But what's the point of heaven if you accomplish everything you want to in life?
If you accomplish everything you want to in life, I think you lack imagination. 
I do believe the correct terms are foolish ambition and greed.
That's always been my little problem with heaven: "It's all good and perfect? Sounds boring." Now I'm not one to wish for hell either, I just enjoy the trials and tribulations of life.
I suspect that life's not through with us when we get to heaven. Heaven's just a name for the reality God lives in - the reality that we pray comes to earth ("Thy kingdom come..."). Heaven is not the end of the story. It's just the beginning of the real adventure.
A beginning that lasts for eternity. It really does sound adventorturous like the Never-Ending Story.
If one spends one's life seeking to improve the world with little regard to religion and no expectation of reward or punishment in an afterlife, what would become of said person according to your understanding?
I wonder on what grounds a person seeking to improve the world could give little regard to religion. It is, after all, a major element of every human culture and a motivation for both terrible atrocities and awe-inspiring selflessness. If any of it's true, it's the single most important aspect of human existence. If it's false, it is still a major factor in understanding the workings of both individuals and society. To ignore it seems like wearing blinders... and for what reason? Fear? Laziness? Anyone looking to make an impact on the world must avoid both.
Touché.
Well in the case of Western religions it literally is all the same God. This is why the media have started properly translating 'Allah' to 'God'. As much as they all don't want to admit it, Enlil, Ra, Zeus, Jupiter, Yahweh, God, and Allah are all one and the same.
They may have certain origins and concepts in common, but that certainly doesn't mean they're the same.
I wouldn't let Enlil, Ra, Zeus or Jupiter on the list. The three last are in their own league, Omnipotencia Maximus.
Why does everything have to be right and wrong, good and evil, black and white... sometimes you're given a question and both answers are right. Have you ever noted the similarities between some religions claiming to not be related? (hinduism and catholicism, where hindu gods are equiv to catholic saints)
The similarities reflect either a) similarities in human thought across cultures or b) different expressions of a single underlying truth. Or both. 
And let's not make things equivalent too quickly. Anyone can see where things are similar. The hard part is knowing which differences are important.
As for why, say, Christianity instead of anything else, if you want objective reasons, I've got a couple. The first is its compatibility with reason. Given a very few theistic premises (e.g. God is the creator, God is love) plus the facts about the world as we know it, we can reconstruct a very large portion of Christian doctrine on a simply logical basis. Another is historicity - extraordinary phenomena like the Church in all her rags and her riches seem to require an extraordinary explanation. And then there's the incredible sanity of the faith - the way it unites science and story, history and myth, nature and the supernatural, mercy and justice, humanity and God. I have never met a truth in another worldview or religion that I have not found more reasonable, more paradoxical, and more beautiful in Christianity. Of course, I'm biased - but take that for whatever it's worth.
Many of Christianity's moral codes defy rational thought. Then again, I'm biased as well.
I'd like to open up a topic I have a morbid fascination in, the Ten Commandments. Wasn't Charlton Heston great, I mean, he-
- I am the Lord thy God. You shall have no other gods.
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
- Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Honor thy father and thy mother.
- Thou shalt not kill.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- Thou shalt not steal.
- Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
- Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, or his workers, or his cattle, or anything that is your neighbour's.
I am the Lord thy God. You shall have no other gods.A good start, says who's the Big Man. And who's the bitch.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.Biatch!
Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy."For being a good beeyotch, we shall reward you one free day per week. However, on that day you'll still be our beeyotch and won't do what we won't allow you to. Nyah!"
Honor thy father and thy mother.A good starting premises, but that's about it. My parents get big points for having sex and my mother gets megapoints for pregnancy and labour, but Jesus on a pogostick, Respek wears out. Just because I'm genetically linked to them doesn't mean that they can't be not only a few notches below my ladder-o-respek, but in fact at Niagara Falls in a barrel falling down.
Thou shalt not kill.This one is good. However, it's pretty ambiguous with all the euthanasia and abortion messes today. On the other hand if this is extended to all interpersonal violence, even better. You keep your anger at bay and I won't sic Max on anyone. Everyone's a winner. Except Max.
I shan't touch overpopulation, that can be weeded out by birth control, which is a great idea.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.On one hand, it encourages to be faithful and not break people's hearts. Then again, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But it might kill them, so stick to this if no super hotties show up.
Thou shalt not steal.You know, these three latest ones all fall under "do unto others as you'd prefer that the others do unto you a thousandfold" in most cases. However, stealing may be essential for survival (powertools in the mall during a zombie attack), so this is a guideline. Oh, and thou shalt not kill does not apply to the undead, they're already dead.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.Don't lie. Unless it's for a great joke. Then minimise damage.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.Don't be greedy. I.e. break the system and economy. Won't work, but don't want too much so you won't be too focused on real estate.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, or his workers, or his cattle, or anything that is your neighbour's.Same as above, and remember the ones about adultery and stealing.
