..I thought I might comment briefly on Jesus.
I reckon the story about Jesus is basically just about one person trying to teach others that it is important to be excellent to each other. More important than even your own life.
I'd rationalise that notion, by saying that in the case where there are limited resources if the society will benefit the most when it is you who do not get resources, then you should accept this peacefully.
I think that if everyone thought that way, we would have a more compassionate world. The point is, of course, that is hard, and it can only really work if you can trust all members of your community (and so far, you very definitely can't). You can solicit more people to behave with this attitude by inventing the notion of a 'god', however you just end up with deceit. I consider most people I know who claim to have a 'faith' or 'religion' to be liars, because I don't believe them when they say they don't have any doubts, or that they think they have all the relevant information, or that they have any basis for their opinion. I'm sure, deep inside, they are either lying to themselves, or to me, at any rate you can see it reflected through their greed.
This attitude is also probably counter to the 'real' purpose of existence, which probably requires suffering, competition, war, and recklessness in a Darwinian sense for the sake of 'survival of the fittest'. I'm pretty sure that's how we got to where we are.
OK, having written the above, I'll change that a little: You can accept life in the Darwinian sense, and when you get the rough end of the stick you accept it peacefully.
Hmm.. if you do that.. then you'll die. But.. everyone dies. So then the question is, if you die, then does your attitude die with you? In Jesus' case, the answer is a resounding No. Is the attitude useful to you? No. Is it useful to society? Probably.
You can sum it all up as DEAL WITH IT.
Because I'm not religious, I can't in good conscience listen to the teachings of religious people, and have had, as a result, very little respect for the story of Jesus. However, I think I can take something from the teachings, without requiring a belief in a god, or an affiliation with any particular institution.
Interestingly, if you're an 'oppressor' then you would probably consider it useful for others to have this attitude. Ho hum..
John.