reveal that the growth of “atheism” is considerably greater than most realize.
I hope your number is correct. I do wonder, though, if some hard-core believers might not make the connection between "supernatural claims" and their religion? I think some, without realizing it, might immediately switch that part off in self preservation, and think of flying saucers, Big Foot, Leprechauns and the like. "Supernatural" implies "unlikely" which they can't deal with, so they don't deal with it. .
Anytime anyone mentions a "higher power," This IS their God. Just ask them what they mean when they say "higher power?" Guess what? They'll say, "I don't know." It's the same ignorance box that people of religions have checked. Apparently, God is ignorance.
As a same sex attracted person, what rights do I not have that other people, who are not same sex attracted, do have? I really can't think of any. I am more repressed as an agnostic atheist in my daily life than any other aspect of my life.
I'm from hungary. Christians are around 46% practicing christians are 24%. Government propaganda you are not a hungarian if you are not a christian. The recent development is imagine your government put a cross on the statue of miss liberty.... Literally that is happening right now in hungary. The left leaning major of budapest locked out from the decision. The government (orban) takes over whenever they want.
I disagree....as soon as those religious people become the primary power of the land, they will turn on you. The enemy of my enemy, doesn't make em my friend. Your just a useful stooge to them
I've been an Atheist and used to watch Hemant Mehta a lot and used to resonate a lot with him and his theology, and yes Atheism is also a religion But I'm sure of a fact that everything when you extrapolate it out you'll find God The Evil that is happening around the world is Pure Satanic And yes God exists, specially after i met Jesus ❤ Jesus loves you guys, try finding about him more and more Sins exist, everything the Bible speaks of exists for sure. Take care. Rest is upto you guys
Why do idiots start their comments with asinine BS like “atheism is a religion”, then expect us to take seriously anything else they say??? This is really confusing to me. Also… is it embarrassing to be as stupid as you are?
Hemant has lost the plot, attacking some of the strongest, most influential atheist leaders for the crime of not bending the knee to woke ideology. For the crime of staying to true to the liberal tenet that belief should be based on evidence, not ideological authoritarianism. Hemant has become a science-denying woke apologist.
I read his blog for years until he became obsessed with Richard Dawkins and started to twist anything he wrote into something transphobic. Regardless if he had a point or not. Especially when he right. Hemant didnt care when he was wrong while saying "tell us in the comments" and at some point it was like reading a right-wing or creationist blog with all the hate towards one scientist. Most readers didnt bother to call him out on it. I stopped reading it. Thats not the kind of activism Im interested in.
"Transphobic" is a heavy and serious accusation. What I have come across is Hemant mentioning instances of transphobia to illustrate a point ...which is far from subscribing to transphobia for oneself. Can you point to a particular instance to back up your accustaion? I ... for one ... would not align myself to an individual that subscribes to transphobia ... but I have not found any eveidence that Hemant Mehta is among that cohort.
@@REDJr1960 Thats not what I ment. I ment Hemant twisted Richards words to make him sound transphobic because Richard often talked about trans people from a biologist point of view back then. Which was years ago.
There are lots of creators in the skeptic/atheist space that, just a few years ago, I used to feel were too liberal, or too woke, or whatever, and I continued to follow many of them without paying them a whole lot of attention. I greatly preferred Richard Dawkins to those creators, and I respected him highly. I was annoyed that Dawkins was stripped of his humanist award for comments that I thought were reasonable. I continued to feel nothing but extreme admiration for Richard Dawkins right up until he started his own podcast, and in the very first episode he had a "softball interview" with a lady who had a math background who was portraying herself as a gender expert/women's rights/lesbian rights advocate, and she made wild claims about trans issues with little to no evidence to back them up. Dawkins didn't question any of it and blindly accepted her claims. I'm guessing that he has become misguided by these anti-trans activists because the trans activists attacked him so harshly for his past comments, so now he is allying with people he feels are on his side. Dawkins is having an intense Dunning-Krueger/confirmation bias problem now around trans issues, he doesn't care about the scientists who are actually studying these issues and is instead taking the word of activists without scientific expertise in that area. This is highly disappointing and I hate to see it happen to someone who was my absolute favorite atheist activists, and one of the greatest scientists of all time. I once almost paid a fortune to meet Dawkins, but today I wouldn't bother paying much since I'm so disillusioned. As far as the liberal creators though, they still go too far in many ways, but that doesn't excuse ignorance from their detractors.
