What, exactly, is the difference between "hate the sin" and "hate the sinner"?

There's no diffrence. You're quite correct. But, you see, only a logical mind could understand this. It's a semantic manipulation. It justifies bigotry & hatred by claiming the perp of the "sin" is still loved. Pardon me while I grin. It's the same old--we don't hate YOU, we hate your SINS, but if you accept what WE believe is a sin, & repent, well then, we love you! "Love" used in the context here, of those who are trying so hard to convert, is just as contradictory.I'm making a list I find amusing. Seems this started with: "You're all going to hell" & has progressed to, "THE WALL OF PAIN," [when Christ returns] "..his BIG ROD OF IRON," & THE LAKE OF FIRE. So, just taking the antithesis of hate & love, how can anyone claim god is a LOVING GOD with all these horrors he would bestow on us? There is NO logic in religion; I can't comprehend why this isn't acceptable to those of "faith." Surely faith has no logic. Apparently, that isn't comfortable enough (in general) & thus, the illogical is used in useless debate.

There is a huge difference between hating the sin, and hating the sinner. If your child were to break the law and get arrested, you may hate what he/she did, but you wouldn't hate him/her. That is the difference - hating the action, but still loving the person. We (Christians) are called to hate sin, but to still love those who sin, because we ALL sin. There are some people who wrongly hate others because they hate what they do/how they live, but this is not the true Christian way of life and is not how the Lord calls us to be. God does not hate sinners. He hates the sinful things we do, but has an unfathomable love for us. Yes, the Bible does say that "the wages of sin is death," meaning that if you choose to live a life of sin and not accept Jesus as your savior, you will not live eternally in heaven. But even given that fact, God still does not hate anyone.

A "hate-crime" is different from regular crimes in that the reason or motive behind the crime was based in some sort of prejudice relating to race, gender, creed, etc. Basically, a "hate crime" is where a minority is persecuted. I feel ya, though; a crime is a crime. It's like how "terrorism" and murder are somehow different things all the sudden. If you ask me, we're being conditioned to certain thought patterns.

A sin is an action and a sinner is a person, and you're not supposed to hate/judge people :-)

It's the way they can put someone down but still feel morally superior. That way they can judge the person by hating their sin....meanwhile fully displaying their hate of the person for the world to see. But it's okay as long as you say "hate the sin not the sinner". It's like a get out of jail free card.

If they manifest in the same way, then those people are not really understanding it, they are only saying it.

The main thing to remember is that we are all sinners. Everyone of us. So...there is something to hate in all of us. So one only needs to look in the mirror to understand hate the sin, love the sinner.

Jesus taught us that we are loved, but we cannot enter heaven as sinners. If you truly love your neighbor as yourself (as we are called to do) then you will want him/her to go to heaven. You will love them...because God loves them...you will hate the sin in them and in yourself, because it offends the God you love.

But, because we are all sinners and imperfect beings, we often forget to love the sinner. Many people enjoy putting others down, and feeling as if they are better then someone else. Believe me God will deal with them...all we can do is pray for all lost souls that they might be saved.

Hating sin is one thing and hating the sinner is another. I hate the idea of someone killing a child, but I do not hate that murderer. If my best friend lies to me, I hate that they lied but I do not hate them... Does that make sense?

Well God doesn't punish the sin and not the sinner.

You can be sure that if there is a God and he is as the Christians describe it sins will be cast into the lake of fire with the sinners attached.

Its a nice way for christians to say that they hate anyone who doesn't believe the same way that they do, without actually saying that they hate them. On paper, it makes them appear loving and tolerant ... but like most things that sound good on paper, it doesn't work out very well in real life.

After all, what are we outside of our thoughts, feelings and actions? Don't these things pretty much sum up who we are as a person? If you hate everything that a person thinks, says, and does ... how can you possibly love them?

"Hate the sin" is to hate the act of offending God or to dislike the act of sin. While "hate the sinner" is to dislike a person who does not obey the commandments of God or who does not way in the way God wants him or her to way