Easter: the most important date in Christianity. Perhaps some Christian out there can explain it all to me because I must be missing the point somewhere.
Firstly, the crucifixion. Ok, not a pleasant way to die, but less painful than being burnt at the stake (as millions of heretics were in the middle ages) and less drawn out than, say, being in a Nazi concentration camp. And crucifixion was a common method of execution in Roman times - hardly something special.
Secondly, the sacrifice. Jesus, being the son of God, presumably was immortal. He would have realised that his physical death on Earth wouldn't have been the end. So where exactly is the sacrifice? Ok, unpleasant death and all that, but even so ...
Thirdly, how does the system work? God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to die for us ... wait a sec, who's making the rules here? God HAD to have some kind of blood sacrifice to be ABLE to forgive us? Why could he not forgive us anyway?
Ok, it's all pretty irrelevant to me - I don't believe in God, I don't believe Jesus was who he claimed to be or did many of the things he was said to do - and obviously he didn't magically come back to life a few days after dying on the cross. What I can't understand is not so much that Christians do believe these things, but the fact that they don't seem to see that the whole concept is absurd.