Thank you...for you have just described the world I grew up in....where the Bible was viewed as a book of 'Things to do if you don't want to go to hell, prayer was something that could be bullied and forced out of you for someone elses gain, questioning caused you to be labled "the devil's own".....
Thus, you get murderous Islamic nut-cases and, indeed, Pharisees of all religions (e.g., those execrable "God Hates Fags" idiots) who are so focused on imposing the letter of their interpretation that they forget about the loving God whose will they're supposed to represent.
Why is it that the most miserable, self-loathing types are attracted to a way of thinking that lets them tell the rest of the world they are damned to eternal suffering (unless they adhere to the magic book that tells them all the things to do?)
No mention of joy or peace or whatever....Why is "love your neighbor" so friggin' hard to understand?
Because it's scary. To be quite honest, I struggle with it ALL THE TIME, and usually fail. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (Rom. 7:18-19)
I think the root of the problem is that the devil is more than happy to be found wherever you look for him. We see our own sins reflected in others, and tend to react against others, as a means of pushing our own sins away. Thus, we tend to create enemies for ourselves, and battles, and we undertake to judge whether others will or won't be going to hell. What a lovely opportunity for the devil!
This is not to say we shouldn't spot, identify, and resist sin. But we have to be careful that we don't mistake the sinner for the sin.