This week on the Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Trump’s “bomb LA” comments, the “enemy combatant” rhetoric aimed at Somalis in Minnesota, Hegseth’s plan to live-stream a firing squad execution, and Tucker Carlson and Curtis Yarvin’s Hitler comments. Then they close with some reasons for hope: Ossoff in the Georgia debate and a Satanic invocation in Ottumwa, Iowa.
With the midterms less than a month away, Brad and Dan argue the GOP is ramping up fear-mongering, race-baiting, and empty promises because it has little else left to offer.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro: Iran, LA, Somalis, and the live-streamed execution
03:38 The thesis: ramping up the tactics before the midterms
06:43 Somalis as “the new Haitians”
10:46 JD Vance can’t define socialism
15:26 Ruling vs. governing
17:37 Hegseth’s live-streamed firing squad
27:34 “Pro-life” and “family values”? Bloodlust and the research on televised executions
33:16 Tucker Carlson on why the UK fought WWII
42:38 Curtis Yarvin, JD Vance, and the “engineering” view of society
50:58 Transit funding tied to birth and marriage rates
55:15 Reasons for hope: Ottumwa, Iowa, and Ossoff vs. Collins
1:01:14 Upcoming events and wrap-up
0:00 Intro
0:21 Jim Bakker, the godfather of scamvangelism, is dead at 86.
16:27 A Christian influencer says he went to Heaven and met a testosterone-fueled Jesus.
25:47 A restaurant stood up to Doug Wilson’s Christian Nationalists—and won.
40:22 Texas judge forces Galveston school district to display Ten Commandments posters.
48:48 Idaho’s attorney general gave churches a dark-money loophole to fight abortion rights.
58:23 The Mormon Church’s own lawyer just undermined its case against John Dehlin.
FFRF Action Fund’s legislative team gives us a rundown on the Nov. 3 ballot initiatives around the country, both good and bad. Then, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten describes her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers.”
The Daily Mail says the resting place of Noah's ark is "100% confirmed" on a hillside in Turkey, which is very exciting unless you look at any of the evidence.
On this "Artifacts and Fiction," the Dans dig into the new radar scans and core drilling at the Durupınar formation, and the awkward fact that a geophysicist who badly wanted it to be the ark already drilled this site in 1988 and hit bedrock.
Plus: why Genesis never actually says "Mount Ararat," why the formation is far too wide to be the boat the Bible describes, and what the peer-reviewed geology has said since 1996.
Chapters:
0:00 A Flood of Misinformation
1:36 The Noah's Ark Scans Videos
2:24 Ron Wyatt's Boat-Shaped Formation
4:35 Radar Scans and Right Angles
6:29 How Core Drilling Works
7:24 The "100% Confirmed" Headline
8:28 The Donate Link
9:52 They Drilled Here in 1988
12:08 How the Hype Plays Out
13:45 Why People Want It True
14:51 The Mountains of Ararat
18:27 A Boat on a Mountaintop?
20:05 Cubits and the Ark's Width
25:37 Can Wood Last That Long?
28:00 Radar, Drills, and Limestone
30:42 Even a Boat Proves Little
33:37 The 1996 Peer-Reviewed Verdict
35:36 Thanks for watching! Interview:
Olympian Davey Hearn’s reflecting pool charges have been dismissed by a federal judge WITH prejudice, barring the Justice Department from bringing further charges.
Deputy FBI Director Andrew Bailey is out, court-appointed US Attorney in Washington State Roger Rogoff is back IN, two FBI counterterrorism experts have been demoted, and Kurt Olsen has resigned from the grand conspiracy case and the Justice Department.
The full panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals weighs allowing Judge Boasberg to continue his contempt proceedings in the Alien Enemies Act case as the DOJ files a judicial complaint against Minnesota judges over immigration.
After failing in the grand conspiracy investigation, Kash Patel has ordered a classified report to examine failures in the investigations into Donald Trump.
After announcing the “Secularist of the Week” and the “Theocrat of the Week,” we speak with Maryam Namazie, president of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Great Britain, about the campaign to release Ibtissame Betty Lachgar from a Moroccan prison for the “crime” of wearing a T-shirt that insults Islam.
In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Pete Hegseth's State of the Force speech, which they argue recasts the U.S. military as a Christian crusader army defined by narrow standards of body, gender, and faith. They examine his flattened story of Western civilization, his "appeal to heaven" and "armor of God" language, and the plan to remove bureaucratic oversight from the Office of Religious Affairs.
