Yeah, I'm not big on bloody sacrifices, either. I never did believe that Jesus died to repay our guilt, or something like that - and I never did believe in an angry God who demands such repayment.

Labels can be misused - but they are very helpful tools for gaining an understanding of something. Gnosticism is a coherent body of thought that has made sense to various groups of people over the ages. It's worthwhile to study it as a coherent body of thought, rather than picking and choosing from a collection of unconnected aphorisms. Thoughts are better studied in context.

-Joe Offer-