Deprogramming Jessica

The more I learn the more I have to ask the question, is the God of the Bible actually the bad guy? I suppose it doesn't matter to me in the grand scheme since I no longer believe the God of the Bible exists. But, I can't help but be intrigued by the notion of the Christian God being evil.   In church we are taught that God is love. God created us in his image. He watches over us and he cares for us very much. He is merciful and wise. All knowing and all powerful. Our heavenly father. But, when you actually dig into the Bible instead of just reading the frilly, sunshine and rainbows parts you quickly realize that the God of the Bible isn't really any of these things. He is a real prick, most of the time. For starters, his love is EXTREMELY conditional. Extremely. If he is watching over things closely, he is a neglectful parent at best. He proves himself to be jealous instead of merciful and short sighted instead of wise. He has killed so many people. On purpose!  The real...

I am on the other size of my deconstruction at this point. There's no going back. I feel fine about it. But I am increasingly irritated by people who are hopelessly caught up in their beliefs. People who make all of their decisions based on the way they view the world through the lens of religion. People have the right to believe whatever they want, but as someone on the "other side" of it all, I get really annoyed when I see people using their religion as a crutch, an excuse, and justification for absolutely everything.  It becomes increasingly more absurd to me when people always attribute good things happening in their life as gifts and blessings from god. I can remember feeling the exact same way, but now I am able to see just how self-centered it is and frankly, how little sense it makes.  If there is a bad hurricane in one part of the world that devastates an area and kills people and animals in droves and on the same day, at the same time, somewhere else, a Christi...