""Transphobic" is a heavy and serious accusation." -phobic is a suffix that was supposed to mean an irrational fear. It is now a means of labeling someone in order to shut them down instead of making an argument. If you can make your opponent a bad guy, you need not address his argument. The problem with this, is that you will never change his mind or anyone else, you will just shut them up, and then only in public. In private they will vote for knuckleheads like Trump and build defenses in their minds. This is the failure of the left.
I too was turned off by Hemant's criticisms of Dawkins. It is not that criticism of a person's viewpoints is wrong - in fact, critique is essential - but I felt Hemant was picking on a small subset of Dawkins' views, and then generalizing that to Dawkins as a bad person.
Sadly I had to stop listening to Hemant. The inane rambelings of his misandrist friend just wasn't bearable anymore. And in a field where choice of words matter, where nuance is important, you can't scream "ALL WHITE MEN!" and then say "If it doesn't apply to you, why are you offended?"
The aalewis stereotype is becoming more prominent in the zeitgeist. The Atheist movement is becoming known for incompetence and dishonesty. I recently trolled r/skepticism with "Neil Tyson's Five False Histories" where I look at the invented histories Neil Tyson has used to attack religion. One of them is Neil's Bush and Star and Names story. Hemant actually acknowledged this falsehood. If I remember correctly the title of the Friendly Atheist blog post was "if we can't trust Neil deGrasse Tyson, we can we trust?" But Mehta has evidently taken the post down. And he seems to be willfully ignoring Neil's other falsehoods. Got to the talk page of Neil's Wikipedia article and you will see other atheist zealots trying to push the New Atheist misinformation down the memory hole. Let "The movement" become known for system dishonesty.
And yet there is no compelling evidence for any Gods. Also, NDT is not the official representative of atheism. Plus whatever facts NDT or anyone got wrong, it does not change the millennia of oppression done in the name of Gods. Papal bulls in the 1400s declared indigenous people as “lawful spoil and prey of civilized conquerors,” giving God’s official seal of approval for Spain and Portugal to murder and enslave indigenous people, while plundering their wealth and stealing their land. When Great Britain became the dominant colonizer, they adopted the doctrine of discovery. These Doctrine of Discovery were also used by US Supreme Court to justify the subjugation of Native Americans in the 1800s. The Catholic Church did not officially repudiate the doctrine of discovery until 2023.
@@alg11297You say you haven't seen these things. Are you looking? BTW, there are government programs that are secular and charity driven. Also, if these social media videos are all anyone is doing, it is still activism. And the subject is being an atheist. There's a channel called the Atheist Experience, it has different shows on it hosted by different atheists, and they cover a variety of topics and they all have different backgrounds and strengths so there's a variety of POV's.
I am sixty-eight. I see little value in spreading atheism. Human nature, and our human predicament remain about the same throughout history. I find some of the far left notions, like dividing society into oppressors and victims, to be particularly misguided. Sadly, it appears to me that Hemant has replaced his religion with his brand of perceived social justice. For instance, surely he must know that an anatomical man can never be a woman. That would defy observable reality. In this short clip, he criticizes "whiteness," while boosting women and racial minorities. Fascinating, his obsessions. This is not the face of Skepticism.
If you wish to live as an atheist, then you must take responsibility for your own life. You have no deity to pass the buck to. In order for the society you live in to flourish, you must also take responsibility for the effect you have on it. A successful atheist society requires a high degree of intelligence and libertarianism. It is not a pragmatic ideal. I have no choice because I cannot believe in something I am convinced is not true. What the rest of the OP said is right on target. Unfortunately, 80% of the populace is incapable of intellectually debating ideas due to a lower than average IQ and instead virtue signal to their tribe by labeling those they disagree with as deniers, -ists and -phobes. The sad part of this is, I so enjoy engaging and discussing ,not arguing or debating, but actually discussing these issues. And while I hate to take sides, as a person in the middle, but it is the left that refuses to discuss. They are the ones after all that coined the term "platforming".
