Why do people still think Pascal's Wager is a valid argument?

Question

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's the Wikipedia explanation:

In his Wager, Pascal provides an analytical process for a person to evaluate options in regarding belief in God. As Pascal sets it out, the options are two: believe (in God, Yahweh of the Bible) or not believe.

Therefore, we are faced with the following possibilities:

--You believe in God.--
*If God exists, you go to heaven: your gain is infinite.
*If God does not exist, your loss (the investment in your mistaken belief) is finite and therefore negligible.

--You do not believe in God.--
*If God exists, you go to hell: your loss is infinite and your gain is zero.
*If God does not exist, your gain is finite and therefore negligible.

"Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is."

So... again... I'd like to know:

Why do people still think Pascal's Wager is a valid argument?

Answer 1

In case you hadn't noticed, the people who use it generally aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. They produce it as though it's the most amazing argument ever, and then fizzle when they see how easily it's refuted...or stubbornly ignore any answers they get that don't completely agree with them and choose a "Because they love Satan" answer from a fellow Fundie. Not exactly rocket scientists we're dealing with here.

Answer 2

Wow. I learned something new today. Thank you. Now I'd like to say up front that I while a Christian, I do not believe in the Good-Heaven/Bad-Hell thing.

Now, Pascal's argument IMHO is valid. Two words? WHAT IF? Let's imagine you weren't limited by job and finances for a moment. Someone hands you a treasure map and swears that x really does mark the spot and you'd find the fountain of youth. It's given to you by an old man you think has lost his usefulness. Would you dismiss it or would you go explore it on the notion that you'd have little to lose and everything to gain.

The WHAT IF is what gave us the great explorers in history. Galileo Galilei; Vasco de Gama, Christopher Columbus. Some were successful in their quests. Some weren't. WHAT IF the search for God is the most successful one in mankind's history?
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Answer 3

No. i do not imagine it applies to all religions because merely Christianity and Islam believes in hell. i do not imagine it is valid in any respect because God is meant to be all-understanding and once you're merely pretending to have self belief so that you conceal your a** then he'd understand that and zap you besides. like the kissa** at a pastime that s*cks as a lot because the boss. If the boss is a good one, he's conscious of it and the kissas* would not get any perks. i have merely seen Xtians use Pascal and that i have not seen an atheist or non-Xtian confident because of it.

Answer 4

The continued use of 'Pascals wager' only confirms that the religious (the ones that use it) are even aware that they have no EMPIRICAL evidence for the existence of their God, so they have to produce faulty arguments such as this. So, I feel, its because they are aware intuitively that they have no evidence to support their claim that a God exists. And because Pascal was a mathematician & a philosopher, they no doubt feel that this lends more weight behind the argument.

Answer 5

Pascals wager is pointless because God does not want you to believe in him simply because if you do so, and happen to be right you will be saved. That is self-interest. He wants you to love him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, and follow his guidance because of your love for him.

Answer 6

IN MY OPINION, it is an easy answer for those who are too lazy to examine the evidence (or lack thereof) of the existence of god. It can easily changed from God to Odin or Zeus or any other deity and make just as much sense.
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Answer 7

It's rhetorical. No one's mind is changed by Pascal's Wager, but people throw it around a lot in arguments.

Mostly because it sounds really intelligent.

Answer 8

ignorance, that's why. some are so ignorant that they even seem to think it's an original idea!
seems to happen here at least once a day.

in the interest of fairness, so does the whole "rock so heavy he couldn't lift it: business.

Answer 9

Not necessarily. God is the final judge not Pascal.

Answer 10

Because, like everything the weak-minded Christians toss back and forth, someone must have told them it can't be refuted and that anyone who argues is Satan incarnate.

It's just another "logical" story to brainwash the lemmings, like the whole "science proves bible true!" crap.