Okay, in the interest of trying to contribute at least a little something of relevance to this thread...

So far, I have to agree with all Whitefire has said in regards to abusive relationships. Based on my experiences in dealing with them in their various forms, she has pretty much nailed the dynamics of it. And, personally, the psychology behind it has been something of a "fascination" to me for many years. Granted, no two situations are ever exactly the same. Waaaay too many varying factors involved for that. Even so, when all the other "outward" factors are stripped away, the primary underlying theme that all abusive relationships have in common boils down to two things: Control and Fear. And in my opinion, this applies to ANY abusive relationship, be it between two or more humans, or between humans and their respective god(s).

From personal experience, I can without a doubt say I never had any love for the god I was raised to believe controlled my life. If I felt anything at all for that god it was only an uncomfortable sense of dread and fear. On top of that was the constant worry that I was never "good enough" for that god. And the only thing that kept me bound to it for so long was the constant threat of hell lurking in the back of my mind. "But - hey! - good news! God loves you!" Oh, gee, thanks. That makes things soooo much better... *rolling eyes*....

I have even had faithful Christian family members agree with me the the god of the bible is "not very nice". At the same time, though, they will also admit they NEED that same god and are too afraid to leave it. Like I said, the psychology behind it all is fascinating to me. Even more so now that I am no longer intimidated by any of it.