Here's another one that's a total crock. Christians like to say Jesus will accept you just as you are. With a forgiving god, this would be the case. Once and for all, he'd forgive you. "Don't worry about it, you don't even have to come and ask for it. I just forgive you." That's not (most brands of) Christianity, though. God's got strings attached. "I either have to torture you or my son. You pick. After that I can 'forgive' you." Why he can't just forgive people without the dog-and-pony show is beyond me, but there it is. God will only accept you after you've come crawling to him on your hands and knees, groveling, and kicked his son in the balls (vicariously).