I experience this paradox in my life: devotion to Christian churches and scripture in some cases produces people who profess to be followers of Jesus who are intolerant, even hateful, toward those who are not like themselves. (The use of the cross in the Ku Klux Klan costume and ritual is the most egregious example.)
I cannot find any instruction to hate anywhere, or for any reason, in my life-long study of the Gospel. Why should the passionate belief in one way of life produce anything but love of God and acceptance of our fellows, despite their flaws and misbegotten ways? How can you love God and hold hatred in your heart? I believe the reason for it is simple: fear. These folks are afraid; they are possessed of an underlying, unspoken, inadmissible suspicion that God may not be there, may not be not listening, may not answer their prayers. For if I am a follower of Jesus, my life is a light unto men, a city built on a hill; and of myself I am nothing, but the Father who dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.
Nick Hilton - Reflections 