Excellent post, Lafftur!
I do think HP has a point, and she shouldn't be getting AS MUCH pushback as she's getting.
Like I alluded to in my post upthread, we have to be careful to not go to one extreme or the other.
I'm used to getting pushback, and I'm used to being misunderstood. That's what happens when you're on the spectrum.
I've explained what it's like before, but I'm going to say it here.
As someone on the spectrum, relationships, or at least the emotional component of them, are not an easy thing for me to grasp. My default way of thinking is logic, and while I do have emotions, I don't have the ability to instantly emotionally connect to people. I haven't had one close friend in years, and I've never been one a single date in my life. But I do have my family.
So really, the only way I've experienced love is through fulfilling obligations to my loved ones whether I'm happy doing it or not, not in that sappy, shallow, romantic way. But try living that way in the Bible Belt, where having a date is a rite of passage. Try hearing "relationship" theology that you just can't relate to every Sunday.
The only kind of relationship I really understand is that between an employer and a worker. No one likes that person who takes everything and then gives nothing in return. This however, is a mutual give-take. I do this for you, you do this for me. I work, you pay. Straight forward, black and white, clear rules, no surprises. And let's be honest, are relationships really easier than religion?
God is not a human being, so I just can't think of him as having human attributes no matter what the Bible says. And yes, I know, Jesus was a human being. But 1) He was not human like we are, and 2) That doesn't change the fact that he's not physically here right now. God alone cannot meet all my needs. We need people, food, water, etc.
And no matter how much the Bible says God loves me and says I should love him, the fact is I honestly don't think I ever really can because I will always remember that he's God and I'm not. He's my Lord and Savior, not my best buddy or my boyfriend. Believe me, I've tried relating to him in more intimate terms, and nothing worked. It felt forced and unnatural, like having an imaginary friend.
And a lot of people may not like what I'm about to say, but I don't care. For someone like me, who can spot a fake a thousand miles away, it's not "who I am" but what I DO that defines me. Anyone can say they're something or make certain claims about themselves. The issue is what do you have to back it up?