I agree with some of the things you said, but not completely...
don't think its worth it to nitpick who was in the church, why ben didn't go in, what about david blah blah blah ultimately you are ruining the ending for yourself. david wasn't real, nobody in that place was even real- it was all made up in their "place"
As far as who was and who was not in the church - not a big deal to me. This one deals with the reality of things (i.e. real life, not the show). If I were to nitpick this, I would say, why wasn't Eko there? His time on the island was probably one of the most important times of his life as far as redemption and the theme of the show is concerned but any fan knows he decided to leave to show despite being a character they planned on having a large role. I'm fine with that, it's something the writer's have no control over.
As far as Ben and David, that's not "blah blah blah" to me. In the end, whether we liked it or not, the writers decided to make the show more about the characters than the mystery. Critical thinking and knowledge of the show present several theories to these and they deserve to be discussed because it really pertains to the characters and the direction the writers decided to go.
Ben is redeemed in the end, perhaps he's just there to wish a fond farewell to the collective body of people that were responsible for his transformation. Or who knows, maybe he didn't go in because he is still alive and he is existing in both the sideways world and the real one similar to Desmond and he is the new number one; he just wanted to see everyone off. All in all, it does not matter why he didn't go in, but it's worth discussing because the whole ATL is a reflection of who the characters were and how they perceived themselves.
As far as David, that is a HUGE part of Jack's story even though he "isn't real". Once again, it is part of the characters. David is a manifestation of Jack, and Juliet too. It's worth discussing. Some people will be confused by him but that's why we discuss it.
i agree that there are about 2 or 3 legitimate questions that could be asked, but when paired together with questions about small things and things that were left up to us to use are brains about... it just makes us the viewers look stupid. I understand that many people have questions and want EVERYTHING that ever happened in all of LOST to be explained, but guess what??? sorry, but its impossible.
I don't think anyone expected every loose thread to be addressed, but they left ALOT unanswered. Now, in the defense of the writers, alot of this can be filled in by thinking about it. However, other things can not.
Ultimately, it is unfair to the audience to pull them in with mysteries and unanswered questions, act like you are bringing everything together and then decide 75% of the way through the story to change the presentation of things and stop answering these questions. Think back to early Lost, how did they reel us in? It was through polar bears, mysterious hatches and numbers, the Others, etc...
Those specific examples were answered, but those are the types of things that created the huge fandom they had. The mysteries were responsible for all the forums, blogs and discussions and were what ultimately made us originally love the show. We fell in love with the characters too, but the linear story line of Lost and the mysteries that kept us watching were what separated this show from all the others. And in then end, for them just make the final season about the characters while not giving us answers to the unanswered mysteries that arose in the storyline from the very beginning makes me a little mad. Don't get me wrong, I loved the characters, but I feel cheated. I'm okay with how it ended, just not how they filled in the gaps these last two seasons.
2. people saying they died in the plane crash... this one is indefensible- the writers laid it out nice and freaking clear for us in christian's explanation to Jack.
Once again, I agree and disagree. Yeah, anyone who heard the minute of dialogue between Jack and his father should have realized what happened on the island was real. However, that whole conversation was very unLost like and anti-climatic. Are they really going to give us the answer for the whole mysterious flash-sideways after leading us to believe it was something else in one straight forward 30 second conversation? Looking back now I see there were numerous clues to this, but really? Really? Name one other big surprise or mystery that was answered or dispelled in Lost that was resolved in such an anti-climatic way? The reason so many people are confused about it is the way the writers presented it.
Anyways, that's my rant. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the finale like a lot of people, but I did not love it either. It is more of Season 6 as a whole just frustrating me. For example. the Others at the temple.
Who cares about them? I sure did not care about characters introduced this late into the series that had no real character development themselves or really exist to further the plot that much. What plot development that was accomplished during the episodes centered around the temple could have been done in many different ways without wasting so much of our much-awaited last season.
I don't care about the kung-fu man with a baseball that really does speak english, I want answers.