The "greatest day in history" has now passed. The only cheering in the streets of Baghdad is the people of Iraq shouting for the U.S. to get out. Wipe the tears from your eyes and the sleep as well. Anyway, I thought the greatest day in history was the birth of Christ, not the liberation of Iraq.

The bible was written 40 years after Christ was killed. None of the writters of the new testement were even alive at the same time as Christ. It is all word of mouth, multiple translations, and endless interpretations. The true life of Jesus is a matter for historians not theologists. The life and teachings of Jesus can not be fully understood through the bible, but needs to be put in context of the sociopolitical and religous situation that existed during his life.

Furthermore, the life and teachings of Jesus have been distorted and used throughout history to murder millions of people and serve the interests of the powerful. The history of Christianity was and is still not a compassionate one. More people have been killed in the name of god than have died from all disease combined.

In fact and Ironically, shortly after his death, Christianity turned into the very entity that he gave his life to change.

I'm not putting down Christianity, but hypocrisy. When the Catholic Church has to call a meeting to consider what to to with child molesting priests, or one depicts the Crusades that MURDERED hundreds of thousands of people in the name of Christ as a Christ like behavior, one can not help to question the inconsistancy between beliefs and practices. To not do so would be ignorant of the facts. And, we should all be sick of facts being twisted and rationalized to fit the existing popular belief.

It seems as if Church, bible study, and your T.V. preachers are spoon feeding most people their beliefs and values. Man, figure things out for yourself, develop your own unique belief system. Refine it when new information becomes available. Base it on science and history. The path to truth will never come through your TV. Truth comes from contemplating all the possibile explainations and constantly questioning your current belief system. This is the path to wisdom. Do not confuse knowledge with truth. Far too often I hear people spouting the "popular belief", the conformist party line, adopting the opinions of others without question. You have a mind, use it.

What I stated in my first post is based on the BEHAVIOR of Jesus Christ, not religous rhetoric, or bible interpretation. It (Christ's behavior) is historical fact. He did not follow the established norms. He did not advocate for war and violence, and he did advocate to allow admission for the weak, poor, sick, diseased... into the temples. This is unquestionable fact. The only thing that has been disputed here is my suggestion that current political conservative practices are opposed to Christ's behavior. And all I've read is interpretation and rationalization for not following Christ's example.

Pick and chose politics, pick and chose religion. Follow the pope regarding abortion, cast him aside regarding war. Rationalize your behavior to make things fit. Ain't that America.

Regardless of bible interpretation, wording, X, Y, and Z's opinion, or rationalization; Killing people is always wrong.