he also put forth that atheists have the position that we are holding that there is no god no matter what i already said it's a lack of belief if you approach the world in a problem in a proper manner the burden of proof is there on the person making the positive assertion the positive assertion is the extraordinary claim that there is a magical being in the sky that created the entire world that is the one that has the burden of proof you know lawrence and other religious people have to prove that to others otherwise the only logical position to have the only intellectually. only position of intellectual integrity is to reserve. is to not accept a position that has not been proven ok rob now go ahead please do as an atheist take a position. ok well first of all when many people refer to religion they refer to it as organized religion and that's a big problem with atheism and and why you can't refer to atheism as a religion because there's no real organization to it it's like having a meeting of anarchists and mentally ill and i think that's how did those that didn't have it wrong an

i'm an atheist because of -- which has made a lot of people an atheist, because of the theodicy problem. the problem of if there is this all good, all powerful, all loving god, you know, how come kids are shot in newtown? how come people when i was young died of polio? a child i knew. how come? it started me thinking about what every religious thinker has thought about and had to come to grips with, which is how do you account for the problem of evil beside your belief in an all-powerful god? well, the classic christian answer, which satisfied augustine, does n satfy m or any atheist. which is that we have free will. and we are responsible for all the evil in the world. no, i think the evolution of the polio virus and darwin's theory of how it happened is responsible. that there is no such thing as intelligent design. if god had been an intelligent designer, what purpose would polio serve? well, the answer to that is it's a mystery. we don't know what god's plans are. that's what my mom told me when i was a kid. my mom stopped going to church when she was 85 years old. >> why? >> i aske

religion i'm joined by jason torpy in washington he is the president of the military association of atheists and freethinkers in quebec we have lawrence to still he is the president of the creation science association of quebec and in new york we cross to rob he is a writer and comedian on a general cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage you jason is atheism a new religion for the west. atheism simply means lacking a belief in a higher power so if so if that's what you're talking about then of course not it's a simple expression of one's of one's own personal beliefs which is more feeling than anything if you're talking about something like humanism which is a positive expression of seeing the world through the lens of science having human flourishing as a highest value understanding ethics and you know rational approach to the world that goes along with that and making your own media one line what's the difference between the two that's what's the difference and what's the difference between the two is there any meaningful difference

it's comical and really tragic in a way and and the religion also becomes even with extreme atheists like the political spectrum the far left and the far right they're so far apart they come together and they meet in a circle it's like an atheist i like bill maher but i've seen him on there calling anybody who's religious a moron that's not right it's just like saying if you don't believe in god you're going to burn in hell it's you know there has to be some middle ground look i know people who are professed atheists and they probably are but they still attend a house of worship because they get some kind of comfort in or it's a social thing and your enjoy a ritual and i'm not going to condemn anybody as for what they think unless it's a real extremism and then i'm going to be bothered by it whether it's an extreme atheist or or a religious fanatic of the boat both of them bother me because they're both fanatics lawrence go ahead jump in isn't all about tolerance then that's what jesus taught being tolerant but west doesn't mean you don't believe there's an absolute truth and certain

is to not accept a position that has not been proven ok rob now go ahead please do as an atheist take a position. ok well first of all when many people refer to religion they refer to it as organized religion and that's a big problem with atheism and and why you can't refer to atheism as a religion because there's no real organization to it it's like having a meeting of anarchists generally and an i pad how did know is that i don't have it wrong and it doesn't matter because they don't want to vote out yet has but you know they don't not very well they don't want to vote on anything and i i think i guess i might list myself as as an atheist but i i like to think that hopefully there's some kind of higher power but i don't want to look at it in the classical way of some some god like guy saying you know that rob driving down the cross bronx expressway the day's going to get a car accident break his arm i mean that's that's a real religious extremism but i just think the big problem right now in our in this country's specifically and in the world is what religion has always polarized us

