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: “6 Young Adults Refuse to Remain Silent In Viral Video” … about Gay Marriage

VIDEO: [MUST WATCH!] 6 Young Adults Refuse to Remain Silent In Viral Video

Prepare to be offended to the point where you question whether this video is satire or not. It seems to be genuine, however. I discovered the story on Addicting Info which took the story seriously. There are some other articles on the original site that seem like satire as well, such as this one, but they are marked as “humor.” (I don’t think they fully understand the concept of irony.) Note the followup article here if you have any doubts. If you find strong evidence it is bogus, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

VIDEO: A Timid Insurance Salesman Tries Convince God To Stop The Apocalypse

In this short comedy film, a very ordinary insurance salesman named Ike receives a very unusual honor: He gets to talk to God. But when he hears what God has to say, Ike finds he has to do some very quick thinking.
Eli Shapiro wrote and directed Ike Interviews God, and it’s a fun bit of wickedness. Not surprisingly, God turns out to be kind of a jerk.

I’m reminded a tiny bit of a short by Penn and Teller years ago about the discovery of an E.T.

Why doesn’t everyone believe in God?: The skeptical brain may hold the answer
VIDEO: Watch this great documentary about people who think they are gods

“Those Who Are Jesus” is Steven Eastwood’s fascinating 2001 documentary about three people who have true delusions of grandeur based on “profoundly religious or revalatory experiences.”

A Way to Respond to 40 Awful Questions from a “Loving” Christian

Kevin DeYoung, writing for The Gospel Coalition website, is frustrated with fellow Christians who support marriage equality. (Because if they support two people of the same sex declaring their love for each another, where will the slippery slope of consensual love stop?!)
So he tosses out 40 questions with the unmentioned implication that there are no good answers.

AUDIO: Leaving the Church A Conversation with Megan Phelps-Roper

An interview with Megan Phelps-Roper and Sam Harris.

In this episode, Sam Harris speaks with Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.

VIDEO: Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly is annoyed that this Satanist is intelligent

Report: Tom Cruise Is Considering Leaving Scientology

I dunno about this one yet. More here.

Read Laura Prepon’s Insane Interview In Scientology’s Celebrity Magazine
Jesus Would Hate This Christian Blogger Just as Much as You Do

It’s Matt Walsh.

Restaurant That Refused Gay Wedding Closing After Outraged Customers Canceled

FOX Network to air ‘Lucifer’ – portraying Satan as a good guy

Thirty-One Episodes Of ‘Bill Nye The Science Guy’ Are Streaming On Netflix
VIDEO: Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Trace Beaulieu And Frank Conniff – Friendly Atheist Podcast EP 52

Don’t get too excited. They’re not atheists, really, but they did appear at an atheist convention.

The Atheist Experience Documentary “Mission Control Texas” is Available to View Online for Free!

Mission Control Texas is a German documentary about The Atheist Experience, a well known atheist TV show that is shot and filmed in Texas. For those who don’t know, it’s a live call-in show that addresses different topics and arguments posed by believers – LIVE! Mission Control Texas is, for now at least, available to view for free. FOR FREE. And it’s legal!

Bear in mind that the documentary has German subtitles. But you get to see some behind the scenes stuff and the audio is in English.

Learn more about The Atheist Experience at the following links:

The Atheist Experience TV Show

The Atheist Experience Show Archive

The Atheist Experience YouTube Channel

The Atheist Experience on USTREAM

News and Links for Atheists: “Announcing a new video series – The stories of young Scientologists not told in ‘Going Clear'”

Announcing a new video series — The stories of young Scientologists not told in ‘Going Clear’

Now, the two young men from those stories, Aaron Smith-Levin and Nick Lister, are teaming up to create a new YouTube channel that will feature the stories of other young Scientologists who grew up in the church and believe they have a unique view of it.

A Texas Christian couple fled the country after failing to raise a starved child from the dead

In Texas, two church members have fled to Mexico after an anonymous tip was called into the local police that church members had been trying to resurrect a child from the dead.
The child reportedly died a week earlier according to NBC News.

Bill Maher’s Bigoted Atheism: His Arrogant Shtick Is Just as Ugly as Religious Intolerance

You know what you call someone who makes sweeping generalizations on billions of people based on the extreme actions of a few? A bigot. Bill Maher, for example, is a bigot. And if you’re a fan of his smug, dismissive shtick, you’re a bigot too.

I’ll let you guys argue about this one amongst yourselves.

How Christians Think They Can Convert Atheists… According to WikiHow

You learn a lot about campaigns when you read their strategy memos. WikiHow contributors have put together a page on How to Persuade an Atheist to Become Christian, and it’s probably a little more revealing than they intended.

Correct.

Australia to stop welfare cash of anti-vaccine parents

Learning the Hard Way: My Journey from #AntiVaxx to Science

10 Questions With Science Babe, the Blogger Who Took Down Food Babe

The article referenced in the link above, written by the Science Babe, appears here. If you’re a Food Babe fan, please read it. Sorry guys, but she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and her campaigns are actually hurting the quality of the foods she targets, not helping them.

FDA and Homeopathy

The skeptical community is abuzz with the announcement by the FDA’s announcement that they are reviewing the “regulatory framework” of homeopathic products and are open to public input. We have written about this at Science-Based Medicine, and as you can imagine, this is a serious topic of discussion among the editors.

Not unlike the Food Babe, homeopathy is full of shit.

More evidence that near death experiences are related to brain activity, not the supernatural

So even more research, then?

Atheists Rewrite The Ten Commandments — They’re Much Better Than The Originals

Like that’s hard. Seriously.

Author Suggests Jesus Never Existed After Finding No Mention Of Him In Historical Texts