IMPOSSIBLE DEMAND TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AND GOD

People only deceive themselves that they find the command to love your neighbour as yourself appealing. In fact they prefer the neighbour’s children to die rather than their own if there is a choice to be made. We can all think of countless examples. If people were honest there would be no Christian Church.

We simply cannot love our neighbour as ourselves. Love thy neighbour is a better injunction. Can you really love a stranger in the sense that you would do any good at all for her as much as your lover or mother or father or child?

Religion says the command isn’t about feelings but respecting the rights or needs of the stranger as much as your own.

Thus it downgrades feelings. It says action matters and feelings do not.

If you had a choice between the stranger dying and your child you would pick the stranger if you really follow the command. Why? You don’t have feelings for the stranger.

Not having feelings for people is what enables psychopaths to be so dangerous. You cannot love people when you have no feelings for them. You are refusing to value them as persons and you are a potential danger to them simply because you feel nothing for them.

The commandment makes an impossible demand on us and can only result in hatred towards ourselves and others for failing to obey it. The proper translation of what the commandment wishes us to do is, “Claim you are trying to love your neighbour as yourself so hide your hostility to others and yourself but don’t let go of that hostility”. The commandment shows how much guilt Christianity lays on people. No wonder the Bible says that you need to be saved before you can do any good at all for prior to salvation you are just good for nothing but sin.

GOD COMES FIRST THOUGH!

The reason 99% of people who call themselves Christians do so is because they are attracted by the idea of others loving them as themselves. They think it's a great ideal to be asked to love others as themselves. They are mistaken in what attracts them to the religion.

The gospels say that Jesus declared that this commandment is the second greatest of the commandments in the faith with the command to love God totally and without reserve being the first so if there is a choice you have to love God at the expense of your neighbour. This is hypothetical but it still means the Christian has to become the kind of person who would deprive the neighbour of any love if it were necessary to please God.

Loving God totally is harder than neighbour. God has no needs and the neighbour does. God seems more distant than the neighbour for the neighbour at least is a human being. God is like a ghost or power. Religion says you do not love God if you fail to love neighbour and vice versa. The atheist can love people far better than a believer can for the atheist does not have to struggle with giving God the (according to religion) rightful place in the heart.

Exclusive love directed to God takes time to develop. Developing and working on it would have to be the sole focus for beginners.

They can give more attention to loving neighbours after they have made some progress. God makes a good excuse if you don't want to love others!

The believers like the commandment to love neighbour for it warms their hearts. The believers are less keen however on loving others as themselves!

Believers find Jesus charming as they forget the fact that did not say that loving others as much as yourself is the most important law. He said that loving God with all your powers and not some of them was the greatest commandment. This is even harder than loving your neighbour as yourself. By the time you get around to loving God as he wants the neighbours will be dead and buried and forgotten.