“I am an atheist, and have been near death a couple of times. Not once did I call on any deities.”
I guess the better question is who will you call for after death?
Mate, if I'm calling for anybody 'after death' it will be for a doctor and a second opinion!
"I guess the better question is who will you call for after death?
"
Well, that's really not a question for an atheist. Atheists believe that life is life and that it ends at death.
After my death, my wife will have me cremated, and my ashes will be dumped into the Mississipi River off the Wabasha Bridge here in Saint Paul. That's my wish.
Of course, it won't matter to me, since my existence will have utterly ended.
The finite nature of life is what gives it savor. I have a short time on this planet. I must do my best to make the most of it.
Different religions have different notions about an afterlife. Some don't believe in it at all. Some encompass some sort of reincarnation. Christianity has this good place/bad place concept.
Whatever a person believes regarding this is fine with me. It's one of the things that gives a sort of definition to a life.
I've always wondered, though, about the Christian concept of heaven, especially for those sects of Christianity that have the "once saved, always saved" concept. I don't really see why anyone would bother to control their behavior once they were "saved." Indeed, I've known some self-styled Christians who did not.
It's all a matter of what you believe.