Is Eternal Life Even Desireable?

[noctalla]

Recently, I encountered a Christian who asked me what atheists believe happens after death. I suspect the question was posed partly out of genuine curiosity, but with an underlying assumption that, whatever atheists believe, Christians believe in a more desireable outcome. When answering, I started off by saying that it depends on the atheist, in an attempt to convey the fact that there is a great plurality of beliefs among atheists. Then I went on to say that I personally think an individual (at least as far as their conciousness and experience is concerned) ceases to exist after death. Then they asked me, with what appeared to be a mixture of incomprehension, condescention and pity (lol), if I was scared of the thought of not existing. I wasn't really sure how to answer this part. Despite the many less than desireable aspects of existing, I am overall quite satisfied with the experience and am in no hurry to hasten my inevitable death. In fact, I would fight tooth and nail to stay alive, if I had to. But, while dying scares me a quite a bit, I'm not really scared of not existing, because there is literally nothing to be scared of (though I admit I am somewhat unsettled by the thought). At this point I thought I'd turn the question around on the Christian. I assumed (correctly as it turns out) that they believed they would look forward to everlasting life after they died. So I asked them if they were scared of everlasting life. They weren't. I think they assumed I was making a joke, because their reaction suggested that it had never even occured to them that existence without end could possibly be anything other than a good thing. I think this attitude betrays a total incomprehension of the implications of eternity. The thought of existence without end scares me much more than not existing. And the more I think about it, the more it seems to me that my views on what happens after we die are far more desireable than what Christians believe. I could expound further, but I've gone on long enough and I'd like to hear if anyone else has considered the matter.