To know or not to know - that is the question!

I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is.

Albert Camus

A strong statement, and clever at that. It's better to drive within the speed limit even without a police car waiting behind the next corner, than to risk a speeding ticket! The safest way to drive a car is within the given rules and laws; they are good, helpful, and beneficial.

In most religions there are moral prescriptions people are to follow. They are given to make life better and preserve it. This is especially true of Judaism and Christianity - God gave laws and values which are to bless the faithful. If people use a dvd-player according to the manual given by the producer, it will work well and last; if not, the opposite is true. It's that simple - God as Creator knows best what His creatures need, hence following divine laws results in blessing. If a person drives 80 km/h in a 30-zone and hits a child, it's not the fault of the speed limit but of the driver; the speed limit is to protect. In the same way it makes life safe to obey God's laws. It has, however, become a great fashion, especially in recent years, to reject God, violate His laws whenever possible, and ridicule everything sacred - it's cool to be non-religious, or we may better say, it's so uncool to be Christian. What people of an atheistic background tend to forget is that even our post-Enlightenment Europe is religious and spiritual, in that New Age has become extremely popular (this is especially true of Germany and Switzerland). People actually are hungry for spiritual things, the question is only, Where to look for the real, genuine, and true!?

If there is no God, then keeping moral laws, or natural laws, is still beneficial for people; those living an honourable life are still well off. Yes, I know, thieves, crooks, and cheats can often make an easy living - but would you also want to share their conscience? Would you want to share their punishment once they're caught? Me not! Numerous 'celebrities' can confirm that money, fame, etc. does ultimately not satisfy - that's why some commit suicide, others turn to God, some seek to 'save the world,' and the rest remains unhappy. One is better off living a life with a peaceful conscience, and that's a moral life. Music stars like Johnny Cash realized that - and changed their lives by turning to God to find peace with themselves.

Albert Camus' statement is good advice to people who doubt in the existence of God. Apart from one or two Greek philosophers in Antiquity, God-denial is a recent phenomenon. And still today, the vast majority of people in the world believe in something. It is a tiny, mostly European, minority who deny the existence of the supernatural. Just as bodily hunger proves that the body needs nourishment, so does spiritual hunger prove that the soul needs spiritual nourishment, and hence prove the existence of the supernatural, the metaphysical. If there is no God, then believing people have lost nothing at death; but if there is a God, non-believing people will lose everything. Atheism is often a way to avoid an uneasy conscience - it's easy just to deny God and live as one pleases. But we cannot deny the rule of law in order to live in anarchy; law upholds order, and order is necessary for peace and prosperity. It is good that the Bible (as well as the Koran) teach accountability towards God for one's actions; if we are not responsible before a judgement, then the motivation of living a moral life becomes thin, and would only be considered when one benefits from it. Yet already here a major error is visible - in such a behaviour selfishness is at the core, and that is moral failure No. 1. Yes, I know, people don't like to hear about judgement and stuff - I was one of them. It's the response of the tormented conscience, while deep down inside of us we know that we are, and should live, morally accountable.

Is there life after death? To know or not to know - that is the question! Some say we can't know - and they are perhaps right; but perhaps not! Some say, Well, we'll find out; unfortunately, it will then be too late. Whether we can know or not, the issue is to choose the safer option, and that's the point of Camus' quote.