[chuck]I like the idea given in one of the previous threads about opening up part of episode 100 to a Q&A session with listeners providing us probing questions to answer. I figure we’ll devote maybe 15-20 minutes to it, so drop any questions you’d like to see us answer, serious and otherwise, in the comments. For this Q&A session, no topic is off limits.
If all of the questions suck, well then, we’ll just have to “discover” a lot of “email” questions to answer instead.
105 Responses to “Questions for Episode 100”
Here’s my question: If a god were to appear before mankind, and it happened to be the god of the Bible, would you worship it? Or would your sense of morality prevent you from doing so?
Here’s a question: What is your “spiritual biography” (maybe what you would have once called a testimony)? What have been your deepest “religious” experiences (including LDS, LSD, peyote, seizures, intense orgasms, Leighton zapping Chuck in the sack with jumper cables, etc) and how did you ultimately come to reject those “spiritual experiences” as emanating from some external source?
For both hosts:
Can you think of any hypothetical evidence which would convince you of the truth of any religion? Do either of you still want to be Mormon?
Who designed the irreligiosophy website?
When are you guys going to adopt an egg of your own? I hope you haven’t tried to steal one.
For Chuck:
If Chuck could chuck, would Chuck chuck as much as a Woodchuck could chuck?
What kind of doctor is Chuck?
For Leighton:
Kirk, Picard, or secret option Sisko? Janeway or Archer are not valid responses.
And how many girlfriends has Leighton actually had? How did he find the time being a seaman for so long?
Who is more irritating, The Evidence 4 Faith clowns, or Shirley Phelps-Roeper?
Could either of you spell (or even pronounce) “Irreligiosophy” before you started this site?
Where do you see yourselves (and this site) 5 years from now?
(In order to judge you with a righteous judgment) What kind of beer do you like best?
Can God make a taco so hot he himself could not eat it?
On a more personal note, your obviously atheist and your wife is Mormon how do you make it work? cause for me that would be a deal breaker
To Chuck: What is your all-time favorite book about atheism or skepticism, and why?
To Leighton: If you were granted the gift of literacy for a whole year, what one atheist/skepticism book would you most like to read and why?
Chuck: You seem awfully well-adjusted for having come from FLDS. I’ve always wondered about that. Could you spell out your upbringing in a little more detail?
Leighton: How many countries have you been to?
What does it take to be on your show?
to get on, I should say
If you could go back in time and change an event in your past, what would it be and why?
Why is Orson Scott Card such a massive dick?
I became a skeptic about 3 years ago. Ultimately that path lead me to question a lifetime of Christian beliefs. Now I feel like I’ve been jipped out of eternal life… like a child that just figured out there is no santa claus. I’m freaking disappointed. How did you cope with losing your religion?
I think this is Gliblord’s question put a bit more bluntly, but how many wives did your father have Chuck, and what is it like growing up with multiple mommies? How do you get along with your family now?
What was your primary motivation for doing this podcast, and has your motivations changed over time?
Oh, and Leighton: What Mormon Primary School hymns do you remember? I grew up Mormon as well, but I can only recall five: “The Golden Plates”, “Book of Mormon Stories”, “The Chapel Doors”, “I am a Child of God”, and “Families Can Be Together Forever”. Can you remember any more? Can you sing one for us?
My question:
“What religious argument or arguments do you think you’re the least prepared or the least able to defend against?”
Put another way if you don’t like that wording:
“What do you think are the three best arguments or best pieces of evidence that religion has to offer?”
From a debating stand point, I always like to look at my weaknesses and try to shore them up. I think athiests often get complacent dealing with uneducated theists and they could probably stand to hone some of the tougher arguments. I’m curious as to what you master debaters think those weaknesses are.
Christopher Hitchens once said to Richard Dawkins that if he had the power to eradicate religion he would not do so because there would be no-one left to argue with (I’m paraphrasing of course). Dawkins was in shock. Hitchens went on to say in later interviews that the look of shock he received from Dawkins stays with him.
