I absolutely agree with your analysis. A bigger problem with Christianity in my opinion is the tautology associated with the Bible. Too many fundamentalist Christians say that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, dictated by him and written down by men. Because God is all knowing, and perfect, he cannot be questioned. They are essentially equating a conclusion with its authority. If, in fact, the Bible is the inerrant word of God, then their conclusion would be valid. But that is a big assumption. What makes them think that it was written by God, and not man? Their rigid position begs the question. It is fairly clear that the Bible was written down by very fallible men, so therefore, their premise is incorrect.

The flipside is that if the Bible was written by men, then there is reason to question it. This, of course, is something that fundamentalist Christians cannot allow. So they stick with their unjustifiable conclusion that it is God’s word. It has created a lot of problems during human history, and there’s a major problem today in the various theocratic laws being enacted around the country to suppress and demean groups that don’t meet their arbitrary standard.

There is nothing more frustrating than getting into a discussion with a conservative Christian who starts citing Bible verses. When I ask them, why they do that, they inevitably say because God said it. When I ask, why do you think God said that? They inevitably say because the Bible says so. Well, what makes you think that God says so? The answer? Because God wrote it, and he is never wrong. It says so in the Bible. It is a circular argument. How many times have you heard a conservative Christian say something to the effect of “God wrote it, I believe it, that settles it?” It just begs the question. It doesn’t settle anything.