I know that we are united with the communion of saints, and that death no longer separates us (Romans 8:38-39).

I believe we can pray to the saints, and even pray to and pray for our relatives who have gone before us.

But I guess my interpretation of what that union would look like differed from reality.

I thought that all I had to do was pray and that my dad would visit me in my dreams, or that God would send me endless consolations to constantly comfort me.

I believed that my father would send me signs of his present happiness from "the other side" in big ways.

I probably picked up this idea from other people's anecdotes.

I've heard of people smelling their loved one's cologne, or of finding an old voice message at just the right time, or of visits in dreams.

I was so sure of how things worked that, when my sweet atheist brother insisted that we stop trying to comfort him with talk of heaven, my sister boldly assured him that he would be surprised and change his mind when my dad visited him in his dreams from the afterlife.

He looked pointedly at both of us, and told us we would be surprised when he didn't.

I had a friend who told me that her mother appeared by her bedside one night.

This friend had cancer, and she was in deep anguish over leaving her children behind.

Her mother appeared beside her in bed, and came to comfort her with a smile.

I asked her if she was terrified; and she told me she wasn't at all.

I believed every word of it. My friend has since died. Continue reading

Source

• Victoria Gisondi in Catholic Stand

Victoria Garaitonandia Gisondi is a resident of Bucks County, Pennsylvania and mother of five children.

Ricky Gervais is working on a new show,"Afterlife", about an atheist who died and went to heaven - the point being made that believers don't have the monopoly on morality.

"All too often religious people equate faith with moral behavior", says Pamela Taylor. "As a Muslim, I can attest to the fact that this is not always the case. As a former atheist, I can also attest to the fact that I was raised not only with a strong moral orientation, but also with the theoretical background, critical thinking and analytical skills needed to make sound moral choices."

She says that, when she was growing up, one of the things she found distasteful about believers was "how easily they seemed to go against their own moral code, ostensibly because God would forgive them."

Read Taylor's Column in the Washington Post

Pamela K. Taylor is a North American Muslim science fiction writer and poet. Taylor has been involved with Muslims for Progressive Values (co-founder), Islamic Writers Alliance (former director) and supporter of woman imam movement
Pamela K Taylor's website
Image: Islam and Science Fiction

Teaming up with "Dexter" producer Clyde Phillips, the English comedian and atheist, will start a show about an atheist who dies and goes to Heaven - with controversy sure to follow.

Though Gervais will not star in the show himself, he will appear in some cameos.

The pilot episode is currently being written, according to the magazine, and filming is set for 2012.

Not the first time Gervais has tackled the topic of faith. The 50-year-old actor, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, previously wrote two pieces for The Wall Street Journal entitled, "A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I'm an Atheist" and "A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I'm A Good Christian".

In the articles, Gervais argues that being a Christian or an atheist doesn't necessarily make someone a good or bad person. He also outlines his previous belief in "the Christian God" which was now substituted by science and evolution, facts and truth.

"The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn't. It's not a matter of opinion.

"You can have your own opinions. But you can't have your own facts."

Spurring a slew of comments from Christians, several religious leaders also responded, most notably Christian author Lee Strobel, who was once an atheist himself.

Whereas Gervais looked at the evidence and found no reason to believe, Strobel found all the more reason to believe after studying the evidence.

"In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus," he said.

"The evidence is what tipped the scales."

Full Story: Christian Today

More than 18,000 people participated in the London-based poll in 23 countries conducted by global research company, Ipsos Social Research Institute.

The Ipsos/Reuters poll also found that 51 percent believe that there is an afterlife while 23 percent believe they will just "cease to exist." Around a quarter (26 percent) simply don't know what will happen after death.

Bobby Duffy, managing director of Ipsos, told Reuters, "It may seem to many that we live in a secular world but this survey shows just how important spiritual life is to so many global citizens with half saying they believe in a spiritual being and the same proportion in an afterlife of some sort or other."

"The other really interesting thing is that such a large proportion of the remaining people are just not sure there is a spiritual explanation either for how they got here or what happens after they die."

According to the survey, "definitive belief in a God or Supreme Being" is highest in Indonesia (93 percent) and Turkey (91 percent), followed by Brazil (84 percent), South Africa (83 percent) and Mexico (78 percent). Those most likely to believe in "many Gods or Supreme Beings" live in India (24 percent), China (14 percent) and Russia (10 percent).

Read more on this global poll: Most Believe in God and the Afterlife