Those are just thoughts in your own head....influenced by your religion... not by God or your own logic....don't pay any attention to them.
I agree that "they never understood them in the first place" - is relevant to my point - and in fact pretty much restates my point,. but whether or not God is fake is not. This is about hypocrisy more than anything .. folks claiming to be "followers of Christ" who do the opposite of the teachings of Christ .. such as the 1000 years of horror after Constantine gave the "Universal Church" power. This church was "The Anti Christ" - doing the opposite of what Christ Taught.
Okay...but if "they never understood them in the first place".... is it accurate to call them "hypocrites"? It seems that religious folks see the teachings as merely suggestions. Like @modernpaladin stated below..... If viewed as a philosophy, then they can "take it or leave it" as they see fit. I don't think they would be guilty of "hypocrisy" under those circumstances. I don't believe I ever said "God is fake"... ....God is God. "Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God"
If you didn't say it .. I will .. the God these folks believe in is a made up construct - "fake" . It is not that these folks do not understand the teachings of Jesus - it is right there in black and white.. What they do is ignore the teachings of Jesus in favor of man made dogma. You telling me that the Catholic Church did not understand "love neighbor as self" "judge not" "Do unto others" ? come on.
You can read from now until doomsday...but will make no difference. "What you are looking for...is already where you are looking from."
Does it really take you that long to read? Might I suggest https://www.time4learning.com/homeschool-curriculum/reading-comprehension.html
Everyone is a hypocrite, and all sin. Followers of Christ admit our hypocrisy and we admit our sin and we ask forgiveness. I don't particularly like "religious" people. my Brothers and Sisters are followers of Christ, the Truth, the Way and the Life.. Jesus was very much against the Pharisees..they are hypocrites without remorse and much of organized religion is very much like them.
Then practice. You'll get better. Take a simple book like The Hobbit. If you read it, you'll find that others don't disagree with you about what happened. Then continue with the more difficult Lord of the Rings. You'll find that people don't disagree with what happens in the book or argue about what it says. The same with reading the Bible. There really isn't anything to argue about as far as what it plainly says. After one knows what the Bible says, one can either agree with it or disagree with it. And that is where all the different denominations come from. People disagree with one aspect of the Bible or another. The argument isn't really over what the Bible says anymore than there are arguments over what The Hobbit says.
Perhaps the problem is..... IMO..what the churches teach is basically "fake it til you make it".... which of course is an impossible goal. Hence they created "Hail Marys" and "Our Fathers".
"We ask forgiveness"....from whom? From God? "God does not forgive because He has never condemned. And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary." "As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself."
Especially when applying love to a genocidal god. That is a really low bar for love. I pray that St. Hitler raises the bar, or at least Christians. Regards DL
To many who don't share your religious outlook, the teachings of Jesus (as you understand them) are man made dogma, and no less fake than other religious dogma.
If you mean forgiveness from those other humans you wrong, I very much admire that. If you mean alleviating your sense of guilt for doing something wrong to somebody by believing God has forgiven you instead, then not so much.
What religious outlook ? Never said the teachings of Jesus were not mm-Dogma. You are missing the point being made.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Shake_the_Dust/ And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
You're the one claiming that it is. So it should be easy to point out that it is impossible to figure out what the Bible plainly says.
Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas if God does exist, he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell)
Let's take an easier case which requires only a 3rd grade reading ability. Does the Bible condemn homosexuality? https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-best-case-for-the-bible-not-condemning-homosexuality_b_1396345 In this article, John Shore claims it does not. Is this an honest or dishonest reading of the Bible? If you think this is an honest reading, we simply disagree with each other and there is no more to say.
But.. but.. but.. some people are just born that way! Is God the Creator condemning them to Hell after he made them like that?/??? Answer: homosexual sex is condemned https://www.openbible.info/topics/a_man_shall_not_lay_with_a_man_nor_a_woman_with_a_woman for example: Romans For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And heterosexuals can most certainly commit sexual sins... in abundance.