Point taken Mickey. On an emotional level I often feel the same way. I often feel the same way about the God who was presented to me as a kid. He was set up as some kind of a Grand Spanker in the the sky, who would hand out lollipops if you were good or paste your arse if you were bad. He also had a habit of knowing altogether too much about you and had a touchy ego, which was particularly unsympathetic to non believers.
I don't like to describe myself as a Christian, because it can lead others to believe that I subscribe to all their other beliefs. However, when I read the Bible, I come across sentences like, "The Kingdom lies within." I have not done the reading which would be necessary to formulate a really informed view about the historical Jesus, but that quote makes sense to me. If I think about a God/Life Force or whatever, which represents the best part of a person, I think I am pretty close to what Jesus was talking about.
It is obvious that most of us would say that this quality did not seem very well developed in say, Hitler. "How bad was Hitler?" is a philosophical question which could potentially outrage many people. I have been toying with the idea of starting that thread for some time. It is worth bearing in mind though, that in Hitler's own mind, he was a moralist.
I do not know who the historical Jesus was, but he comes across as one of the better moral teachers/philosophers in history. His teachings were allegorical rather than judgemental. He also seemed to be well removed from those who present God as some sort of cosmic fascist. I don't know if I will ever become a true believer, but I reckon that if Jesus was ever in my local, I would have a pint with him and listen to what he had to say.