Live or Die

If someone puts a gun to our heads and tells us to do what they say or we will die, we have only two choices. Obey and live, or disobey and die. Or, at least it seems that way. In fact, we have multiple choices. We can faint. We can reason with them. We can call their bluff. If we know self-defense we might be able take away the gun. Or, we can pull out a bigger gun.

There are times in life when we think we have only two choices. Yes, we can decide between the two, but we might also be able to happen upon more acceptable alternatives. In the church of my youth, I was taught there was one road to heaven. Follow it and live eternally, deny it and land in hell. When we believe these are the only two choices, how can we not choose their program?
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But what if they are wrong? What if there are other roads to heaven? Many religious paths claim to have the one, true, answer. Follow and live, reject it and die. In my latter years, I’ve come to believe I don’t have to accept the black-and-white demands presented by some religious faiths. I enjoy a lot of alternative paths much more than the path I was on, and I no longer feel as if I have a gun to my head.