What may be even more disturbing then is this idea, that the road to messianism ends with a suicide. Think about it. Jesus allowed himself to be put to death. Siddhartha Gautama (aka Buddha) ate some mushroom dish he somehow knew was infected with dysentery and wouldn't allow his attendants or his host to eat it. After, he wouldn't seek any treatment for it, just made a rope hammock and waited to die. Quetzalcoaltl offered himself for sacrifice to the sun god. Zarathustra waited for the inevitable at the temple altar while all you-know-what was breaking loose outside. This ties in with the free will point that Zander was making about it earlier. Was it sacrifice or suicide?

Oh - and while I'm on a roll, I'm thinking that what was believed then isn't what is believed now for the most part...that those were primitive times and a whole different way of thinking and custom. The idea of killing or hurting someone for the attention of an unknown invisible entity much less for anyone or any tribe of people is unconscionable now, but then as far as animals it was the norm. Putting people up on the altar was kind of scary even then. Even Abraham had his moments of "God must be out of His mind", but didn't want to cross It all the same.

This is for a God that for all we know and are taught thinks of us as primitive and interesting. Do you, for example, punish your cat for bringing you a dead critter, or do you skritch it on the head, say "good kitty" and dispose of the corpse when he's not looking, afraid to offend him for rejecting his offering? Would a divine entity be proud of those who decide of their own conscience that there must be another way to show their appreciation for their life?