todd stifel who is an atheist believes there is a lot of discrimination towards atheists.nt $3.5 million to turn that into an civil issue. >> we value teaching how to think, not what to think. [ cheers ] >> we value science over the supernatural as an explanation for the world around us. [ cheers and applause ] >> we believe and value forming opinions based on reason, not authority. [ cheers and applause ] >> we believe moral principles are based on their consequences not on the dictates of ancient books and preachers. [ cheers and applause ] >> some people may say this is ridiculous to treech this as a civil rights issue, but it's important to point out that if there is someone running for president in this country, and they declare themselves an atheist, he has absolutely no chance, no question. >> cenk: if you say you are gay, or you say you are atheist, do you have less of a chance -- which one has less of a chance in >> they are both a doozy. >> yeah. >> i think over time that the -- the gay president will have a better chance but i think the atheist will continue to

he also put forth that atheists have the position that we are holding that there is no god no matterwhat i already said it's a lack of belief if you approach the world in a problem in a proper manner the burden of proof is on the person making the positive assertion the positive assertion is the extraordinary claim that there is a magical being in the sky that created the entire world that is the one that has the burden of proof you know lawrence and other religious people have to prove that to others otherwise the only logical position to have the only intellectually. only position of intellectual integrity is to reserve. is to not accept a position that has not been proven ok rob now go ahead please do as an atheist take a position. ok well first of all when many people refer to religion they refer to it as organized religion and that's a big problem with atheism and and why you can't refer to atheism as a religion because there's no real organization to it it's like having a meeting of anarchists generally and an i pad how did know is that i don't have it wrong and it doesn't matt

asking how to start their own chapters so will easter services in atheist church what are they going to look like and how popular will the sunday assembly becoming b.b.q. become sydney joining me now via skype from london is sanderson jones co-founder of the sunday assembly sanderson welcome to the program. well i love the exhibit here tom how's it going great great first of all how is the atheist church different from the unitarian universalists who profess no belief in god. or what. there is still within you know i before obviously starting an enterprise like this i went and looked in the alternatives and for some people who don't believe in god going to the unitarians is a bit of an issue because they still you know you get people sort of you know do you believe in sort of some sort of supernatural things and some theist whereas i want to have a place where you can go along and it's just people who don't believe in god but do believe that life is amazing and should be celebrated ok so is there a place in your church for pantheists oh well the one thing we say is if people want to

telling them that they have a religion and particularly evangelical atheists you know they they have an epistemology they have a worldview they've got a story that they want to tell other people they want to convince other people thank god that you're you know or thank the gods or maybe the bunny rabbits or whatever that your comment out and saying here we are come to our church. i think there's a huge difference know the difference in religion and another belief is that this one requires no faith i'm out all you have faith that there is nothing out there let me finish the sentence please sir if jesus suddenly appeared next to me one you'd have a hard time telling us apart but number two i would instantly go oh deary me look at time now there was a goat after all so i think the argument that atheism is a religion is bogus however it is still it can still be something which is positive and something which is really celebrate sharee because if you think about it you're born from nothing you go from nothing you did nothing to deserve being alive but then you won't and it really is a won

let me start this by saying to atheists.ld find -- my first hope is you find yourself some faith. short of that. the minorities are the minorities. this is something that we happen to believe strongly in. this is not a violation of church and state. it doesn't say in catholics we trust or jewish people we trust. in god we trust. you have the same problem that you had before. you'll get beat. >> greg: you're saying screwer minorities. >> bob: yes, that's it. >> greg: finally. he says something. >> eric: i threw someone off the show because he wasn't interested in the issue. he wanted to make news. they were like the westboro baptist church, the same thing. they just want to make a scene. >> kimberly: carnival noise making. >> bob: what are you issues in >> eric: what are you talking about? i'm for keeping, "god" on currency. >> bob: i know. >> dana: for some people god is currency. >> greg: oooh. >> dana: you like that one? >> greg: yes. >> dana: what angers me about the stories we do, they're more zealot about their nonbelie

