Don't you ever wonder?

I was recently asked by a Christian if I ever wondered or worried about going to hell when I die. After all, this person said, what if I'm wrong? Obviously, this person hasn't heard of Pascal's Wager and why it's a fallacy, but to answer the question: no, I really don't worry about it.

After all, do any of you worry that maybe you're wrong about being tormented by the Furies in Hades? Of course you don't - why should you? Do you worry about burning in the Muslim hell? (Assuming you're not a Muslim, that is.) Probably not, huh? Yeah, I don't worry about that one either.

I've also heard a few people tell me things along the lines of, "When you get older, you start to think about what happens after you die more." This may very well be true (although I've read about enough elderly people who are more than content with the idea that this life is the only one they get - the local retirement community has an atheist group!) but that doesn't make an afterlife more true. I mean, just because I might think about it and want there to be one, that doesn't mean that it's going to be there. After all, I really would like a beer volcano, but that doesn't somehow make the afterlife of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster more real now, does it?

I'm not eager to die anytime soon, and I'd like to put it off as long as possible (so long as I'm living a quality life). But I honestly don't feel like there's something missing just because when I'm at the end of the line, that's all there is to it.

I've heard people respond to this idea by saying that my point of view is without hope, and it makes life meaningless. To them, I assert that that says more about your lack of imagination.