I agree with you, Allan. There seems to be a high fence between theists and atheists, although many people try to sit on the fence by calling themselves agnostic. As I see it, there are three basic questions: (1) Is there some central, decision-making entity in control of the universe as a whole? (2) If so, is that central entity aware of and interested in my own personal existence and welfare? (3) Regardless of the answers to the first two questions, will I survive my death in some meaningful way?

Theists, in particular monotheists, answer "yes" to the first question, and many answer "yes" to the second question as well. An atheist like me answers a firm "no" to the second question and says that, at best, the answer to the first question is a matter of how one is using the words "central" and "control", but that evidence from astronomy suggests that whatever "control" there may be to the universe as a whole operates on a much vaster scale in space and time than our human lives here on earth.

As for the third question, which is really separate from whether there is a central "God" entity or not, many people are frightened by the prospect of a final death and wish to believe that some aspect of their personhood, their "soul", will persist beyond their physical death.

Both theists and believers in life after death take solace in the unknown. No matter what we atheists and naturalists believe, based on what we know of physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, cognitive science, astronomy, and other sciences, unknowns will always remain, in which the beliefs of theists and eternal-lifers can find refuge.