Don Johnson Radio Show Archives

On The Da Vinci Code, Da Vinci's Art and Santa Claus Religion, Among Other Things

Don and Brandon discourse on a variety of subjects, including:

According to reports, many people are actually believing The Da Vinci Code. Do we have to debunk the existence of Darth Vader next?
Unbelieving parents are sending their kids to church to find moral guidance and solace, even though they don't think any of it is true.
Do Muslims and Christians and Jews worship the same God?
Strange theology in USA Today.
Some listeners have decided that since there is no God, there is no such thing as objective morality. We examine their arguments.

April 17, 2006

Why Did God Create People He Knew Would End Up in Hell? and More Answers to Tough Questions

We address some more topics requested by listeners, including:

Is God beyond good and evil? That is to say, is God good because He does good things, or is something good simply because He says it is?
Why would God create someone he knows will end up in Hell? Wouldn't it have been better for those people never to be born at all?
If God loved me, He would provide me with more evidence.

April 7, 2006

On Jesus the Ice Walker and Parakeets That Lay Golden Eggs

Don and Brandon discuss the research released this week that suggests Jesus may have walked on ice instead of water.
Responses to listener email include:
- a discussion of parakeets that lay golden eggs
- a refutation of the notion that an absolute standard for right and wrong can exist without God.

March 23, 2006

Debate with Scientologist David Barrington

From South Park to Rolling Stone, Scientology is prominent in the news these days. I debate the merits of Scientology's beliefs with dianetics expert David Barrington. Mr Barrington actually studied under L. Ron Hubbard and writes the website infocenter2.org.

March 16, 2006

Responses to Listener Email

Don and Brandon address listener emails from around the world. Topics include:

Is God an egomaniac? Why does the Christian God require worship?
How could a loving God only save a portion of humanity?
Why doesn't God give us more evidence for His existence?
Does talking about hell make Don and Brandon racist, intolerant hatemongers?
How is the fact that the original followers of Jesus were martyred for their beliefs an evidence for the truthfulness of Christianity?

March 9, 2006

Is There Any Good Reason to Be a Mormon?: A Discussion with LDS Scholar Alma Allred

I write often on my blog about how I think Mormonism is a religion that offers no good reasons to support its truth claims. Most recently I noted an example of this: recent DNA findings that suggested some historical inaccuracies in the Book of Mormon have been deemed largely irrelevant within Mormon Church circles. Alma Allred commented on that post, disagreeing with my assessment. I contacted him and he agreed to chat with me about this topic on my radio show.

Mr. Allred is a university administrator at the University of Utah and an LDS Historian. He teaches LDS Church History at the LDS Institute of Religion located near the University of Utah. He is a published author and has provided book reviews for the Mormon History Association and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. Most recently, he was one of the essayists in a book published by the University of Illinois Press, "Black and Mormon" edited by Newell Bringhurst and Darron Smith. (2004)

September 24, 2005

Supernaturalism and the Occult in Pop Culture

We analyze pop culture's current fascination with the supernatural and the occult.

September 17, 2005

Katrina, 9/11 and The Pledge Decision

The religious response to Katrina and what the press is not saying about it.
Why we are not very worked up over the decision to bar the Pledge of Allegiance from some California classrooms.
This week's Jonathan Swift Award goes to Mediterrània Mèdica, a Spanish "clinic."

September 10, 2005

What Hurricane Katrina Told Us About Human Nature

The human response to Hurricane Katrina has varied from amazing courage and compassion to astounding depravity. We explain how the Christian worldview provides the best explanation of this phenomenon.

September 3, 2005

The Problem of Pain: Why Does God Allow Suffering?

In the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, we discuss how a supposedly all powerful and good God could allow such suffering.
Also, we talk about the the new guidelines issued by the Air Force regarding public prayer.

August 27, 2005

Does Jesus Want You To Be Rich?

According to Newsweek and other sources, the trend in American spirituality is towards love of money and ecstatic experiences. We analyze this development.

