I share your view to some degree, Carla. There are some Christians who believe we must live exactly as people lived in Biblical times - same food preparation methods, same rituals, same gender roles etc.

To me, that is to miss the moral messages of the Bible which transcend time and culture but should provide basic decent morality to any age. Wisdom can be 10,000 years old and just as valid now as then. The same people who advocate these Biblical hierarchy/structures etc wouldn't advocate we live in robes and sandals all year round and shun all modern technology as making us lazy etc.

I'm not a conventional Christian. I believe the Bible properly interpreted teaches the equality of all human beings, races and genders. I find the prevailing sexism in conservative Christian circles extremely annoying, but fortunately advances have been made.

Religion is definitely influenced by geographical location. The interesting thing about Christianity is that while Jesus was a Jew, the Jews reject him as the Christ. He was rejected by his own people but other nationalities have come to be Christians through people spreading the word (and the Scriptures).

Whether Christianity is the truth, I don't know. I believe Jesus was God in human form, but belief isn't fact or certainty. I would certainly prefer it to be true compared to some other religions that have very restrictive roles for women or involve many hours a day in rituals etc. Christianity teaches there is no need for circumcision or to spead hours washing and preparing foods certain ways and women aren't obliged to cover their heads

I hate to get in comparisons with other religions because I respect all cultural differences and have an interest in the pagan past of my ancestors, but counties that have been Christian have done particularly well over the past 2000 years. They are now the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world with general good standard of living. Not that society is going away from Christianity, it's starting to go to the dogs, in my opinion. We have abortion on demand and so much crime and violence. Compare that to a country like Malta which is Roman Catholic majority of about 95% and there is no legal abortion and very low crimes. If there was more genuine Christianity in my country, then it would be a safer place.

I believe a society needs morals to function. That doesn't have to be Christian morals, but it needs "something", it needs someone/something to set the standards.

But I can certainly understand people having a negative view of Christianity because of the behaviours of a minority. All I can associate with Islam is women having to go out with veils or slits for eyes, preaching of hatred on the streets, bombs, and terrorist attacks. Is that representative of the whole Islamic community? I doubt it. But it's all I've seen of Islam, so it's all I know of that religion. I don't think it's fair to judge a religion by the bad behaviour of those who don't even represent it fairly.