You have insight into one person's views. That's not enough to make assumptions concerning lots of people. I'm sure there are fringe fanatics who believe crap like that, but you can't extrapolate data from a sample size of one.

Belief in a better life after this one is part of it but far from the whole story... Addiction and behavior psychology are pretty interesting and there are many of us who are unable to control our impulses. People are unable to get past an impulse and look at the long term, much like how most people are terrible with money because they spend on impulse then struggle to make ends meet. Some people have no issue with impulse control and that is why people who don't do drugs tend to have a more stable financial life. They are just better at controlling their impulses. Some people can manage both and most people struggle with it. I boils down to us being animals evolved over millions of years and only having cognition stacked on top of that for a stupidly small fraction of our evolutionary history. It may be hard to see the lines I've connected but I can expand on it some other time.

Two points - first I have often said there would be fewer wars if leaders were required to be atheist. Religious leaders can con themselves that those that lose their lives have a "better" place to go.

Second, some just don't care if they die. Some because they are going to "heaven" and others because the idea of nothingness is appealing.

Then you have the opposite attitude, the "God-gave-me-this-body(life-planet-whatever)-and-it's-a-sacred-gift-so-I-need-to-respect-and-show-thanks-to-God-by-taking-care-of-it" type.

They can both be "Biblically verified." So how do you choose? Which one's "correct"? Stymies me.

Yeah, it's not just the religious. I smoke. Can't stand that I do. Tried quitting many times, and will keep trying until I make it stick or die trying. Here's the thing though. Telling me I should quit gets a mind your business type reaction, and telling me it's dangerous gets a so's driving or something similar. Addicts are cornered animals and lash out at the first sign of an attack, even if done out of genuine concern.