what lies beyond

Toward the end of his life, philosopher A J Ayer, a towering intellect of the twentieth century, had a near-death experience, and renounced his lifelong atheism. He admitted publicly that he was no longer sure that there was no afterlife, but his private confession to the surgeon that saved his life was even stronger. He confided to the surgeon that he had "met the supreme being," but would not elaborate.
Last week, Daniel Dennett, author of such books as Consciousness Explained and Breaking the spell: religion as a natural phenomenon and who was recently described as a fundamentalist atheist, had a heart operation and a near-death experience. Friends of Dennett were eager to know whether, like Ayer, he had revised his beliefs. No, no, Dennett insisted, if anything his faith in medicine has simply grown stronger. However...
He now has a new-found affection for the expression Thank goodness. This is because, says Dennett, "There is a lot of goodness in this world, and more goodness every day..."
While he goes on to explain that he is still a confirmed atheist, he says of prayers from his friends:

What, though, do I say to those of my religious friends (and yes, I have quite a few religious friends) who have had the courage and honesty to tell me that they have been praying for me? I have gladly forgiven them

because he realises that that is their way of giving well-wishes.
Still, this newfound interest in goodness sounds to me like a subtle, but substantial, metaphysical shift in position. I would not expect a battle-scarred skeptic like Dennett to become an evangelising Southern Baptist overnight, even after a near-death experience. But I would like to be a fly on the wall next time he has dinner with old pal Richard Dawkins, and tries to explain what this strange new concept of "goodness" is all about.

In a slightly related vein, for some interesting thoughts on atheism from a non-atheist, read Frederick Turner's article, What's good about atheism. (Turner is also the author of several books including Natural Religion).