Does human life have INHERENT value?

[robvalue]

The thing I really, really don't get is when it's suggested this life has no meaning without an afterlife. That's so totally the wrong way round, if anything. It makes me sad when I hear of people killing themselves as a shortcut to the afterlife because they genuinely believe they are headed straight there. If that belief hadn't been implanted, it would never have happened; at least there would be one less reason for it to happen. They have thrown away the only life we can be sure that we have, on a promise that is made frequently but which no one can actually demonstrate is true.

The thing is, I can't say I blame them. If my wife and I really believed that, as much as we believed getting on a bus would get us into town, we'd probably do it too. Why stick around here in this shitty preamble? It's no surprise religion often tries to dissuade you from this by setting rules against it. "It's real, sure, but you can't just go straight there."