That's not hate.
I was raised as a Christian. Catholic to be specific. Even in high school we had twice a week "Religion", taught by a Catholic priest who rarely, if at all, mentioned other religions beside Roman-Catholic dogma.
Then I grew up and became an atheist.
The concept of a god or gods is totally alien to me other that they were invented by smart guys who looked for an easy way out of hunting/gathering food back in the stone age.
After the first successes it just spiraled out of control.

I don't understand how grown people don't get that.
For some of the fundamentalist types of Christianity (or any other sect) I have nothing but ridicule, but there's no hate involved at all.

I adore my children. I hate what they have learned at their churches. I only mentioned that they are Southern Baptists as a means of identification, not to condemn all Southern Baptists. I will say however, that they have become more extreme in Alabama.

I do not hate Christians, I don't even hate Christianity in it's purest form. I certainly ridicule the current form Christianity has taken in the extreme and I do not like that many seem to preach hatred disguised as the "hate the sin" crapola. In practice, when they ban gays from their churches, fight to keep gay marriage illegal, stalk women at abortion clinics and call them murderers , that is fostered by hate.

IMO, god was created as a power thing to begin with, to control people. Religion is all about some being in some way better than others.

On 2/15/13 Sooz posted The Difference Between the Democratic and Republican Brain. This study shows how conservative ideas grow out of fear, and how brain chemistry both causes the fear, and then behavior changes the brain to reinforce the fear. On the same day, another article was published that I cannot find, but was on the same topic without the party labels. I think it does apply to hate, racism, xenophopia. If you remove the political parties from the discussion and just think about the emotions/responses/changes in brain chemistry you have the formula for developing hate of those who are different. And, it is carefully taught, as each time the behavior is practised it is reinforced through changes in the brain chemistry that make it more likely to repeat the behavior.

For sure! I was raised a racist. It took me years to "unlearn" that behavior. Even to this day, I find myself reacting automatically with racist thoughts and have to reign them in. I'm not proud of that, but at least I am aware of it. As for hate, I can only remember one time I truly felt hatred. It frightened me so badly, I quickly learned to quell it. So much so that I couldn't even get angry at someone for fear that it might evolve into hate. Now I think I have a better balance, but still err on the side of caution with anger. Strange how the mind works, eh?

When my dad was released from one of Canada's more notorious institutions, he was a loudmouthed racist. Then came a TV show: "All In The Family". At first he laughed at Archie Bunker, until he realized that he himself looked just as stupid and bigoted - then the laughing stopped.

that was very introspective. many Americans lack that level of introspection.

Millhaven?