whats the downside of pascal's wager?

Question

Pascal's wager states its better to believe in God, just in case he exist, you will go to heaven, if he doesn't exist, there is no loss... but surely there must be a downside to this idea?

Answer 1

(1) It assumes the choice is between Christianity (or monotheism) and atheism. There are hundreds of religions in the world.

(2) You cannot feign belief, and certainly the Almighty (if there is one) would see through such a blatant deception.

Answer 2

That assumes you pick the right god. What if you use pascals wager to decide to believe in Christianity and then Invisible Pink Unicornism turns out to be right? You've spent your entire life praying to a false god.

Second, that does not provide any evidence for the existance of God. Do you believe anything that, if it turns out to be true, you benefit from, regardless of any evidence. True belief is not something that can be turned on and off at will.

Answer 3

There's a huge downside.

For one thing, false faith ("just in case") is no better (and may be worse) than no faith

For another, Pascal's wager doesn't take into account WHICH God you should have faith in--Pascal only framed his wager in terms of the Catholic God. There are probably a 100 denominations in Christianity, and Christianity is only one of thousands of faiths--which do you choose?

Answer 4

The down side is that for some people no matter how hard they try and how long they study they still cannot come to believe in God and so offering them a 'wager' is meaningless

Answer 5

Well it only works if God is an idiot who can't recognise that you're only worshipping him because you want to go to heaven. And it only works if the god that exists is the god you decide to believe in. And in the far more likely event that there is no god, you've wasted a considerable amount of time and money showing devotion to nothing.

Answer 6

The downside is you are assuming the "winner" of the bet receives a reward and not a punishment, or more explicitly, you are assuming, if you believe in God, and take the bait, you are rewarded when it also is a possibility that people who take the bait get chopped up for dinner.

Answer 7

If you assume there is no loss (aka, people cutting the arms and legs off of their babies because of their belief in god isn't a loss), then no, there is no downside.

However, history has WAY too many examples of how the belief in gods or deities does have a "loss" associated with it.

Answer 8

Loss of time effort and money.

What if you got a big prize when you died if you jammed nails in your eyes once a week? Well, that is what church is like if you walk up and box my ears when it's over

Also, what makes you think you have picked the correct entity to worship? maybe you have the wrong one and you are making the real one mad.

Answer 9

Sure, cause you have to spend your life following some non-existent tyrant's rules. There is a big downside.

Answer 10

The down side is God knows your heart and mind, He knows if He is being conned. May I suggest something to you. Be honest with God, don't hide your doubts and fears from Him. Ask Him to help you overcome the doubts. It is much better to cry out to God for help in your unbelief than to act like all is well when it is not. Anytime I have had doubts or fears I ask God to help me understand. I ask Him to help me love Him more. Our sin nature struggles against God, so when by faith you call to Him He will help.