Tophat665

OK, why Jesus was crucified: He was a threat (albeit a nearly totally non-violent one) to the religious authorities at the time. Yes they were Jewish, but that's really beside the point, they reacted the way the religious authorities in an occupied country might be best advised to do in general: they went to the occupying authority and brought their case, "This fellow is subverting our religion, stealing our followers and diluting our cash flow, and we'd really like it if you would kill him." Pilate acted in a totally reasonable way for the time, he acquiesced, but felt a bit icky about it when he saw and heard what he was going to be killing (still, not icky enough to call it off, though.) Crucifixion was a fairly common punishment, and by no means the worst the Romans had to offer in the capital department. (Not that I would want it done to me.)

It just made sense to do from the perspective of keeping the occupied people happy in paying their taxes and practicing their religion.

Oh, and Christianity <u>is</u> and eastern religion. Good and evil? That's from Persia. Virgin Birth? India and Persia. Resurrected redeemer god? Egypt and India. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was accidentally canonized as Saint Jehosaphat (a corruption of Boshisattwa) by the Catholic Church in the 16th century, though he was later de-sanctified. Avatar <i>means</i> Incarnation, they're two words for the same thing. Unfortunately, Christianity has largely stamped out western religion, and all that's left are the holidays, a handful of saints, the shape of the Christian devil, and a handful of Wiccans who get very little attention (likely by design).

__________________
Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns.
Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.