Can Christians find the spirit and get around being so literal.?

I'm not sure I understand your question. The bible is meant to be taken literally when it speaks literally. Other than that, there is symbolism, parable, metaphor, etc. The things of God are spiritually discerned. Therefore a born again believer in Christ, having God's spirit, discerns His word.

Good point about the letter of the law. Love and kindness don't eminate from a Christian who shoves the word down people's throats or who preaches hell fire and doom. Paul was a man of love although he didn't come off that way sometimes because he had all of the problems of the churches he started constantly weighing on him. And don't mind the Atheists. I used to get offended by the belittling comments and attitude but I realize they follow Richard Dawkins and that is where they get "Christians believe illusions" and "fairy tale god" and "Atheists are logical and educated" crappola. They don't understand that in order to know the truth you can't just think with your brain, you have to think with your heart as well.

I think "Christians" and religious people in general are "literalists" in direct proportion as they fail to understand the real meaning of their religion. They mistake mere symbols for the things they're supposed to represent. How is it going to get you "closer to God" to force yourself to believe that the Adam and Eve legend, or the Noah legend, or the Resurrection legend for that matter, are records of actual historical events?

The "Creation Museum" and similar phenomena are evidence of spiritual bankruptcy. These people are so far from the essential Truth of their religion that they have become militant about the nonessentials.

As for atheists, I'm an atheist. Speaking for myself, hate is not one of my rules. I don't have much of a stomach for ignorance, and I don't necessarily pull punches; but I'm not intentionally hateful. I've found that if certain people disagree strongly with something I've said, they tend to project their own outrage on to me, and imagine that I hate them when it's really the other way around.