A lot of Christians simply haven't read the tome they supposedly revere. Many of those that have will find 101 ways to justify the heinous shit that's inside. Not because it's logical to do so (it's anything but), but because they've attached part of their identity to their faith, and they perceive any flaw with it as a flaw in themselves. Indeed, that's why the idea of god is so pervasive - it's an intentionally vague concept that beckons the reader/believer to fill in the gaps. And so they fill those gaps with aspects of their own personality and what they believe an ideal person would be like.
Religion is politics. It's fueled by propaganda. Propaganda works through repetition and guiding the person reading/watching/hearing to the desired conclusion by having them fill in the dots in a certain way. We see the same thing right now in the Presidential race.
Donald Trump's slogan is "Make America Great Again!" But, that implies it's not currently great without defining what he means by greatness, and the 'again' portion of the phrase doesn't reference any particular time. Why? Because everyone has their own nostalgia. For some, it was the 1980s, during Reagan's Presidency and the end of the Cold War. For others (and a lot of GOP voters), it was the postwar era. A lot of people have warm, fuzzy memories of the late 1940s, 1950s, and even 1960s when things were 'simpler' and 'better', even though institutionalized racism was still running rampant and we were facing nuclear annihilation. But, his campaign doesn't care about those details. What it aims to do is to get everyone on board with the idea that America isn't great, it once was, and it could be again. The particulars are unconsciously filled in by the audience. And the same thing with god.
And this is why there are ~400,000 denominations (no joke) of Christianity today. There's no consensus about important things, like the value of faith vs. good works, how forgiving god is in general, etc. But, it's also why, despite the number of denominations in existence, everyone thinks their vision of god is the correct one. Their god is really themselves.
Religion is politics. It's fueled by propaganda. Propaganda works through repetition and guiding the person reading/watching/hearing to the desired conclusion by having them fill in the dots in a certain way. We see the same thing right now in the Presidential race.
Donald Trump's slogan is "Make America Great Again!" But, that implies it's not currently great without defining what he means by greatness, and the 'again' portion of the phrase doesn't reference any particular time. Why? Because everyone has their own nostalgia. For some, it was the 1980s, during Reagan's Presidency and the end of the Cold War. For others (and a lot of GOP voters), it was the postwar era. A lot of people have warm, fuzzy memories of the late 1940s, 1950s, and even 1960s when things were 'simpler' and 'better', even though institutionalized racism was still running rampant and we were facing nuclear annihilation. But, his campaign doesn't care about those details. What it aims to do is to get everyone on board with the idea that America isn't great, it once was, and it could be again. The particulars are unconsciously filled in by the audience. And the same thing with god.
And this is why there are ~400,000 denominations (no joke) of Christianity today. There's no consensus about important things, like the value of faith vs. good works, how forgiving god is in general, etc. But, it's also why, despite the number of denominations in existence, everyone thinks their vision of god is the correct one. Their god is really themselves.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
