Love, Morality and the Christian God

I never really had much of a problem with Christianity until someone close to me tried to convert me. She said that she was trying to save me; she said that she cared about me and didn't want bad things to happen to me. I found it odd that she was trying to save me from her god. I don't understand how it is that people can devote themselves so strongly to an idea of a god who will torture their loved ones. It was explained to me that being a good person does not matter. If you are a good Jew you will burn in hell; if you are a good Buddhist you will burn in hell. Apparently, according to Christian dogma even if you live your life like Jesus, even if you live a perfect life and do good work for the benefit of mankind, it doesn't matter, if you don't pray to their god, he will torture you.

It never made sense to me that a good and loving god would torture and murder good people. The notion that god loves you, but if you don't say the right words on the right day of the week, he will torment you for ever is a very strange concept. A hateful god who wickedly punishes the innocent is a strange concept, but it is not unheard of when we look at the bible. I've learned that the bible is taught much like a boogie man story; I have to almost picture the biblical god wearing a striped sweater and knife fingers as much as he likes murdering children in that book. So in the bible, we find a list of atrocities committed by or on the behalf of "god." People are taught to believe that this morally corrupt dictator is in heaven watching everything you do and just waiting to get you. People then warship this villain out of fear.

This kind of religion is much like a prison gang, you might not want to be in it, you may not agree with everything in it, but you join for protection. This cult teaches children when they are young to fear the scary man in the sky who will get you if you don't obey him. Logically most people threatened with torture will join up, but I have to wonder if there could be any more evil way of filling pews than to threaten people into your religion. I understand that the Bible god has no use for people who do not give him the praise that he apparently earned through genocide, but I have no use for a god who loves only those who say nice things to him. I have no interest in a religion that promotes hate and encourages the destruction of good people in the name of a bad god.