God is hate?

I've lived a sheltered life. As the son of a preacher man, I grew up naively believing that God was a being of unconditional love.\nBut as it turns out, God hates America. Protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., are trying to spread the word by picketing at the funerals of fallen American soldiers, even here in Indiana.\nWhen I read about the protesters, I was alarmed. If God hated America, he probably hated other things. It seemed important to find out what those things were, so I did some research. According to people in the best position to know what God thinks, i.e. fundamentalist Christians, He's actually quite hateful.\nFor starters, God hates fags. You can read this on the Westboro Baptist Church's Web site, www.GodHatesFags.com. As a matter of fact, the reason God hates America is because America is nice to gays. Therefore, the Iraq War casualties are God's punishment on gay America.\nGod also hates Islam and Mohammed. Jerry Vines, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., said at the annual Southern Baptist Convention in 2002 that Mohammed was "a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives, and his last one was a 9-year-old girl." If God hates gays, God must superhate demon-possessed pedophiles and their followers.\nAdditionally, God hates pagans, abortionists, feminists, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way. According to a statement issued Sept. 14, 2001, by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, those people -- along with gays -- helped cause the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (Falwell later retracted his statement; the gays probably got to him.)\nAccording to "700 Club" host Pat Robertson, God also hates Jews who try to give away God's land. That's why Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a devastating stroke Jan. 4: God smote him.\nTo hear fundamentalist Christian leaders talk, God is a very hateful little bugger.\nBut I don't believe that. I believe God is a God of love and unflinching mercy, even in the face of unbelievable cruelty and arrogance. (The fact that Robertson hasn't been smitten with a stroke is proof enough of that.)\nAs a longtime gay man myself, I believe that if God hated gays, He'd also have to hate himself, because he's the one who made us. And the only way homosexuality is responsible for the Iraq War is that President Bush screwed the American people into going to war to begin with.\nMy God isn't some bully who goes about smiting prime ministers and Muslims and nation-states. He's an adult who views all humanity with compassion and patience, who has enough respect for people to let them bury their dead in peace.\nFundamentalists only want to believe God is hateful so that they have a license to hate, as well. But hatred and bigotry are un-Christian.\nThe Old Testament prophet Micah asked, "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" A little justice, a little mercy and a lot of humility might do these haters a world of good.