Episode 435.1 - Aviv and Matt Find God

Aviv (0:09)

So tonight, we're going to be viewing, reviewing, lovingly ridiculing Law and Order SVU Season 20, Episode 2, entitled Man Down. Boy, were we wrong about the prediction for this one.

Matthew Reuter (0:21)

Yeah, I have it just written down as Man Up Again, so that's not correct.

Aviv (0:26)

Man Double Up?

Matthew Reuter (0:28)

In my notes, I just have it say, continue to Man Up.

Aviv (0:31)

But before we do that, brief trip to the mailbag.

Matthew Reuter (0:33)

Yeah, a quick trip to the Gmail. First email we have is from listener Gene.

Aviv (0:40)

Oh, Gene.

Matthew Reuter (0:41)

Email entitled, You podcasts can be anything you want it to be. I'll listen.

Aviv (0:47)

You are a regular guy.

Matthew Reuter (0:50)

Gene says, Matt, Aviv, I don't care. Talk about whatever the fuck you feel like talking about. I just need my weekly dose of YouTube being buddies and shooting the shit.

Aviv (0:59)

The rest is irrelevant. Signed, Gene.

Matthew Reuter (1:01)

Thank you, Gene. That was very nice.

Aviv (1:02)

Thank you, Gene. So nice. Matt, Aviv, talk about whatever the fuck you want. Next up is from listener Allison, who has a similar email. Allison writes in an email entitled, Kindred Spirits. Hi, Matt and Aviv. By the way, you know how something sounds right in one order and wrong in the other order? Peanut butter and jelly, not jelly and peanut butter, as an example. So Matt and Aviv sounds right and Aviv and Matt sounds wrong. Just me?

I don't know. That's our question of the week, I suppose. Do people say Aviv and Matt?

Matthew Reuter (1:32)

Or Matt and Aviv.

Aviv (1:34)

Am I always in pole position?

Matthew Reuter (1:36)

I have no idea.

Aviv (1:37)

I don't know. Anyway, I wanted to thank you. I guess we'll find out.

Anyway, I wanted to thank...

Skew it up. Skew it up.

It's been a while since I fucking... We've had a scat man. We've had a stroke. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for discussing your apparent atheism on the most recent episode of the pod. Down here in the red state of Tejas, I often feel like the only atheist in the world. If religion comes up in casual conversation, I will sometimes go as far as to say I'm not religious, but rarely do I feel comfortable enough to actually say I'm an atheist unless I'm talking to someone I know really well, in which case they usually know already. Also, when I hear the statistic about... The statistic about the number of Americans who believe in God tend to think, yeah, but they don't really believe in God, right? They're just saying that. But in fact, no, a lot of people really do. It confuses me. Obviously, that wasn't the main point of the episode or the main point of the podcast, but it was nice to feel like there's people out there who think like I do, at least on this topic. Ta-ta for now, Alison. Thank you, Alison. Yes, I am a card-carrying atheist, but my card, much like God, doesn't exist.

Matthew Reuter (2:48)

But a bum. Yeah, I'm somewhere between outright atheist and very heavily agnostic.

Aviv (2:56)

God-hater.

Matthew Reuter (2:57)

Well, or the belief that if there is in fact, I go perhaps the other way, which is that if there is in fact a God, it is very certainly not the God that we have all read about in the textbook.

It is not a benevolent God. It is in fact a vengeful, hateful God. Look at the world fucking around you.

Aviv (3:23)

I think, you know, this feels like, oh my God, I'm going to get the fucking schmaltziest shit right now. But so the like-

Matthew Reuter (3:32)

Schmaltz. I love when, A, we get the opportunity to use the word schmaltz-y.

Aviv (3:36)

To use, to be schmaltz-y.

Matthew Reuter (3:38)

Yeah.

Aviv (3:39)

So I have friends who have kids, and the like party line on breaking the fact that Santa isn't real to the kids is like, well, Santa exists in the good works, right? Like, like if you are, if you give stances of the spirit of Christmas, and if you give gifts to your loved ones at Christmas, like that's, that's what Santa Claus really is. And I kind of feel that way about God. Like I think like God exists in us being not shitty to each other.

Matthew Reuter (4:11)

Sure. I think that whether or not something is quote, unquote real, does it mean that it doesn't have a purpose?

Aviv (4:18)

Yeah, we make it real.

Matthew Reuter (4:20)