through the history some of the worst regimes ever atheistic stalin. >> nothing to do with atheistism>> bill: religion is constrain on society. goodwill towards men. creating everybody as jesus taught. the same as you. how you would like to be treated. the 10 commandments. their are constraints against bad behavior. >> of which the 10 commandments duvall. >> thou shall not make a graven image. thou shall not sabbath. >> bill: thou shall not kill. stalin they didn't believe in god. >> nothing to do with whether you believe in god or not. >> bill: you don't see religion as being constraint on human behavior? >> not really evil, i don't want to get into a shoulding match about who is more evil than who. >> bill: are we shouting? >> what i do think is that there is a logical connection between believing in god and doing sometimes doing evil things. >> bill: so what do you say to a guy like dawkins? i had him on twice. and you have never talked to him face to face. >> yes, he ambushed me when i was in oxford. he used a subterfuge. channel 4 called me and said we want to do interview. i wan

age. >> about one-third of all american adults under the age of 30 describe themselves as either atheists or agnostics or say they just don't have any particular religion. and that large number is a big part of what's driving the overall grow in this population. >> being unaffiliated means not being a member. it does not mean being a nonbeliever or being hostile to religion. indeed, many nones have kind words for places of worship. >> they say that religious organizations are effective in providing help to the poor and to the needy. they say religious organizations do a good job of helping bring communities together. >> two-thirds of the unaffiliated say they believe in god, or a universal spirit. more than a third, 37%, call themselves spiritual but not religious. about one in five say they pray every day, and the same number say religion is at least somewhat important in their lives. with all that religiosity, then, why do 46 million americans say they are unaffiliated with any religious organization? >> they tend to be much more likely than the public as a whole, for example, say that

lawrence go ahead atheists are dogmatic atheists are dogmatic about their position concerning evolutionevolution is the basis of their religion it's the at least the evolutionary theory of hunters into human theory is the basis they have to because as i said before you either believe in something supernatural or you believe in eternal natural and so they stick to the natural. libya forestalling gas exports to italy after a deadly gunfight between two armed groups in the northwest shooting broke out after an argument between militias over who should guard a major plan conflicts like this have become a regular and post revolution i'll be out as a kiwi from the pad african newswire things libyan stability may have fallen victim to western energy interests. some nine billion cubic meters of natural gas from libya is export it to italy. to see love and percent of the national supply. natural gas to that country and now western europe and i think this is a reflection of the fact that there is this codependency between the former colonial power of italy and libya they are attempting in many wa

and some atheists wanting the word god to take off the american currency and biggest pinheads of thek. those reports after these messages. >>>. >> bill: in the geraldo segment, senator robert menendez under investigation helping with bogus contracts. a grand jury is investigating him and with us, geraldo. i think this serious for menendez. >> what i think senator menendez should send a thank you note to tucker carlson for making the allegations that the senator and his friend the allegedly corrupt eye doctor hired hookers, some of them under age in the dominican republic. the investigators or menendez staff, democratic operatives went to the dominican republic. they came up with the women. they denied they ever slept with menendez and more importantly they were paid to lie about menendez. so you have people accusing them corruption being caught if a lie. >> bill: to separate tracks. i don't really care at this point about the hooker situation. the democratic administration, you have a very liberal attorney general. this is powerful democratic senator. this is federal wrap, a federal

i have had atheists say there is something here that is real. i've noticed as christians, that's what we're called to. we're called to really intimately know christ because the world really needs him. i have seen the lord use that as a way to bring divine appointments on my past, and to bring people to know christ, and i'm very thankful for that. >> reporter: you said in the end, it won't be a government but god that frees your husband. what do you mean by that? >> well, i've had both ends -- people saying why are you trying so hard. god is going to be the one, you know. and i've had criticism on that side as well. why are you trying so hard and knocking at every door? , anand what i got from the lord -- and i talked about my phone calls from the u.s. government, and i've had disappointing news from people that have said, oh, we can't help. what the lord has spoken to me is i don't want you to be -- if there is a door that is closed, if someone is not speaking out. don't be heartbroken. that's a door i closed. those people should not be who you

