(May 11, 2014 at 6:35 am)Esquilax Wrote: The big danger with christianity, and it's so easily demonstrated in Pascal's Wager, is that it teaches you not to be empathetic about certain subjects, to disengage your critical thinking and develop a blind spot where christianity can hide.
Just think about what the bible teaches you: that you already have all the answers, that they're here in this book, that everybody believes exactly the same things you do, everyone is exactly the same, and if they say they believe differently they're actively lying to you... if you've been taught to believe all that crap, why would you consider other religions?
The reason Pascal's Wager gains any traction at all is that the kind of person who would accept it as cogent argumentation probably already believes that everyone knows there's only one hell, and they just deny it because they're sinful.
In reality that makes no sense, if I believed in hell wtf would be the point of denying it if I was sinful when I all I have to is accept Jesus and he forgives everything? I mean if I was to accept Jesus I could bash a baby off of rocks and eat its corpse and Jesus would still accept me into heaven as long as I put faith in him. Conversely according to Christian teaching Gandhi is burning in hell right now.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
