Since a large portion of atheists are ex-christians I'm sure that most of you have  heard the old schtick about God and his gift of "free will."

Since the Christian explanation is that God didn't want to program humanity to love him ( "God doesn't want robots ! Amen ) he chose to give us that wonderful gift of free will.  That way God could be satisfied that any expression of love toward him was chosen freely and was a sincere expression of affection.

Here's the problem as I see it. The "free will" choices that God allowed for were only the choices that any slave would be permitted to make:  obey or be punished.  There is no denying that all slaves throughout history have always retained that option.   Granted this arrangement does technically fit the definition of free will, but it's free will that operates within the limitations of one of the most confining and restrictive relationships ever devised...the relationship between a Master and a slave.

What sensible person would ever look to slavery as a representation of free will ?  Yet those are the limitations that God has placed upon his version of free will.  A slave has the ability to make choices of  all kinds...but not the freedom to make those choices.  A slave's choices are only permitted to reflect those of its master's.

Apparently God desires our love as an expression of "free will" but to choose any option other than what He desires will be met with the most dire of consequences.  Yes, God definitely does not want humanity to behave as robots, but being slaves...hey he's cool with that.

To further illustrate my slave analogy:

Q, What is the definition of sin ?

A, Anything from God's will !