Name: The Snowdens of Yesteryear 2007-04-16 1:54 ID:7F6AMSxS
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
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