@drdoombot – Absolutely. And most Muslims, atheists, and others feel the same way. Everyone want to go through life having fun, learning, growing, being part of something, regardles of beliefs. That’s why it’s interesting that so many people need to associate themselves with a gigantic system of beliefs and stories just to live a simple life, while others don’t.
So as the question points out, the really interesting thing is why so many people, especially westerners, have taken a preference to what began as a tiny belief system of a small group of folks from the middle east many thousands of years ago, instead of some other system that would seem more likely for people on this side of the globe, like Native Indian tales or something.
I agree that it’s kind of a moot point how the Horus story turned into the Jesus story, and all the other little oddities in the details, but the question remains, why the stories from this part of the world still capture the attention of (western) people so much more than similar stories from a hundred different parts of the world? Any history profs on here?