Worshiping 2 Religions, Sacred Mirrors, and Free Will The Atheist Experience 27.31

00:00 Intro 16:43 Devon-CA | Worshiping In Two Religions 42:47 Austin-TX | Chapel Of Mirrors Is My Religion 1:04:06 Alan-TX | We Do Have Free Will 1:27:32 Jason-CA | Finding Purpose Post Deconstruction 1:47:53 Dustin-WI | Language Informs Decisions SHOW NOTES In today’s episode of the Atheist Experience, Secular Rarity(Schmike) and Jmike get philosophically fun as callers discuss deconstruction and free will. Devon in CA calls to discuss how worshiping in two religions at one time does not make sense. Some religions have beliefs that are mutually exclusive, but there are also some that are not. How often do you run into people who have dual beliefs? When you see this, analyze the two and compare the contradictions. What is the criteria used to pick these two different beliefs? It is important to have consistency to help not hold two contradictory beliefs. Austin from TX informs us that Alex Grey is building a Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in NY, and this work of art encompasses all the theist ways of being. How do you arrive at this being what your religion is about? What are they doing to demonstrate their truth claim of there being a god? How do you determine what is true from religions to incorporate into your world view? How would this be independently verified? Alan in TX believes we have choices with consequences so therefore we all have free will. Do you believe that if you were given the ability to rewind life, that you would not make the same decision you did five minutes prior? If you chose A over B, is there something that explains why? Are there agents in your brain that can break the causal chain? Where does the free will sneak in? How do you demonstrate that free will exists without referring to things that are predetermined? Do you think your thoughts before you think your thoughts? Jason, a former megachurch pastor in CA, asks how to latch on to something larger than the self to find new purpose when in the state of post deconstruction. Secular Rarity explains there is nothing that is needed if one already knows how to connect with other people. There is no space to be filled because all you have is the beauty of the world around you, and no longer have the need for added magic. There are lots of systems out there that are incredibly worthwhile in terms of understanding the world and giving us a framework of what we should be doing next. When you step away from the supernatural, you get to discuss the big questions in life. The Clergy Project and Recovering from Religion are two great resources for people that are deconstructing. Love and grace from some religious communities might be conditional. Dustin in WI believes we have free will because language informs decisions. Free will is not defended by being defeated. How do you demonstrate that something does not work out the same way if we go back in time? Just stating that you can move your arm, does not tell us that the movement was your own free will. Where does the free will come from if it exists? Thank you for tuning in! You are pre-determined to consider the question of the week: What would be a red flag on a religious dating app? We will see you next week because you don’t have a choice in the matter. #freewill #philosophy #deconstruction WHAT IS THE ATHEIST EXPERIENCE? The Atheist Experience is a weekly call-in internet show in Austin, Texas geared at a non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin. Call the show on Sundays 4:30pm-6:00pm CT: 1-512-991-9242 or use your computer 💻 http://tiny.cc/callaxp and tell us what you believe and why! We request pronouns as part of the call screening process on our shows, and we display the pronouns our callers provide. If you see a caller with no pronouns indicated, this is because they chose not to provide us with any, and we respect that decision. ► Don't like commercials? Become a patron for ad-free content & more:   / theatheistexperience   ► Podcast versions of the show may be found at: https://www.spreaker.com/show/theathe... ► Atheist Experience merch can be found at: http://bit.ly/aenmerch ► Become a YouTube member:    / @theatheistexperience   ► Join the ACA Fan Discord: https://tiny.cc/acadiscord VISIT THE ACA'S OFFICIAL WEB SITE http://www.atheist-community.org (The Atheist Community of Austin) TheAtheistExperience is the official channel of The Atheist Experience. "The Atheist Experience" is a trademark of the ACA. The views and opinions expressed by hosts, guests, or callers are their own and not necessarily representative of the Atheist Community of Austin. Opening Theme: Shelley Segal "Saved" http://www.shelleysegal.com/ Limited use license by Shelley Segal Copyright © 2011 Shelley Segal Copyright © 1997-2023 Atheist Community of Austin. All rights reserved.