There are countless examples in the bible that suggest that God is not Love that are characterised by violence, crimes and atrocities.

Richard Dawkins opens Chapter 2 of his New York Times bestseller The God Delusion by saying that the God of the Old Testament is "arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction". And, after looking at these quotes below, I would have to agree that God is not, in fact, “Love” at all.

Here are a list of things that God either does, condones or encourages that are reprehensible of modern moral judgement:

Cannibalism:

• "And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him.” (II Kings 6:28-29)
• "I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." (Leviticus 26:27–29)

Rape/sexual assault:

• "Hear and give ear; do not be haughty … it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up, and you are violated … because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies. I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen." (Jeremiah 13:15–26)
• "Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts." (Isaiah 3:16–17)

Murder of children:

• “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son … Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city … And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
• "See, the day of the Lord is coming — a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger … Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated." (Isaiah 13:9–16)

Feticide/Infanticide:

• "You shall acknowledge no God but me … The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open." (Hosea 13:4, 9-16)
• "O daughter Babylon, you devastator! … Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!" (Psalm 137:8–9)

Slavery:

• “You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance.” (Leviticus 25:44-46)
• “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5)
• "Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse." (1 Peter 2:18)

Ableism:

• “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 23:1)
• “Whosoever ... hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or anything superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookback, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken ... He shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish.” (Leviticus 21:17-23)

Invasion:

• "And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle … they said to [the priest], 'Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.' The priest answered them, 'Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord's approval.' … Then they went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there." (Judges 18:1–28)

Racism:

• “Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family… When Phinehas … saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, he went after the Israelite man into the tent, and pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman ... Therefore say, "I hereby grant him my covenant of peace … because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the Israelites.'" (Numbers 25:6–13)

Homophobia:

• “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral … nor men who practice homosexuality … will inherit the kingdom of God.” (Corinthians 6:9-11)

And examples of when God himself commits atrocities:

• "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.” (Genesis 38:7-10)
• "Behold with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day." (Chronicles 21:14-15)

Obviously, a vast majority of Christians do not believe in the bible word for word and believe it should be used for interpretation. However with all of these things in the bible, I find myself unable to agree with the statement that “God is Love”.

Assuming that the "God" at question is the monotheistic God depicted in Abrahamic religions, God certainly is not love.

If in the sixth chapter of the first book of the Torah or of the Old Testament Bible, God already finds it necessary to commit mass genocide by creating a huge flood to wipe out nearly all of humanity, we may hesitate to claim that the God, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, may symbolize love of any form. Not to mention smaller ordinances like Abraham being commanded to kill his son, large ethnic cleansing by the Hebrews towards the Canaanites may further cast doubt on whether God is love.

"But that is merely the Old Testament Bible", some will cry, most likely from Christians. "That is before Christ came down to Earth to save us!" Does that mean that God himself has transformed from hate to love? That does not seem to be the case when homophobia is explicitly ordained in Paul's epistles or when the destruction of everything — all the happiness that mankind loves — is welcomed with a cheerful tone in the Book of Revelation.

Now that we have discussed Judaism and Christianity, we can now discuss Islam. "All-merciful" is one of the ninety-nine most exalted names for Allah, yet this mercy does not seem to extend to polytheists who are deemed to commit an unforgivable sin. I need not mention other Quranic verses that explicitly ordain violence against kafirs (infidels).

One way or another, Abrahamic monotheistic religions are the most exclusive and intolerant: to say that God is love would be hardly agreeable.

TL;DR -- God must maintain a balance to ensure that we all have a chance to live our lives to the fullest. Like a parent, God is Love because He rewards and punishes when we deserve it. And sometimes, bad things just have to happen to maintain balance. But God makes sure to make it up to us with all the wonderful things in life, as well.

Despite the evidence to the contrary, I have always believed that God maintains a balance between good and evil for our benefit. After all, light cannot exist without dark, joy without sorrow, life without death, etc.

It sucks, but it's the best that God can do. Paradise exists, but it's something we have to earn -- just as any parent teaches their child the value of hard work / good morals / kindness by rewarding them when all is said and done.

And like any good parent, God sometimes has to be harsh. Sometimes humans commit such atrocities (often in God's name, thus pissing Him off) that God has to collectively punish us. But when people come together to make the world a better place, society prospers.

So yes, God allows terrible things to happen, but it's not because He's mad with power; it's to maintain the delicate balance of life. He also makes wonderful things happen to make up for it. Because God is Love, life can continue, and we can experience all that life has to offer, both good and bad.

"Listen Morty, I hate to break it to you, but what people call "love" is just a chemical reaction that compels animals to breed. It hits hard, Morty, then it slowly fades, leaving you stranded in a failing marriage. I did it. Your parents are gonna do it. Break the cycle, Morty. Rise above. Focus on science."
-Rick

God as a pantheistic deity is the totality of existence. Such a being is founded upon attraction, stars orbit galaxies, planets orbit stars. Thus attraction (love) forms the basis of the construction of matter, planetary systems and biological life itself. Repulsion, the inverse of attraction causes systems to break apart, however it is not the basis of creation. Thus god must be attraction (love).