Dianavan, you can't call all rebirth myths "Christ" myths. The videa of Christ is the myth that the One God of Abraham will have/has had a son by a human mother - the idea that he was killed and rose again is the only part that was taken from the older rebirth myths. All temperate-climate religions have a rebirth myth - to explains the seasons to people who don't know they live on a tilted planet. Completely unnecessary now. But it's the other teachings of christianity (like the 7 deadly sins etc) that I was talking about when I said it was a perfect invention for slaves.

Your goddess, as with all mythological creatures, came from the minds of people. You can't seriously think that males invented monotheism with a male god and women invented monotheism with a female deity. The notion of the deity as female is much older than the idea of it being male, but women haven't been around longer than men (although Mitichondrial Eve is thousands of years older than y-chromosomal Adam, so...)

And there are lots of things that have definite presences in North America - like racism, anti-semitism, anti-Catholicism, mysogyny, homophobia - that is no excuse for putting up with them. And certainly no excuse for being friends with them. Thinking of mythology as reality as more dangerous to human society and enlightenment than the other nastiness I mention because it is supported by society. Racists pretty much have to pretend not to be racist nowadays, to succeed. I'd like to see faith in the supernatural relegated to the same shameful, beneath human dignity, box.

Of course children should learn the bible stories, just as they should learn the ancient greek myths - to provide cultural literacy. But they should be taught as mythology, not history.

Be here now, exactly! Not in some fairy-tale world where nature cares about humans more than other species, or can be petitioned by human voices.