How does this sit with you both? Could you deal with the eradication of religion? Or would you like to duke it out til your end of days? It’s a broad question I know. Suck it.
If skunks didn’t have dicks, what would you call your awards?
If you had the chance to release your own comic book series, would it be called The Incredible EX Mor-Men? What would each of your super powers be? For example Leighton could summon the lord of Wikipedia to bore his opponents into a coma…
Leighton, have you ever used a Star Wars reference to pick up women? If so, were the words “lightsaber” and “force” used to maximum effect?
Why do you waste time on the podcast with these stupid questions?
I’ve run your 99 podcasts through a computer algorithm that omitted Chuck’s laughing and Leighton’s direct Wikipedia quotes and it turns out you’ve only done 68 shows (which, per 100 shows, is 1 more than Skeptics Guide once I omitted Steven Novella’s bird watching comments). Do you feel like you’ve ever pumped out a show just to stop the whinging dicks who call themselves fans?
Leighton was in the navy, right? I think he’s said he was in the navy. Leighton, just say you were in the navy.
For Leighton:
What kind of ships did you serve on in the navy? If I have the timing right you were in during Operation Iraqi Cluster****, were you and if so what did you do? Did you have a specialty?
And most importantly, did you ever have to swab the poop deck?
For Chuck:
How did you decide to get into medicine?
Did your upbringing get in the way of learning a scientific outlook at all? What did your family think of it?
Are you guys going to come out to an awesome postmo/atheist BYU underground party? And when will you give us a shout-out to let people know there are hundreds of unbelievers at BYU?
1. Have you read the book _Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All_
by David Fitzgerald, and have you considered having him as a guest interview? Check out his you tube lecture, he would be a great guest.
2. Have often do you fart during a show?
Gentlemen. As your sixth listener, I have a story and question for you. I teach my sons that there is no such thing as god. For as sure as the bible expounds, there is no such entity. Ultimate questions be damned, there is no such Almighty as such that loves the desert tribes of bronze aged history. I teach my 9 and 11 year old sons as such. I feel it it gives them an advantage toward critical thinking in removing the largest obstacal from consideration. Question… Do you practice the same, or would you practice the same parenting approach? There are many that respect the tradition enough to let their children figure things out themselves, but why waste their time? Does a good father let time help decide his sons’ paths? I say no. Could a morally responsible parent really stay aloof from the edification of their children? My sons’ have a head start, in my opinion, and I am appalled by anti-theist parents who let their children waste time coming to an atheist conclusion.
Wesley in Texas.
Can’t believe its the 100th episode already!
This show is the shit! Never laughed so hard at a podcast before since The Infidel Guy. Keep it up.
Posted a whole bunch because most people have only done one or two, and you guys need a bigger set to choose from. Plus, drunk and awake.
To either:
1. When was the first time you really started seriously questioning your initial faith?
2. Did you honestly ever consider following another faith before leaving LDS and claiming atheism altogether?
3. Is there a particular book (or debate) that really delivered a convincing perspective on your doubts? (ex. after reading The End of Faith and The God Delusion I was more comfortable with my skepticism)
4. Chuck, in your school days with philosophy, what is the weirdest, or most absurd explanation you have ever come across for reality. (aka I mean George Berkeley weird)
5. In my philosophy class, my professor kept calling me a militant atheist (apparently “new atheists” are called this), because of my adherence to scientific reasoning. Do you feel that the new atheists are doing more to help or hurt the “cause” of atheism.
6. In addition, do you agree with Sam Harris that atheists should not even refer to themselves as atheists at all, as addressed in his infamous AAI 2007 speech, or do you think that this is a form of cowering to the religious especially in politics.
7. Chuck, you made references to this earlier, I think on the episode about atheism and ethics/morality: Have you read or heard Sam Harris’ most recent audiobook, The Moral Landscape? Its caused quite a stir with many of these academic relativists, but I think he has good points.
