*Atheist [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] made the candid confession: "As for me, I don’t see myself as so much dust that has appeared in the world but as a being that was expected, prefigured, called forth. In short, as a being that could, it seems, come only from a creator; and this idea of a creating hand that created me refers me back to God. Naturally this is not a clear, exact idea that I set in motion every time I think of myself. It contradicts many of my other ideas; but it is there, floating vaguely. And when I think of myself I often think rather in this way, for wont of being able to think otherwise." Source: ''Escape from God: The Use of Religion and Philosophy to Evade Responsibility'' By Dean Turner, page 109
*The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' declares: "In 1885, the Duke of Argyll recounted a conversation he had had with Charles Darwin the year before Darwin's death: In the course of that conversation I said to Mr. Darwin, with reference to some of his own remarkable works on the Fertilization of [[Orchid]]s, and upon The [[Earthworm]]s, and various other observations he made of the wonderful contrivances for certain purposes in nature — I said it was impossible to look at these without seeing that they were the effect and the expression of Mind. I shall never forget Mr. Darwin's answer. He looked at me very hard and said, 'Well, that often comes over me with overwhelming force; but at other times,' and he shook his head vaguely, adding, 'it seems to go away.'(Argyll 1885, 244)[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/teleological-arguments/notes.html Notes to Teleological Arguments for God's Existence]</ref>
== Agnostics and belief in life after death ==
[[File:Atheism and death.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|According to a study performed in the United States by researchers Wink and Scott, very religious people fear death the least.<ref>[http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050628_deathfearfrm.htm Fear of death: worst if you’re a little religious?], World of Science]
*J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2005, Jul;60(4):P207-14. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15980288 Does religiousness buffer against the fear of death and dying in late adulthood? Findings from a longitudinal study]. Wink P1, Scott J.</ref>]]
The website ''Skeptics Guide'' indicates that a significant number of [[Atheism|atheists]] and [[Agnosticism|agnostics]] believe in life after death and the website reported:
{{cquote|A survey compiled in 2014 by The Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture (AISFC) reveals that 32 percent of Americans who identified themselves as agnostics and atheists believe in an [[afterlife]] of some kind. In addition, 6 percent of the same non-theistic group expressed a belief in a “bodily resurrection”. These numbers were taken from a sample of 15,738 Americans, all of which were between the ages of 18 and 60. According to the data, 13.2 percent of Americans identify themselves as atheist, agnostic, or some other variation of non-believing.
I found these results to be quite surprising. Having been immersed in circles of atheists and agnostics for the past 20 years, the numbers revealed by this study are higher than I would have guessed, by quite a lot. What stands out the most is that 6% expressed a belief in resurrection. It could be a statistical anomaly of some sort (perhaps the respondents did not understand the question about bodily resurrection?) Why an atheist or agnostic would believe that a dead person could come back to life seems entirely contrary to their worldview.<ref>[http://www.theskepticsguide.org/one-third-of-atheists-agnostics-believe-in-an-afterlife Survey: 32% of Atheists & Agnostics Believe in an Afterlife]</ref>}}
[[File:Laying on of hands.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|Ninety-four percent of [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]] believe in an afterlife according to a survey of the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture.<ref>Study, Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture: [http://relationshipsinamerica.com/religion/do-people-still-believe-in-life-after-death Do people still believe in life after death?]</ref>]]
According to the original Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture report:
{{cquote|Mormons reported the highest rate of belief in a conscious afterlife (98 percent), followed by [[evangelicalism|evangelicals]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]], and fundamentalist Protestants (94 percent). Even mainline Protestants only trailed slightly, at 93 percent. Nine in ten Muslims indicated their agreement, while varieties of Catholic American trailed them (with traditional Catholics peaking at 85 percent). Jews (58 percent) and Hindus (59 percent) were the least likely among religious Americans to believe in life after death. Predictably, those without a religious affiliation (or who called themselves atheists or agnostics) were least confident in life after death, at 32 percent. By contrast, Americans who identify as spiritual-but-not-religious, which represents nearly eight (8) percent of the population, were far more confident in life after death (79 percent).<ref>Study, Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture: [http://relationshipsinamerica.com/religion/do-people-still-believe-in-life-after-death Do people still believe in life after death?]</ref>}}
For more information, please see: [[Atheism and death]]
== See also ==