PineCreek, A YouTube Channel for Nonbelievers in Search of Good Conversations

I’ve been enjoying PineCreek, Doug’s YouTube channel, for a while now. Doug’s channel offers up interesting conversations without a lot of mockery or arguing, which allows his most of his guests to give honest answers instead of being on the defensive. Doug finds people – sometimes well known people like Richard Carrier, Paul from Paulogia, Greg Locke and James White (whose comments were prerecorded in answer to questions from Doug) – and has satisfying conversations about their beliefs. Sometimes it’s about religion, sometimes it’s about the shape of the Earth. Doug challenges his guests in ways that allow them to give different responses than you would usually hear. And he answers comments. So do some of his guests (you’ve been warned). If you catch his videos live, you can even participate in live chats with him and his guests. He’s started a podcast which you can find here.

Doug is a former Mennonite turned atheist and married to someone who still believes in God (just as I am). He was born in Canada, but lives in Arizona now. Note what it says on his Twitter account:

I believe doubt is a virtue that can lead to humility and certainty can lead to arrogance.

I tend to agree.

Doug’s videos can run more than two hours. So I often take them in pieces, not always listening to them in full at one sitting. It’s totally worth it. They can also be half-an-hour or less. He goes through some of his longer videos and breaks them down into chapters, which you can advance through by using links in the description below his videos. This makes it easy to go back and listen to parts of them again if you need to.

Here are some favorites of mine.


A christian who accepts evolution and one that doesn’t.

This is the video pictured at the top of the page. Doug has had both guests on before (links below). Both are Christians. One is a scientist who believes evolution is true (he promotes this web site in one of his other interviews with Doug). The other is a pastor (with his own YouTube channel) who doesn’t buy it. A lot of good stuff in this one.

Faith and Science; Dr. Mary Schweitzer and Dr. Randy Isaac

Randy Isaac is the scientist interviewed in the first link above. Both he and Mary are scientists who also happen to be Christians. Doug respectfully talks to them about their beliefs and about how they reconcile their faith with the knowledge of science.

Pastor Mike Winger and I talk about Objective Morality

This is another one with Mike Winger, the Pastor from the first video. Mike’s points were good enough that I had to start thinking about and weigh the specific merits of skepticism. It isn’t that often when a believer presents ideas that I haven’t heard before. This is also the basis of his first podcast.

Mike Brown, MDiv, MA: Belief, Evidence, and Dragons.

I won’t lie to you. This one was tough. So much so that I finally started commenting myself. Mike Brown is a PhD candidate with a B.S. in history. When Doug asks him some challenging questions about his views on the historicity of Jesus and his views on the Bible as an authoritative source, Mike refuses to answer one or more of Doug’s questions. This got a lot of us riled up, as you’ll see in the comments, where I accused him of being evasive and disingenuous with his answers and his refusal to answer. Mike responds to many of our criticisms in the comments. Doug interviews Mike again here, and Mike talks a bit about his refusal to answer one of Doug’s question. One word: Dragons.

Despite the challenging nature of these videos, both are still worth a watch. Especially if you’re a Mythicist.

True or False Interview with Dr. Richard Carrier

Many of you know who Richard Carrier is. Doug and a friend get to ask him a lot of questions about the Bible and the historicity of Jesus.

Talking with several flat-earthers in chat

Finally, we have a video where Doug talks with several flat-earthers. Their views are unconventional, as you might expect, and they don’t always agree with one another.

Interviewing Ocean on his belief of the god Odin (and other beliefs)

Doug interviews a believer in Odin. Contrary to popular belief, belief in gods like Odin and Zeus is still a thing.

I hope some of you will check out Doug’s page, especially if – like me – you’re bored with debates and arguing on atheist channels.

News And Links For Atheists: Glen Beck VS Reza Aslan

VIDEO: Beck vs. Aslan

Beck takes issue with a quote from Aslan, in which Aslan argued that the gospels “are not, nor were they ever meant to be, a historical documentation of Jesus’ life. These are not eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ words and deeds.”

Read more about Aslans book here.

VIDEO: Introducing Evolution at the 9th grade level

Presentation by AronRa.

VIDEO: Another Butthurt Christian

Jaclyn Glen on YouTube deals with complaints from liberal Christians about her videos. I understand the view of those offering the complaints. Not all Christians are fundamentalist homophobes who hate evolution and blah blah…. But as someone who has worked on books about issues like these, I also get what she is saying. The English language does not lend itself well to these subtle distinctions. It’s even harder to do so in writing than it is in a video.

Your thoughts?

Bonus: Check out this video if you haven’t already. It’s the video that first put Jaclyn Glen on my radar.