August 20, 2005

Debate with Muslim Apologist Nadir Ahmed

We talk about why Islam is one of the world's fastest growing religions and whether there are any good reasons to believe it is true with Muslim apologist Nadir Ahmed of ExamineTheTruth.com.

August 13, 2005

Faith vs. Science? A Discussion with Skeptic Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas is a physicist, contributing author of Skeptical Odysseys and the president of New Mexicans for Science and Reason. You may have seen him quoted in this week's Time Magazine cover story on the Intelligent Design Movement or on national TV recently with Lee Strobel on Faith Under Fire. We discuss the relationship between religion and science.

August 6, 2005

Are Religious People Morons?

The prevailing take on such current events as the Intelligent Design Movement, Muslim terrorism and stem-cell research is that the battle is between faith and reason. On one side you supposedly have intelligent rational folks and on the other you have unthinking boobs. I examine this alleged dichotomy.
This weeks Jonathan Swift Award goes to Dick Durbin, who explains why he decided to stop being pro-life.

July 30, 2005

The Rise of Religious Totalitarianism in the West

Stories from England, Australia and Canada show how governments are primed to take over control and banish free exercise of religion.
Our Jonathan Swift Award goes to Michael Read, who argues that he caused his mother to be made fun of, so would have been better off dead.

July 23, 2005

"At Least the Terrorists Have Meaning in their Lives" and More

We analyze Tim Lott's assertion that the suicide bombers are to be admired in some ways because they have something that the West simply can't offer: meaning in life.
This weeks Jonathan Swift Award for Ridiculous Pro-Abortion argument goes to David Barash, who writes that since we can't pinpoint the moment of "ensoulment", abortion is OK.
Michael McGough attempted to explain proper Biblical interpretation methods in the LA Times this week and we explain what a poor attempt it was.

July 16, 2005

The Legacy and Future of Crusade Evangelism

With three major evangelistic events occurring at the same time this weekend in Southern California along with Billy Graham's announcement that his crusade in New York a few weeks back would be his last, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of "altar-call" evangelism.

July 2 and 9, 2005

On these dates we broadcast "The Best of The Don Johnson Show", including debates and discussion previously heard on May 21, April 30 and February 26.

June 25, 2005

The Suppression of Religious Free Speech and Rise of Propaganda in the West, The Killing of Babies to get a "Baby-Smooth" Face and Some Advice for Tom Cruise on How to Evangelize on Behalf of Scientology

From ridiculous "hate-crime" laws in Australia and Britain, to fake documentaries in America, truth seeking and open debate are on the way out.
This week's Jonathan Swift Award goes to the Russians who are extracting stem cells from the bodies of aborted babies and injecting them into their own to reduce wrinkles.
Tom Cruise ran into trouble with The Today Show's Matt Lauer over Scientology and we are here to offer Tom some advice on how to better make his case.

June 18, 2005

On Fatherhood, Celebrity Worship and Preventing Holocausts through the Mass Killing of Children

These statistics show just how important fathers really are. We discuss how this supports a Christian worldview.
We tackle the argument that the Christian view of a loving father God is just a wish-fulfillment fantasy made up by humans who don't have one.
We hand out this week's "Jonathan Swift Award for Most Ridiculous Abortion Rights Argument" to Henry Morgentaler, who claimed that abortions reduce violent crime. We then offer a "modest proposal" of our own to make an even safer society.
We discuss the cult of celebrity and evaluate why our culture worships people like Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise.

June 11, 2005

The Myth of "Religion Free" Education

The Bible Literacy Project is attempting to have the Bible brought back into public schools not as a religious or sacred document but simply as literature. We debate this idea and point out the weakness in our culture's current philosophy of public education.

June 4, 2005

The Idiocy of Judgment Free Spirituality and More

Howard Dean claims to be a "Christian" but then denies that that label means anything that can be objectively characterized (judged). We show how ridiculous this approach to religion is.
Judith Christ and the "Make up your own Scriptures" crowd
Is the Church too Obsessed with the State?
The Real Pro-Abortion Mindset

May 28, 2005

On Tom Cruise, T.D. Jakes and Wiccans, Among Other Things

From Tom Cruise's Scientology to T.D. Jakes' Mega-church Evangelicalism, people are turning spiritual for no good reasons.

