I was on the atheist experience :)

[Nihilist Virus]

Correct.  I'm classifying this as a response to the wager.


You are dodging the point entirely.  I'm saying that giving all you have to the poor will not lower your chances of salvation but can possibly help them, therefore by the logic of the wager it is compulsory.


I cannot discern the point you are trying to make.


I am not sure how this is relevant to the discussion.  Again, if a certain action does not lower your chances of winning but might increase them, then performing the action is a required part of any optimal strategy.



According to me?  Do you contest that point?


Correct.


No you aren't.  If they're Christian, they can give it away to other people.


So what should I do then, just ignore the parts I don't like and impose the parts that I do like on other people?

Sorry for the late response... So basically, I have never bought Pascals Wager as I have understood it as a valid argument for the belief in God. I definitely fell more into the argument from ignorance camp.

That being said, I still think that my point is valid that many atheist's draw lines and say, "you cannot act outside of these lines without causing a contradiction" when in reality Jesus taught in a way that helped people understand principles rather than rules. That was my point about Jesus not being a Judge that ticks off requirements from a list. Think of any law, there is an underlying principle behind it. And sometimes the principle isn't a punishable offense. Like the whole committing adultery in your heart if you look at a woman with lust. So did Jesus mean that every time I look at a woman with passion, I have committed adultery? No. The principle is that if you start thinking those things and dwelling on them, it'll lead to you breaking the rule. I am very guilty of this principle sadly... Or not depending on where you come from.

Think of it even this way, when you drive there might be a law in effect like a speed limit. But maybe we believe in the principle to drive safe. So if the weather was really bad, then the principle to drive safe would affect us in a way that we possibly drive under the speed limit.

Whats my point? Basically, Jesus didn't teach us to make hard defined rules in our lives. He made that request to that specific man, but in no way did he ever make it a requirement for his disciples. If he did, then it would just be an endless game of passing around stuff.

You're right that I have a lot more than poor people in a lot of other countries. But Jesus himself said that we could even just have those poor and needy ones over for a meal and rejoice that they could not repay us because god would repay us. I can't speak for every professed christian, but those words did inspire me to help out needy ones. I have gone to developing countries in central and south america spending months doing the preaching work. I would also do my best to invite the locals over for dinner and host them as much as possible. So maybe this isn't selling all of my belongings and living like "The Brethren" but I felt good about it. And maybe the JW preaching is looked upon negatively in this forum, but I saw a lot of joy from people being taught for the first time that they could understand the bible themselves. (as the JW's see it)

Sorry, I am not trying to get preachy. But sometimes I wish that I didn't go down the rabbit hole. I genuinely love being a witness. I personally witness a lot of positive effects in mine and other people lives. So this stuff is personal for me, but I digress...

Translation:

There's not a single thing Jesus said which I actually live by.