User blog comment:HELO/I Love You, Ashley--Now Stop Punishing Me for It/@comment-5044104-20120422215529/@comment-3581090-20120423205045

@Byrdolog: I was thinking along those lines as well, that they might have thought it would be perceived as offensive. But given what's in the picture TheDarkReaper224 was kind enough to link us to...I mean, it doesn't even take sides on the afterlife issue. Not really.

Sure, it doesn't confirm the existence of something beyond this life, but it doesn't make the opposite argument either. Shepard specifically says he doesn't know what happened after his final death throes, that he doesn't remember anything until he woke up on the Cerberus base. And that he doesn't know what it means that he's walking around now.

I thought it was a really even-handed way to deal with the issue, and Ashley's response (as someone who does believe, as someone who does love Shepard and sympathizes with the weight--spiritual or otherwise--this experience put on him) was really touching.