Posts: 23
Threads: 9
Joined: July 23, 2012
Reputation:
2
Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 7:32 am
I am an atheist and I am very confident all religions are false. However Pascal's wager kind of gets to me because the idea of hell is so horrifying. If I did choose to worship God, yes most likely I would be wasting my time but I could be avoiding an ETERNITY in hell. Since we are talking about ETERNITY doesn't that side win?
Posts: 3158
Threads: 132
Joined: September 1, 2011
Reputation:
44
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 7:38 am
So an eternity in "heaven", worshiping the loving god who lets babies starve and die of AIDS sounds better to you? Okay. Whatever.
Posts: 13051
Threads: 66
Joined: February 7, 2011
Reputation:
92
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 8:16 am
Which god should we hedge our bets with?
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
Posts: 3872
Threads: 39
Joined: August 25, 2008
Reputation:
43
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 8:25 am
(This post was last modified: July 23, 2012 at 8:40 am by Ace Otana.)
(July 23, 2012 at 7:32 am)GodlessGirl Wrote: I am an atheist and I am very confident all religions are false. However Pascal's wager kind of gets to me because the idea of hell is so horrifying. If I did choose to worship God, yes most likely I would be wasting my time but I could be avoiding an ETERNITY in hell. Since we are talking about ETERNITY doesn't that side win?
It's all based on what ifs.
I'll bite.
So which god should we pray to? There's over 5 thousand gods and goddesses you know. Perhaps you worship the wrong god and end up in hell for it? Perhaps you get to go to heaven even if you're an atheist. Perhaps only Muslims go to heaven.
It's all based on what ifs. Pascal's wager doesn't actually work.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
Posts: 3158
Threads: 132
Joined: September 1, 2011
Reputation:
44
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 8:52 am
Besides all the what-ifs, do you really want to just worship a deity because you're afraid of some unpleasant afterlife experience? What about this life? You wanna spend it with irrational fears, instead of living it the way you want to live it? If you worshiped the right deity, and make it to heaven, what's to stop you from wasting that life too?
Posts: 3179
Threads: 197
Joined: February 18, 2012
Reputation:
72
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 10:49 am
If my eternal fate is that of flame and brimstone then I'll gladly drive on the highway to hell with my middle finger raised to the god who claims to be good and just yet makes no interventions to save the lives of billions of innocents and instigated this cheap card-shuffling trick wherein you have to pick one of thousands of religions or risk eternal damnation.
Satan's probably a cooler guy anyway. And, fuck it, he has succubi. Demon bitches who are basically insatiable sluts. God ain't got shit. Fuck god, I'd rather chill in hell with my favorite metal bands than spend an eternity with some dickweed who has continued to play such an epic, eternal mindgame with the whole of humanity as long as he has.
Posts: 3989
Threads: 79
Joined: June 30, 2009
Reputation:
41
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 10:55 am
Pascal's wager seems to me like walking up to a roullette table.
Chauncey McHelmut says, "Well I better place my money on Black because if I don't bet I will lose the oportunity to win big money and black is a safe bet!"
Ricky Zydema says, "Well I like the color red so I'll choose that color, and it is an equally safe bet as black and Chauncy is a jerk so red will probably come up."
Skeeter Halverson says, "Well I have a good feeling about number 7 so that must be the right number and if you don't agree with my you must be a loser."
Yonker Zotzly says, "I'm going to bet green because the payout it amazing and there is 0 AND 00!"
Stevie says, "Why are you all so... stupid?"
Flpto Gnudgna says, "Wait a minute, I have enough money to get a pizza! I'm going to avoid betting altogether and use my money for something with value, right now."
So you see, why bet at all when you have all you need right now?
Posts: 3989
Threads: 79
Joined: June 30, 2009
Reputation:
41
RE: Pascal's wager
July 23, 2012 at 11:02 am
NO! Any resemblances to real people either live or dead is merely coincidental, and the thoughts and opinions expressed by the characters do not necessarily reflect the thoughts and opinions of the network.