Wow, there is so much wrong in your post I don't know where to begin. Which makes me think you are really just a troll. It doesn't seem likely you get so much wrong based upon honesty.
I'm 60. By age 5 I didn't believe god was real. By age 6 I thought religious people used religion to harm others. At age 8 I read the bible gifted to my by my grandma and realized it would be safer for me to not to tell anyone I didn't believe in god. The god represented to me in the bible reminded me of one of my uncles who beat the crap out of my aunt. All these alledged god believers pretended it didn't happen. We had many occasions when he would lose it and start hitting her and all the adults would gather us up and we would leave .Walking to our cars while we could hear her screaming and crying. I was a very lonely child. The only thing I could trust was the fact there was no one I could trust. It wasn't until I started babysitting and met a couple who I came to trust and be could be myself with. They introduced me to other atheists and their home became a sanctuary. I am so thankful young people have social media and can know they are not alone. Thank you so much Hemant❣️
when ypu were a kid non believer, did fsmily scold and spank and punish you?
TH-cam atheist gave me the tools to be an open atheist growing up. I came from a Christian lgbtq poc activist background, but atheist on TH-cam helped me figure out who I was fundamentally. I honestly owe the Atheist movement so much. ❤
Congrats on ur freedom mate
Because a lot of black atheist are afraid to come out
My husband works with a Somali man in his 30’s and he told my husband he was bullied and ostracized by the Somali community here for being an atheist. We live in Minnesota.
@@agiraffe3673 He should check out Apostate Alladin.
There is one I watch called Greater Sapien,but he does mostly pseudoscience debunks. Hes cool though.
I was raised as a Lutheran. I left that when I saw too much hypocrisy. I was a searcher for decades and never found any answers that satisfied me. Someone is always in charge. Religion should be a self centered thing where no one is in charge. I've never read any books about atheism. I came around to it on my own. I joined a local group of atheists and free thinkers and found my place in the world. We're doing our part to make the world a better place at least in our community. ✌❤
Hemant is probably the hardest working man in the business.
I listen a lot of podcasts and almost all of them regularly cite Hemant as their source.
He digs into stories that would otherwise slip under the radar.
Also, such a nice guy.
Yay! I love the Friendly Atheist and appreciate his channel's focus on news and current events. So helpful to hear his perspective on how atheism's voices and focus has changed over recent years and the progress that has been made.
Great take on this topic! Thanks to all who had a part in the production of this video! 🎉
It's funny he puts it this way as I've gone through this transition myself. I was in that group of mid 00's new atheists and I think the culture has shifted from we exist and that's ok, to now fighting for church-state separation and against religious nationalism being the focal point of my atheist activism. I think that's probably true for a lot of us nowadays.
The threat of this insane Christian White Nationalism was not so obvious in the early 2000s. The GOP was still hiding their hoods. One benefit, maybe the only benefit of Trump's elevation, is that the nutjob weirdos, which, turns out, is most of the GOP, felt emboldened to don their hoods publicly and to wear them with pride. Finally, their aims became public, and they stopped hiding, and loudly proclaimed their desire to force us to live according to what they seem the correct way of living.
In time for us to stop them? We shall see, but I hope.
Huh. I didn't realize there was a movement around that time. I left religion while attending a religious college (it's amazing what you notice when you start actually diving into it for the first time), and shopped around for a few years, but didn't call myself atheist until I was finally shown the harm it was doing to folks and took a harder stance.
@@EmpressLizard81 like most movements you don't tend to realize your 'in it' until after the fact. I quit believing in God long before I was willing to admit I didn't. In my case I came back from church camp unusually zealous for once ( went every year) and decided I was going to read the Bible cover to cover over about a 3 week period. While I didn't close the Bible and immediately become an atheist that was the beginning and the seed of what made me one. It just so happened I was going through my own religious turmoil at the same time the 'New Atheists' were coming to prominence. Really though what was the aha moment for me when I realized I was was when I was reading Bart Ehams book 'on suffering'
@grigorigahan I decided I was an atheist in the early 90s, after leaving the church earlier. Yet, my deconversion was not a profound experience. It didn’t affect any relationships, my religion didn’t conflict with science, etc. Therefore, I never gave the New Atheist movement much thought. I knew about Dawkins, etc., but I never read any of their works. It is only now with the rise of Christian nationalism that I am engaging in this community.
