beings, typically claiming such beliefs to be the product of ignorance and superstition. In any case, what one believes about God fundamentally affects how one interprets experience. . Every person has metaphysical beliefs about the nature of reality. The atheist will likely embrace materialism, the view that the ultimate reality is matter. All that exists, according to the atheist, is the physical universe. For the pantheist, in contrast, ultimate reality is spirit or mind. Many pantheists