I remember many years ago when I debated an atheist. Being significantly less experienced, I was prone to being dragged down any rabbit hole they dug, so when he suggested Heaven sounded like a boring place, I responded with reasons it wouldn't be, concluding that I was looking forward to going. His response was "so you're looking forward to your death!", followed by a long and angry rant about how this is why he hates religion, because it celebrates and even causes death.
In reality, I am of course very much not looking forward to death itself. Death is, in its plainest sense, a punishment for sin, and Scripture actually defines it as an enemy - one whose destruction all Christians look forward to. Thus, as I said in response, I am actually looking forward to my resurrection.
But ultimately, this is a silly argument for a number of reasons beyond just taking me out of context. We can start with the obvious fact that it makes no comment on whether or not Christianity is actually true. All it does is show that, in this atheist's mind, Christianity is less desirable.
Of course, ultimately, no one likes to think about death at all. It is, however, an inevitability. Being so inevitable means we should be thinking about it. Or should we?
On the one hand, we can temporarily imagine that atheism is true. There is no God, there is no afterlife, and the only ones judging our actions are other mortal beings who will also fizzle out of existence, rendering their opinions irrelevant. In this case, thinking about death does nothing, but neither does anything else! It doesn't matter what you believe. If you're an atheist, you fizzle out. If you're a Christian, you fizzle out. If you're none of the above, you fizzle out.
So, clearly, the atheist's argument doesn't work for his position even if he happens to be correct. In fact, even if we were to assume making light of death was a problem, atheism would not solve that problem, because an atheist can look forward to the nothingness, just as a Christian can look forward to Heaven.
But let us continue on, no longer granting the assumption that the atheist is correct about atheism. Let us take the world as it truly appears. We all have our beliefs, but none of us can say, with 100% confidence, that we are correct. Atheism is a possibility, but so are the many other beliefs that exist. Most importantly, death is still inevitable.
In this scenario, thinking about it genuinely matters. Wisdom prepares for even a possible scenario. The invention of the seatbelt shows us that. But death isn't a mere possibility, it will happen. The Son of God Himself suffered it, and you need not imagine you will be an exception to the rule.
When we prepare for a negative thing, the goal is typically to bring about the least negative outcome. The seatbelt may not prevent the crash, and it may not even prevent injury, but at least it may prevent death. When we prepare for death, we must first ask ourselves whether or not there is an afterlife, and if it is possible to get the best out of it.
Knowing what we already do about atheism, those who draw that conclusion are ultimately in a less desirable position. While other faiths may make light of death, atheism causes one to dread it. There is no hope if atheism is true, but regardless of the truth thereof, an atheist does not believe in hope. This robs the atheist even in this life! The only way around the hopelessness is self-delusion. To ignore, or even deny the reality of death. Thus, in atheism, your options are:
✦ Look forward to the nothingness
✦ Wallow in the hopelessness
✦ Ignore the problem entirely
✦ Deny death
Does this look much better than looking forward to Heaven? Not only does atheism not solve the original objection, it actually makes the problem much more bleak.
But now we return to the main problem with the argument, namely that it isn't one. Not only does the argument fail to make atheism the more appealing option, but ultimately, it doesn't make a dent in the truth of Christianity. See, while atheists suggest it's a bad thing for Christians to look forward to Heaven, they fail to realise there might actually be a Heaven to look forward to.
However, it is not an inevitability. We do not live in a cartoon world wherein when we die, our ghost sprouts wings and floats up to the sky. For us, death brings us into judgment. This is a problem for us, because we are all worthy of what Scripture calls "the second death". This is an eternity separated from God, suffering only His wrath, owed to us for the evil we have committed against Him in this life. However, this is not His desire.
Because God loves us, Heaven is His preference for us. Thus, beyond all imagination, He took on human flesh and suffered death Himself. The punishment we deserve, He received. Therefore, we can go to Heaven when we die. The requirement is faith.
This makes the original argument quite ironic. See, death is a bad thing that no one should look forward to. But if we desire life, what possible sense does it make to reject eternal life only on the basis that it gives us hope in spite of the inevitability of death? Atheism has no upper hand here! It is, at best, equal to all other belief systems, because if it is true, nothing matters, and our beliefs do not affect the outcome. At worst, it is an everlasting trap, condemning the self to a life of hopelessness and delusion, followed by a death of greater hopelessness in which delusion is impossible. Judge for yourself, which is really the better worldview?