Daniel Cartier (00:00)
Hey everybody, it's Daniel. It is Christmas in a couple days and so I'm not gonna be doing a long episode right now, I'm just gonna talk for a little bit, but let's start the show.
Hey everybody, welcome to There is No God and We're All Gonna Die. I am your host, Daniel Cartier, a gay liberal atheist living in the Bible Belt. And as you can tell from my outfit, I'm wearing a little Santa hat, and that means that it's gonna be Christmas in a couple days. I just spent the whole day, I was baking cookies and candy and I brought it all over the town. I live in a very conservative town in the Bible Belt, and you know, I'm kind of like one of the few liberal people here, but.
You know, I really love everybody in the town. I don't know how they all vote. I don't know how they all worship. Really, that's none of my business. But I do know that as a member of the community, it's my job to always try to be part of the community that I want to be part of. And so for me, community means that we go and we do nice things for people, you know, whenever we can, because that's just part of like what makes a community enjoyable for everybody.
And plus I love to bake. I've always loved to bake and for me food is one of my love languages and so this year I made, what did I do? made, before I start talking about what I made for Christmas, if you want to leave a voice message for the podcast, I'm gonna be posting a real episode in a couple days once Christmas is over.
And I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to answer any questions you have or hear your thoughts on politics or religion or why you like my podcast or why you hate my podcast. All are welcome. Just go to thereisnogodandwerallgonnadie.com. Again, there is no God and we're all gonna, G-O-N-N-A, die.com.
and there will be a little button there that says leave a voice message for the podcast. I think that's what it says. Anyways, just press that and you get to talk for like 90 seconds about whatever's on your mind. You can yell at me, you can be like Daniel, I love you, you're the best thing ever, or my God, I hate the fact that you're a gay liberal atheist and you're gonna go to hell. I mean, it's all good, just whatever you need to say. And I will respond to it.
Probably on the next episode or the episode after that, depending on how many voicemails I can get to. But I'd love to hear from you. yeah, so check that out. While you're there, you can also check out my art and music. That's my little self-promotional plug.
Daniel Cartier (03:00)
Anyways, there's a bunch of bullshit happening in the world right now. There's, you know, Pam Bondi is making this whole big list of people who are un-American and have un-American or un-Christian values and they're going to start targeting people, which is completely unconstitutional. People are allowed to have all sorts of views here in America. That's what freedom of expression and freedom of thought and freedom of speech.
is. mean, that's what America was founded on. But apparently the Trump administration doesn't understand that. And so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. mean, honestly, I think I was talking about this last week. I worry about doing this podcast. I'm wondering when they're going to come knocking on my door and carting me away because, you know, being a gay liberal atheist and saying there is no God and we're all going to die. Suddenly, that's going to be, you know, like un-American and
you know, they're going to think it's like an instigating thing or whatever. I don't know. But you know, this is something that I've always wanted to do and I can't just like not do it because I'm worried about stuff like that. So what are you going to do anyways? So yeah, I brought cookies and candy all over town for Christmas. I bring them to the police, the fire department, the town hall, the β both banks, the Mennonites.
the post office. There's a couple neighbors. There's a bunch of different places I go. let's see, this year I made hut mess cookies, which were like butterscotch, chocolate chip, Reese's Pieces, like a cookie that had like a ton of different things in it. And then I made these brownie.
brownies with like a crumble topping on them. They're really good. And then I made peppermint, peppermint bark. Like it was a white chocolate with peppermint and then dark chocolate with peppermint and then peppermint fudge. And then I made a pretzel bark, which was like this chocolate bark with kosher salt and pretzels. And then I made a
the fuck else did I make? made these like peanut butter, cinnamon, oatmeal, no bake cookies that were dipped in chocolate. And then I made... I'm forgetting something. There was a couple other things I made. Now I can't remember. Anyways, so then I made these big gift bags and I had to package everything up. And you know, I wrote these really nice notes to everybody thanking them for all they do for the community because I think it's important. I don't know how all these people voted.
