Good insights. Just this Sunday I was asking a member of the Quaker meeting I've been attending how one knows the difference between the voice of God and the voices in one's own head. She suggested that one way is that the voice of God will always be loving. I brought up what you did in this post, that some people's views of God are anything but loving. And how do we know who is "right"? (We didn't have time to talk further at this week's meeting, but I'm glad the Quakers I've encountered are open to questioning.)

In any case, as an atheist I've long felt that Judeo-Christian God was made in the image of man, rather than the other way around. But that I'm aware that some see God in a less anthropomorphized way, similar to "The Force" in Star Wars, for example. I can relate better to that.