What Even Is Church?

Jon and Logan talk about lowercase C church, uppercase C Church, and the fleecing of the flock in megachurches.

Jon talks about his trip to the American Atheists Conference in Oklahoma City and the fellowship of heathens.

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Logan talks about the history of AI and the difficulties of bringing it to life – especially if it ends up destroying all life in the end!

Intro music by Austin Colón:
http://austincolon.wixsite.com/music
https://austincolonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-ahead

We have a Patreon page!
http://www.patreon.com/wayward/
http://www.facebook.com/thewaywardwillis
Twitter: @waywardwillis

What Even Is Deconversion?

Apologies for poor audio quality. We switched equipment this week and didn’t have a flawless recording.

Jon and Logan talk about outgrowing invisible friends and, basically, Jon’s life story.

Jon talks to his girlfriend, Dawn, about growing up in a religiously “meh” family and her move away from her childhood views and beliefs.

Logan and Jon talk about the sitcom, Friends, and its 90s mentality. Is it OK to watch old shows with misogyny, homophobia, and toxic masculinity?

Intro music by Austin Colón:
http://austincolon.wixsite.com/music
https://austincolonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-ahead

We have a Patreon page!
http://www.patreon.com/wayward/
http://www.facebook.com/thewaywardwillis
Twitter: @waywardwillis

What Even Are Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Show Notes

Jon & Logan discuss the history, controversy, and silliness of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Jon & Logan talk to Becca Ray in a candid conversation about her JW childhood and family.
http://www.sarahtalk.com
https://www.patreon.com/SarahTalk

No segment 3 this week because the interview was so good (and long). Sorry!

Jon and Logan break down a verse from the Book of Mormon about games of hide-and-seek and pointless scripture.

Intro music by Austin Colón: http://austincolon.wixsite.com/music
We have a Patreon page!
http://www.patreon.com/wayward/
http://www.facebook.com/thewaywardwillis
Twitter: @waywardwillis

What Even Is A Birthright?

Show Notes

Jon & Logan discuss birthrights and patriarchal lineage in Abrahamic religions.

Jon & Logan talk to Thomas Smith about offspring, secular parenting, and our children’s futures.
seriouspod.com
https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod
https://www.facebook.com/openargs
https://www.facebook.com/comedyshoeshine
Twitter: @seriouspod

Jon rants about Republicans’ vilification of “entitlement programs” and the war on poor people.

Jon and Logan break down a verse from the Qur’an about all-night orgies.

Intro music by Austin Colón: http://austincolon.wixsite.com/music
We have a Patreon page!
http://www.patreon.com/wayward/
http://www.facebook.com/thewaywardwillis
Twitter: @waywardwillis

What Even Is Indoctrination?

Show Notes

Jon and Logan talk about indoctrination of children and adults. Also, whether Superman belongs in comic books.

Jon talks to YouTuber Steve Shives about his Atheist Reads series and teaching apologetics to children!
https://www.youtube.com/SteveShives
https://www.facebook.com/stevelikestocurse
Twitter: @steve_shives

Jon goes off on some rant about how gun nuts have created their own religion.

Jon and Logan break down a verse from the Book of Mormon and Schrödinger’s friendship.

Intro music by Austin Colón: http://austincolon.wixsite.com/music
We have a Patreon page!
http://www.patreon.com/wayward/
http://www.facebook.com/thewaywardwillis
Twitter: @waywardwillis
https://willisweb.com

Respect Revisited: Drumpf

Make Donald Drumpf Again

Back in 2011 I wrote a blog post titled “Respect For Respect’s Sake” detailing the reasons why a request for respect without good reason is invalid and not worthy of consideration.  Over the weekend I was told I needed to stop calling Donald J. by his original family name, Drumpf, because he obviously changed it and I should show him some respect.  This imperative was given to me by a Drumpf voter in my immediate family and I said I would neither do it on the grounds of a legal name change nor on the grounds of showing respect.  I’d like to detail my reasons, as though any reasonable person would need help figuring it out.

Drumpf Middle Finger
Fuck you, America! I’m president and you’re not!

First let me outline the reasons I don’t respect Donald J. Drumpf:

  1. He behaves like a spoiled child
  2. He revels in his ignorance of how the world works
  3. He uses the words, “Trust Me”
  4. He continues to demean women
  5. He never tells the truth

Now, to my main points regarding respect:

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Hanging Out The Walsh: Manning Like a Man

Manly Man

I don’t know who Matt Walsh is.  I only know he has bad ideas.  This “Hanging Out The Walsh” series will be an ongoing critique of his blog posts and podcast in an effort to highlight misinformation, blatant lies, and misapplication of religious ideas to the real world.

At random, I’m starting this series on a post titled “Dads, We Can’t Expect Our Sons to Become Real Men If We Don’t Teach Them How.”  What strikes me first is the black-and-white view of gender roles Walsh imposes on his world.  The theme of this post is that boys need to be taught to be “real men” (just as girls need to be taught to be “real women”) and that an inevitable break-down of society is occurring because men are (as a whole?) becoming more feminine.  There are plenty of issues with this idea.

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Spare the Rod, Part 2

Louis CK on Child Abuse

MSN posted an article today referencing France’s new law banning violence against children, including corporal punishment (or “spanking”).  While Conservatives would argue this is yet another sign of the downfall of society, I’m encouraged that we’re now discussing on a broader scale the efficacy of hitting children.  I previously wrote a piece titled “Spare the Rod” in which I discussed my personal experience with corporal punishment and the fact that it never really deterred me, but I want to point out a few items from the article with which I heartily agree:

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Facebook Affirmations, Vol. V: Pro-Life

In my news feed on Facebook I will be served a daily dose of Christian affirmations from friends.  In this series of posts, which I call “Facebook Affirmations™,” I will post and discuss some of these gems. Here’s the affirmation for today:

Pro-Life Facebook Post
Think of the children!

I don’t often weigh in on abortion because my views on it are complicated and it’s an even more controversial topic than religion.  Since I will never personally know the joy — or terror — of being pregnant I feel that any view I adopt regarding a woman’s reproductive rights ought to be every bit as compassionate as it is logical.  Ultimately I feel it comes down to an individual woman’s right to decide whether or not her body will be used as an incubator for a potential human being.  Let’s discuss the post above.

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Family Ties

One thing religious people cannot stress enough is that they’re all about family.  Their organizations even have names like Focus on the Family and the American Family Association (branded a hate group out of MS).  For the most part I find this to be true so long as everyone’s keeping the faith and maintaining the status quo.  I can say from my upbringing (aside from corporal punishment and having no say in church attendance) that our Christian family was very tight-knit and we spent a lot of quality time together.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than a lot of other families I’ve seen.  Now, to clarify, some of these not-so-happy families I’ve seen are religious as well so it’s not as though they have a corner on the market.  I’m just speaking to the Christian view that family is important.

As I said, religious families are close-knit and happy so long as everyone’s keeping the faith.  They don’t say, “The family that prays together stays together” for no reason.  It’s literally true.  I found this out myself when I started to upset the status quo of my family and I was made to feel like an outcast.  My family’s treatment of me was mild compared to what some people endure at the hands of their religious parents, grandparents, and siblings.

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