@@pcoleman1971 That's more than fair -- no that's actually ideal. You want in fact a world where the majority of atheists just 'are' without it being a significant role in who they are. In my case I was raised in a pretty tight-knit family structure with extented family and it was pretty insular. Church was pretty much a 3x a week affair with associated extracurriculars. I w as an independent fundamentalist baptist -- so yeah it was pretty rough. I'm not sure I'd say I was 'in the movement' then in any strict sense. I did indeed read Hitchen's books, but that was it. More just my deconversion mostly coincides with the same timeline so in retrospect its hard to say I had no effect on me.
I certainly agree with the alliance building aspect of this video. Democracy is about alliance. People banding together, making sacrifices for the greater good. But I also have a problem with these bedfellows. Today their belief may mutually supportive but their belief is also founded on texts that include the worst morality conceivable. No one is above shifting their views and beliefs but when your beliefs are based upon texts that include horrific morality, it is so much easier to shift those beliefs and still find it acceptable. While atheists who literally create their beliefs and morality based upon human experience, our beliefs are hard fought and hard won making them less likely to slide into horrific morality.
I find much more trust in people who follow enlightenment principles since they dont include things like genocide and slavery. Which is why we need theists to understand what atheism really is. Not the lies their religious leaders tell them.
I totally agree. Those who have invented their happy sweet Jesus character are still clinging to an ancient Bronze Age culture of a middle eastern origin that contains the most heinous tenants of what they call morality. As Sam Harris said years ago, their hanging on to that actually supports those who are the fanatical zealots of fundamentalism. They are at best, tentative allies.
The way I see it is if there are moderate Christians speaking out against nationalism , or fighting for diversity or keeping the church and state separate, I can get aboard and ride that bus with them, we are going in the same direction. I may get off the bus before or after them, but I can ride with them in the direction of those goals. I may disagree with their dogma, but I recognize a ally when I see one.
With all the hate these days, it’s good to recognize there has been positive change =)
Thank you
Fantastic! So thoughtful. Perfect AV production, too.
I live in a deeply religious area and have to deal with them on a daily basis. When asked, I usually reply that I'm non religious just to avoid confrontation. It's refreshing to have the occasional me too come back as a response.
The first video I saw on atheism was David Silverman of American Atheists. He talked about his activism and how it helped to shift the Overton's window, making it easier for the rest of us. It gave me chills. I went on to find the Four Horsemen, The Thinking Atheist, The Friendly Atheist and others.
It feels so good to feel so normal!
Hermant is the reason I was able to get through the Old Testament, his reading of the first few books made it tolerable lol
Most openly atheist people are white men because it's much safer for them to go against the status quo due to their position of privilege. There's less risk compared to women, black people, or other minority. Women and minorities already face discrimination in this white patriarchal society. Openly adding the atheist label makes us a target for further discrimination and prejudice. This is something I think a lot of people can't afford. I'm certain there are many, many more atheists amongst women and the minority communities, we just can't take the same risks that white men can. Hopefully more will feel compelled to "come out" as society inches further towards some degree of equity.
That tells a lot about the men in your family and further community, i deeply pity you.
I read a Baptist preacher repudiate everything Jesus taught. That was so repugnant that I finally allowed myself to ask questions. You have been part of my journey. Thank you. I'm happier and have a better quality of life now.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair is an American hero.
Why did Madalyn use the government to ban prayer , which never harmed anyone ?
Instead , she should have attempted to ban ,
Alcohol
Tobacco
Porn ,
which have harmed millions of people's lives .
Maybe because praying is useless? Praying is only pretending to do something without doing anything.@@RobertStambaugh-l5r
She didn't ban prayer, she campaigned against it being forced upon non-christians.
Those other things have sensible restrictions upon them but are available to people as a free choice.
@@RobertStambaugh-l5r Prayer has never been banned by government in America, unless you mean non-Christian prayers, which are typically never "invoked" in government meetings. If you want to pray, go ahead and pray, but don't expect others to follow. This may come a surprise, but nobody cares what you (or anyone) believe. Facts are what matter in government, not your beliefs.
