Let me get this straight.. the cesspool of corruption that was Rome at that time with Caligula, Nero, and Commodus was preferable to Jesus Christ who went out to the people and taught the Golden Rule? Really?.. Not a chance.

If you want to talk about organized religion, I'm happy to agree that it has always been corrupted in every country and in every period of time. However, Jesus Christ's teaching in it's simplest form is "Love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself." This is the same Jesus Christ that was willing to associate with the lowest of society and lead them out of their misery. This is the same Jesus Christ that went out and healed the sick and casted out their demons. This is the same Jesus Christ that threw the money changers (read "bankers") out of the temple. This is the same Jesus Christ that stood up to the religious hypocrites and called them out for what they were. This is the same Jesus Christ that went to his death without a whimper standing up for what He believed in and to set an eternal example for humanity.

This is what I mean by a Christian and I am proud to state my full belief in the teachings and example that Jesus Christ set in His short life. I am also proud to have grown up in a Western Christian society that has been built upon His teaching and example over thousands of years and that thereby has also engendered the basis of a free, ethical, and rational society across the world.

The problem that you seek is not Christians or Christianity, but perverted organized religions that have and still do perform evil in Christ's name and that in no way exemplify His teachings and life example. When I spoke of Joe being a committed Christian, I spoke of the former form of Christian and not the latter. Joe shows true care for what happens to humanity and he fully speaks out to stop the evil around him. If you don't understand this as what it means to be a true Christian, then you will automatically associate the many unspeakable crimes of organized religion as Christianity. I assure you, the two are not synonymous.