In reply to RevRico :
You haven't and won't offend me with such questions, and you've gone out of your way to be gracious. Thank you for that. I have studied this in some detail and have not come across clear evidence of the Jesus-type story told in other cultures' religions as it is in the Bible. There are certainly stories of god or gods becoming human, living among humanity, and even dying and rising from the dead. But I am not aware of any saying that an all-powerful Deity freely chose to be born in obscurity to serve, suffer, and die for humanity. I could certainly be wrong about that, but I have not found any. If you have any specific examples, please send them my way.
I think the primary reason this particular story stands out is that there is actually quite a lot of non-biblical evidence that a Jewish man named Jesus and called the Christ lived, suffered, and was crucified in 1st century Palestine (not for the resurrection, just for life and death). Josephus and Tacitus, 1st and 2nd Century historians who were not Christian and, in general, fairly antagonistic towards it, both mention this. Josephus presents it as fact. Tacitus mentions it as something Jesus' followers believed and were willing to be martyred for. From what I've read in modern non-Christian 1st Century ancient-near-east scholarship, it seems that most historians would agree that it is highly likely that a Jewish man named Jesus was born, lived, taught, and was crucified in 1st Cent Palestine, though they would certainly disagree with the miracle stories and resurrection story. So all that to say, this particular story does not seem to exist in the realm of religious myth or allegory. It seems to be grounded to history. At least it seems that way to me.