and some atheists wanting the word god to take off the american currency and biggest pinheads of thek. those reports after these messages. building castles, oceans, and lagoons in the place we call home. bold is where everyone comes to play. starting our day off with a good dance and singing us to sleep at night. coloring our lives in ways only bold can do. it's no wonder bold will make your reality, a dream. been waiting for tthhe p hurry,s beautyrest and posturepedic closeout sale is ending soon. save up to 40% on closeout sets from beautyrest and posturepedic. save hundreds on floor samples and closeout inventory. these prices are falling fast, but these deals won't last. sleep train's beautyrest and posturepedic closeout sale ends soon. superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>>. >> bill: in the geraldo segment, senator robert menendez under investigation helping with bogus contracts. a grand jury is investigating him and with us, geraldo. i think this serious for menendez. >> what i think senator menend

. >> how long were you an atheist, and why?grew up in a home where it was not considered important or relevant, not denigrated, so when i got more interested, majored in chemistry, when to graduate school, study and quantum mechanics, -- went to graduate school, studied quantum i was looking at what was the need for got there, and it was a community -- what was the need for god there. by the time i was a second year grad student, i was an atheist. i did not see any need for god. for those that expressed an interest, i did not even feel it was worth talking about, but then something happens. i changed my scientific direction because i felt i had missed out on the excitement of biology. there was ana -- dna study that was coming along. i decided to go to medical school. >> where did you go? >> university of north carolina. >> prior to that, you got a ph.d. at yale, and prior to that? >> undergraduate at the university of virginia. i had been married and had a daughter. this was a lot of things to packed into a few years, and then

as if atheists were trying to horn in this ceremony. that was basically religious. what dr. said was music to my ears. if they could separate what they teach and preach in church, every religious institution and person has the right to state their convictions, just as i do. but the problem is, newtown was a perfect example of it. there were people sitting in that audience, obviously, if we believed the polls that 20% of people don't belong to any church and some of those people are atheists or not, because it is -- but president obama, some would tell you they objected to him mentioning religion many that speech. which i think was ridiculous. but, he could very easily have expanded that to say whether we're religious or nonreligious, he could have said that we're all united in our grief and not made exclusively -- and he should not have been talking about jesus christ when people lost children don't believe in jesus. >> he often has done that. he did that at the national prayer breakfast. talking about the nonbelievers, that's the fastest growing group, people not affiliated

i was a pro-life atheist at the time. and one of the really big lies is that the relationship, this act makes me alive. that women bear this within our bodies, but it's a great gift, but it's also a great portability. in the 80s it was orthodox feminism. so then i do think that before we can see same-sex unions as marriage, we are making the decision about how seriously we are going to treat this phenomenon. when men and women talk about this. three quarters are often unintended by their parents. okay. on the one hand, this is a problem, children are hurt because children lose their fathers and it's very costly to be an unmarried mother. so it's very difficult. so the question is, on the one hand is that many advocate and they wanted a woman only to be a question, whether we think about the people and how do we show respect. we are making a decision about whether we will institutionalize some of the worst features in this revolution, including how we live in a culture that represses our awareness of what we should be elev

there is move by the atheistic community to take the words in god we trust off the currency. >> i have0 dollar bill. >> bill: what does it say on here. >> i have 'to put on my little glasses. >> bill: where does it say in god we trust. >> it's in back! >> that is white house. there it is. >> bill: okay. now do you object to that? >> i think it's too judgmental we need something like don't spend it all in one place. that would be nice. or 40% goes to obama. >> bill: i like the political slogan because it might change. i just think if you take in god we trust off the currency, we should hi, and happy face. no one would be offended but the rational behind this is in god we trust is number one offensive to atheists, because they don't trust in god and its exclusion ear because there are some people that believe in many gods. all the zeus people are offended by that. >> it's total stupidity. it's less than a religious thing but a cultural thing. cultural elders have saw the need to convey the idea there is higher power because most people are stupid, selfish s.o.b.s to have that notion ther

