Another Goddamned Podcast #16: May 29th, 2008

Pastor John Hagee and his ilk - why would the State of Israel in general, or Jews specifically, think this blowhard is their friend? We look at the many things he (and other fundamentalist Christians) do and say. They're repulsive, right? So is gaining their financial and moral support worthwhile for Israelis when it means having to stomach their hateful rhetoric. Can the meddling of the American evangelicals cause bad things to happen in the Middle East? Our biblical authority, OG, shows us how the "end times" crowd has the scriptures wrong.

What is the "rapture" all about and who thought it up? Does the human brain have the ability to justify bogus "truths" in religion -- and in politics? How can a leader strongly influence beliefs in others, even without the ability to back his claims up intellectually? In this regard, we compare our current political players to religious leaders. No surprise: The Herd gets pissed off again.

Ex tells a story about sticking his foot into his atheistic mouth at a party. Now that he finds himself back among friends, he asks: Can an intelligent person be religious? Philly wonders which came first, the religious chicken or the stupid egg? How do people who had the misfortune of being born into a highly charged religious environment fit into this picture? Evo hypothesizes that compartmentalizing may be a factor in the religiousness/dumbth phenomenon. Ex disagrees. Philly can't take his eyes off the 1,000 lb. gorilla sitting in the corner.

Evo rethinks his hypothesis about compartmentalization and re-defines what he means by it. SI kicks in with what the Herd agrees to be a nice analogy. We review the interesting results of our latest "scientific" poll. Ex unveils a new feature of Another Goddamned Podcast. Have fun - win prizes (sort of).