[yoav]

Originally Posted by GMan

Let me get this straight: you think i did nothing with my life but learning about Catholicism based on one forum post (admittedly a long post) where I provided some correct information about Lent--information that anyone who read the wikipedia article would know.

Then, you decide the best way to gain deep insights on the motivations of the religious is to be offensive. Is it really your experience in life that offending people is the best way to get information? Have you ever tried asking?

To answer your question: I don't feel that I've wasted my life. When you enjoy something, be it Catholicism, or Star Trek, you tend to learn more things about it. The development of Christianity really is the story of Western Civilization for the past 2000 years or so. The calendar you use is based upon it. The idioms you use (blind leading the blind, turn the other cheek, etc.) are based upon it. The classic works of western art and music are based upon it.

On top of that, I have other interests. You wouldn't know it from my original post because that was about a single topic--correcting misinformation about Lent. I could write an equally detailed post about the American Civil War, etiology of tuberculosis, or Korean food, but those topics didn't come up.

I'm sure you have some interest in your life (Phish? Photography?) that other people don't get. Hell, you've made close to a thousand posts on an internet forum for a relatively small group of people devoted to a podcast. To some, that might seem like a waste of time, but if you got something out of it, it's really not anyone else's business.

i already explained what the style of writing of your first post led me to believe.

yes i've tried asking, and as i explained it usually ends up in a very long thread or conversation. i wanted to try a different approach in this context to speed things up. you're obviously not the person you originally came off as, and not to justify an abrasive approach(it's not like me at all) but it worked out.

aligning spending time listening to katg and religion/star trek is interesting. everything i would say i get from katg(unwind/get inspiration from/etc) and the reasons i participate could be aligned with those of a person that is actively religious. that some people get those things from engaging in religion or a subculture answers a lot about motivation and puts a lot in perspective. thanks.

Originally Posted by Mattman

Knowing and believing are 2 different things. Knowing about Lent and believing in Catholicism, or Protestant Christianity are different.

I cannot understand why people who do not follow a religion vehemently attack the belief of others on these forums. Is it because our two hosts have decided to be agnostic or atheist?

As others have pointed out in this and other threads, Chemda does not know the detail of other religions but often criticises them for their ridiculousness. Strangely she still gets defensive over Judeism from time to time.

Lessons that should be learned from the forums: Displaying your knowledge to the ignorant is not appreciated by the ignorant. Displaying your ignorance with pride just makes you look pathetic.

it's not about the hosts or displaying your knowledge on a subject. knowledge and insight are very welcome. however in this particular case - for the most part, athiests and agnostics see religion as a form of slavery, that most of us had to escape from while growing up.

Chemda can't tell her parents about her life because her parents have archaic fundamental religious ideals. they don't like her boyfriend or work despite the fact that she directly enriches so many people's lives. they want her to find a jewish guy to push out some kids and stand around in the kitchen all day until it's time to clean some other room in the house. they believe it's a woman's place for no other reason than the brainwashing they them selve's received in their lives.

we look at corporations like the catholic church, the fundamental jews(making settlements), fundamental muslims(blowing them selve's up), and fundamental christians(brainwashing tribesmen, raping young boys, and then asking for donations), we look at the hate, violence, and intolerance, like the fact that gay people aren't considered human beings in the u.s.a. (land of the free) and see any propagation - even harmless religious people that just do it for the same reasons i listen to katg, as supporting, justifying, and propping up those fundamental ideals. we see the bad FAR outweigh any good, and that the number of people that draw good from it is a very small percentage of people that engage in it. we also feel that the same way you can draw out the parables from shakespear or mark twain, you can do the same from religious texts without physically engaging in the culture, although from what i've read and learned having to go to a religious school growing up religion contains far more violence and racism than moral lessons, and shouldn't be considered a practical source of moral guidance for lack of quality of said morals.

the vast majority of people who engage in say christianity believe they earth and universe are only 6000 years old. they don't study the religion. most of them have never even thought of questioning it. to paraphrase keith "you don't believe in jesus? LOOK AROUND!". religion is a cult, and while all cults are built on noble roots(love your neighbours, don't kill people, etc.) in practice they are handed down without thought and acted out as(hate your neighbours one house down, and kill everyone who disagrees with or looks different than you).

the point isn't that i listen to katg for the same reasons people engage in religion, the point is that religion exploits those same basic human needs to cultivate an environment of hate, violence, and perpetuate it's bologne to the masses so that money is diffused up to a small group of people making up the story. take scientology, the pope, the dalai llama, or those guys who yell through your tv at 3am pretend healing pretend sick people so you send them a dollar.