What's your religion? Atheist, None, Humanist - all work if you need a category. Is it a religion or an educated benign indifference for free exercise? I like Dawkins "The GOD Delusion" as a good starting point ... then the existentially important socio-political issues like state/church separation, reproductive autonomy, tolerance for pluralism ... the issues weaponized to divide us by the Christian nationalist right that actually unite our diverse community. This isn't the Bronze Age anymore ... ancient tribal myth is going out of style. 😊
I'm not a Christian but I was a Buddhist. Even though Buddhism doesn't believe in an all powerful g0d it does believe that Buddha is all knowing and talks about hell and heaven. The arguments atheists give for Christianity can also be applied to Buddhism. That's how I became non-religious. Thanks to TH-cam❤️❤️❤️
I'm running for local office (again). In 19 i was told by many people to put my church on my literatue. Haven't had that this year.
Excellent video interview. Really made an impact on me.
I first saw him after the first search result I did on atheism years ago, I always liked him. he didn't seem angry like many others.
The "angry atheist" is one of the apologists favorite memes and a blatant straw man.
@@BigRalphSmith what I meant is it seems that many activists sounded angry
@@j19n7200 most of them had some kind of religious trauma, and many have fiery personality. Plus, when you have to listen how dishonest people tell same old lies, 🐂💩, fallacies and falsehoods while being arrogant, rude and insulting and causing real harm to people, you likely start to dislike them and hate their ideologies.
@@valivali8104 that as it my be, you have to get past it.
@@valivali8104 most people that claim trauma aren’t actually traumatized. When folks are angry you shouldn’t listen to them.
Hemant is so great
The Friendly Atheist is one of the first channels i found when i started my deconstruction a few years ago...
I love this so much.
This is a helpful unpacking of what unbelief or non-belief (“atheism”) encompasses. Although it is a somewhat clumsy circumlocution, identifying as being “unpersuaded by supernatural claims” covers the same ground as the label “atheist” … and in today’s Canada describes (in my estimation) about 40% of the population. It would be interesting to see what the responses would be if the well-known Pew Research Survey put the question this way: “Are you persuaded by supernatural claims?”. I think this might reveal that the growth of “atheism” is considerably greater than most realize.
I hope your number is correct. I do wonder, though, if some hard-core believers might not make the connection between "supernatural claims" and their religion? I think some, without realizing it, might immediately switch that part off in self preservation, and think of flying saucers, Big Foot, Leprechauns and the like.
"Supernatural" implies "unlikely" which they can't deal with, so they don't deal with it.
.
Anytime anyone mentions a "higher power," This IS their God. Just ask them what they mean when they say "higher power?" Guess what? They'll say, "I don't know." It's the same ignorance box that people of religions have checked. Apparently, God is ignorance.
💙
Great message Hemant! Thanks Seth!
"god's not great" is indeed a repetitive book that doesnt really join the dots between religions and effects on people.
So, it seems like it could be as challenging as coming out as gay to publicly say you are atheist. Tells a lot about the situation. 😮
As a same sex attracted person, what rights do I not have that other people, who are not same sex attracted, do have? I really can't think of any. I am more repressed as an agnostic atheist in my daily life than any other aspect of my life.
I'm from hungary. Christians are around 46% practicing christians are 24%. Government propaganda you are not a hungarian if you are not a christian. The recent development is imagine your government put a cross on the statue of miss liberty.... Literally that is happening right now in hungary. The left leaning major of budapest locked out from the decision. The government (orban) takes over whenever they want.
Religion is going to go the way of the Dodo only too slow
I believe activism is important to address a specific and clear injustice. Then, once the problem is solved, go away.
What do you mean by "go away"?
@@valivali8104 I mean, many activist groups continue on even when their founding purpose was resolved.
@@mrscience1409 example?
@@valivali8104i don't think you will ever get an answer.
@@pub652 you're likely right.
