I'm not sure I understand why people believe in something so hateful?

Question

Many Christian people (and all branches of Christianity) believe in a god that in my opinion is so hateful.
He is against women being equal to men, he is against homosexuality, and many other things.
And, supposedly, if one does not accept him, they are going to hell???!
That's not a very loving god.
Yet many of them say he is.
I have seen many Christians, though, that are nothing like this.
I'm just talking about a certain bunch.
Will someone please fill me in on this?

Really, Tammy,
I'm messed up?
For asking a perfectly legitimate question?

Answer 1

I know, man, it's totally ridiculous. They see it on the news every single day, what religion does to the world. All the wars in the middle east. And they still believe that some dude in the sky is gonna save them.

Yes, fadil z, I can be nice to my sister even when she screams and yells all the time. That's what's called love. And what does your God call love? Hate towards everybody who doesn't do what you tell them?

Answer 2

OK, well I teach Sunday and if you really think about it the things that did happen to the people in those biblical times were pretty harsh. But you must understand the fundamentals. If you are the creator of ALL things. I am talking about everything that exist on this Earth then guess what? You get to make the rules. God is the creator of ALL things, even Satan believe it or not.
Everything he makes is perfect, but b/c Lucifer (Satan) wanted to be praised just like God (the one and only) he was forced to wonder into this world and one third of the angels that he had control over came down here with him. That is the reason why those kind of former angels are called demons.
But back to your question (that stuff is related to the answer), first of all women are equal to men. In different ways, but it does not mean that they are not equal. If you read the bible there is nowhere in there where a woman is being degraded, In the old testament their are GREAT women like Ruth, Deborah and Esther. All God loving and fearing women. They all did greater things than any man around them did. As for the homosexual stuff, when he created Adam he also create Eve to be his mate. So, a women is made from a part of a man. Everything he makes is perfect. Even think about the reproduction method. In nature even, when the animals mate it is between a male and female. Now I do not hate homosexuals like those other people. NO ONE has the right to judge anyone because we are all sinners.
But God says that he is a jelous God and he is the head of Heaven. Only through his only begotton son Jesus Christ then we can get to heaven. Think about it this way if everyone went to heaven even those who did awful things, think of how bad the world that we are living in would be. All things that are good and beautiful derive from God. We love because God first loved us (1 John 1:19). You think things are bad now, remember it could have been worse. Our morals and knowing what is right from wrong is something God gives to us. By not acknowledging our creator then we think that we do not need him. He is too too holy for us, if we are unclean and go into his presence, back then, then he would burn us with his fire. Only like things can come together, the holy with the holy and the sinful with the sinful.

Answer 3

I don't understand it either. That is why I do not believe in God. Or at least any god in a set religion. I believe that there has to be some higher beings. But they must be powerless against the evil and bigotry of humans. I have many christian and other religious friends that are very loving, and then I also had a few friends ( not just Christians, one was Jewish ) That stopped being my friend because I do not believe in their religion.

Answer 4

In the Bible God's wrath and anger is nothing more than your hate and anger being reflected back. The Old Testament is really written for harsh people:

"As regards the Word particularly, it has existed in every age, though not the Word we possess at the present day. Another Word existed in the Most Ancient Church before the Flood, and yet another Word in the Ancient Church after the Flood. Then came the Word written through Moses and the Prophets in the Jewish Church, and finally the Word written through the Evangelists in the new Church. The reason why the Word has existed in every age is that by means of the Word there is a communication between heaven and earth, and also that the Word deals with goodness and truth, by which a person is enabled to live in eternal happiness. In the internal sense therefore the Lord alone is the subject, for all goodness and truth are derived from Him" (Emanuel Swedenborg from Arcana Coelestia n. 2895).

Answer 5

Religion is created by man to answer questions that have no answers, to find structure to reality where there would otherwise not be and to provide order and support to our fragile emotional beings. Since religion is created by men, people use it justify what they really want in their little minds to prop up their insecurities. It's not just Christians, look at the Muslims. How can some be for peace and love and other in favor of terrorism and hate?

Believe what you will. Because that's what those other Christians are gonna do...

Answer 6

Christianity is the "something for everyone" religion. Most Christians cherry-pick their beliefs according to their personal preferences:

For those who are inclined toward pacifism, there's the meek-and-mild Jesus of the Gospels. (Most of the gospels, that is.)

