Science vs Religion stream of consciousness...

[Joe]

One of the most decent persons I know died recently in a car crash last week. I just spoke to his father a few minutes ago and he seems to dealing with it a lot better than I expected, mainly because of his religious beliefs. He genuinely believes that my cousin has gone to a better place. I'm not that religious, but can't help thinking that if it works for him, why not?

In one of her letters, Virginia Woolf quotes a charwoman thusly:

'Ah well Mrs Woolf, just this life, then the next, then we can all have a nice rest.'

In years gone by, and in 'primitive' societies today, it's easy to 'sell' the concept of an afterlife, because 'real' life was/is nasty, brutish and short, and freedom from pain and suffering would be enough of a bonus to make Heaven worth aiming for. In sophisticated societies, as life is much more bearable, this approach becomes problematic; what would Heaven be like that would make it so much better than life on Earth? Praising God all day long would soon pall, surely?