A Parable on Free-Will

Imagine you are out one night picking up a few staples at the grocery store. Since you decided to shop on a Tuesday night and rather late so there is hardly anyone at this local grocer. You check out your goods and head out to the parking lot. You put the groceries in the passenger side and head over to the other side to get in when suddenly something lunges out of the shadows and wraps his huge gloved arm around your neck and covers your mouth. You notice something sharp on the side of your neck, it's definately a knife.

You struggle with him for a minute but he is so strong. He takes his hand off your mouth but keeps his arm around your delicate neck. You ask "what can I do to keep my life? What do you want from me?"
He replies in a deep, soft voice "love me. Love me with all your heart. Don't just say it but believe it. Believe that I love you. If you don't, I will put my dagger through your neck and you will surely die."

You weigh the options; tell this creep you love him and act like you really believe it and run like hell OR have a dagger shoved into your artery. Hmmm.... Sounds like a no-brainer. He's not really leaving you with much of a choice. It's live or die. That's it. He won't compromise with conjugal visits or just handing over the wallet. Nope.

So you turn your head the best you can and look deep into his dark eyes and say "I love you. From the depths of my soul to the height of my being, I love you."

He releases his grip and says "You may go. Live your life. But if you ever stop loving me I will hunt you down and put a bullet in your heart."

You take this opportunity to run like the wind and call the authorities. He is later caught running naked through a park declaring he is Christ himself. You find out in the local newspaper the next day that he was a mental patient who had escaped the institution down the street earlier that day.

The moral of the story: there is no such thing as free-will. There is either 2 choices (a good and a bad) or lots of strings attached.