8. Do you ever notice how disrespectful Christians get when they pull you to the side to ask questions, and then figure out you are a skeptic with some reasoning to back up your supported reasoning? (evolution, Astronomy, etc) Doesn’t it feel like talking to a wall? Why do they do this? Maybe we should claim belief in Transgender Unicorns and shift the burden of proof their way.
9. Chance to let out your inner pessimism: Do you think that non-belief will increase in the future or that their will possibly be another religion to take over?
10. I have to ask this, because people always have a different answer: What have you heard is the fastest-growing belief system in the United States? Christians always seem to think that theirs is shrinking and that Mormonism and Islam are sporadically winning.
11. Don’t you ever get tired of Christians calling Evolution racist? Especially when they haven’t looked at any evidence? (I get this a lot, especially being mixed and flip the argument on them; apparently many Christian proselytizers only think white people logically benefit from defending evolution and try to say stuff like “you shouldn’t defend this stuff because its really racist and you’re black.” The Morons.)
12. Whats the best book you have read on evolution?
13. Free Will or Determinism?
14. What is your favorite sci-fi and horror movies?
Bonus: Dr. Paul Vitz says that atheism is the result of weak, absent or abusive fathers in his book “Faith of the Fatherless.” Seriously, look it up, lol.
I am going to ask a variation of NiceAndBlue’s question:
If there was proof that there is a Creator, but has nothing to do with the Bible God and is more like the kind of God Spinoza, Eistein and Hawking mean when they use the term, would you worship him/her/it/whatever?
Could you devote a show to Bart Ehrman’s JESUS INTERRUPTED?
Chuck, what do you think of the Odontological Proof for God? Would you believe if you had his teeth prints?
Are you going to do Wicca/neopaganism/I’ve dyed my hair black and have an overactive imagination?
Oh, and Chuck – does your wife really obey you in all things?
Thoughts on the LDS “law of consecration,” especially in relation to what the presidents of their church have said in respect to communism (see “A Witness and a Warning” by Ezra Taft Benson for an official statement)? In all my studies the system that Joseph Smith initially set up was almost identical to the Russian communist government, but all mormons I’ve confronted about it insist that they are entirely different.
Skunkdick candidate: http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2011/03/atheists-explanation-for-killer-quakes.html
Ray Comfort says evolutionists should be overjoyed at the tsunami in Japan, since it weeds out the weak.
What is your favorite color?
What… is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
European or African?
For Leighton, How was your experience in the military? Were you discriminated against for being an atheist? What’s your view on the Chaplaincy?
For Chuck, Do you ever shake your head at people that give god the credit for all the hard work you did saving their mom?
Is it OK to masturbate while listening to your epsiodes?
What is the best argument a theist can make, and what’s the best response.
Love the show
@Chuck: Other than his head, how many objects have you had to remove from Leighton’s ass?
@Leighton: Which is a greater nuisance: fingernails on a chalkboard or Charlie’s whiny voice?
@Chuck and Leighton: How many questions were posted to this thread that already have been answered at some point during the previous 99 episodes or ANN podcasts? (Bonus points if you can identify each one.)
@Chuck and Leighton: What’s your best estimate of the number listeners who use your podcast as a sleep aide?
Can you post a picture of Leighton’s penis to your site? I just want to see if it smaller than mine.
Before I forget, don’t change anything. Your show is perfect. It is pant wetting funny.
Is your penis visible? If so, Leighton’s is smaller.
Is it true that Leighton wants to change 1 Cor 11:3 to “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is the cat, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of the cat is veterinary.”?
How can I force the LDS church to excommunicate me? And, would you like a recording of the “court” session?
“Duffman_ohyeah says
On a more personal note, your obviously atheist and your wife is Mormon how do you make it work? cause for me that would be a deal breaker”
I second this question! Chuck: is religion something you can talk about with your wife, or do you just avoid the subject altogether? I think the bigger question is, how do you maintain a relationship as equals with someone whose beliefs you do not respect?