I feel like I'm talking to myself from five years ago.... I guess that's why I feel a little triggered right now. The whole "being led by the Holy Spirit" idea sounds nice, but when different "christians" feel led by the HS to preach contradictory narratives it becomes hard to reconcile. Who is correct? What way of reading the bible is correct? If the HS doesn't answer when you ask for guidance, what do you do then?

Another problem is that people, and you and I seem to be them, often say, "the bible says..." and then follow with their own interpretation of what the bible says. It isn't so clear what you say about the commandments, and that should be evident by the huge numbers of "Christians" who read the same bible as you and say "the bible says..." followed by "we must obey the Law of God." Really, it's not hard to find.

I understand that the church is full of people, and that people are imperfect, but that shouldn't preclude the church from being loving towards each other, if not towards everyone. Jesus said that His followers would be know by their love... Who in the world describes Christians as loving? If you stand from the outside and look objectively, it seems to me that Christians are only loving towards people who share their exact same beliefs, and when there is a disagreement the hate comes out pretty quick.

For the record, I "accepted the Holy Spirit in my life" over thirty years ago, and there have been good times and bad since. Looking back, I can't really distinguish the things I thought were from the HS from things that other people worked out just fine without Him. It doesn't seem to me that "Christians" are especially blessed any more than non-christians. It doesn't seem to effect their behavior all that much, and it doesn't seem to free them from sin.

You say I question the need to be saved at all? No, you mistake me. I'm question the power of your religion to save. I thought for years it did. Argued vociferously that it did, even very recently. If asked about it, I'd probably still give the party line, but I have some real doubts. Mostly, I fail to see the power, love, grace, or mercy the Bible says is there.

As for punishment, I understand it's hard to let go of the desire for a pound of flesh. It makes us feel good to know the "bad" people are going to get what they have coming. But how is death not a punishment? Isn't death the exact punishment promised all throughout the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation? Isn't death what Jesus said will happen to those who don't believe in Him? Didn't Paul say the "wages of sin is Death?" Why this need for eternal torture? Is it just?

If we are made in the image of God, and I think the bible is pretty clear on that, then shouldn't we expect our sense of justice to derive from Him? I've heard that exact argument used by countless Christian apologists to "prove" His existence, yet when it comes to Justice we somehow think it's okay for God to behave in ways that we would consider completely unjust if a person were to do it.

If someone is guilty of murder, what is a just punishment? Is fifty years in a torture chamber good enough? I think that's barbaric, and so do most people. Death is the punishment God prescribed for the Israelites who took a life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life. It seems pretty clear that God is instructing them on Justice. Why didn't He tell them to torture the murderer for some time before execution?

Now, you have God not only executing the sinner, but then He resurrect them for the sole purpose of torturing them endlessly. How is that just? Where in the Bible is that idea? I guess you can get it from Revelation, when Satan and his minions are cast into the lake of fire to be tormented forever, but at best you have the worst of the worst suffering endlessly. Your explanation of Hell puts people there for eternal torture who lived their entire life in a place where the gospel was never preached. Or people who were so harmed by "Christians" that they were unable to respond to the gospel. Or people who just never gave religion or God much thought, but were otherwise decent people.

Do people deserve death for stealing? How about lying? Or coveting? Do people deserve to be tortured forever for the same? Think about that for a while... Why would you say it is Just for God to behave that way when it wouldn't be just for one of us to?

To me, this is one of the problems with the whole ball of wax. How is it that "Christians" are loving if most of them openly hold out hope that most of the people in the world will be tortured forever? If they truly believed that, what in the world is more important than trying to stop it from happening? I mean, seriously, why wast time on a blog, job, skiing, or reading a book? Someone might suffer eternal torture because of your tendency to procrastinate... Either Christians don't really believe it, or they aren't loving. If they aren't loving, according to Jesus they aren't His followers.

You say you're Libertarian, can I ask why? I'd like to know, but for now here's why I am. I don't think it is morally acceptable to force people to act the way you want them to, either directly or through coercion. In fact, it was through reading the gospels that I came to that conclusion because it seems to me that Jesus refused to use coercion or violence even when people were ready to make Him king. He didn't act like that because it was wrong. It is still wrong. Why would you think God would act like that?