I believe that all I am and may become in this life will end with my death. There is no evidence to support any other understanding of death, as far as I can tell. Therefore, it is useless to even ponder the question or behave in any way based on an imaginary afterlife. We are like other material objects. At death, our atoms will simply be redistributed into the Universe from which they came.
This perspective is very liberating. By accepting the immutable and inevitable, I am freed to concentrate my energies on being the best version of me I can be in any moment. Unlike religious people who base their behavior on codes, based on the elaborate dictates of an imaginary super being, I am free to look around me and base my behavior on the real world, subject to civil, natural and physical laws. It is my responsibility to make the best ethical decisions I can.
This consciousness stimulated those behaviors in my life which have been most humanitarian and socially responsible. I believe, if all people realized that all we have in this Universe is our common humanity, we would be less divided by religion, race and ethnicity.
