I suppose the real divide is in 3 parts, and is therefore one that is very hard to work through for anyone who is challenged by Jesus or Buddha or whomever. The 1st part is that figures like Jesus are deep searchers, and as such very revolutionary and disruptive -- they assault all normal truths, politics, structures, etc. Many people who are attracted to them are attracted to them for these reasons. The 2nd part is the difficult, difficult result (or result in process) of their search, which is this deep serenity and love and confidence and acceptance that suffuses them. The rest of us can only hope to get there someday; but, in the meantime, there is this part of them that is also immensely attractive -- the deep love of God or the compassion of the Buddha or Allah's protection or whatever. That is what makes deep searchers sometimes become attached to a faith tradition -- they are deeply afraid there is no truth, and yet if someone so extraordinary (actually, many people who are extraordinary) say they have found that there is something, then it gives them strength.
The problem is in the 3rd part, where the deep acceptance of the truth by the founder is turned into the complacent or required acceptance of the truth as articulated by institutions set up to carry on the teachings of the founder. For people who are outside the belief system, the whole enterprise seems reactionary and hypocritical (which it often is) -- that is, part 3. For people who are inside the belief system -- and are what I would call honest believers -- it is the 1st and 2nd parts of the religion and its founder that they focus on. It is very hard for people outside to separate the 3 parts, especially when there are many, many people inside the system who also are complacent and reactionary. Virtually every question asked by khandu is focussed on the bad parts of 3; virtually all the responses are focussed on the beautiful parts of 1 and 2.

yours, Peter T.