I had a terrifying dream that gave me a lot to think about.  In the dream, a bunch of terrorists had kidnapped me.  I think they wanted information that I either couldn't give them or didn't have.  They wanted to burn me alive.  I started pleading with my life that I would rather be shot than burned.  I didn't give them what they wanted because I knew they were going to kill me anyway.  I find it interesting that in the face of overwhelming despair, we would compromise ourselves and bargain with those we would normally not want to deal with.  I had an option of either dying peacefully or dying in torture, but considering the giver, how is that even a choice?

It seems religion has turned the world into a land of insurance plans.  In the real world, the only consequence for choosing a bad insurance plan is wasted money, and you never know if your insurance was any good until something bad happens.  Think about that for a bit while you equate religion with insurance.  YOU NEVER KNOW IF YOUR INSURANCE WAS ANY GOOD UNTIL SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS!  In the land of religion, it seems the consequence for choosing a bad insurance plan is bodies and, apparently, "wasted souls."  If you want to live your life like this, for the "what if" scenario at the end, instead of the here and now and how our actions affect other people, then I've got nothing but contempt for you.  "My toy is best.  I want everybody to have my toy and not their own toy."  You're all insurance salesmen, in my opinion.

Back to my dream.  It doesn't matter whether you choose the peaceful death or the torturous one because the giver is giving you a bum deal, and in the end, you're still dealing with a terrorist!  And he would rather just burn you anyway!  When this happened in my dream, I fought them tooth and nail!  This is what we should be doing with religion and the traditional idea of a condemning god.  Fighting!  I will NOT be cowed by mental terrorism, and neither should you!