No doubt many people are tempted into religion due to a promise of an afterlife. We all have an indispensable urge to live forever, but most people do not recognise this in their behaviour.
Rulers the world over have built monuments to themselves because in them they hope part of their existence will be identified and remain forever in this world, through the memory of others. Artists create for the same reason, to have their existence recognised within/as their work. Kings build empires, martyrs die for causes, philosophers produce treatises, poets write and we want to leave a legacy to family and community in order to secure an eternal existence.
In death, we can only exist as a self in the memories of others. We want graven images and/or a place in a movement and history so that the world will not forget us. This is what many of us strive for our entire lives.