The U.S. military has a problem with atheists

Apparently, the Marine Corps thinks a “lack or loss of spiritual faith” could be dangerous.
When an active-duty Marine was given a Marine Corps training document describing “potential risk indicators” commanders should look for to prevent loss of life among service members, he found one checkbox that didn’t seem to fit. Among warning signs like substance abuse and prior suicide attempts was “lack or loss of spiritual faith.”

Richard Dawkins criticised for Twitter comment about Muslims

There are times when I worry about the Professor…

Controversial scientist accused of ‘dressing his bigotry up as atheism’ following comments on social networking site

An atheist addresses some of this here.

Five Things Christian Fundamentalists Just Don’t Get

Victims raise profile of ‘spiritual abuse’

Turn away from her mother like the rest of her congregation, or be exterminated by God at Armageddon — which could come any moment — with no hope of resurrection.

Golly. I wonder what denomination she is from.

‘Atheism to Replace Religion by 2041’: A Clarification

Now that makes more sense. I have serious doubts that religion will truly disappear, but I can believe that humanism will come to rival it.

More Internet Vigilantism as Shermer Accused of Rape

PZ Myers (Pharyngula) recently published an email he allegedly received from a woman accusing Michael Shermer of raping her at a convention. PZ says that too much time has elapsed since the alleged incident for law enforcement to be a viable option. He also notes that he has “no personal, direct evidence” that the alleged incident occurred as described but says that he knows the author “and she has also been vouched for by one other person I trust.” Evidently, that is enough to let us bypass any sort of investigation to determine whether the allegations have merit and proceed directly to damaging Shermer’s reputation. Mob justice at its finest.

Shermer is also one of several famous nonbelievers being accused of sexism. I have no idea if either allegation is true. Regarding sexism, either we have too many old-guy atheists who think it’s the fifties or someone is up to something here. I have no idea which one it is, however.

Whatever you do, make sure to read Al Stefanelli’s article called My thoughts on Myers’ post about Michael Shermer

William Lane Craig Prison Rapes The Use Of The Word Faith

I’m sorry, Bill, I’ve heard you many times discuss your interaction and direct experience with the Holy Spirit. Your “knowledge” of this interaction is either through faith, or you are hearing audible voices and if that’s the case, you may wish to speak with a mental health professional.

Catholic school dismisses gay teacher after publicized wedding

Divisive Bloggers at Atheist Conventions

While many potential attendees are undoubtedly thrilled to have yet another opportunity to hear from their favorite bloggers, others are asking whether conventions interested in promoting a cohesive atheist movement might be making a mistake by selecting speakers with a reputation for being divisive within the atheist community.

Explaining Socialism To A Republican

Divorce Rates for Atheists and Christians in America

From The November AWAKE! Conclusions On The Articles About Atheism

Is Atheism On The March?I don’t usually do reviews of the Watchtower Society’s literature, but the November issue of the AWAKE! magazine was special because it dealt with atheists and atheism. This isn’t something that flies off the Society’s printing presses every month, and as an atheist with Witness in-laws, I just had to bite. Now that my reviews of each article dealing with atheists are over, I wanted to clarify some things and explain my conclusions about the AWAKE! in a single, cohesive article to tie it all together.

There’s one major point I need to mention before we can begin. That’s the huge gulf between the values of ex-Witnesses turned atheists like myself and the values of the Watchtower Society. I’m not talking about values like honesty, hard work, and all that. I’m talking about how both groups value information and how we form our opinions. These issues are much bigger than they might seem and can be applied to all sorts of peoples.

For this post, I’ll be focusing on what makes good reading to atheists versus what makes good reading for Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ll also try to explain what those differences mean for both groups.

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From The AWAKE! Magazine: HAS SCIENCE DONE AWAY WITH GOD?

Is Atheism On The March?This is the second article in the November AWAKE! that deals with atheists, following “IS ATHEISM ON THE MARCH?” Current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses may notice that atheism isn’t a topic that the Watchtower Society covers very often. I guess we aren’t their typical bread and butter when it comes to making converts, as most Witnesses are trained to convert believers rather than nonbelievers. So it’s always interesting when the Society breaks out half a magazine that talks about atheists or atheism generally, especially if you’re a Jehovah’s Witnesses turned atheist like I am. Thanks go to P.Z. Myers for jumping on this one, too. Atheists across the web are all over this issue of the AWAKE! because of him. Including me.

Still, I have to wonder, will this be another one of those condescending “aren’t atheists silly” articles? Also, will the Society resort to its old habits, like quote mining, leaving out important details, and generally skewing the facts in subtle (and not so subtle) ways to shore up its arguments? Or have they improved their style since my days at the Kingdom Hall and learned to give readers everything they need to truly make up their own darn minds about “the truth?”

Read on and find out.

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