My stepfather would choke, slap, push and hit me just because he could. He would threaten me, for things I may have done when my mom was around (talking back etc) he would tell me "wait till your mom leaves", then he would unleash on me.
I was a willful kid, my parents divorced when i was young, my mom was always yelling, my stepdad always angry...this culminated into an emotional child who was never taught how to express herself in conducive ways and was disciplined for the shortcomings of such. If I didn't actually do anything, he would bate me (flick me in the head, nitpick chores he told me to do) until i had an emotional outburst, then he would hit me for it.
This was a man who said he believed in God, when i was young once I said i didn't believe in God, and he actually threatened to BEAT me if I didn't take it back. THIS is my impression of the trustworthiness of religion in general. This is why as an adult I question everyone's motives and trust no one until they have earned my trust.
I have issues with FAITH. Faith in people, faith in promises and faith in a God who did nothing to stop an innocent child from being hit for 10 years.