This is a really conservative place where I live and I'm sure a lot of them worship things I don't believe in, but you know, I need to always be the love I want to see in the world and I need to always be the joy I want to see in the world and you know, and even the community, like if I long to be part of a community, I need to begin with myself and my actions and so that's something that
I've really had to learn how to cultivate because a lot of times when I look around and I see what's going on in the world, like with all the fucked up stuff that's happening, and there is so much fucked up stuff, honestly, I don't really want to talk about it right now because it's going to be Christmas in two days. And so there is so many news stories that I could bring up right now, but I think I'll wait until the next episode because let's just friggin' enjoy Christmas, you know? Like...
Just have a couple days where we're not all hating each other. I mean, I don't hate anybody. I that's the thing that's frustrating to me is I don't hate, I don't hate MAGA voters. I feel bad that they're getting shitty information. I certainly don't hate any religious people. My best friend is a Christian. He's a deacon at a church. I have a lot of people in my life who believe in a God that I don't believe in, but they're still lovely people and...
They share the same values I share of equality and justice and grace and dignity and compassion and kindness and wanting to give people health care and wanting to provide higher education for people and a woman's right to choose. Just because somebody believes in a God that I don't believe in doesn't mean that they don't have great values. Now, as far as the version of Christianity that I don't agree with,
like or any religion where it's it's all about bigotry and you know, homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic, you
and worshipping Donald Trump. Like that version of religion, you know, part of me wants to hate those people because
hate is such an easy thing. It's such an easy emotion and we fall into it so easily. And I find myself, especially when I'm online and I'm scrolling through Facebook or threads or Instagram and I see these posts that make me angry and then I go on there and I see all the trolls saying really hateful things and I find myself
getting down in the mud with them and know flinging mud as well and I know that doesn't solve anything it's just a waste of time and yet I find myself doing it and I don't know so
I the point of this very short episode is that I know for me I want to get better over the next year.
being more effective at... what am I trying to say?
Daniel Cartier (08:25)
I want to get a little better about my time management. Like when I'm on my phone and I'm scrolling and I see these comments that are really horrible, like racist or sexist or homophobic, instead of wasting a half an hour of my life arguing with these people who probably they're not even real people. They're probably Russian bots or something that want to get Americans to be arguing with each other.
But you know, even if they are real people, me arguing with them isn't going to change their views. That's never worked. And I think I know that enough by now. I still find myself falling into stuff like that sometimes because I'm not perfect. And anger is such a sexy emotion. Sometimes it feels good to get angry and start insulting people.
instead of falling into that, what is something productive I could do? Like, so I see these comments that are really pissing me off online. Like, what's a better use of my time? Like, and I don't really have the answer for that right now. you know, certainly doing things like this podcast, I don't think this podcast is going to change anything, but I do think that it's a little bit more productive.
than just arguing with random strangers online. you know, certainly you know, we can volunteer, can just do nice things in our community. I think all those things, they may seem like small things, but I do think that they all matter. And I've said many times, real change usually happens at a local level. know, hearts and minds are changed at a local level. I mean, they're not going to be changed on.
They're not.
I guess what I'm saying is that my wish for the next year, it's funny how the holidays kind of get us thinking about this type of stuff because we start taking stock of our behavior over the last year and like things we want to get better at and we start thinking about those New Year's resolutions and all that. I think for me, I really want to get better about truly being that love that I want to see in the world and that
light and that change. Not that I'm going to be walking around glowing and levitating and walking on water or anything like that. Like, no, I'm not saying that at all. But I think if we have the intention of being loving and we just set that intention and even when we fall off the beam and we find ourselves being like really hateful towards people who piss us off. Getting better about
going back to being beloved again. And you know, I've had some really weird experiences over the last year where I have practiced that, like I actively practiced that. I am gonna be loving to everybody, even the people who are being assholes. I'm gonna try to be loving to them. And man, it's not easy, but sometimes surprising things can happen. Like I actually had this really homophobic troll. I guess that's what he was.
like but he came on to one of my posts and he was saying all this homophobic stuff and telling me that I was gonna burn in hell and he even called me a faggot and like all this other stuff and so I actually Ended up having a conversation with him like I noticed that he also had dogs and so I thanked him for being a dog parent like hey, you know, I know that you think I'm like a horrible person, but I just wanted to say
Thank you for, it looks like you have a bunch of dogs you rescued. Thank you for doing that. That's really cool. β And that opened up this whole chain of conversation. And by the end of it, he actually admitted to me that he had an uncle who was gay and that he felt bad because he hadn't talked to the uncle and...