I disagree....as soon as those religious people become the primary power of the land, they will turn on you. The enemy of my enemy, doesn't make em my friend. Your just a useful stooge to them
I've been an Atheist and used to watch Hemant Mehta a lot and used to resonate a lot with him and his theology, and yes Atheism is also a religion
But I'm sure of a fact that everything when you extrapolate it out you'll find God
The Evil that is happening around the world is Pure Satanic
And yes God exists, specially after i met Jesus ❤
Jesus loves you guys, try finding about him more and more
Sins exist, everything the Bible speaks of exists for sure. Take care. Rest is upto you guys
Why do idiots start their comments with asinine BS like “atheism is a religion”, then expect us to take seriously anything else they say???
This is really confusing to me.
Also… is it embarrassing to be as stupid as you are?
27 views in 36 seconds? fell off. also first(ik original comment)
Hemant has lost the plot, attacking some of the strongest, most influential atheist leaders for the crime of not bending the knee to woke ideology. For the crime of staying to true to the liberal tenet that belief should be based on evidence, not ideological authoritarianism. Hemant has become a science-denying woke apologist.
Please clarify. The only issue I know where Hemant has diverged with Dawkins, for example, is on transgender rights. On this, science supports Hemant.
Every single person who uses "woke" as a pejorative is an asshole who can be completely ignored
Anybody who uses "woke" as a pejorative can be safely ignored
I read his blog for years until he became obsessed with Richard Dawkins and started to twist anything he wrote into something transphobic. Regardless if he had a point or not. Especially when he right. Hemant didnt care when he was wrong while saying "tell us in the comments" and at some point it was like reading a right-wing or creationist blog with all the hate towards one scientist. Most readers didnt bother to call him out on it. I stopped reading it. Thats not the kind of activism Im interested in.
"Transphobic" is a heavy and serious accusation. What I have come across is Hemant mentioning instances of transphobia to illustrate a point ...which is far from subscribing to transphobia for oneself. Can you point to a particular instance to back up your accustaion? I ... for one ... would not align myself to an individual that subscribes to transphobia ... but I have not found any eveidence that Hemant Mehta is among that cohort.
@@REDJr1960 Thats not what I ment. I ment Hemant twisted Richards words to make him sound transphobic because Richard often talked about trans people from a biologist point of view back then. Which was years ago.
There are lots of creators in the skeptic/atheist space that, just a few years ago, I used to feel were too liberal, or too woke, or whatever, and I continued to follow many of them without paying them a whole lot of attention. I greatly preferred Richard Dawkins to those creators, and I respected him highly. I was annoyed that Dawkins was stripped of his humanist award for comments that I thought were reasonable. I continued to feel nothing but extreme admiration for Richard Dawkins right up until he started his own podcast, and in the very first episode he had a "softball interview" with a lady who had a math background who was portraying herself as a gender expert/women's rights/lesbian rights advocate, and she made wild claims about trans issues with little to no evidence to back them up. Dawkins didn't question any of it and blindly accepted her claims. I'm guessing that he has become misguided by these anti-trans activists because the trans activists attacked him so harshly for his past comments, so now he is allying with people he feels are on his side. Dawkins is having an intense Dunning-Krueger/confirmation bias problem now around trans issues, he doesn't care about the scientists who are actually studying these issues and is instead taking the word of activists without scientific expertise in that area. This is highly disappointing and I hate to see it happen to someone who was my absolute favorite atheist activists, and one of the greatest scientists of all time. I once almost paid a fortune to meet Dawkins, but today I wouldn't bother paying much since I'm so disillusioned. As far as the liberal creators though, they still go too far in many ways, but that doesn't excuse ignorance from their detractors.
""Transphobic" is a heavy and serious accusation."
-phobic is a suffix that was supposed to mean an irrational fear. It is now a means of labeling someone in order to shut them down instead of making an argument. If you can make your opponent a bad guy, you need not address his argument. The problem with this, is that you will never change his mind or anyone else, you will just shut them up, and then only in public. In private they will vote for knuckleheads like Trump and build defenses in their minds. This is the failure of the left.
I too was turned off by Hemant's criticisms of Dawkins. It is not that criticism of a person's viewpoints is wrong - in fact, critique is essential - but I felt Hemant was picking on a small subset of Dawkins' views, and then generalizing that to Dawkins as a bad person.
