It's interesting that you put all the focus on "transcendent beings". Although that's certainly understandable given you believe that's the entire point of our

It's interesting that you put all the focus on "transcendent beings". Although that's certainly understandable given you believe that's the entire point of our existence. For those of us who don't believe there is some transcendent being out there waiting to either embrace us or condemn us to eternal suffering in the afterlife, this is all we've got. We don't have faith that our good deeds and beliefs will rewarded or punished. We don't have faith that there is some larger purpose to life than what actually happens on this planet. Instead, we try to build societies so that we can place faith in people, and ideas. Is that goal any less noble because the universe will at one point, billions of years in the future, turn into a cold, dead cinder? Nobody, except those who commit great harm, will be remembered even 100 years from now. Some people might know the name Bill Gates in 2111, but most people will have forgotten what he actually accomplished, just as most of our generation has forgotten what Rockefeller, or Carnegie, or Vanderbilt did. Does that make their contributions to society any less important or righteous? For us nonbelievers, transcendence isn't about becoming one with "god". It's about becoming one with the ideas and values we hold.