During this entire Trip Around the Sun, I have been

 trying to determine which ones among all the

 considerably wonderful people I have met and interviewed

 are best adjusted with regard to their religions.

 

It is, of course, only my own conclusion, but it is this:

 

 Those who have learned as adults to treat their religion

 as a tool to be used by them and in their control - get the

 best use of it. Those who still allow a religion or its leaders

 to "run their lives," do not do as well, and these run a large

 variability - from living with a mild feeling of one's

freedom gone - to a feeling of worthlessness (unworthiness) - and

 finally all the way to a willingness to die and to kill in an effort

to "prove" the religion correct - or to prove their dedication to it.

 

The attitudes go all the way from "God loves all his children

 and will bring every one home," - to "God saves only

 those who bow down to Him and know how unworthy they

 are," all the way to "Die for the cause. Kill the infidels."

 Many teach that the Abraham of the Old Testament was willing

 to kill his own son to prove his love for God. Many believe it would

 be good to be similarly willing to follow any command by those

 in authority or perceived as coming from God. There are also many

 who apply their religions much more reasonably than this

 - to make life smooth and wonderful, and who remain

 in charge of their own lives.

 

As I have come to see it, the healthy have a real freedom.

 It is not necessarily freedom from religion - more like freedom

 with religion, or without it, as the person directs for him or herself.

 It allows the person to be helpful and inclusive,

 rather than competitive and exclusive.