Request from a Christian.

[robvalue]

Fair enough OP.

Will your story about the dime thrower be in your book? If so, do you understand why she was doing that? Is your book simply to show the problem and not address the reasons for it, pr the solution? If so, I'll leave you to your own prerogative. I see no need to add my experiences as they will have zero bearing in someones decision making when balanced against the 'word of god'.

Yes the story will be in there. I believe it happened due to a sense of tribalism in the church. Maybe even collectiveness. The Bible teaches us to treat others like we want to be treated, something is getting in the way of that.

A relatively tiny section of the bible suggests this, yes. The rest of the bible does not. So clearly you have selected the part of the book that lines up with how you think things should be. And I agree, they should be that way. You've found ways of justifying to yourself how this is the "real Christianity", and that everyone else is mistaken to be acting on all the other parts which contradict this message.

This is what everyone does, but they don't see it. Religion ends up being a mirror for peoples' morality. There is no correct interpretation. There is just a book, and myths surrounding a book. And objectively, the bible is a morally disgusting book for almost all of it. You have to cherry pick it to come up with anything nice, and even then it's just common sense morality and nothing more.

I'm all for cherry picking. I want people to be nice, however they justify it to themselves. I'm just pointing out that this is what is happening. There is no "real Christianity". In fact, for both Christianity and Islam, the "radicals" are people like yourself who have taken an incredibly tangential view of the bible to come up with something peaceful. Give it to anyone who hasn't been told not to ignore great swathes of the book, while also being told it's the "word of God", and you have a recipe for disaster. You literally can't follow the whole book, because it's a mess of contradictions. So you end up having to make up your own version. It's the "big book of multiple choice". If you focus on the parts you like, you can make it support almost any moral viewpoint.

I've asked before what exactly Christianity offers, morality wise, that isn't completely obvious to any well-balanced atheist. The general reply I got is that there is nothing.

In reality, the religion is the oral myths. The book is just a backdrop. You've been raised with the idea (or figured out) that Christianity is about peace and understanding. And that's that. To you, that is Christianity. It doesn't matter what the book says. If you were raised a long time ago, you'd have been taught it's about hellfire, judgement, war and wiping out people who disagree. Now, you may have been repulsed and rejected this "version", but that would have been the norm. That would be the religion, as it stood then.