Why I am a Christian

When I first heard that Christian persecution existed even in the land of Israel I was shocked! I was shocked because I was under the impression Israel was somewhat similar to the United States in terms of tolerance for every religion. I expected Christian persecution in other countries such as North Korea, or Iran. But Israel?? Thousands of Christians do not realize that in Israel the Gospel of Christ cannot be openly preached. Any Christian that does it will be prosecuted and religious fanatics will try to kill him/her. Israel would not exist if it were not for the U.S. They get pumped billions of our tax dollars every year, and for what? So that in turn Christians are discriminated upon by the Israeli government and some of their people? As a Christian my tax dollars are going to a land that is intolerant of my faith. Everything about this notion is wrong.

In getting more educated about it I also found out that Judaism is a very legalistic religion. Apparently the Ten Commandments is not enough. They also observe and extra 613 commandments referred to as the 613 Mitzvot. It amazes me how so many religions become preoccupied with what Jesus Christ referred to as "trivial matters". Here are some of these commandments from the 613 Mitzvot that caught my eye:

# 13. To love other Jews Lev. 19:18
# 14. To love converts Deut. 10:19
# 15. Not to hate fellow Jews Lev. 19:17
# 38. Not to cease hating the idolater Deut. 13:9
#45. Not to be afraid of killing the false prophet Deut. 18:22
#60. Not to be superstitious Lev. 19:26

Are we to believe then that (as indicated by #'s 13 to 15, and 38) Jews only have love for their fellow Jews and have no room to love others? For #45, Deut 18:22 only says not to be afraid of the false prophet. It does not say to kill a false prophet. It seems to me that a high percentage of the Mitzvot is all about kill, kill, kill and hate, hate, hate. #60 states not to be superstitious or dwell with supernatural mysticism. Then what is the Kabbalah??

Going back to Jesus Christ, he was fully aware of all this mumble jumble. If humans cannot keep even ten commandments, how are they to keep more? That is why He condensed the Ten Commandments into only two. Christian commandment #1: Thou shall love your God with all of your heart and all of your mind. Christian commandment #2: Thou should love your neighbor just as yourself. That is it. Why do we need more? If we cannot comprehend worldly things how are we going to understand heavenly things? Why would anyone else believe in other faiths other than Christianity??