Originally Posted by
jamdls 
I don't understand why someone saying "God loves you" would bother someone it is not asking anything from you it is offering something to you and if you don't want it then fine. I have had numerous Jewish friends over the years and we've discussed them being wished "Merry Christmas" and/or receiving Christmas cards, although none of them celebrated Christmas none were bother by the wish or the card. I don't go around saying "God loves you" but I do often say "God bless you" (when someone including my dog sneezes) or "God be with you" and by saying these things I am wishing that God blesses or is with the person and if they don't want that offering that is their business. If someone said to me "Buddha loves you" or whatever higher power they believed in, I'd think "cool, I need all the love I can get".
Well that's just the thing. There's a big difference in the way I'm told "Merry Christmas" and the way I'm told "God loves you." Being wished a merry Christmas doesn't bother me one bit because it's done in a sincere manner, the person would like me to have a nice holiday, and even if I don't celebrate it that's ok.
I've been told God loves me many times, but I can count on one hand the number of times it was sincere. The overwhelming majority of "God loves you" comments I hear are snide or condescending. A lady I work with did this a couple weeks ago. She asked what I'm majoring in and what my thesis is about, so I told her. Why ask questions about geology if you have a problem with the idea of geologic time? She turned it into a religious debate and then got frustrated because I wouldn't agree with her. And then finished off with "Well God still loves you." It was clear that what she really meant was more like "Well God still loves you, but I think you're a jerk." The vast majority of times I've been told God loves me is in some similar scenario, it's nearly always to end a disagreement, and more often than not it's because the person doesn't know how else to argue their case so they decide to claim some sort of moral high ground. It is definitely not that they particularly believe or care if God loves me.
And that brings me to another reason it annoys me. In claiming that I'm wrong but it's ok because God still loves me, you (in the generic sense of "you") have basically claimed that God is on your side and you are always right. The whole point of starting such a conversation is to convince me that I'm wrong and I should find God. But with that statement you just manipulated your religion to validate everything you think. As far as I can tell from these conversations religion is a tool, a means to an end, rather than something honestly believed. And in that case "God loves you" is a hollow statement.