Do you believe in an AFTERLIFE?

How do you reconcile the xtian version of the afterlife with different, conflicting versions of other religions? I suppose most believe their religion is the only real, True Religion. Sure. Just like all the others do too. So what are the scientific explanations? Fact: the human race has been around for hundreds of thousands of years. Fact: the concepts of an afterlife, of gods, spirits, etc. have only been around for a few millenia. Fact: these concepts were invented and promulgated by ignorant barbarians as an attempt to explain the world around them, before there was a such thing as science or epistemology. Fact: the xtian religion is only a couple millenia old, one of many religions that came before it and have come since. Fact: most of the books of the bible were written by people who were never there, as second- or third-hand accounts decades or even centuries after the events they claim to tell about. Fact: the books of the bible have been heavily edited over the centuries, with passages or even whole books being re-written or omitted to fit the theological and political climates of the time. Fact: the books of the bible have also been subject to extensive errors, misinterpretations, and differences of opinion in interpretation as they are translated from one language to another and from that to yet another language. Knowing all this, how can yours or ANY religion be viewed as anything BUT the invention of men? I know this may not be what you want to hear, and I doubt I'll do much harm to your faith; faith is remarkably impervious to reason. But we atheists are nothing like what the church leaders are fond of charicaturing us as. We are freethinking individuals who are able to see the Big Picture without the blinders of religion. We do not live in despair, quite the contrary; freethought is incredibly refreshing, liberating, and empowering. We are not nihilists, but lovers of life who see it as all the more precious _because_ there's no eternal afterlife. We do not need the bribe of heaven or the threat of hell to be good people, we believe in being good for its own sake. Through science and reason, we know more about the true nature of the world we live in than your religion could ever hope to offer. I'd ask you to give freethought a try, but I realize that's probably asking too much for a True Believer. So I'll only ask that you consider learning more about atheists and atheism, and setting aside any preconceived notions you may have about them--because those notions are almost certainly wrong. We are not your enemy. Our quarrel is with irrationality, wishful thinking, superstitions, intellectual dishonesty, and all other forms of thinking that keep mankind mired in darkness, ignorance and hate.