If there was ever a more un-politically correct topic to broach than religion ... politics maybe being a close second, but regardless I have some thoughts on the topic I would like to share.
The belief in Heaven or any type of comforting afterlife is important, not just to Christians but to many other cultures. The need for a "beyond and better" spans across most religions, and it is so vitally important. I believe that we as self-aware animals need this concept, so that we don't feel the "end" coming.
Maybe it is a built-in defense mechanism against self-harm, or maybe it is just a series of chemicals and signals in our brain. And maybe someday someone will find an absolute scientific method to completely disprove this, but I wouldn't bet on it.
From my own scientific portion of my grey matter, I believe there must be an after. Maybe someone will set me straight, but I believe energy cannot just stop existing. Energy creates such a ripple effect that I can't see how human energy just ends, in my opinion it must be reabsorbed, redistributed.
It is not just a finish line, but a cross over or mutation into some other form of energy. I'm not saying I believe in ghosts walking among us, what I'm saying is that even science cannot prove that energy ends.
From a religious point of view (or at least my version) I believe there is "something there" in the after. Maybe not the angels perching on the fluffy clouds with harps and halos, but my version is a much more mental exercise. A gathering of consciousness, energy with energy, remnants of memories mingling. I think there will be a calm without the body, a quiet without the existence of voice.
I think that the idea that we are a coincidence/big bang is ridiculous. I believe that would be one huge cosmic nasty prank were it to be true. The idea of a supreme force or extreme being having created us may be far fetched to some people, but I believe He created the thought of us, what we were to evolve into, how the earth would be shaped and formed into a habitable place, how the dinosaurs were given their time to be kings of the earth, until they too had to make way for what would ultimately be His original goal.
I wasn't raised in an extreme religion, but I was in Sunday School and attended a Catholic junior high. I wasn't forced to church when I was older, and I fell into an attitude of "I don't need it." And I didn't suddenly return to it, guns blazing -- rosaries and Hail Marys, thumping bibles and preaching at people.
I returned to it when I realized I believed. I realized this when I found out I have a loss coming my way. As everyone does eventually, but because I have had a lot of time to absorb it, to reflect, to realize what a gift I have at the moment, some parts of my life became a lot clearer. This is something that may have taken a lot longer, had I not had my eyes opened for me.
Dear Friend, As you stated in your opening statement, your comments are your "Personal Beliefs". Just as this is yours, you have also stated that everyone else has their "own" beliefs as well. What this all boils down to is independent thinking, or as us Christians say "Freedom of choice". A gift given to us by, not our God but every ones God. Yes, my opinion. Now I understand your confusion and denial of what is hard to believe...because it is not something you can physically see. That is where "Faith" comes in. You might say that "I can't have faith on something I can not see." My answer to that comes with two simple examples (1) Some one tells you the "wind" does not exist because you can not see it, yet you know that it exists because you can feel it on your face. (2) Some one tells you "love" does not exist because you can not see it, yet you know that it exists because you can feel it in your heart. I say all this to simple say; you say God does not exist because you can not see him. I say he does because I have opened my eyes and my heart to feel him all around me. I pray that some day, you to can open your eyes and your heart to truly see and feel the wonders he has bestowed upon you. God bless.