Free Will as defined by religion doesn’t work]
The above blog adds some more detail, but basically, believing in heaven isn’t a solution to anything. Choosing to believe anything, with no reasoning behind it just doesn’t work. I’d be interested in any feedback on this, especially from Mozart Link. (edit: I realize most of you agree with this, so I’m looking for comments on the quality of the argument and its ability to be heard by those on the other side [other side of the argument, not ghosts])
Belief doesn’t solve anything because it assumes free will. If we can choose to believe in the hopes that it affects our feelings, then we can make other choices that affect our feelings. If God exists or not, this won’t affect how we feel after choosing to believe. If God is going to send us to heaven or hell, we can’t know, and we can’t know if our belief is the right choice to get us to the right place.
You could believe anything and come to the same conclusion. You could believe that the pain of this life is just slightly worse than a life in hell, so knowing you would choose to sin and commit suicide would be slightly better than choosing life. This kind of rationalizing is used by parents who kill their children to save them from suffering in this life. It is extremely flawed.
You could use the same logic and choose life. You could take any small action that you still want to perform in this life, like hugging your grandmother or forgiving your brother or writing just one more poem and give that a value that is worth more than getting to heaven a few minutes earlier. Add up enough of those little moments and you end up with a life well lived.
Personally, I sometimes go to bed early because I like the trade off between a few minutes of being awake at night for the moment of sipping my coffee in the morning. That keeps me going for at least one more day.