the uncle had found somebody, and I think he even got married, and he's like, you know what, I'm actually really happy that my uncle seems happy. And so that was not the... Granted, this was us talking back and forth for a long time. It's not like I said one thing and then he just kind of like said that. coming back to my post and we ended up having this weird...
conversation thread that spanned over the course of a couple days. And so by the end of that couple days, like he actually was like, you know, I have to admit like my uncle is gay and I really love my uncle and he met somebody and they got married. I think he said they got married. I'm not sure anyways, but then he was like, you know, and I'm really happy that my uncle found somebody and is happy. And so I think that's what I'm talking about. Like if I
just spend the whole time, like, what am I trying to say? If I just approach life constantly just being like, okay, I'm just gonna hate everybody and write off everybody who doesn't vote like me, worships things I don't believe in, you know, and all that other stuff. First of all,
I'm never going to be able to change anybody's mind about anything. Like I'm going to be living in a bubble where the only people that I communicate with are people who think just like me. And change doesn't happen that way. We actually have to kind of get our hands dirty and roll up our sleeves and actually
communicate with people and I think it is important to keep some people in our lives that don't view life exactly like we do. think it scares me that we live in a world now where people are so expendable you know. Now I understand that some people can be extremely toxic and if there's toxic people in your life I'm not suggesting that you keep them in your life.
please don't think that that's what I'm saying. Like for instance, if you're gay and liberal and you know, you're, you know, you, maybe you just came out of the closet or something and then you have people in your life who are telling you every day that you're going to hell and you know, that you're an awful person. Yeah, clearly you don't need that energy in your life. Anyways, I don't.
kind of rambling right now and I apologize but this isn't really a real episode this is just me pontificating there is a bunch of stuff that scares me it's there was that news story I was going to talk about β that college student in Oklahoma who she was supposed to do this assignment
β and instead she just used the assignment as an, as an excuse to bash transgender people and quote the Bible and all this other stuff. And then, you know, she got a failing grade. think her name, her name was Samantha FULNECKY and she got a failing grade because she didn't do the assignment. And so then she claimed religious discrimination and that teacher just got fired today. Got fired from a university.
You see, I hear stuff like that and like I want to hate that girl. Like I really do. I honestly, part of me really does fucking hate her because I think what she did was horrible. She got a teacher fired, you know? And honestly, I think it was all planned. I think that, it seemed very premeditated because the day after all this broke, she had all these professional headshots and like,
glamour shots of her reading the Bible and like her posing here and here posing. It seemed very, like the whole thing, it seemed like she already had a bunch of stuff prepared for like when the news story broke. And so I don't know, I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but I kind of think that she had the whole thing planned. Anyways, that's besides the point. I hear stuff like that. And the fact that
you know, a, like a teacher would lose their job just for, you know, expecting students to actually do the assignments, it kind of shows where we are right now as a, as a country. And I mean, that is one of the reasons why I started this podcast. I mean, I have friends who are religious, who are lovely people. They're progressive like me, and they think what this girl did was horrible. You know, they think it's ridiculous,
I mean, I have a Christian friend who was like, yeah, she didn't do the friggin assignment. She deserved that failing grade. But you know, there's this brand of Christianity right now, which is has nothing to do with, the type of Christianity that preaches love and acceptance and grace and dignity and compassion and kindness and empathy and, you know, all that that good stuff. There's this really hateful version of it. And
So you know when we see that hateful version of it, it's hard not to feel hateful ourselves. And you know, so here I am every single podcast. I'm always saying be the love you want to see in the world. Be the love you want to see in the world. Be the love you want to see in the world. And I say it over and over and over again. So I guess the question I need to ask myself β over the next month as we go into the new years is like
Am I still able to be loving to people like that girl? Am I able to be loving to a MAGA voter who doesn't think I deserve equal rights? Am I able to be loving to somebody who truly believes women shouldn't have the right to make their own healthcare choices? Am I able to still be loving to them? Now, I'm not saying agree with them, but am I able to still be loving and cordial and respectful to them? That's a tall order.
