I'm usually not in the habit of offering birthday greetings to long dead rabbis, but I'll make an excpetion in this case, on this day. There are a couple of remarkable aspects about Christianity in general and Jesus in particular that have come to mind recently. So in the spirit of the season, it's sharing time.

The most important is that I look at all organized religion as brainwashing on a grandiose scale. Christianity is the worst offender. It is shocking to me how much of this religion is based on faith. Faith in the virgin birth. Faith in the ressurection. Faith that Jesus was white, with blond hair and blue eyes instead of what he most likely was, swarthy with dark brown eyes like everyone else born in the Middle East. Faith, especailly, that history's great charlatans, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are telling the truth.

I've seen the birth place of Mary in Jerusalem. I've been to Ephesus in Turkey where she died. I've ridden a bike around the Sea of Galilee where Jesus supposedly walked on water, turned loves in fishes, gave the Sermon on the Mount and all that. I've seen devout Christians bearing crosses up the via Dolorosa. I've climbed Mt. Sinai. I've walked into the depths of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I've been to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and just about every major Christian site in Western Europe. It's impressive and moving, but at the same time incredibly disturbing.

So much evil has been done to so many in the name of Jesus and Christianity that makes me think that if "he" actually were the son of god, he would have come back a long time ago to put a stop to it, perhaps some time during the Crusades or the Inquisition.

What I wish on Jesus' birthday is that everyone one in the world would actually take a long hard look at the Ten Commandments and try to live by the dictums set therein. The world would be a much nicer place without all this coveting and killing.

Peace on earth and good will to men (and women)