Next, they turn to Senator Eric Schmitt's failed attempt to trap Jack Smith at a congressional hearing, and to Smith's statement that Trump committed serious crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, which got lost in the noise.
They then look at new data projecting that roughly 100,000 U.S. churches will close or be repurposed over the next decade, and what that means for claims of a religious resurgence and for Christian nationalism. Reasons for hope include a civic story of shared investment from Zohran Mamdani and the DOJ's 26th loss in its effort to obtain state voter rolls. Interview:
0:00 Intro
0:32 The Christian grift behind Life Surge’s celebrity-packed wealth seminars.
14:35 Scientists have not “100% confirmed” the resting place of Noah’s Ark.
27:15 Pete Hegseth gutted the military’s list of official religions. Now Air Force members must choose.
39:35 Albert Mohler’s blasphemy reversal exposes the cruel logic of Christian Nationalism.
59:07 Christian school board member melts down over class trip to “Satanic” Salem Witch Museum.
Unfortunately for Trump, America.gov – which, according to the executive order he signed, is a place where Americans can “receive accurate answers” to all sorts of questions – is providing the kind of answers that he will not want to hear. It stands ready to debunk his false claims on all sorts of things, including election fraud, inflation and the impact of wind turbines on whales…
You know it makes sense!
Gods are silly.
Come and discuss!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00:01 - intro and housekeeping
0:04:06 - Aaron Brereton - Claims biblical prophecies are true, Explains his personal, distorted understanding of time, space, matter (his trinity) & o light, etc. Implies fine tuning argument.
0:19:31 - Bingo & super chats
0:22:31 - B - Claims Morality comes from God. Justifies atrocious acts in the bible as morally good and accuses jon of being a psychopath.
0:45:10 - Bingo
0:48:02 - TxPostgrad - Baseball coach that condemns abortion and talks about IQ tests
1:03:17 - Superchats
1:05:33 - David - Claims there might be evidence for God and flat earth analogy. Caller has dilemma about going back to theism.
1:14:48 - Superchats
1:15:39 - Ernest Edwards - Talks gibberish and imaginary things that makes the hosts & audience think he was under some influence.
1:18:28 - Superchats, Sean's deconstruction story
1:23:39 - Michael - Pro-religious and "allegedly atheistš«¤" that argues for a utilitarian defence of the new testament amd claims communist atrocities were due to lack of christianity.
1:34:28 - Bingo & superchats
1:42:38 - Karl with a C - Claims people are defined by their actions. Proceeds to imply based off that proposition that belief is a choice
1:57:33 - Bingo
1:58:13 - Devilawesomeme - Brings in the psychology experiment out of context. Talks about fabricated memories/ confabulations as psychologists call it, out of context. Tries to argue for the accuracy of the bible & gap fill God into uncertainties around abiogenesis & big bang.
2:22:04 - Superchats
2:23:43 - Clifford - Claims christianity is the highest form of intelligence. Accuses jon of lacking the maturity and intelligence to understand the bible. Does performative laughing as Jon presents the false prophecies in the bible.
2:52:14 - Bingo & superchats
2:54:13 - Guard dog - Asks if the world is ready for secularism. Talks over the hosts and tries to argue that God exists despite there not being evidence because of utility in religion.
3:02:08 - Superchats
3:03:53 - Gerardine Farah - South african or maybe Scottish caller (the accemt sounds confusing) with sore throat claims to use science to prove God exists. Tries to use cosmological arguments (conflates big bang and carbon dating) and reads passages out of the bible, saying that it is the science that proves God. Accuses jon and Sean for not giving her a chance to speak.
3:14:54 - Gadman - Claims he died as a 6 year old from an injury and that Jesus sent him back. Sweet and innocent caller that Jon politely ended the call with.
3:20:38 - Superchats
3:23:10 - Top_Z - Discussion around choice in beliefs. Ella comes in and educates everyone on human DNA, common genetic areas with apes and also medusa viruses. Overall cordial caller
3:43:09 - Superchats
3:44:38 - DBN Khosta - Claims that mental health problems being healed by exorcism is evidence for God. Tries to argue there is no morality without God.
3:51:23 - Superchats
3:53:43 - The Guided servant - Claims a man from the 6th century knew about universal expansion and modern science. Bails out when asked to answer the ethical validity in pedophilia & scientific inaccuracies in the Quran.
3:59:30 - Midwest - friendly caller that leaves to call on the friday show
4:00:53 - Anthony - Claims Love is from God and uses cosmological argument. Gets into DNA, abiogenesis after which Scientificsnitch comes in to explain the nuances and depth of molecular biology, microbiology and evolution.
