What is your opinion of Christianity?

[SingingAnalyst]

In terms of the teachings of Jesus, rather than historical Christianity, favorable on the whole. On a practical level I am probably as guilty of cherry-picking Scripture verses as anyone. But on the whole, as a Christian, I seek to (1) forgive others, and promote an atmosphere of forgiveness, to the extent reasonably possible and (2) to stand up for the underdog and those being unfairly attacked or excluded, like the leper at the pool (John 5:1-15).

While several parables and teachings are somewhat problematic (the parable of the ten minas, let the dead bury their own dead, you must hate your mother and father and even your own life, etc.-- and it must be noted that the authenticity of these passages is far less in dispute than "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", often cited as a favorite "liberal" teaching of Jesus); I'd like to focus on one that has been praised by some in the Feminist left lately: Matthew 5:27-28, "but I tell you, he who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart. If your right eye or hand [sic] causes you to sin, cut it off" (my paraphrase) These feminists point out that Jesus did not ask women to dress more modestly (though St. Paul certainly did!); he asked men to keep their "sinful" desires in check. As a member of a fundamentalist sect, as a young male in men's study groups, we were constantly reminded of the evils of lust, and I felt compelled to confess every little sin in this regard to my "discipleship partner", even if I caught myself almost immediately. This passage, which to me condemned innocent pleasure (as the song "Standing on the Corner" says, "you can't go to jail for what you're thinking") caused me a great deal of psychic pain.

[SingingAnalyst]

The same as my opinion of all cults: An abusive indoctrination system that has wasted innumerable human lives with its insular delusions and anti-individualism. There were thousands of obscure desert cults in the ancient world, and the fact that this one happened to survive is the only reason why today we treat it any differently from Zeus or the moon goddess Nanna. It is a self-sustaining brainwashing organization that survives by emotionally abusing young people, making them feel as though they only have value as part of a greater community, and transforming them into unthinking, unquestioning followers of doctrine and scripture. The moment that we as a species banish it from our moral philosophy, our lives will be incomparably improved.

The ironic truth is that, on the whole, I think most contemporary Evangelicals would feel a greater kinship with this statement than they would in the pews of most mainline Protestant (NCCCUSA-affiliated) churches.

[SingingAnalyst]

Freedom of religion, not freedom from religion is inherent in the constitution.  It's not Heaven or hell anymore, its nirvana v enlightenment. Jehovah Witness have eliminated eternal torment out of its philosophy and Buddhism and Hinduism as well. No one has to know your choice of religion, but whether you are secular or tolerant or status quo or traditional, religious humanitarian, like our political thoughts

Buddhism has a Hell, too. It's not unique to Christianity. I'm guessing traditional Buddhists in isolated areas in the East akin to hard-to-reach Appalachia in the US, experience fear and trembling as a result of this teaching.