May 21, 2005

A Debate with a Zen-Master

Our in-studio guest this week is Audrey Carr, co-author of "The Gospel According to Zen" and editor of "The Zen Game" website and newsletter. We debate her New Age views, including her beliefs about Jesus, historical Christianity and the nature of reality.

May 14, 2005

Do All Roads Lead to Heaven?

According to this article, beliefs about Heaven are changing. In the name of tolerance, people now accept that there are many as many paths to Heaven as there are beliefs. We examine this trend.

May 7, 2005

Can You be Good or Have Meaning in Life Without God?

According to this survey, college students overwhelmingly believe that you can be good without God. We address this question.

April 30, 2005

Why You Shouldn't Respect the Spiritual Values of People Whose Spiritual Values are False

The Air Force is requiring their staff to go through an RSVP (Respecting the Spiritual Values of Others) program to make that branch of the armed services more "sensitive." We explain why this approach to religion is ridiculous and have an lengthy debate with a nice caller who disagrees.

(Comments)

April 23, 2005

Relativism and the Search for Truth in Religion

The reaction to the election of Pope Benedict has exposed the "dictatorship of relativism" that he disdains for what it is. Most people judge his positions based on their personal preferences rather than whether or not what he believes is true. We interview atheist Mark Thomas (who holds to relativistic principles) to debate this trend.

April 16, 2005

The Religious Right's Quest to Reclaim America

Last week we talked about Christians who aren't concerned with following the rules of their faith. This week we talk about the other extreme - those who are overly focused on the rules. We discuss the goal of many Christians to create a "Christian nation" by getting people to adopt Judeo-Christian values.

April 9, 2005

The Sorry State of American Christianity

One of the major stories surrounding the Pope's death was the fact that a large percentage of American Catholics don't follow the churches teachings. This trend isn't confined to Catholics, as a large percentage of Protestants don't live out the dictates of their faith either. We evaluate this trend and suggest reasons for it.

April 2, 2005

The Pope and George Felos

On the day the Pope died, we discuss how his theologically conservative worldview formed the basis for two major areas of his legacy - his hatred of communism and fascism, and his battle against the "culture of death" - and how that worldview compares with that of the man who was at media center stage earlier in the week, Michael Schiavo's lawyer George Felos.

March 26, 2005

What Motivates Cultural Warriors

The Terry Schiavo case has brought the foundational issues in the culture war to the forefront. We examine those issues as well as the motivations driving each side.

March 19, 2005

A Debate with a National Atheist Leader

A debate with atheist leader Edwin Kagin. We covered topics ranging from Terry Schiavo to the Intelligent Design movement.

March 12, 2005

What does it mean that suicide, infanticide and other forms of killing are becoming trendy?
The real issue with religious extremism.

March 5, 2005

Thoughts about the demise of atheism around the world and the "spirituality" that has taken its place.
The Supreme Court and the Ten Commandments: What are the real issues?

February 26, 2005

Is the current increased interest in spirituality a good thing? Is it a an "awakening" in the traditional sense?

This topic includes a conversation with a self-professed pantheist who objected to our handling of the topic from last week's show and thought we were "intolerant" of other religious views.

February 19, 2005

Listener email: a response to pantheism from last weeks comments section.
What acceptance of euthanasia says about our culture's view of the meaning of life.

February 12, 2005

Is homosexuality a civil rights issue? Is it a sin?
Do all religions lead to God? Are Christians intolerant and arrogant for thinking they have the one way, the one truth?
What abortion advocates really think.

February 5, 2005

Does the Republican party have the corner on God? Can a good Christian vote Democrat?

Democrats are trying to woo religious voters by framing their issues in moral terms. But are topics like caring for the environment and helping the poor really on the same theological plane as homosexuality and abortion?

January 29, 2005

Addressing objections to Christianity, including

Christians are hypocrites
The Bible doesn't offer good moral teaching
Jesus said He was coming back soon and didn't
The Bible is not historically accurate

January 22, 2005