4:26:53 - Hodge - Comes in with the traditional God did it, watchmaker/designer argument. Gishgallops, gets kilswitch'd and leaves after insulting Jon with the N word.
4:36:13 - Samuel hate video
4:41:58 - Superchats
5:02:05 - Member questions
5:09:29 Bingo & Superchats
5:15:43 - Champ of champs - calls in to get clarification. Agrees and leaves
5:19:00 - Superchats
5:20:28 - Matic - Phil bro that was banned before for talking condescendingly. Does the same and gets kicked again.
5:24:13 - POTS - Claims asking for evidence is not relevant to proving God and that not all decisions are rational. Gets kilswitchd after repeated circular arguments
5:37:53 - DMC - Tries to argue around moral relativism but ends up talking over the hosts and complains about the meta of the conversation. Gets killswitchd which jon vetoes
5:51:58 - Superchats
5:58:19 - Broncoboo -Equates Gambling dilemma and other ethical dilemma to dilemma between beliefand non belief.
6:03:23 - Superchats
6:11:23 - Information on innercircle
6:15:03 - Superchats
6:16:18 - Bingo winner (le meš), caller ratings and conclusion.
28:12 Lucas - If we are in a simulation, would God be the one in control of the simulation?
29:45 Leo - The Holy Spirit is quantifiable, it helps our brains to fend off bad stuff, and caller has written a paper about it
40:58 Nathaniel Ward - Mezzo joins; Caller claims there is power in the name of Jesus and calls both hosts serpents; Call devolves to Justin and Mezzo clowning on caller; Evolution vs creation
1:16:30 (Nathaniel Ward) - When was Jesus born? Caller runs
1:35:00 Crystal joins to remind everyone that today is the last day to bid on a signed Bible
1:38:45 Larry Speghetti - Caller claims to be Jewish but gets antisemitic real quick; Is it good when God has women graped (2 Samuel 12)? Caller claims that anything God says to do is good; Is God just?
2:14:15 Craigp45 - Did the universe have a beginning? Is an infinite past possible? A-theory and B-theory of time and what time is; What exists necessarily?
2:47:20 (Craigp45) - Was Jesus a false prophet? What will happen in the new Jerusalem? Will there be ongoing physical sacrifices (Ezekiel 44)? Caller doesn’t really settle on any explanation
3:08:22 (Craigp45) Is Ezekiel 46 a metaphor or will it happen? Did Jesus fulfill any prophecies? Why did Jesus come to Earth?
3:42:55 Benson - What does Matthew 24 say will happen when Jesus returns? Caller has connection issues
4:02:50 Steve - DNA is information so it has a mind behind it; M’s talks DNA and the evolution of genes
4:39:35 (Steve) - How about deistic evolution? How old is the Earth and how do thermodynamics/dark energy play into it? Can God act outside of time? What does “theory” mean in science?
5:13:25 LastIchEffort - Believes in a creator but not a god
5:15:00 WillHeFindFaith - Caller yaps and goes off of personal experience a lot; Caller claims the Old Testament God is wicked but Jesus is different; Why does the quote in Matthew 27:9 not appear in Jeremiah? Answer: a lot of stuff in the Bible has changed over time
5:39:10 (WillHeFindFaith) - Did God tell David to do a census and was it against God’s laws (2 Samuel 24)? Did Jesus tell us to follow the Law of Moses?
5:56:45 (WillHeFindFaith) - Is Jesus in the Old Testament? Was Jesus the snake in the Garden of Eden? Is Revelation true?
0:00 Intro
0:20 Jehovah’s Witnesses just gutted their deadly blood transfusion policy.
18:32 Trump’s “Top 250 Victories for People of Faith” collapse under scrutiny.
36:50 An Alabama church says God made a paraplegic man walk again. There’s a better explanation.
52:00 Nearly half of people raised Mormon have left the LDS Church.
1:02:53 James Talarico’s pastor welcomes atheists. Conservatives think that’s a scandal.
In Kai Bird's biography of Cohn, he looks at how the lawyer taught Trump how to deny, delay, attack, sue and countersue, never admit defeat, side-step paying bills and avoid a paper trail.
After reporting the good and the bad news about Christian nationalist antics, we remember the life and legacy of well-known feminist and atheist activist Robin Morgan, who died earlier this month.
It can't be morally wrong to fail to be convinced by a claim.
Come and discuss this one!
Timsstamps
0:00:00 Intro and introduction of 5×5×5 bingo board.
