Wayne Gretzky vs Jesus

As I have said in the past, I listen to SMODcast, which is a podcast by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. The podcasts I enjoy most are when the conversation turns to religion. Kevin was raised Catholic, but is more of a non-practicing Catholic these days, and Scott for all intensive purposes seems to be an atheist.

Todays conversation turned to how Wayne Gretzky is like Jesus. There is the obvious similarity of walking on water (for those of you that don't know, Wayne Gretzky played hockey, so it is more of skating on frozen water, but you get the comparison).
Both of them had devout followings, did things that others could not, were seemingly really nice people.

Which made me think a lot about religion. I don't really want to talk religion here. I will for a minute though. I like the idea of religion being something that you believe in, not something that you believe.

Here is my criteria for the difference in the two. Believe in, means it's tangible. You can see it, hear it, watch it, be part of it. You don't have doubts about what happened, or took place. You can believe in what happened, or what someone stood for.

To believe, means blind faith. You are jumping from the cliff with faith that the hand of god will catch you. Jesus was the son of God, he was crucified, died, and was burried. On the third day he rose and ascended in to Heaven. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. You don't need proof, you just believe.

I like the idea, that you believe in becoming a better person because Wayne Gretzky is a good person. I don't think I would choose Wayne Gretzky, but I can see building a belief system based on how Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc. lived their lives. I also like the idea, that you want to become a better person because Jesus was. I just don't think you should limit yourself to Jesus.

This next statement leans on the controversial side, so be prepared. I don't believe that Jesus is the son of God. I believe he was a good person, who believed in a higher power, and doing good things. I am confident that if you go back in time, and tell Jesus that in the future, a religion would be based around the belief that he was the son of God, he would punch you square in the face.

I am not against organized religion. I was raised Lutheran, and at the end of the day think I am a much better person for going to church, and learning what I did. I do have issues with the way organized religion's have abused their power for things such as money, power, and land. It blows my mind that wars have been fought, and lives lost due to religious differences. I find it crazy that a religion is based on the ideas of a Science Fiction writer. I think it is insane to think if you strap a bomb to yourself, and blow yourself up, that you believe you get 40 virgins in the afterlife. I also think it is crap that you can be a horrible person, confess on your death bed and all is forgiven.

Anyway, I will hop down of my soapbox.