The subject of whether God is mad at us is highly divisive. People feel very strong about their perspectives. Is God angry with us? If so, why? In this post I begin a short series where I take on this subject by examining the implications of having an angry God, namely that such a being requires appeasement. Appeasement=religious practice. If we then look at substitutionary atonement in the Christian faith, we need to ask a sobering question: “If Jesus bore the punishment for all our sins, how can God still be mad at us?” Our answer is a gauge telling us how deep we are within a culture or institution of fear.