Allow me to reverse Pascal's Wager...?

Question

I am not trying to end anyone's faith here, but how would you feel, if upon dying there was no heaven as you see it, and you hadn't lived the best life you could? Wouldn't you feel cheated? By the way, thanks for all of the answers thus far, better than I've gotten most days.

Answer 1

thats sorta silly, and again, i know we are friends, but sometimes i feel like the yahoo answers big brother to you, an agnostic kinship if you well,

most of the answers above me are people who are ego stroking you, i don't know why people click on this stupid thing and then type how wonderful you are for typing what you did

they do it to me all the time

ok here is the thing about what you just asked, ok, its non-sense and its wrong and its like you didn't read pascal's wager or understand it,

you are not the first person i've taken to task on this, the paschal's wager, the main line thought of stupid people is "paschal's wager what if you stupid atheists are wrong and end up in hell if you just believe in god you could end up in heaven"

this is stupid and ignorant and i detest this

now, this is not what you are saying at all with what you are saying, but two points on what you actually did say

1. Paschal's wager is about the INVESTIGATION of an existence of a God. There are four boxes as you know, so the REVERSE is already there, that if there is no God, and in this outcome of death the person is not in heaven and all they got was a life of believing in something that wasn't there, which leads me to

point 2. Which is that why can't the 95% of humans on earth who believe in God live the best life they can ALREADY? and wouldn't that apply to 100% of human life - to live life as best as we can?

metaphysical point 3 - which is a bonus and hard to write because it is "ignorant"

ok, so the thing you are saying is, what happens if you die and there is no god would you feel cheated

So this implies that the "soul" or consciousness or whatever exists but without a "god" in whatever form, so this becomes a thing where the soul went to the nirvana or reincarnation, or some variation of these concepts,

If so, this is the only way a person would be able to have introspection on their earthly time, cause the alternative in the traditional judeo-christian version of paschal's wager, there is no God, you die and you dont have those expiriences, and therefor wouldn't have the moment to ask oneself if one was cheated for belief,

so essentially what you are asking here is GRAVESENDIAN's wager, which is what if the Christian is wrong and the Buddhist's are right and we are supposed to live our lives trying to be liberated from the wheel of life (material goods); and I'm essentially saying in an outcome of Paschals wager where there is NO afterlife Christian heaven or Budhist Nirvana/reincarnation for failure to liberate from said wheel of life, then the person couldn't feel cheated,

So to conclude in order for the person to feel cheated for believe in God it requires Gravesendian's wager (thats the guy who is the "sho-nuff" charachter by the way) which is an after life in a non-God universe, but a Budhist universe

in which case the person has to choose a new corporal form, probably to be born in tibet around people who are budhist, to attempt liberation from wheel of life

Answer 2

I live the best life I can. I do believe in a version of God. I don't believe in Heaven and Hell. If there is nothing after this then oh well, but I know for sure that there is. In the first 24 years of this life I partied my azz off. I had a lot of crazy times. I enjoy my quiet life now. It is a different kind of pleasure. I won't feel cheated no matter what comes next.
Love & Light
Sharon
One Planet = One People

Answer 3

Pascal's wager starts from a false premise; that there is a heaven or even a god.
Since neither of these two things exist, Pascal was simply spinning his wheels.
But turning the wager around is a good idea. If one plans for BOTH eventualities, and lives a decent life, then who could call it wasted?

Answer 4

Well, if you are referring to leading a moral life and missing out on some of the lustful pleasures that the morally-minded tend to deny themselves, then I think your argument is weak. I've lived my life both ways, and I found that being selfish and self-indulgent is far less satisfying than focusing on God and trying to love those around me and thinking less about my own physical comfort. My marriage failed because we were both too selfish and self-indulgent to make it work, but we were happy for many years in the beginning. If we had been more godly-minded then, we would still be together and would be much happier than we are now. So, even if what you suggest were the case, I would be grateful for the life I've lived. I would not feel that I had missed out on anything. The greatest commandment of God is to love. Even if there were no God, it would be better love each other more than we love ourselves. The world would certainly be a more pleasant place.

Answer 5

If there is no heaven then death will be a thankful release from the troubles of this life. But I don't believe just "living a good life" would ever be enough to justify me when it's time to answer to the Judge. That's why I have a good defense lawyer.

Answer 6

You are as sincerely concerned for believers as we are for you. That is really nice. It sure beats the sarcastic approach I've seen from some. :)

Let's see...would I feel cheated?

No. You are going under the assumption that Christians have "given up" things or actions in order to be followers of Christ. Things that most would consider to be of great value to our lives or raise our standard of living in some way.

We feel that we have been enlightened to the truth that pursuit of most of that kind of thing is a huge waste of time. Loving our neighbor in actions and deeds, like Jesus said (as you know) brings joy. (It really does) And that's just one example of true joy.

So, given that reasoning, why would I feel cheated if I had lived a rich and joyful life instead of an empty, searching, struggling life, no matter what the outcome?

Answer 7

you have over-looked an substantial contingent: you have falsely assumed that the God who exists is the comparable as defined in a bible or bible-like e book. You assume that there are the two a hell and a heaven, and that a manner or the different those places contain the aforementioned God. You over-look Hern the Hunter as a God archetype. Oops. in case you presume first to have faith in Hern, then your argument approximately hells, heavens, and hardasses falls aside like a bail-out of wealthly financial institutions. Now practice your good judgment to the Hunter. and then p.c.. yet another one and practice returned. Take care.

Answer 8

could you specify babe .. no heaven as we see it ? would there be a heaven at all .. cause if not then it would make no difference ..
if there was a heaven but it was a dull place of punishment etc .. then i would be damn mad lol
but I'm pretty confident anyway that I'm living my life to the best of my abilities in the situations i am presented with xx

P.S im loving your questions xx

Answer 9

Yes, I would.

What if god is only going to accept people in to heaven that are brave enough to to believe in him? Pascal's wager is a silly argument.

Answer 10

If there is no afterlife then I'm not going to feel anything.