Laura became pregnant with our son, which meant that I had to find a new job. The old one didn’t pay enough, and I had earned an Associate’s so I felt I had more to offer. The new job was similar to the old one. And, just like my last job, I could listen to my podcasts all day. But, the thing was, I had to go back and try to find the podcasts I had on my computer at my old job.

When I was looking for my old ones, some podcasts that showed up were atheist critics of Christianity. Well, that wasn’t quite what I was looking for, so I ignored those. But, when I thought about it, I was a little curious, what were the critics saying about Christianity? I had to download a few just to see what was being said. I listened to one called, A Christian and An Atheist, which was actually kind of nice. The podcast was just a friendly conversation between a Christian and an Atheist about various topics. They talked about heaven and hell, morality, the plan of salvation. It really was a great podcast.

Another one I came across was Skeptics Guide to the Universe. I had never really heard what a skeptic was at that time. But, the show was great. They’d spend about a half hour talking about science news and commenting on it. Then they’d usually interview a scientist, and then they would end the show with a game they called, Science or Fiction. Both of these podcasts became part of my weekly listening routine. A Christian and an Atheist was really laid back, no one was fighting, or shouting. They really kept things on a friendly level.

Skeptics Guide to the Universe was different. There were no Christians on the show, most of the time they talked about science, which I loved. Then they would get a little into what they called “pseudo-science”, which was about addressing claims about ghosts or aliens. These were my kind of people. The critiques were very well thought out, and I started learning a little about what they meant when they talked about skepticism, which seemed to be about using evidence to address “pseudo-scientific” claims.

In the back of my head, I was thinking about how I could talk to someone like Martin, who might try to show me evidence for something absurd, like Bigfoot, or the fake moon landing. I knew, in advance, that stuff was absurd, just like I knew the Bible made sense. But, how do you deal with someone who is trying to show you evidence?

Evidence was mainly what they talked about on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. For them, all of their arguments dealt with looking at the evidence presented by these “pseudo science” groups. Then, they would compare that with the scientific evidence to look at the best explanation. I started to hear them mention something they called “logical fallacies”. They would talk about an “argument from ignorance” or “the naturalistic fallacy”. They had a lot of these fallacies, and what I realized about all of them was that each one addressed not looking at good scientific evidence. Each time the “pseudo science” groups used something other than scientific evidence for their arguments someone from the Skeptics Guide would point out a logical fallacy.

This was really helpful for me figuring out how to address all these “pseudo science” claims, but what became a little uncomfortable for me was that they would include Christian arguments in with the same type of claims that don’t have evidence to support them. As far as I was concerned, that was ridiculous.

Look at it this way, the Bible’s been around for thousands of years, it’s endured the test of time. 90% of the world is religious. We all are born with a moral compass. Where did that come from? At the very least, how could anything exist if there wasn’t a God to make it? I mean, could you imagine if there was no God, and nothing was ever made … ever? Or, just the random chance that life could exist if it wasn’t designed? The DNA code alone has got to be proof that a God designed it. And, what about all these PhD’s who call themselves apologists and say everything in the Bible is true, and I should believe it? I was slightly uncomfortable with the comparisons to the people that made unfounded wild claims. But, the thing was, it happened so little, and the science information was so fascinating, that I was willing to over look that just to enjoy the podcast.