For those who think war is a reasonable way of solving problems, there's the Avenger Jesus* of the Book of Revelations.

Just flip a few pages of the bible and you'll find justification for whatever it is that you want to do, from marrying your cousins to slaughtering your neighbors. And that believe-or-suffer thing appears in many places in the bible, so it's not surprising that the godders take it to heart.

Finally, every religion needs enemies -- a "them" to encourage cohesion and loyalty among "us."

Does that help?

Answer 7

You are asking the wrong people. Most of these people are willingly ignorant of facts they don't like. Education is important to know the truth. What you have is a misconception based upon lies and misunderstanding. The truth is that God is real. God does love everyone. God does regard men and women equally. God is against homosexuality and any other sexual sin including but not limited to pre-marital sex, adultery and fornication with animals. The fact is that God loves people; and God hates sin. God loves people who commit sin, and God hates sin. That is what is really going on. As far as the other misconception goes, that is mankind's fault. It is sinful man who willingly placed someone else under subjection such as women have been as well as slavery. In the beginning it was not that way. Eve was Adam's help meet. The word meet means proper and appropriate and fitting. She was the best help and the only help he could have. Ignorant people have referred to her as a help mate. Though she was his mate, his wife, the use of the word in that context is inappropriate. I wish that men had not treated women so. History cannot be changed. God should not be blamed for our actions. Proverbs 31 gives an example of a husband trusting his wife in matters of business and giving her the credit and the money. The Song of Solomon gives an example of a husband treasuring and cherishing his wife. Other scripture commands that a husband love his wife as himself. I feel for the woman married to a man who hates himself. He cannot render the love she needs.
For emphasis, please do not blame God for mankind's error and sin. God loves everyone. God is Holy and Righteous. God cannot tolerate sin; God can love everyone who does sin, and God can still hate sin. The wages or earned result of sin is death according to scripture. Since death is earned, someone has to receive payment. God chose his only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, to receive payment for all mankind's sin. The gift of God is eternal life. A gift is not earned. A gift has to be accepted or claimed. If you choose not to claim or accept a gift, then it is not yours. If you choose not to accept the gift of eternal life, then eternal life is not yours. God's desire is that a person will love him. God does not want someone with him who does not love him. It is that simple. That is why we have to choose. Again, don't blame God for mankind's wrongs. That is not fair to God.

Answer 8

It kind of depends of which branch of Christianity a child falls into. I landed in a rather blood thirsty Mel Gibsonish suffer the little children Our Lady of Great Agony type of Catholicism. Kneeling on rice to say the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, nuns who beat themselves with small whips (the discipline) that sort of thing.
My father was always telling me "We were put on this earth to suffer and die." As a child, I assumed he was right. That certainly fit with my experience. It was all Lent, and no Easter.
What these people believe is that if you scare the hell out of little children, they will make it to heaven, as opposed to hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
My feeling is, people who beat themselves with small whips have so little love for themselves, that they have nothing to give for the children of strangers and should not be allowed to teach.
This is a religion of fear. God loves you but for the slightest infraction he will throw you into a lake of fire.
Well, being beat over and over again as a child, as I know my parents were and I believe the priests and nuns who taught me as a child were does strange things to your head. OH they used to talk and laugh about things their parents did to them or what was done in the seminary.
two englis poets say it best-

I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

hilip Larkin - This Be The Verse

They **** you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were ****** up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

Answer 9

Jehovah is and was a god of war and thunder. That's how people created him, and although they tried to soften the edges with the fable about a crucified son, that's still how he is depicted underneath the fluff. To perceive a god so monstrous, spiteful, ignorant and unjust is an indication of humanity's inability to comprehend perfection.

Answer 10

God is what you make of Him. Neither I nor any other person in this world can make you change if your mind is not accepting Him. In which book did God say that men and women are not equal, you ask yourself. He did say that they have different roles, but who made this division...........its all of us. We have made women weak as she is physically so. I do understand that due to genetic disorders some people turn out to be homosexuals, But where did God state that they cannot live on earth and they cannot marry. It is humans who have made this division not God my friend. God is just. He is one. There is more evil in this world then good. We are sitting on the epitome of that evil. God's thoughts are of pure and unconditional love which creates every given value and virtue. Ask yourself where is happiness today..............yes its in love and we are centuries far from it. God is there and He is in our love and purity. We have lost Him and are trying to build our own God................!!!!