first, they didn’t believe in God. ( which is why i like ) -- no wonder you are having problem. you based your belief on your liking, which is totally wrong. i couldn’t understand why buddhists appear to be praying. the statues and idols didn’t worry me , but if there is no god, then where do the prayers go? -- you mean when you wanted to belief in Buddhism , you don't know that Buddhist don't pray to god ? it is not that there is no god , there are many many gods in various havens. but Buddhist don't pray to them. i believe that they should be given respect, but how much? they are not saints yet they appear to be treated as such. -- nobody is forcing you to treat monk with high esteem if you don't want to. if others do it , why it is a concern to you ? It is up to individual , how strong is the faith. Buddhist just need to treat monk/nun with respect, that's all. third, the concept of “nirvana”, in buddhist philosophy, is a state without desire, and completely at peace. a state of “nothingness” (form is emptyness , emptyness is form ). to me, as an atheist, it is the same as death. - - i like to give you an elaborated answer but on second thought the answer may confuse you than help you understand. simply put , nirvana is not death, so you are wrong. nothingness is not emptiness (as in outer space where there is absolutely nothing). "form is emptiness and emptiness is form" has a very deep meaning , it is not what you think it is by looking at the words. as a human being i cannot accept the idea that this is their punishment for collecting “bad karma” in a previous life.-- this begs the question “if I believe that I have committed murder in a previous life, and am now leading a comfortable life, why should I not do it again?” -- you cannot understand karma because you just have a superficial knowledge of it. you only know karma means do good deeds get good result and bad deeds get bad result. and you stop there without finding more. to explain karma in detail would takes at least a few hours. just to give an idea : there is individual karma , collective karma , ripening karma , karma yet to be ripen , etc. karma according to the act , karma according to the cause , supportive karma , destructive karma , etc. karma is like a seed , seed needs water , fertile soil , sunlight to grow. so karma will ripen when the right conditions are met. can’t we just accept that we have only one life? for if we accept that this is so, then surely we must try to make the best of the one and only life we have for ourselves, and others, without the dubious benefits of religion -- yes you certainly can. but it won't make the functioning of karma go away. it is like people used to believed the earth is square. but this don't change the shape of the earth which is round. the truth is also the truth whether you choose to believe or not. your problem is you are not using reason , logic to work thing out . why do some people suffer , some enjoying life , some are begger , other are rich ,etc. possible answers [1] they are born this way , no one cause it ; [2] god created people , and he created some to be cripple some to be king ; [3] it is the law of karma which stated you are responsible for what you are. we cannot see the creator god , we cannot see karma , and [1] is included because it could be an answer. but which one is more reasonable , logical ? you do the analysis yourself.