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.