the enemy is muslim, christian, atheist, hindu, jew. he is our collective face, our evolution, the devolution, the ripening of long injustices. thank you. the next poet is michael palmer. >> what of that wolf hound at full stride. what of the woman that serves as fairl guide and witness to the snowy hive? what of the singer robed in red and frozen at mid-song? and the stone, its brokenness, or the voice oft seen that says note the dragon seen but asking no questions of flight, no questions of irridescence, what of that century, did you see it pass? what of that wolf hound at your back? and then a poem that is for mahmud darlish called the dream of narcissus. the dream of narcissus, that there would be a silence loud as time. the dream of the writer that there could be a silence loud as time, the dream of time that rest might come, the dream of rest, that unrest might arise. the dream of the palm, the pilgrims would enter the village. the dream of the village, that they depart with their palms and the house dreaming of his leveling and t

he did a book with a french atheist philosopher, they collaborated on a book about st. theresa. he's a pope with a long and rich history being able to meet people outside the church and engage them in conversation. >> i heard that has hurt him among the cardinals. they've been suspect of his association with the group. >> there is some concern about whether he's too out there. i think the main knock against ravasi he's never been a parish priest and never run a diocese. so it's that lack of practical pastoral experience that would concern some people. >> we keep hearing the cardinals give an oath. it is in latin. they say their name, and i cardinal whatever their name is, i promise i oblige, and i swear. okay. and the masters of ceremonies dma chant in response, may god help me, and that was the original chant in unison. this is cardinal deaviz from brazil. south american, what distinguishes him? >> the main thing is that cardinal -- two things. one, cardinal seen as a moderate a bit more centrist than cardinal scherrer. the other is that cardinal braz is close to the catholic m

you're atheist but fully interested in this situation. a couple things that i came up with. the pomp and circumstance of the catholic church rivals even greater than hollywood. that sort of draws you in. the long history and tradition of this process. he is the 226th, is that right? they've had tons and tons of popes now. the global reach of the pope is interesting. just seeing people who really believe in something, the leaders and the followers. that's very exciting. >> it is. compelling. >> to that point, my husband is actually in the country of colombia right now. obviously not argentina. but i called him to see what the reaction on the street was. >> there he is. >> hey! >> he can be a little bit oblivious. what happened? then he call me back five minutes later. oh, life has come to a standstill. people are out on the streets celebrating. i just thought that's what they did in colombia on wednesdays. going back to this argument allergy it be the more socially conservative views that pull the latinos in this direction, there is some research from a behavioral economist a

save marriage >> how soon are the 40% much measures goer on agriculture gnawings particulars or in atheists >> when it comes to bedroom issues there is a very powerful impulse. but that impulse isn't winning in the republican party. it's getting 84% of adult american identify themselves at christian. 82% of americans believe jesus is god or the son of god. 79% of americans believe in the virgin birth of jesus. how can anyone think that americans's religious faith cannot shunted aside by a dutch flo philosophy pushed aside by personal autonomy. wife edie two daughters apits w pale 81. politics yale university american studies with an emphasis on religious and politics. ba some come law day. harvard university ph.d. religioum cum laude. harvard university ph.d. religion. "new york times" magazine. new york book review the "wall stre joual" "l.a.imes the waingt post. so on.com. three books on white buddhists, recently american jesus, how the son of god became a national icon. red sox die fan and ken u.s. richard plotherow. >> bangor maine 47 years of age. wife na g i sa. jewish. politics inpen

