Although we believe that there is a God, do you not think is is disrespectful to make such a statement about someone who has just died? I think it is disparaging to the memory of Stephen Hawking, who did not believe in an afterlife, to make posthumous statements about what he may be experiencing, especially given that he cannot answer to those statements. If we have respect for someone who has died, we should imagine them as they would like to be imagined--based on what we know about how they lived on this earth, not based on our own beliefs.
