I was eighteen when I first encountered the ‘Jesus myth’ in its full, meme-honed-to-maximum-virulence form, and the story arc captivated me for a full six months. I still cry during every Good Friday service. But I must have missed some critical threshold, because I can’t actually believe in that story. I’m not even sure what it would mean to believe in a story. What does that feel like?

I understand. I -absolutely- love the Gnostic narrative, having stumbled upon it through the books of Philip K. Dick. That's a really cool story, and I'd love it to be true, and Eliezer's schticks can't quite explain how PKD saved his child on 2-3-74... but I'd never rely upon it in any expectations, so it's not a belief in the strict sense. It's just a science fiction/fantasy story I really love.