Sadly I had to stop listening to Hemant. The inane rambelings of his misandrist friend just wasn't bearable anymore.
And in a field where choice of words matter, where nuance is important, you can't scream "ALL WHITE MEN!" and then say "If it doesn't apply to you, why are you offended?"
The aalewis stereotype is becoming more prominent in the zeitgeist. The Atheist movement is becoming known for incompetence and dishonesty.
I recently trolled r/skepticism with "Neil Tyson's Five False Histories" where I look at the invented histories Neil Tyson has used to attack religion.
One of them is Neil's Bush and Star and Names story. Hemant actually acknowledged this falsehood. If I remember correctly the title of the Friendly Atheist blog post was "if we can't trust Neil deGrasse Tyson, we can we trust?"
But Mehta has evidently taken the post down. And he seems to be willfully ignoring Neil's other falsehoods.
Got to the talk page of Neil's Wikipedia article and you will see other atheist zealots trying to push the New Atheist misinformation down the memory hole.
Let "The movement" become known for system dishonesty.
And yet there is no compelling evidence for any Gods.
Also, NDT is not the official representative of atheism. Plus whatever facts NDT or anyone got wrong, it does not change the millennia of oppression done in the name of Gods.
Papal bulls in the 1400s declared indigenous people as “lawful spoil and prey of civilized conquerors,” giving God’s official seal of approval for Spain and Portugal to murder and enslave indigenous people, while plundering their wealth and stealing their land.
When Great Britain became the dominant colonizer, they adopted the doctrine of discovery.
These Doctrine of Discovery were also used by US Supreme Court to justify the subjugation of Native Americans in the 1800s. The Catholic Church did not officially repudiate the doctrine of discovery until 2023.
Atheism is entertainment, 🤑grift, silliness... I enjoy the entertainment part of it... in TH-cam only...👍
Is it? How so? Care to explain?
Atheist activism is an oxymoron
No
Kind of like "Christian charity"?
@@REDJr1960 I dunno. I've yet to see a hospital, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter that is sponsored by a secular or atheist organization.
@@alg11297 So? What does any of that have to do with atheist activism?
Also, there are plenty of secular charities.
@@alg11297You say you haven't seen these things. Are you looking? BTW, there are government programs that are secular and charity driven. Also, if these social media videos are all anyone is doing, it is still activism. And the subject is being an atheist.
There's a channel called the Atheist Experience, it has different shows on it hosted by different atheists, and they cover a variety of topics and they all have different backgrounds and strengths so there's a variety of POV's.
I am sixty-eight. I see little value in spreading atheism. Human nature, and our human predicament remain about the same throughout history.
I find some of the far left notions, like dividing society into oppressors and victims, to be particularly misguided.
Sadly, it appears to me that Hemant has replaced his religion with his brand of perceived social justice. For instance, surely he must know that an anatomical man can never be a woman. That would defy observable reality.
In this short clip, he criticizes "whiteness," while boosting women and racial minorities. Fascinating, his obsessions. This is not the face of Skepticism.
Funny ... I feel much the same about Christianity ... and all other religions as well.
@@REDJr1960 >"I feel much the same about Christianity ... and all other religions as well."< As do I.
If you wish to live as an atheist, then you must take responsibility for your own life. You have no deity to pass the buck to. In order for the society you live in to flourish, you must also take responsibility for the effect you have on it. A successful atheist society requires a high degree of intelligence and libertarianism. It is not a pragmatic ideal. I have no choice because I cannot believe in something I am convinced is not true.
What the rest of the OP said is right on target. Unfortunately, 80% of the populace is incapable of intellectually debating ideas due to a lower than average IQ and instead virtue signal to their tribe by labeling those they disagree with as deniers, -ists and -phobes. The sad part of this is, I so enjoy engaging and discussing ,not arguing or debating, but actually discussing these issues. And while I hate to take sides, as a person in the middle, but it is the left that refuses to discuss. They are the ones after all that coined the term "platforming".
Wow, there is so much wrong in your post I don't know where to begin. Which makes me think you are really just a troll. It doesn't seem likely you get so much wrong based upon honesty.
@@josephbelisle5792 "Wow, there is so much I disagree with in your post I don't know where to begin."
There, I fixed it for you.