However the basic point of this thread is concerned with
the reaction of religious people to criticisms of their religions, from inside or out. In these circumstances the secular values (free speech being no. 1) imperfectly attained by the West during the enlightenment after years of struggle and many deaths, stand as an anchor and a base standard, and are justly admired by progressive people all over the world. They have nothing to do with Jesus - when his religion was completely unchallenged in the Middle Ages we all know the complete tyranny of faith over reason and free speech that resulted.

Seems to me Jesus was killed for practicing free speech. I'm not a Christian myself, but it doesn't make much sense to me to be blaming Jesus and his teachings for whatever distortions and perversions of his teachings the Christian church has been responsible for in the years since his death. And the "Western" churches have been responsible for quite a lot of suppression of free speech. Even since "the enlightenment". The main difference is that rather than threaten a person with physical death for saying things they don't like, what the Western curches do is threaten people with eternal damnation.