On one particular podcast

I was listening to the "This American Life" podcast today; the Ten Commandments episode. There was a lot of stuff in there that I want to think on, and there's already at least one comic idea stewing in my head (not today though, 13 hour work day is long). There is a moment in one of the stories that particularly strikes me at the moment. A virgin is counselled by his christian minister to attend a sexaholics meeting to help with his "impure thoughts"

Its almost funny, if it wasn't so horrifically sad. And to make it worse, at no point does the story teller even seem to consider that it's horrible. Before he tells us how he eventually found relief when he encountered a christian counseller kind enough to say, "hey, just jerk it," (paraphrased) he describes how none of the (legitimate) sexaholics understand his situation. With a tone, that smacks to me of sadness at his believed illness rather than the quite awful situation he should never have been put in.

As a an athiest, I don't often seek out the witness and faith of believers. I forget that the majority of Americans are religious, and a show like This American Life doing a Ten Commandments episode will do it earnestly and won't be a deconstruction of the commandments and religion. And in accidentally stumbling across something I wouldn't seek out I'm given a chance to question and re-affirm my beliefs. And how did I feel after the episode? Sad. Sad that good, decent people (there were a few stories with a similar resonance to me) are forced to engage in a mental self torture for their faith. Sad that good people need to make them selves miserable to make themselves feel like they are good people.

I didn't find god listening to this, but I learnt how cruel religion can be, especially to the truest believer.