I'm not sure where to start in response to your narrow, bigoted presentation...
I encourage you not to give up on God, even if the Bible has become discouraging to you. During the darkest times in my life, I had nothing but a faint glimmer of hope that God still loved me, and without it, I'm not sure I would've survived.
I'm not sure where to start in response to your narrow, bigoted presentation,. but I guess I will say that "religion" is not a creature that has the power to be "harmful and unfair." People can use religious dogma to do so, but you are placing the blame on a belief system (rather ALL belief systems that exist under that umbrella) rather than on the people themselves, where it belongs.
One CANNOT be a "victim of religion" as religion is not an action. And your statement about "destroys their identities" is particularly ironic in that in recent times it is those crusading against Christianity specifically who are most interested in convincing people to embrace false identities and cling to beliefs that life is not supposed to require sacrifices or self-denial.
I forgot to mention Do something, Learn something, Share something, Change something - Meetup.com. There are some cool local groups there (depending on where you live) for all sorts of things ... Scrabble, chess, philosophy, sports, books, dogs, hiking, wine ... might be worth checking into.
1 John 4
7 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[c] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."
Ephesians 2
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Acts 15:5-11
5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
6The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
Uhhm ... did I somehow miss the relevance of the above post?
It would be cool if people could actually describe their ideas instead of just posting large chunks of material out of religious texts.
Now here’s the interesting part. If I were to ask some of my loved ones if I deserved to die, or if I am the worthless human the bible tells me I am (based on actions) they would deny it. It’s just too harsh to think that way, even though the bible CLEARLY states that someone who knew the truth about god and then rejected it is worse than someone who doesn’t know. I’m in the same category as the devil then.
I know, in my heart, that they believe that because they have to believe it if they follow the bible verbatim (which they do).
A good example would be my cousin, who I care deeply about. We are both musicians and like to play music together. Once I told him that I don’t believe in the god of the bible anymore he said we won’t have dealings anymore.
Christianity in particular is, I'm sorry to say, particularly coercive. There's one God, one path, one destination, one law in life, no one is unique or different, anyone who disagrees is destroyed, and there's no questioning or justification allowed. I, for one, don't like the message that sends people about their place in the world. Can you not see how that message is inherently intended to destroy people's individuality and self-expression?
fair enough...
well, i saw that most respondents chose to focus on aspects of OP's specific situation, with little in response to the more faith-related things..
Give the OP a break and let him heal instead of trying to shove some more religion down his throat.
The whole Bible thing does get frustrating, since I can think of just as many verses requiring people to separate themselves from or "shun" non believers. I dunno. Trying to avoid a big debate, so I won't post them.