Pascal, I refute thee!

Most major religions know that their religion is correct, and that only believers will go to heaven. However, assuming this is true, then we can safely surmise that God is not a benevolent force. To give his word to one group of people, to allow them, and no others, to go to heaven, is an obvious case of playing favorites. Of course, there is the possibility of a benevolent God, who will accept people of all beliefs, based on the goodness of their character, not the blindness of their faith.


In case your not familiar with Pascals Wager, it is supposedly a solid-as-rock logical basis for faith. It goes like this.


If God exists, a believer is rewarded greatly. If he does not exist, the believer loses nothing. If God exists, an atheist loses everything. If he does not exist, the atheist gains nothing.
Essentially, no matter what the odds of God existing, a gambler should always wager his money on God, because even if he's wrong, he loses nothing. This wager is rendered null in the case of a benevolent God as explained above.


I present to you now, a counter statement. Written in Visual Basic, astounding logic!


Atheist's Wager


Theistic.exe

If god [ Then ] [ Inherit the “correct” beliefs from parents and go to heaven at the expense of every human who inherited the “wrong” beliefs ] [ Else [ Worship a non-existent deity and not be rewarded in the afterlife ] ]
End If


Athiest.exe

If god [ Then ] [ Stand up to a corrupt God and demand dignity for the entire human race beyond my tribe ] [ Else [ Concentrate on this life and focus on the issues that matter ] ]
End If

lul wut?

>>2

lol i dontget it either!!!!

Creative yet BS
Too bad the OP wasted a good idea on "lol, i'm an atheist"

>>4
to bad you don't have any ideas at all.

actually, according to the bible, atheists don't go to hell, just purgatory. And Jesus comes to you before you die so you can convert.
So Christians, your giving up all your rights, all your logic, everything nature gives you to believe in a invisible sky fairy the oppresses your rights and your logic?

>>1
atheists are retarded

>>7

Jesus was a trick on niggers.

The things you find on /newpol/...

Although Pascal's wager is most definitely bullshit, the OP's argument is pretty weak. A better way to look at it is that it's a false dilemma: it assumes that either

1) That particular flavor of the Christian God, who sends Christians to Heaven and non-Christians to Hell, exists

or

2) No god exists.

The problem is that if God exists, it's just as likely to be Allah, or Zeus, or the FSM, or infinitely many other possibilities. Maybe the real God is the opposite of Pascal's, and sends believers to Hell and non-believers to Heaven. Who knows? The point is, a believer in any particular god or gods is just as likely to get screwed over in the afterlife as an atheist.

Religion at least has good morals... think of it this way. Parents bring their children to church even if they do not believe in a God or many God[s/esses]because the church can give people good morals and other redeeming qualities.

as for "which religion?" i cannot answer that for you. i am Christian because it is the most credible religion out there other than Catholicism.
Mormonism has no place in religion because it is more of a cult because of the belief system.
Islamic, they are walking contradictions. but they are valiant in their attempts to preserve themselves, religion and way of life.
Buddhism is a good religion because it does not pressure you to do anything. but it is not as credible as Christianity or Catholicism.
i try to respect all religions except for the few that are completely ridiculous. Much like Mormonism, Scientology, Jehovah's Witnesses.  

>>10
you are kidding right? organized religions have morals? since fucking when?!

so whats it like with your head in the sand? can you breathe?

Where are you coming from? i am not quite sure i get what you are saying.

Religion does shit for morals, take a look in any Christian college.

>>12
iq > 48?

>>10
because it does not pressure you to do anything

if you need to be pressured with the fear of eternal damnation into behaving ethically, your morals aren't worth shit.

As for ridiculousness, you mention religions that are under 150 years old. Any idea what people thought of the emerging cult of Christianity in the first/second century?

to the contrary... it is not a threat or pressure. if it is your religion it it a reality.
yes Christians were burned in the streets of Rome because they did no believe in the roman god[s/esses]
so they were persecuted just like the Jews... just in an earlier time.

>>16

No, you just stated being pressured.
The threat of prison time is an actual reality, for everyone.
If you only obey because of that, you are not an ethical person.

As true as that is... it is not connected with religion.
True Christians want to get to know God. so its not a matter of going to hell or getting out of it.

>>18
You still mentioned being pressured, and we already have jails, so morality in regards to religion is irrelevant. Most mature people grow out of imaginary friends by the time they reach adulthood.

well we are talking about a widely believed religion here. where did i mention pressure?

here >>10

Credibility is not a reason to adopt a religion.
Where would Christianity be had it been abandoned by it's founders due to widespread mistrust and persecution?

well do you want to join a religion that goes against human decency? or against the law?
what if it had absolutely NO background, and it was just a cool name?
much like scientology

>>22
Well, Scientology HAS a background, albeit a dark one.
But we only know this because it was only created in the last 50 years, and we have access to worldwide media on demand.
If civilization fell tomorrow, and the 'church' of Scientology seized power, their clean version of church history would become law. Many centuries later, all documents critical of the church or it's founders would have disappeared.

as true and creepy as that is... well actually its just creepy.

>>23
All bow to the immortal couch jumper, Science Pope Thomas Cruise!!!!

Oprah, brain washing, and abortion have to fit in there some wheree

we discussed pascal in high school. i dont really agree but i see where hes coming from

AMERIKKKAN IMPERIALI$MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

WHAT DA FUK YOU GOING ON ABOUT, NIGAR?

Wasn't Pascal that one triangle dude? My math teacher is obsessed with him.

snowdens? where?

Deism for the win. I think god is too incomprehensible, transcendental, and omni-everything to assign human characteristics such as "benevolent". And I think it couldn't care less what some slightly intelligent organisms on a tiny blue planet in a tiny star system in a tiny galaxy choose to do with there life.

>>32

But why believe in such a God at all? If God is essentially unknowable in every way, what would lead you to think it's even _there_ in the first place?

Note: Not attacking your position, just asking an honest question. I'm agnostic myself.

The assumption being made is that it is God who will send you to Heaven or Hell. 

If I come to a fork in the road and choose, say, the left fork, has this judgement been passed upon me by the road maker?  Or by the guy who writes the road signs?  Perhaps the lives we lead determine where we go.  After all, our subconscious screws up our lives while we're here - if we exist after death, surely it can send us to Hell based on what we've fed it. 

To conclude: "I set before you Life and Death; therefore, choose life, that thou and thy seed may live." 

>>34
If you let your subconscious screw up your life you're an idiot.

>>35
A whole lot of people are idiots, then, aren't they?  There are a lot of screwed up people out there. 

>>36
Yes.

That sounds like the lady at work who told me that I "shoudl beleive just in case!"  Right because if there is an omnipotent being that created the universe, theres no way he'd know I was hedging my bets.