0:03:26 - Lloyd - Muslim caller that Claims the earth was created with humans for the sole purpose of worshipping God
0:18:11 - JDV2022 - Argues for the non physical nature of God. Claims God is abstract and NOUMENAL (he didn't use that term but that's what he implied) like math.
0:35:25 - Superchats
0:36:21 - Bingo
0:37:08 - The Artist 6 - clarifies the nature of atheism and what it means and if it exists on a spectrum. Good faith christian caller that has humane views and respects choice in choosing religion or atheism. Supports his children to make a choice for themselves. Prepared to fight jesus for his children if they become non believers. Rare christian caller.
0:50:29 - Superchats
0:53:11 - Ap Spencor - claims Science and facts are discoveries? Gets educated on Evidence vs proof by jon. Bad audio cuts the debate short.
0:58:50 - Fellonious punk - Claims Belief is not a choice and argues information diet & epistemic discipline/choices for it which Jonn and Sean agree are actions/environmental nurtures
1:18:11 - Bingo and superchats
1:20:51 - Nacho - Asks to define atheism and debates what it means
1:32:10 - Dillon - Admits he is Anti science and finds meaning in theism. Argues for the utility in theistic beliefs for individuals.
1:43:43 - Bingo
1:44:58 - Adam - Clarifies definition of atheism and uses life, abiogenesis, DNA, code, information, emergent intelligence, etc for lroof of God. Guest appearance by Dr.digg and Ella(Scientific Snitch) demolish
2:21:02 - Bingo & superchats
2:24:23 - Blake - Claims God exists, clarifies what atheists believe and holds a softer view of theology
2:57:13 - Bingo & Superchats
3:02:30 - God's favourite/Chris - Argues theism is not wrong and that we don't have the definition of atheism.
3:20:33 - Superchats
3:24:17 - Brenda debates - Claims theism is a propositional attitude like atheism. Uses a personal esoteric definition of theism & atheism.
3:40:33 - Bingo
3:45:32 - Saviworld - Claims the hosts are misreading the biblical text that talks about the punishments God inflicts upon non-believers.
4:08:52 - Bingo & Superchats
4:13:51 - Brad - Parks his vehicle for the debate after being told he can't participate whilst driving. Tries to defend the atrocities in the bible by God as being epistemically beyond human understanding. Claims that slaves were treated well in the bible.
4:32:05 - Bingo & Superchats
4:34:30 - Chopped inquisitor - Debates the definition of agnosticism, atheism & theism. Tries to argue/gaslight that involuntary disbelief is not punishable in christianity. Tries to defend the misogyny & atrocious acts in the bible.
4:57:21 - Superchat
4:58:16 - Alex - Clarifies definition of atheism & debates topic of morality and the punishing of involuntary non-belief. Tries to debate christianity being a cult.
5:03:17 - Superchats & Bingo
5:06:11 - Uses a german shepherd analogy to say there is evidence for God and Atheists are "choosing not to believe". Uses other analogies to argue the same.
5:31:46 - Superchats
5:34:36 - JE - Questions what standard Jon uses to label God as evil and debates against the subjective nature of morality. Proceeds to defend stoning women to death as morally sound and subjective.
5:54:00 - Bingo & superchats
5:58:12 - Doc Pepper - Asks if Atheism is inherently nihilistic, debates the fact how our emotional, cognitive & mental attributes are tied to our brains. Conversation moves to defending biblical genesis
6:12:49 - Superchats
6:15:01 - ISI777 - Tries to argue that Atheism is wrong because of christian scripture. Tries to defend the bible fundamentally.
6:51:12 - Superchats
6:54:21 - Church of James - muslim calle that claims there is evidence for God in nature and debates against the epistemic stance of atheism. Conversation moves towards debating the atrocious acts in the quran.
7:12:46 - Superchats
7:14:31 - OHheyman - Debates Jon's stance that God did not provide evidence for his own existence because he does not exist. Claims jon and Sean are misreading the hell punishment.
7:43:13 - Superchats
7:47:28 - Mr.B - Ex Muslim Agnostic that gives tips on how to critique the quran.
7:50:16 - Elijah - Possible Poe's law that defends human slavery and treating humans as objects.
8:02:26 - Superchats
8:04:14 - DMS online school - Tries to argue that people need to revere God for their own existence. Holds non-normative christian beliefs.
8:25:12 - Inner circle credits and continuation of DMS call.
8:27:07 - Superchats
8:30:31 - Cathleen - Non religious theist caller that tries to argue that there is a God and atheism cannot be valid. Uses consciousness & emergence of intelligence life as defence for God's existence.
