@dattaswami cv,
Good post, but I'm concerned that the question was taken out of context and there is always danger in it, not just in the Bible but in any book.
Here is the verse he quoted:
26″If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14:25-27
It does sounds very harsh isn't . But he needs to read what was happening before that passage. Here how's the story starts. "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' 18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.'
and so on, no one was willing to come because they where busy with their other activities. Here is the image of God who prepared everything and asking people to come but they too busy for God. Jesus finishing the story was saying you need to leave everything and follow me, otherwise you are not my disciple. It doesn't' mean that I will stop calling my parents and leave my wife and children. That's the question of priorities, what's in my heart, what's more important.
In opposite Jesus elevated the relationship of Father and family. Jesus taught as to pray as to Father, and that's a very personal relationship. The Bible speaks that we are part of God's family. All those images are for the reason that we can understand that God is very personal and enjoys our communication as any good father would.