Oneironaut

I understand better now what you were getting at before, but I still think there's a big leap you're making. I get what you're saying about how free will couldn't really exist if the Christian God did - free will isn't really free will if your actions are based on fear of punishment. I think it's a big jump between accepting that, and accepting that based on that idea, God can't exist.

The way I see it, if your actions are based on fear of punishment, that's not really free will. However, just because God is omnipotent doesn't mean to say that he will choose to intervene and force someone to make the correct decision. Nor does he apparently force them to believe in him (and hence in the reality of Hell).

We can have free will, and the Christian God could exist. One does not preclude the other. Even if God is omnipotent, that doesn't mean that he will force us to act in certain ways. If we can choose (even if the choices are not that great) then we have free will. We can choose to obey God's will, and go to heaven, or we can choose to disobey. Just because the second option is not appealing, doesn't mean that it's not an option.