“Religion has actually convinced people... that there's an invisible man... living in the sky... who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of TEN THINGS HE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO DO. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!
The best part of polytheistic religions is how relatable the gods are. One is a jerk, another the unloved child. Dad sleeps around, and Mom is either super forgiving, or runs Hell.
To be fair, the (Christian) Bible doesn't say you have to love God, only to ask forgiveness. Like you can be the biggest piece of shit on Earth, but if you apologize to God on your deathbed, it's cool.
"Love your God with all your heart" is in both the Old Testament and then extra emphasis is again put on it in the New Testament as "the first and greatest commandment."
Though the whole thing is ridiculous, and the topic reminds me of the litmus test Solomon put forward to determine who was a true parent and who was a false claimant.
The false parent in the Solomon story was the one who only cared about being recognized as the parent, even if that meant the child suffering as a result.
The true parent was the one who cared more about the child continuing to live as their complete unadulterated self, even if that meant never being known to the child at all.
And yet the tradition after that tale and then the surviving version of Christianity both claim to represent a divine parent that cares most about recognition even if it means its supposed children suffering to achieve that.
So no, the Bible explicitly does command readers to love God, but it does so on top of a layer of something radically different peeking through underneath.
"Ask for" is a low bar, "geuinely be sorry" isnt, i think most cristians repent for big stuff in the same way they would to the negbor for running over his cat.
Love that the creator of the universe is so fucking proud that it has to hurt itself in some weird masochistic ritual rather than admit that the creation wasn't perfect.