An Atheist Experience

What's the difference between Austin, Texas, USA and the sunny island of Singapore?

When I think Texas, I think cowboys, guns and a bunch of evangelicals talking a lot of religion.

Ok that's kind of stretching it a little, but I won't deny that in Singapore we try to talk as little (religion) as possible. It's kind of a taboo, something to do with keeping the balance in our multiracial & multireligious culture, and basically not causing a riot.

Of course, our former (former) Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew then went against the unspoken rule to let loose a few in his recent book Hard Truths (blah blah blah).

His comments, directed at our Muslim friends, did not go down well, least not from the backlash I saw from the internet community.

The irony of course is that, while I actually do agree with some of his views, our old Harry has demonstrated in a single stroke why it is better to keep mum about religion in Singapore.

But the question I really want to ask is this: Hey Harry, if you want to talk about religion now, then can we?

But what's all this got to do with Austin Texas anyway?

You see, a group in Texas called the ACA has also been going against the grain in a manner of sorts. Well, they do talk about religion, or rather they talk AGAINST religion.

ACA stands for the Atheist Community of Austin, and they have been hosting a weekly programme called The Atheist Experience for over a decade now (I think).

You can catch video clips of the Atheist Experience on YouTube.

I have been spending the past month watching clip after fascinating clip. The hosts of the show invite callers in to express their religious views and sometimes provide 'proof' of the existence of God. The hosts will then, often quite brutally, deconstruct and refute callers' arguments with reason and evidence.

It all sounds rather frightening except that in reality the regularly alternating hosts (2 at a time), are actually quite friendly and polite, up to the point until well, the callers start making threats or going into denial.

Although I'm not actually atheist, I do recommend the show because the hosts live by the mantra of reason and evidence (or lack thereof in their rejection of a higher power).

I do think that a lot of religious and superstitious folk need to better understand science and the importance of reasoning rather than to takes things simply on what someone or a book says.

Here's a sample clip:



The hosts alternate each week among a regular cast. My own favourite pairings include Matt Dillahunty & Tracie Harris, and  Jeff Dee & Russell Glasser.

Be warned though, the show can get abrasive, especially when either Matt or Jeff is around. And unfortunately for the religious crowd, those that call in are regularly exposed to be quite ignorant on matters of science and sometimes even quite bigoted.

Nonetheless, the reasoning espoused by The Atheist Experience is often nearly infallible, which is what makes it so fascinating for me I guess.

Although The Atheist Experience deals mainly with Christian callers and issues, they do discuss matters outside of Christianity, just so you know.

So if you have a few queries of your own regarding your spirituality or beliefs, do check out YouTube and The Atheist Experience Show.