The difficulty I find with the assertion by non-religious folk that religion is a way of dealing with the fear of one's own death... is that when I, a religious person, consider my own death, and consider my own death in terms of what it would be if I were mistaken about the existance of God... I'm still not afraid of it. Because, logically, if there is no afterlife, why, I won't be around to worry about it, will I?

I think one of the huge problems in the discussion of religion is when Party A attributes motivations to Party B that Party B doesn't actually have, and then uses these assumed motivations to debunk Party B's point of view. (sigh)

Fear or consolation? I cannot speak for others, but I am neither running from fear or running to consolation; I am seeking the truth.