Hrm. Most of what I know of Judaism goes from the OT to the Rennaissance, too, actually.

Are the words "tear" in "I'm gonna tear him a new one" and "A tear slid down his face" pronounced differently?

Yes - the first is "tare" and the second is "teer".

eta: Unless the second sentence is from a horror novel, in which case it may in fact be a "tare" tear.

Is that an American thing, or do I speak funny inside my head?

I can't remember when/where I learned about transubstantiation. My dad was lapsed & atheist long before I was born, and I can't remember ever asking my Catholic grandparents about it. It's just one of those things I picked up somewhere.

Oaxacan mudslide.

I learned about transubstantiation in our Lutheran grade school, of course. I remember being confused by it. I was thinking that if the bread and while really turned into the body and blood of Jesus, then couldn't scientists pump someone's stomach after receiving communion and see if bits of Jesus were in there? That way, one could either prove or disprove transubstantiation, which didn't seem right as you were supposed to accept this on faith alone. Or maybe the bits o' Jesus would turn back into bread and wine if one's stomach were pumped, but that just seemed silly to me.

On questions about world religions, like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism, the groups that did the best were atheists, agnostics and Jews.

I really dislike the phrasing of "world religions" there. I know what they were getting at, but there's got to be a better term, like "non-Christian religions" or something.

I definitely learned about Martin Luther in high school history. Also had to read and analyze "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in both history and English classes, and we spent a while in tenth grade English (American literature) studying similar religious stuff as background for other things we were reading. Also spent a long while in US History talking about the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans, and what the various groups back then believed and why Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson and a bunch of others were considered so dangerous. (I always kind of liked Roger Williams' philosophy -- pretty much everyone was damned, and therefore everyone was welcome in Rhode Island, because there was no point in letting in some damned people but not others.)

Is that an American thing, or do I speak funny inside my head?

it's not just inside your head.

True, Hil. As an agnostic, it's all just "religions" to me.

And yep, "tear" has two distinct sounds, depending on meaning.

Also, ita, I'm glad you are making some kind of progress on the med issue. Although I think msbelle should act as your proxy, cause The Nicest is mean.