I do understand what love is, and that is one of the reasons I can never again be a Christian. Love is not self denial. Love is not blood and suffering. Love is not murdering your son to appease your own vanity. Love is not hatred or wrath, consigning billions of people to eternal torture because they have offended your ego or disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity, or submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment, or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being.
- Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith
Quote Source: Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist
That was really well said, and truly is a good description of what is love and what God is not. Interesting because theist, at least some, are akin to say that God is love. If a god is all knowing and is love the god of the bible is not. I have also known theist to sat they love God more than their own kids and they if told by god to would kill their own children. I think it's sick that a person would kill their own child for fear of not being able to go to heaven or out of fear of going to hell. If there is a god and a place called Hell, I would be greatly disappointed if these type of people did not go to hell. How could any reasonable god want people who would kill their own children to get into its heaven how could such an individual understand love, how if they can not even love their children?