I'm not a Christian so nobody need take what I say seriously. Of course there are Christians who cling to terribly literal interpretations of the whole hellfire and eternal life thing.

However what appeals to this non-Christian about Jesus is the idea of love, forgiveness, and of deep acceptation.

The lack of these qualities is at the root of a lot of human suffering - the self-hatred, the fear of death, the struggle with what is.

Do you need an over-hyped 2000 year old carpenter to experience deep or even transcendant moments forgiveness and love?

No, of course not.

But it is through stories of this carpenter, through the imaginal meeting with this carpenter that many people have these experiences.

Using specific human figures as gateways to an experience is a common phenomeneon or technique across cultures.

I wish they wouldn't be so possessive about it (only Jesus can represent this), still if you can feel a little into the idea of bothe the experience and the idea of using a human figure as a gateway to that experience perhaps you will be better able to communicate with some of the Jesus savers.