What have you got to lose?

Question

I don't usually quote TV programs but one question was posed that everyone should think about.

If there is a God and you are a religious person, what have you lost out on by worshipping him and attending church?

Now, what will you lose if you don't believe there is a God and it turns out you were wrong?

I understand about Pascal's wager.

The main questions is what do you have to lose if you believe in a God?

Wasted time is not an answer. Are you really going to miss out on something by believing in a God? That is the main question.

Answer 1

I'd lose everything if I left Him.

And to answer the 1st question, I have lost nothing in worshipping my God or in attending church. As a matter of fact, I have gained many blessings.

God bless.

Answer 2

Well let's see... you lose your soul for worshipping an evil selfish deity who isn't responsible for its own mistakes but instead would torture its own creation forever for not being 'perfect'.

You submit to the control of a man-made church that tells you not to trust your own judgment or think for yourself, but do as you're told and be grateful. *barf barf*

And others:

"The Bible tells us to be like God, and then on page after page it describes God as a mass murderer. This may be the single most important key to the political behavior of Western Civilization."

Robert A. Wilson, Right Where You Are Sitting Now


"I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion.... If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?"
Ruth Hurmence Green

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991)
Free Inquiry (autumn, 1992)

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant.

H. L. Mencken, Minority Report (1956)

…"As Bill Hicks said, "Eternal torment awaits all who refuse to believe in God's infinite love!"…

Answer 3

What if I am wrong? That is a big huge if, and I am betting that there is no god and if there is, he doesn't need me going to church to praise him. He would know i am good person and that is enough for him.

Answer 4

If you really understand Pascal's Wager, and why it not considered plausible, then why would you ask this question, as many have before you?

Answer 5

Belief is not a choice. One cannot choose to believe in what they find patently ridiculous. If I tried to do so ( I couldn't really ) I would be giving up honesty and self-respect.

Answer 6

if there is a God and i don't believe in It but i do have love in my heart, i will go to heaven. i have nothing to loose.

if there isn't a God and i believe there is, i will have loose valuable time and perhaps even my whole life worshiping smth inexistent.

Answer 7

Google "Pascal's Wager" and read the arguments for and against.

Answer 8

Oh goodie Pascal's Wager. I have never seen this before.

You lose the one life you have following a lie.

Answer 9

Wasting your life on nonsense for a start

Answer 10

Intellectual integrity.