Aside from it being prone to conflicting interpretations, Christianity, like all Abrahamic religions, has at its core a strong judgmental and authoritarian dynamic. Some progressive Christians rationalize god’s more questionable Old Testament behaviors by claiming that the narrative is not to be taken literally. Many progressive Christians do, however, acknowledge that the Old Testament god was a judgmental, punitive, authoritarian.
But while they might acknowledge this regarding the God of the Old Testament, progressive Christians do not believe this is the case with the God of the New Testament. To them, Jesus was all about love and forgiveness. And in some ways Jesus does appear to be a significant upgrade to Moses, but the narrative that we are all born in sin and that by subjecting Jesus to his protracted, torturous death were we somehow cleansed from that sin is truly bizarre. Even stranger, the ordeal of Jesus, which was supposed to absolve us of sin, is only available to those who accept Jesus as their lord and savior. Millions of Christians believe that, should they die without having done this, they will be eternally condemned to the fiery pits of hell or some equally miserable outcome.
Notwithstanding the relatively small number of progressive believers who view God as infinitely loving and merciful, all of the Abrahamic religions generally present God as demanding blind obedience, judging harshly, and severely punishing transgression. Believing in a supreme being who behaves this way, to most Christians, Jews, and Moslems these judgmental, punitive, and authoritarian traits are normalized and conferred legitimacy.