As for the afterlife: sure, it'd be nice if, after we died, we could all enjoy eternal bliss. But not only do I think that's a laughable idea, I think it's very, very important that people NOT believe it.

To believe that this world is a test or a precursor to eternal life means that one can slack off and not worry about learning, or making this world better -- after all, it's a blip compared to eternity. No, everyone has the responsibility to improve THIS world. The one and only world we KNOW to exist. We MUST think and act as if this is all we've got, even if we're wrong. After all, if we're wrong, we'll get to Heaven having tried to make our and others' pre-Heaven existence as good as possible.

I believe the same about the existence of God. We must not believe that we owe something to an eternal Father, and we must not believe that there is a Higher Authority dictating arbitrarily what is right and wrong: we must strive to find out what is right and wrong ourselves, and we must accept the responsibility to actively make a better world, rather than just asking for one to be given to us.