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I have to agree with tecoyah. Since the original question has expanded, and other taken off, I may as well just toss my pennies in while I'm here.
In Christianity, the religion spawned from another, and has also spawned others in it's wake. There is nothing "pure" about Christianity in the sense of theology. Christianity was birthed from the Jews. Christianity also gave birth to Mormonism. Logically speaking (yes, yes, no room for logic in religion), Mormons are to Christians as Christians are to the Jews. If Christians are to say that Jesus was who he was, but (the Mormon guy) was not, they are simply being hypocrites. It's just as likely that some scripture was found on golden tablets (or some such nonsense) as it is that god (or God) gave way to a human child that was needlessly crucified. Frankly, they make equal sense.
The ancient Jewish traditions also make some sense. No eating pork, kosherite laws, etc. Most of them were simple rules that helps keep humanity alive, healthy and doing okay. Today, those laws are not as needed for cleanliness, and many Jews do not practice them as stringently. Also note the distinct change in the god (God) of the old testament and the new. Besides the fact that MANY Christians have little or no knowledge of the old testament (the foundation of their religion) and it is read not nearly as in depth in most churches as the new, there is also the fact that god apparently went through anger management classes.
The spiteful, vain god of the old testament, who punished his people en masse when they disobeyed, gave way to the kinder, gentler, giving up his son for humanity god. This reversal makes little or no sense. Mind you, from a divine perspective, gods from most other religions have not gone through such transformations. Also, the Jews still seem to get punished to this day, much like in the older biblical times. The Holocaust, the ongoing religious wars in Israel, etc. At least the old testament makes logical sense and also tends to play out a little more today.
Mind you, I'm not Jewish. I'm not even a firm believer in the Jewish religion. I just think that Christianity, at least the way it is viewed today (and Catholicism at the top of the chart) breeds greed and intolerance, both inside the service of god, and outside. Very few known religions throughout history have been as intolerant as Christianity.
</rant>
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