8:35:32 - Superchats
8:36:36 - Chronicler - Clarifies the prompt. Asks if there can be possibility for a non omnipotent God to exist.
8:41:06 - Josh - Clarifies definition for atheism & humanism
8:42:43 - Home with Debbie - Asks if Jon and Sean believe in jesus and agrees with the hosts on historical accuracy of jesus.
8:46:38 - Superchats
8:47:42 - 5×5×5 Bingo winner (le me - yippeeš¤šš)
8:50:04 - Member questions
8:53:02 - John Stone - Supports hiroshima attacks and israel attacks on palestine and in the bible. Tries to argue and defend the infanticide in the bible as collateral. Possible troll that talks about emf frequencies.
9:05:04 - Superchats
9:06:11 - Note on pseudoscience and Conclusion Interview:
Is this really the world we would expect if an all-loving all-good god was in charge?
Timestamps
0:00:00 - Intro and Tank top Sean action figure in the merch store announcement
0:02:25 - Panashe Damuzi - Claims that God does not appear or does not exist only for the non believers.
0:35:18 - Bingo
0:38:55 - Superchats from last night
0:39:51 - we are just you - Debates of Jon & Sean think they are the creators of their own world and if they are rejecting nature by rejecting God
0:53:11 - Bingo
0:54:53 - Brett - Tries to defend God's atrocious acts by scapegoating arbitrary sins of mankind. Complains about the meta
1:19:46 - Bingo
1:20:37 - Sampletext - Tries to debate for validity in the fine tuning argument from an atheist perspective
1:45:47 - Superchats
1:48:21 - Michael brown - Comes with Dunning kruger, hubris that insults experts in scientific disciplines like Neil Degrasse Tyson and tries to argue that Existence of God and creationism are obvious facts
2:07:43 - Amir - Believes in a deistic God and tries to reason that belief
2:21:42 - Superchats
2:24:27 - Kelly - Argues that God is a democracy and the psycho-social reasons why Humans created the concept of God - leaves to come back on the after hours stream.
2:27:51 - Bingo
2:29:36 - Emmehhhh's mother - Days she is a part of the Prayer warriors, tries to blame unjust suffering in the world, free will, fear mongering, etc on free will of humans and warns jon about hell for non-belief.
3:03:27 - Solomon - Strawmanns jon's intention in characterising God.
3:09:51 - (Terisa Charles-Jesus Christ) - Claims that fault is on the people of this world and satan. We suffer because of our own bad choices through free will connected to Adam (who is superior to eve according to her) and eve & their fruit incident. She is here to warn Jon as the messenger of God apparently.
3:22:21 - Bingo and superchats
3:25:11 - Silence moon - friendly caller who leaves to come back during the after hours stream.
3:27:00 - Superchats
3:27:46 - DMC - Debates the subjective nature of morality from the rastafarian materialistic outlook
3:54:26 - Superchats
4:03:41 - SZP - Claims God is not all good according to jew. Debates the existence of God and why people believe in things or make up stories
4:16:58 - Bingo
4:18:19 - Tywolfe - leaves to fix his call quality and come back
4:19:07 - superchats
4:25:56 - Tywolfe's return - Defends the sociopathic nature of God as untrue and the epistemic legitimacy of the bible.
4:48:11 - Superchats
4:55:31 - Satnam - Questions the requirement that God has to be a conscious agent with a mind and the nature of the origin of the Universe.
5:08:06 - Caleb Fowler - Accidental call.
5:09:57 - Superchats
5:12:41 - bingo
5:14:01 - Geironymous Bosch - Gives an insight into his skepticism against Aquinas type of arguments & why they dont do a good job defending theism.
5:16:45 - Superchats
5:54:11 - Satnam Again - Debates the nature of objective/brute facts pertaining to the nature of existence and universe. Tries to link it to God.
6:12:31 - Superchats
6:16:37 - Bingo winner
6:19:00 Superchats & Why Theist panel with audience is a bad idea
“The Holy Sexuality Project” wants kids to stop being gay. Can they pull it off?
Dr. Christopher Yuan of Moody Bible Institute used to live as a gay man, but now no longer identifies as gay. He does not use the term ex-gay or ex-LGBT, but embraces what he calls Holy Sexuality. His curriculum for parents of LGBT kids explains why. Is this gay conversion therapy? How does gay conversion therapy work? Can you go from gay to straight? Can you stop being gay? Can Christians support LGBT people? Is being transgender anti-science? Here I answer all of those questions.
