>>I have read many passages in the Bible.
Assuming you are correct about a bloody vengeful deity I still would have trouble identifying the difference between Hell and spending eternity watching my back worrying about a mighty bolt of lighting coming my way.
jbennett, if you will read the bible with an open mind and realize that its authenticity is reasonable, that's all anyone can ask.
Regarding God's vengeance, yes there are many troubling aspects of God in the bible. However, I can't remake God in my own image. That would make me the final arbiter of reality - and neither of us wants that... :)
When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.
- G.K. Chesterton, Daily News, 7/29/1905