Bible Critique, Science, Social Commentary

What Even Is Forbidden Fruit?

January 28, 2018 No Comments

https://audioboom.com/posts/6624031-what-even-is-forbidden-fruit

Jon & Logan talk about the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and serpents who are cunning linguists.

Jon & Logan talk to Natalie Newell about her Science Moms documentary, GMOs, and science education. And avocado toast!

Home

http://www.scimoms.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ScienceMomsDoc/community/
Twitter: @ncnewell
http://www.lvhumanists.org/

AHA

Logan schools Jon on microtransactions and why you shouldn’t spend a million dollars on free games.

Intro music by Austin Colón:
http://austincolon.wixsite.com/music

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

Bible Critique, Religion, Social Commentary

What Even Is A Birthright?

December 10, 2017 No Comments

https://audioboom.com/posts/6545186-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

Religion, Social Commentary

What Even Is Indoctrination?

November 12, 2017 No Comments

https://audioboom.com/posts/6481122-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

Social Commentary

Hanging Out The Walsh: Manning Like a Man

January 26, 2017 No Comments

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.

Social Commentary

Spare the Rod, Part 2

January 5, 2017 No Comments

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:

Random Thoughts

Atheism Sucks!

January 14, 2012 No Comments

I saw a video recently from some kid who seems to have it all figured out. His thought process is a lot like mine was when I was a kid: my parents told me what to think, I adopted it as my own, and I knew I was right. His video is titled, “Atheism Sucks.” Dislikes on this video currently outnumber likes 3,113 to 89. You can watch it here:

[Video Removed: s7QXhGLZW00]

Personal Testimony

Family Ties

December 16, 2011 2 Comments

ne 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.

Personal Testimony

Who Do You Believe?

June 29, 2011 No Comments

itting in Sunday School and church, you’re constantly confronted with the idea that man’s knowledge is not only flawed (a point with which I wouldn’t necessarily argue) but foolish. For example, 1 Corinthians 3:19 states:

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”

Whenever this comes up in a lesson or a sermon you always hear a resounding, “AMEN!” from the congregation. While I was a believer I never really thought about the implications and I doubt that many believers really do. In the light of debates over evolution, the Big Bang, and the ever-narrowing god-shaped gap in our knowledge it’s nice to be able to point to a verse and say, “See? The things you think you know are utter nonsense in the face of god’s wisdom!” The Bible is a never-ending source of derisive rebuttal to anything even remotely logical. That’s why I loved it so much as a kid. No matter with whom I was talking, I could always feel confident that my god considered them fools and I was right.

Personal Testimony

You Don’t “Have” to Go to Church

June 2, 2011 5 Comments

s soon as I was old enough to figure out how much fun weekends were and how much shorter they seemed when you have to spend more than half of Sunday sitting in church I began to ask my parents if we really had to go to church. The conversations usually went something like this:

Jon: Do we have to go to church today?
Parent: No, you don’t have to go to church today. You get to go to church today.
Jon: But I don’t want to go to church.
Parent: You ought to be happy we have such a nice church to go to. Besides, you’re not staying home alone. Now get a move on!

This was exasperating every single time. I’m sure it was frustrating for my parents as well. They wanted to raise their children in the church with good, Christian values and their children seemed to want to be little unwashed heathens. What irritated me the most about this exchange was the unreasonable nature of the argument. I, as an autonomous human being, didn’t have the desire to spend most of my day cooped up in a building listening to people talk when I could be running around the woods with a toy gun, saving the world. My parents, as dictatorial heads of the family, didn’t acknowledge my autonomy. How unfair.

Personal Testimony

Spare the Rod

May 9, 2011 No Comments

s I said before, I don’t remember much about my childhood. My earliest memory was my acceptance of Jesus into my heart and then nothing until about 10 years old. It’s been suggested by more than one therapist that I’ve repressed those years because of abuse but I have no real reason to believe that’s the case. Although, corporal punishment in my family was applied (pardon the pun) religiously.

Spanking — This will hurt me more than it will hurt you.

I and my siblings were spanked with hands, belts, rulers and wooden spoons. I had a wooden spoon broken over my tush — an occurrence over which my mom had voiced much lasting remorse. As long as I can remember, spanking was nearly the first line of correction and it wasn’t until later in life that punishments like grounding were implemented. My dad always told me, “You’re never too old for a spanking.”