I cannot even begin to describe how many annoying signs I've seen that have to deal with eternity. We all know that death is certain, after all we can't put it off forever. Eventually the grim reaper is gonna come-a knockin' and we'll have to face the facts, but one of those facts won't be eternity. However, to those who don't believe me, I'm going to make a comparison just for you. I hope you loathe it.
Take the one thing in this mortal life that you enjoy doing the most. For me, it's programming and writing script for video games; a simple job, but it can get tedious in the times that I have to figure out where an error in the coding is located. Now, take that thing that you enjoy doing and try to imagine performing that task over and over for the rest of eternity. Non-stop. Scared yet? I sure am, my hobby would drive me batshit nuts. So why in the world do Christians seem to think that worshiping and praising God for all of eternity is supposed to be the best thing to happen to us? Could you imagine having sex for eternity? I know I couldn't.
The thing that gets me the most is that heaven is supposed to be a place where light shines constantly; there is no sunset, nobody sleeps or feels any form of negativity at all. Everything is peaceful and full of people singing their asses off for God. I'd have a problem with this right off the bat. Say again that perhaps you have fallen in love with the most beautiful person you could ever hope to meet, but perhaps they don't share your faith. According to the bible, apostasy is the one unforgivable sin that can send a person to hell. Now suppose you both perish at the same time, with you going to heaven, and your true love cursed to damnation. If one is forced to be happy in heaven, I'm suggesting that the person who went to heaven won't remember anything about his mortal love. This kind of thinking would drive me insane. I'd sooner offer my soul to the devil himself to spend eternity with my true love than to be separated from her. This isn't suggesting that I believe in such things, however. It's merely an example.
The point is that nobody can give a reason why eternity should be taken seriously. The idea of eternity cheapens the experience of life for a lot of people. As an atheist, I view my life as the only one I'll ever have, and in a way, that makes it much more precious and valuable. As a result, I'm going to do my best to do good to others, help the needy when I can, and generally make every attempt to be a good person. Am I planning for eternity? In a way, I am; in the effect that I hope I make the future for the people around me that much brighter and more pleasant. But what I'm not planning on is meeting the fictitious asshole that condones mass genocide of innocents. Why? Because he doesn't exist.
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it, petty, unjust, unforgiving, pathologically insecure, a control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty, ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. Those of us schooled from infancy in his ways can become desensitized to their horror".
-- Richard Dawkins, Pg. 51 [The God Delusion]
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