The moral code of the christian religion is violent and hateful.

Just as we might have different names for the same person, God has different names. Perhaps it would be best to acknowledge that we both agree to a God of our own understanding. I cannot presume, however, to question the moral code of an all-knowing, all-powerful entity. I agree that the problems arise when we confuse the spiritual aspects of Christ's message with the interpretations of that message by institutionalized institutions called religions, each one claiming to be the "right" and exclusively correct one. Keep in mind that if God is perfect then, in comparison, man must be flawed, or imperfect. Religions are man made organizations and therefore are flawed as well. I truly believe that anything taken to an extreme, even if it is inherently good in and of itself, becomes closed-minded fanaticism. It is also true that not every Christian who attends services on Sunday (or Saturday) practices Christian principles. For the sake of this debate, perhaps we would do well to agree to dispense with any discussion of the divinity of Christ. We can then examine the message of this great man, Jesus Christ. All of the major religions of the world claim Abraham as the source of their lineage. From Abraham came the great prophet Moses who presented to us, as from God, the Ten Commandments. Without sounding to be disrespectful let us try to picture this scenario in today's language. Here comes this man called Jesus who has developed a large following of people who hunger for His message. Jesus tells the crowd: "Hey, you guys. A long time ago my Dad sent you a list of ten rules to follow and you seem to have a great difficulty in following them. God sent me to try to help you to understand them, to simplify them. We'll distill these ten and get at their very core. It's really easy: just honor and obey your Father and treat everybody else the same way that you want to be treated. It's that simple." These two little rules encompass all of the ten. Sticking to the commandment that you single out, "Thou Shalt Not Steal," why would I want to steal something from someone if I don't want people to steal things from me? That follows the instructions in Christ's simplified code: rule #2. Personally, I don't think Creator gives a hoot about what material, man-made things we do, or do not, possess. He does care about how we treat each other. The crux of your belief that Christianity is "violent and hateful" seems to center around the concepts of heaven and hell. We either believe that they exist or they don't. Again, our concepts of these two have been shaped by man-made institutions. Perhaps a better explanation of these two states is in order. Heaven is a place where we will constantly be giving praise and glory to Creator. Based upon our honest attempts over our lifetime to follow the example of Jesus we will be invited to remain in His glorious presence. On the other hand, if we exercised our free will to choose and consistently choose to ignore the wishes of Creator, we will not be invited to remain in His presence. The torment of Hell is, once seeing the glory and magnificence of Creator; we will languish in the knowledge that we will never see it again. Ever feel the grief and pain of losing a loved one? Magnify that hurt to the umpteenth degree and you will approach the torment of Hell. I do not subscribe to the belief that Darwin's theory of evolution is un-Christian. I do believe that this vessel that we call a body may very well have evolved from animals. However, I believe that at the moment of conception, Creator infused a soul, a part of His Spirit. The brain and psychological emotions are part of the animalistic vessel. Anger serves its purpose as a survival tool in the animal kingdom. Every human being is born with the intuitive knowledge of right and wrong. As we mature we are taught and conditioned to suppress this Spiritual knowledge and we begin to alter this understanding by using our intellect (knowledge) rather than our Spirit. Doing the next right thing might not always satisfy our intellect but it is food for the soul. When I place more importance on my Spirituality than I do on my humanity, then I truly believe that Creator will be moved to ask me to stay in His presence. That invitation is directly related to how I use my free will. Just as freedom is not truly free, neither is my divine gift of free will. I am allowed to exercise it but I will be responsible for my choices. If I am wrong in believing in the existence of Heaven and Hell, what have I lost? If I am right and follow the two basic principles offered to us by Christ, then I have gained eternity in the best state that my soul could achieve!