Is anyone scared by "Pascal's Wager?"

N

notPresidentAndrew

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Are you? Do you know anyone who has been scared into religion because of it?

In case you do not know what it is, here:
If you belive in God and he does not exist --> nothing
If you do not believe in God and he does not exist --> nothing
If you believe in God and he exists --> go to heaven
If you do not believe in God and he exists --> go to hell

There are many problems with Pascal's wager, but that's not the point of this thread. There are countless versions that say the say thing, and its thesis "believe in God or go to hell" has been around for centuries.

Are you convinced by it? I really don't think this kind of "fire insurance Christianity" is the best way of preaching about a loving God, but people use it all the time.
 
I think it would be more useful as a "scare tactic" if it concentrated on following the Christian "rules" more than the belief factor. Then anyone who acted in the manner that Jesus is proclaimed as teaching would be saved. As it is, Pascal's Wager just says that if you believe, you're okay, regardless of how you act.

One bumper sticker that really pisses me off is the "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven". This implies that no matter how they act, as long as they have faith they're okay. Ridiculous....I don't think the teachings of Jesus mean that. And if they do, well then my respect for them is lost.

So I believe that you should act as a decent human being to your fellow humans, and believe what you want to believe. That's called humanism, and the spread of it instead of just plain faith in God would benefit the world.
 
I don't think anyone can choose to believe in God if he/she does not believe. If a person does not believe in God but goes to the Church/Temple/Mosque I don't see how that is going make any difference.
 
Consequent....
Are you questioning whether there are problems with Pascal's Wager?
 
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