But you know, there's this thing that we all are going to have to eventually do, which is coexist. I mean, we have this one planet and you know, nobody can go back to anywhere. It's like when people would be like, go back to where you came from. We're already here. Planet earth. We're all from planet earth. We're all stuck here unless we all can somehow figure out a way to, all buy spaceships and go somewhere else. I mean, we are all here.
And so I know for me, at best, might have another, I'm 56 years old right now, so I probably have another, I don't know, 20 or 30 years left, depending on how my health does. And during that time, there's gonna be a lot of coexisting with people who I do not agree with on pretty much almost everything.
and who I probably find a lot of their views reprehensible.
But can I still be the love I want to see in the world? It's a tall order. It's a tall order. But you know, around Christmas time, I find myself thinking about this type of stuff because, you know, at the end of the day, I can't not coexist with these people. They are going to be on the same planet as me. Now I'm not saying I'm going to go...
see where all the neo-Nazis are and be like, hey, I made friendship bracelets for us all. Like, I'm not saying that. So I'm not gonna like go actively find people that I disagree with and be like, hey, you know, I'm gonna be nice to you Like, I'm not saying that. Like, life's too short and I don't have time. But I don't know. You guys, I'm rambling. And you know, I guess it doesn't matter because this isn't really like a real episode, but...
What else did I want to say? I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy Hanukkah, like whatever it is you celebrate, or just happy day off. Maybe you're just taking a day off. I know for me, that's pretty much all Christmas is. Christmas is just going to be an opportunity for me to wake up on December 25th, and I will probably...
You know what? I probably I'm just going to sit on my couch all day. I never get to do that. I'm always doing stuff. Like I'm busy all the time. And the thought of just sitting on my couch and watching a bunch of movies and eating junk food, like popcorn and stuff like that, that's kind of all I want to do. So that'll be my Christmas. it'll be just like a glorified day off, but it's one that I've
kind of been wanting to take for a long time. I never take any time off. I'm always doing something. So again, I think I don't really have much else to say. I want everybody to have a lovely Christmas, whether you hate me or love me or hate this podcast or love the podcast or, you know, think what I'm saying right now is just a bunch of rambling nonsense or you think it's the most brilliant thing ever heard.
I don't really care. I want you to have a nice couple days, Christmas, and β yeah, I will be back at the end of this week with an actual episode. I'll probably talk more about this girl who got the teacher fired. There's a bunch of other things I want to talk about. Pam Bondi, I want to talk about Pam Bondi. I want to talk about the Epstein files. want to talk about, there's a lot of stuff, you guys.
There's so much stuff. Our world is so fucked up right now. I mean, it's just so fucked up. And I want to have some people on. There's a couple people I want to bring on. know my friend Chris Mitchell called in the last episode and he had been raised in this really crazy religious cult. And so I want to bring him on to talk about that. At some point I want to get my friend Matt on. β I actually asked him if he would come on and you know, he's my Christian friend.
my best friend and he was like, yeah, let's do it. And so at some point I'll have him on. but yeah, I'm excited to have some more people come on here and I am excited to answer some more of your voicemails too. So again, before I go, just go to, there is no God and we're all going to die. and there's a
button that says leave a voice message and you just press that button and you get like 90 seconds to talk. can tell me, I don't know, just whatever's on your mind, you know, what you think about the political landscape right now or religion or maybe you have like some cool facts about the universe you want to share with us. I always love hearing those or tell us what you did for Christmas. I don't, I don't care. it could literally be about anything.
All are welcome. Lovers, haters, seekers, dreamers, whatever. I don't care. you guys, think that's my little like I didn't really plan this. I just pressed film. said, I know I want to post something for the holidays. And so this is what I posted. It was kind of rambling, but you know.
I can't really feel bad if it was like a meandering episode because it's not like I held a gun to your head and said, you have to listen. Like you chose to listen. And so this is what it was. β I'm sending you all my best and I will be back in a couple of days after Christmas. Have a wonderful Christmas and I am signing off.
Alright you guys, I love you. I really do love you. I love everybody. I don't care who you are. I love everybody. Be the love you want to see in the world. Alright, bye.