"...it arose out of something real, namely the preachings and activities of some Jewish prophet who eventually got crucified near Jerusalem." - LH

"Christianity was a great invention for the Roman slaves..."

You're both wrong. The Christ myth was around a long time before the Jews or the Romans. It is the myth of the dying and rising God of many ancient belief systems that coincided with seasonal cycles. Its older than agricultural societies and we know it also existed amongst wandering herdsmen and possibly before that.

Zoroastrianism may have arisen from a hunting and gathering stage. The ritual of jumping through the flames mimics the herding of animals between two fires to cleanse them of vermin when returning from pasture for winter. Its disputable but Judaism may have followed Zoraostrianism during the wandering herdsmen stage. Often the Christ figure(philosopher/warrior/king) was united with an Earth Goddess in a fertility belief system. This indicates that this belief system probably arose during the agricultural era. Any excuse for a festival or ritual to unite the tribe! Songs, stories and theater arose from the festivals as a form of entertainment.

Everything that came after was an attempt to control, through the power of the word (the book), various tribes of people throughout the world. Before there were Kings and Queens, etc. there were holy men, wizards, shamans etc. that actually were the most powerful people in any given tribe. The holy book made it possible to condense a belief system as a series of stories that were previously transmitted through oral language. It served to unite a great number of people by using a common belief system.

The questions that have been presented in this thread are the very same that humans have been asking since the beginning of time. What is it that makes the sun come up and go down. Why do seasons have cycles, etc. Why do the stars shine at night"

Who was the philosopher who said, "If you can conceive of God, God is born"? God began in the minds of men. The Goddess began in the minds of women.

I believe that babies are all-knowing beings and that growing is a process of forgetting. Does that make me an atheist or an agnostic?

I also believe that where science ends, faith begins.

Having said that, I actually believe that there is a good reason to teach children some of the stories in the Bible. Most of our literature is based on a basic understanding of references to the bible. If you don't know those stories, the literature is sometimes difficult to understand and very difficult to comprehend.

I, too, am disgusted when school children are forced to sing Christmas carols or when Christianity is presented as historical truth but maybe for different reasons. I think that its just plain boring for children who do not have the background knowlege.

Ex.- After returning from carolling with my predominately ESL class, I could see they had no idea what the singing was about. Next day I brought a little wooden nativity and got down on the carpet and started telling stories that explained the songs (I called Christ a great teacher). The English speaking students helped me with the story telling. It was very sweet and innocent but I was scared to death that a parent, a teacher or the principal would walk through the door. How would I explain myself? My students loved it and when we went carolling the next day, they gave me knowing smiles when they recognized a word. They were able to follow the story.

I'm not Christian. I just wanted the words to have some relevance for my students. If I had a choice, there would be no carolling in the halls but ... if it had to be, I was going to make the best of it.

That sort of sums up my relationship to Christ. Whether I believe it or not. He is definitely a presence in North America. I might as well be friends with him. He's not a bad guy but the Goddess has more relevence to me. I, too, would like to run up and down the aisles of a church proclaiming that it was all a big lie but thats psychotic and I'm not looking for trouble. (Be Here Now)