People buy lottery tickets but feel like it is such a burden or a threat to believe in God. Why not?

Question

What's the wost that could happen? If you believe and you're right, you get everlasting life. If you don't believe and you're wrong, well, OOPS!

Answer 1

Atheists want to cling on to their logic and science. Lottery, they feel, is different because it can be worked out with numbers, statistics, and mathematicians whereas Christianity cannot. They scorn faith, something that can't be proved scientifically or logically (though C.S. Lewis has attempted it very admirably in his philosophical work Mere Christianity). For them, people are as fickle in their religions as they are in their favorite colors, and there's about as much intellectual activity involved for both, too. Their pride also refuses to submit and grovel before any deity. That's what I've found in my experience. So, remember - Science and Pride.

Answer 2

I never found it to be a burden or threat to believe in God. I don't believe in God for the same reason that I don't believe in the tooth fairy.
Anyone who says that he believes in God to be on the safe side, while his intelligence tells him it's just so much more superstition,is kidding himself. He does not really believe.
Are you really playing it safe ? What if the billion people who worship Krishna or Vishnu have it right, while you're worshipping the wrong guy ? well, OOPS!

Answer 3

Your argument is not new. It is Pascal's Wager, and it has numerous flaws.

Pascal's Wager: The Argument for Believing in God.

There are four basic scenarios to be had:

1) There is a God. I believe in him. After death, I will live with Him because I believed.
2) There is a God. I don't believe in him. After death, I will be punished by Him.
3) There is no God. I believe in him. After death, I will be in a casket until I am dust.
4) There is no God. I don't believe in him. After death, I will be in a casket until I am dust.

The summary is this: If I believe in God, then my outcome will be either: good (being saved) or neutral (body in ground). If I don't believe, my outcome will be either: bad (Punishment) or neutral (body in ground). Believing has no bad outcome. Not believing does. Is eternal punishment worth something as trivial as not believing in God? Pascal says no. The price that comes from believing is worth the avoidance of punishment. Who wants to burn just because they failed to do something as simple as acknowledging the existence of God? Nobody should (so says Pascal). It just isn't worth it to not believe.

Criticism:
Believing in the wrong God could be just as harmful, maybe moreso, than not believing in God at all. Pascal's Wager does not take into account the numerous theistic religions. Even if we were to accept his statements, we wouldn't know which religion to pick.
The Wager does not take into account polytheistic religions. If there are numerous Gods, such as in Greek Mythology, then we will suffer from the jealous rages of those we don't believe in.
Pascal's Wager requires one to believe in God for selfish reasons (namely, keeping the soul in comfort after death). This is not actual belief, but false belief. One does not actually believe in God, one just says so to get out of punishment. An omniscient God would know that the belief is false and would punish accordingly.
If belief in God is based on no reason other than a desire to avoid punishment, that doesn't say much about the appeal of the God. The God clearly is vengeful and mean, not caring and full of love. One mistake and you're burning forever. That brings about questions concerning what it would be like to live eternally with this God. Furthermore, this God is not very influential if people only believe in him because of this Wager. A truly powerful, influential God would have believers because of his kindness and the things he creates, not the desire to avoid his punishments.
It is a threat, despite your claim. The Wager is Theocentric. If every person in the world made this claim about their own religion, imagine the chaos that would ensue. As it is now, there have been Crusades and numerous--countless--religious wars. If every individual of every sect of every religion made the statement you made, tolerance of any kind would be abolished. Everyone would claim their own God is the one to be worshipped. Everyone would press their religion on others. Yes it happens now. But not all people make the dangerous claim Pascal put forth. Some know better.

Here's a thought: what if some God we currently have never heard of put logic into our minds and called it the greatest creation? And say He/She/It only allows those into the Everlasting Kingdom if they use logic throughout life. We would not be able to believe in such a God, because there is no logical reason for it. But the God would still exist, and we would still be saved for following logic. But if such a God existed, Pascal's Wager would send everyone to punishment. So when you ask, "what's the worst that could happen?" in believing in God, I say: Eternal suffering. On Earth and after death.

Answer 4

While your point is well-taken, I'm not sure this is the forum for your question. In order to attempt an answer, one would first have to be presumptuous enough to believe they know what's going on in other people's minds.

Answer 5

Belief in God can not be a gamble..... belief ought to arise spontaneously from within rather than brought about through any reason or logic. Belief needs no proof, no logic to support.

Answer 6

As long as the God you believe in is too dumb to see through your motivation, I guess that is one way of looking at it.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 7

I think that some people just refuse to believe that there is a greater being than themselves out there.

Answer 8

we cannot win lottery without gods support.

Answer 9

you have a lotto ticket in hand and can see and hold it god is another matter