In today’s episode of Talk Heathen, Katy Montgomerie and Secular Rarity will sort through callers as Katy drops us some fun lichen facts.



First caller is D in DC who is wondering about the distinction between religion, deism, and theism when it comes to ecological circumstances. There could be a cultural practice linked with religion such as vegetarianism that can help. Having a ritualistic set of practices can have its benefits, but what happens if people decide to stop doing these things? Will ecologically beneficial religious practices be harmful in 1,000 years? Employ critical thinking to help guide that process.



Next is Thomas in Canada who states that not having a belief in Jesus leads to murder. Do Christians murder and if so, were they just not real Christians? If we start throwing rules down on what makes an actual Christian, how many Christians will we have left? How does not knowing if you are going to heaven or hell have anything to do with your current state of belief? If someone isn’t a Christian if they sin, and everyone sins, does that mean that no one is a Christian? This is a textbook No True Scotsman fallacy.



Patrick in FL is curious about what Dawkins means by Pantheism being sexed-up atheism. When someone describes god as literally everything, it can be agreed that everything exists but to call it god is just a word game. With this definition, at the end of the day, god is indistinguishable from reality. How have you demonstrated to yourself that the universe is conscious? Even if you have, we would just have one new fact.



Jasmine in Canada has some thoughts about atheists perceiving other atheists negatively. Some atheists will carry their arrogance to other domains just because they might be right about some things. Atheists can appear to be the only one that has a problem with something when in the minority, and there are also atheists that are just dickheads. Just being an atheist can put you in a position where you can’t really live, while not affecting Christians. It does not matter what the label is and there is no sense in being worried where you land. It is okay to be apathetic and not care about what you call yourself.



Tom in MI says that as a critical thinker, he uses Greek history as proof of the existence of gods. What is your definition of existing? Where does your god sit on this definition? What is the correspondence of ancient beliefs and the world we live in now? If people in the past thought something was real, does that make it real? We remain unconvinced of Zeus and Poseidon.



Thank you for tuning into today’s show, remember to thank the essential workers and turn us on next time for more of Katy’s facts!