Realunoriginal Analogy

There is a race: the 100-meter sprint.

Think of this race as you would the olympic finals for the world-class, 100-meter sprinters. There is a stadium. There is a track & field. There are the runners. There are the starting blocks. There is the starting line & finish. There is a man who starts the race with a button that triggers the starting gun; the sound hits the ears of all runners equally to ensure that no particular sprinter has an individual advantage. All things are equal except the runners respective abilities to sprint the fastest to the finish line.

Now…

Instead of a finish line in this race. There is a wall instead at the end. In each lane, there is a button. The first sprinter to press the button at the finish line, where the wall is, turns into God-himself. So, whoever wins this race, becomes God.

Now…

The runners wander to their starting places. They loosen up and get set in their blocks. They wait for for the “set” command. But instead of hearing the official say set, he tells them something different:

“Runners! In this race, you race to become God. If you reach the button at the end of your lane first, then you will turn into God-himself! However, there are no rules to this race! On your mark, get set, go!”

What will the runners do?

Will they start before the gun goes off?

Will they pull one-another back?

Will they kill each other if necessary?

Will they focus on they gang up on the fastest runner to ensure he doesn’t pull away from the crowd?

Or, will they be so set within their habits of the race, that they will adhere to the rules, because they lack imagination???

The monotheists will run in the opposite direction.
The polytheists will scatter, not knowing who’s button would be what.
The agnostics will stay in the Set position.
The atheists will rush ahead (polite as can be, mind you) and stop just short of their respective buttons, then wait to see if any amongst them is feeling suicidal.