Rev: Having no belief in the divine or the supernatural does not equate to having no belief in anything. That would be a Super-Nihilist! Atheism is a lack of belief in the supernatural-- and I will repeat that I think that this is the state of a newly born child. We fill the child's life with stories of Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Teaching about god is an easy task after such imaginative preparation, especially when the imagined icons offer gifts in return for belief!


Rev asks:
Nothing exists beyond the death of the body. I am tempted to ask: What is the evidence that this is so?

Where is the evidence that there is life after death for an individual who has died? I personally believe that after death we become part of the cycle of life again as in 'dust to dust' and also we live in the memory of others--- but that is a very long way from 'life after death' and I am unaware of any proof that life continues in any meaningful way. There have certainly been many attempts to prove it... and like so much in this area, faith that life continues after death can be cornerstone of belief for many people, and (for example) it was the gift that was offered by the sacrifice of the son of God in the Christian faith. But it is still an unproven idea.