Why would this loving God, also condemn you to "hell" to spend eternity in pain and agony all because I didn't read a book that has been changed and chopped and misused for centuries....
My answer is he wouldn't. While there are judgmental fundamentalists that believe and vocalize this sentiment, it is not the teaching of my faith that you are condemned. Unfortunately, much of the media outlets would like to discredit religion by taking fringe intolerant viewpoints and portraying it as mainstream.
Keep in mind that we are all sinners. There is nothing we can do to escape this fact, and it does not make us hypocrites for striving for the ideal. Redemption lies not with sin, but upon how we react to sin, our struggles. We are all going to fall along the path, but it's whether we get back up and help others up that will define our spiritual worth.
