Reply #4: I'd be lying if I said it wasn't difficult. [View All]

It's one of the least appealing aspects of atheism. Although one could be an atheist and still believe in some sort of afterlife, since technically atheism just means lacking a belief in *gods*. Everything else is still in play.

Myself, I don't believe in any of it. Just as I did not exist before I was born, so I will cease to exist when I die. For me, that's not a problem - ceasing to exist, it's not like I'll "miss" living. But when it comes to losing loved ones, it's very hard. I know I'll never see them again. It is my opinion that religion really "hooks" into people when it comes to death - they're vulnerable, they want to believe they'll see their family members again, etc. However just because something sounds good doesn't make it true.

I like what YankeyMCC wrote. The person lives on through you. A beautiful analogy I heard one time was to compare humanity to a giant tree. Each of us starts as a bud on a branch, grows into a leaf, and provides the tree with a little bit of sustenance before we grow old and fall. Each of us in our own way contributes to the tree of humanity, and our contribution can never be taken away.