Scoville -

It's funny - I consider myself a Christian { mostly as an accident of birth } And I can aggree with a lot of what you had to say. The following words { of yours } express ideas I believe in too.

"I believe Jesus existed. I believe he was the spiritual son of God (not the literal one, and I don't believe that Mary was a virgin but I don't think that should count against her).I believe he was a respected leader and teacher. I could even believe that he died for my sins because that may have been what he meant to do."

I'll go on to say that I have hard time believing in the resurection of Christs body also. But wheather it happened or not has little to do with the worth and value of his teachings.