and in another sign of just how open pope francis is, he's reaching out to atheists calling them, quote, our precious allies in the search for human dignity and peace. that's something the critics say his predecessor benedict would never do. i'm jim maceda, nbc news, reporting from london. now, back to you. >> thanks so much, jim. >>> still ahead on nbc bay area news, details on an overnight shooting at the marine base in quantico, virginia. investigators are saying they know why the gunman opened fire. >>> dramatic video out of australia. how a bystander jumped in to save the life of a toddler. >>> three active duty marines are dead calling what investigators call a murder suicide at the marine base in quantico video video. police say the overnight shooting stems from a love triangle and is not a random act of violence. they say the gunman was a man and the two victims, another man and a woman. all three worked at the officer's candidate school. the base is about 30 miles south of washington and is home to the fbi's training academy. >>> new at 11:00, a man in australia is being called

ancient myths and rituals stories - and both starhawk and margot adler - came out of intellectual, atheistic, radical jewish families. they are, in a sense, the contemporary flowering of judaism, in the sense that they are returning to very ancient roots, that old rock upon which all the world's religions, i believe, have been based. >> now which changes not. >> huh? >> now which changes not. >> ah, yes. >> well, the jewish tradition, in other words, is fulfilled in both margot adler and starhawk - they're both jewish. >> yes. >> that's the point i made. >> yeah, and i think that does also fit - back with judaism, we were talking about different interpretations of the genesis story, the alienation story, and i love your myth about leaving the fires, leaving it and going out and becoming, so that more relationship could happen, more interaction could happen, and you can see it in that form. do you know what we wanted to do? well, i'll tell you. we actually thought a good way of perhaps illustrating what's going on here is to actually have a short ritual, and we've invited - perhaps if you'd l

the humanist community at harvard is a home for nonbelievers, including atheists and agnostics, who doelieve you don't need god to be good. >> the more important question to me, though, is not whether you can be good without god but what it means to be good in a world in which we don't have a god to tell us what to do or to help us when we need help. what it means to take care of each other, what it means to be there for one another, what it means to live an ethical life when this is the only life that we have. we're coming up with a new kind of community here to meet what is in a lot of ways a new kind of need. >> reporter: it's a need that's especially evident on campus. younger americans make up the largest group of the unaffiliated. some grew up un-churched. >> religion just wasn't a part of our lives. i was baptized, but it was more just a reason to get the family together and after that, we never really went back. >> reporter: chris stedman found religion on his own and joined an evangelical church. but soon after, he discovered he was gay and eventually left. >> the grand irony

. >> there are a few closet atheists there. >> there i would disagree with you. if you are implying that somehow the republicans don't need the help of the lord, then you're wrong. >> what about the jewish possibility? >> well, that's always possible. i mean, hat not happened. it's happened at the state level but never at the national level. >> do you think it could happen, and -- do you think anti-semitism to the extent that it exists or has evaporated, which i think is the case, do you think that would -- or would it be a plus? for example, the mayor of new york. >> right. >> the mayor of new york would make a terrific president, despite the fact that he thinks so strong sel about coca-cola, whatever. >> he wouldn't carry new york city. >> he's not against obama. obama would carry new york city against him. whose ticket is he go going to run on? >> i don't know about that. >> look -- >> the mayor of new york spent $100 million and beat an unknown fellow from harlem by five points. he is going to bet obama in new york? >> he was unknown. >> on the gun issue. and

old two to three years to recover but this week was back in just four months so you stay strong atheists look forward all the time the forward stay positive that's all the thing you can do and here i am back in business also in myself i can write you know i mean writing is my life and if i can't write it's not me that fearless champion stormed back from his accident to produce the form of his life grabbing his second best trick award in style at the prestigious eggs games this january his gravity defying back leaps on the two hundred kilogram snowmobile always leave the crowd open miles and he's already earned the status of being a free style snow across the legend. you know to keep it there for i mean just look long and that's the but you know number one it's all about to do new tricks i mean the district said no one done before so you like is it even possible to do this trick no one knows there's no answer just no book to look it up like it's just possible use that to go sell. but dean kicked off his high octane career riding a motorbike and at some advance in the summer you can watch