Much of that is oral and written tradition, and not all of it is upheld by Protestant study of Scriptures - and almost none of it is supported by Protestant theology. The reason this whole issue is ridiculous is simply because for about a thousand years, a big group of Christians have decided that their own traditions are on par with what's written in the Bible, rather than making sure that their traditions are second to and originate
from Scriptures, which is a fairly important part of Christianity. If you're an atheist or an agnostic or belong to some other faith, you're just plain not going to look at it the same way, which is why as much as I respect all of you I'm taking a lot of comments here with a grain of salt. I think this whole issue is stupid and reflects the inherent flaws in much of Catholic tradition, but I hardly think it represents futility on the part of the Church as a whole.
