I am afraid I've simply lost my ability to tolerate the mainstream Christian doctrine. There is a part of my mind that filters out the shit I consider immoral, or just plain retarded, and honestly, I can't let that Jesus guy slide on that anymore. Flame me if you will, but:

What the hell is with the Christian martyrdom fetish? Has anybody ever questioned this whole thing about Jesus? Like, how one guy's suicide (or persecution, whichever; getting killed by people you make angry deliberately is sort of a suicide if you ask me, and besides, he said he died for our sins and all that) is supposed to redeem the sins of the whole human race? Or why God thought it'd work really well to instate a reign of peace and goodwill by getting his kid tacked up on a stick? Our Lord is obviously a really violent and sadistic character if he thinks that crucifiction is a good way to end hate or show forgiveness. Kind of like our president, in fact, who thinks that bombings can create democracy.

It's like Christians just LOVE violence; everyone praises this Passion of the Christ deal when it's just two and a half hours of a guy getting flogged with various gnarly instruments of pain infliction (or so I've heard, I really don't want to go see the damn thing myself). "He died for you" really doesn't do it for me. Don't people ever wonder if death isn't a good thing, that it's not quite so romantic or epic? I mean, if I went out on the street and tried to become a saint by killing myself in the name of some deity, people would think me nuts! It sounds ridiculous. Nobody should have to die just so I can eat pork on fridays or have premarital sex (if I confess afterwards, that is). The whole thing seems really convenient, kind of like how the Mormons can baptize you after you're dead, you know? Sort of American in that if you push the magic prayer button, you can go and have a pleasant afterlife.