If you look closer, this is a neon sign, so apparently the jesus part is a different color than the cares part, so at night , no one ever reads, "scares"... still...there's a whole lot of daylight.

@flithyMONKEYmen You realize that I referred to Jesus as a character in a superstitious text, right? I'm not even 100% certain the man ever existed, let alone if everything written is true and accurate. You're getting way ahead of my comment here.

@flithyMONKEYmen Really, how so? He was never a dick, loved everyone, didn't judge, held no grudges, looked after the poor, the sick, the weak, the elderly, preached love, despised the religious, hated greed, and advocated for woemn, unity, and grace. What's not to like?

@Piratefish He also said " do not think I come to bring peace on earth, I come not to bring peace but with a sword. and also said "I come to set son against father and daughter against mother ".

He advocated dropping everything and following him. Fuck the future because the world was going to end shortly anyway.
Sure there are a few good sayings attributed to him but some including "the golden rule" are also attributed to Confucius long before.

Considering the outrageous claims made by this guy, " I made the whole universe eh boy ! "
he must be the worlds greatest bullshitter. And half the worlds idiots believed him !

@flithyMONKEYmen I guess it all depends on what one chooses to focus. Everyone, including the character Jesus, has his faults - including me. No one is all "good". But as far as the bible goes, Jesus was, far and away, one of the best people.

Also, being the product of a very religious upbringing (my dad was a pastor, I went to christian school through the 12th grade, and had entire chapters of the bible memorized) I can say with some authority that the new testament, including the parts about Jesus, was written during a time (and in a region) that had different values than we do today. Much of what Jesus said relating to Roman law and politics was aimed at avoiding direct confrontation with the authorities (hence the whole render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, etc.).

Reading other contemporaneous literature from the day shows how similar the writing style and thinking was in those first couple of centuries after the supposed execution of Jesus. Apuleius's Metamorphoses is a great example of this. Much of what is written is not meant to be taken as literally as we tend to take things in modern Western civilizations - things like "plucking your eye out if it offends you" were more metaphorical than anything. He did not literally expect his followers to maim and disfigure themselves. I also don't view his comment about his family as smart ass - it was meant to portray the idea that he was god incarnate, and not of this world.

Again, I think a lot depends on the view of the individual reading about Jesus. For me, I was naturally drawn to his message of grace, love, and charity.

But you are absolutely correct, there is scarcely a single original idea in Christianity. After all, it borrowed very heavily from Judaism and a number of Greek Mystery Cults of the day. And in turn, those borrowed heavily from earlier mysticism and othe rcultures (e.g. Mesopotamian mythology in the case of Judaism).

Thanks for the great exchange. You raise some extremely good points and have helped me alter my views on the character of Jesus. He was not all love, peace, and flowers all the time.

Yes, and when an execution device is used by your followers as a symbol to remember you by it is pretty scary.