just wanted to get the atheists started on their daily buzz. It's gotta be noon somewhere.
BTW, while I don't understand why y'all hang out at R&S so much, I TOTALLY get the drinking thing. Am starting to sorta like some of y'all. And my post yesterday, about tormenting retarded children, was not a snivel. It was irony. I do not feel persecuted. Nor am I entirely opposed to tormenting retarded children---playing "Hide the Spoon" at mealtime can be great fun...
2007-06-19 07:16:33 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I don't drink, Christians are trying to kill my liver.
*takes a toke*
I am here because it is fun, but this isn't the only section I post it you know. :)
2007-06-19 07:20:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
Pascal's Wager. This is something I posted on my own Facebook account a few weeks ago regarding that argument.
Pascal's Wager Argument. At the age of thirty-one the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal had what he termed a "mystical experience" that changed his life. Not content to rest hsi belief entirely in the mystical (and knowing this would never convince fellow skeptics such as Rene Descartes), he formulated what has become known as Pascal's Wager. If we wager that God does not exist and he does, then we have everything to lose and nothing to win. If we wager that God does exist and he does, then we have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Pascal was not naive enough to believe that people would then just place the bet, or that God would just accept the gamblers into His heavenly casino. he realized that belief comes through action so he argued that you also needed to go through the motions by attending Mass and taking the sacraments, and in time you would come to really believe. In the jargon of social psychology, you would shift from "conformity" to "internalization," incorporating God into your core of deeply held beliefs.
Counterargument. First, this is not actually a proof of God since Pascal himself admitted that one still needs faith. Second, believing in God and going through the motions of attending church, praying, taking the sacraments, and so forth, is not a case of "nothing to lose." There is plenty to lose, including the time and effort it takes to do all this when one could be doing something else. Finally, what if there were some other higher intelligence, even more powerful than God, and His sacraments included some of the more earthly pleasures? Not only would you be missing out on these, you might be eternally punished for placing the wrong wager or choosing the wrong God. This may sound unlikely, but from a purely objective point of view it is no more illogical than the existence of a Judaeo-Christian God.
2007-06-19 14:23:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You made me pay attention to you. For this, you will get an irritating speech.
Pascal's Wager is flawed in the sense that it assumes that a deity will only reward people for worshipping it and accepting its existence. The deity could have so many other things it wants out of humans. For example, it could be that it will only reward people who search for knowledge their entire lives, however futile and far off from the truth they may be. Peope like scientists. Not people like Benedict XVI (also known as Joseph Alois Ratzinger, former member of Hitler Youth).
2007-06-19 14:26:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ummm.. Pascals wager..A Child's argument.
Tormenting Mentally Challenged Children?
I believe that people who do such a thing are so dead inside that they have to torture others to proove to themselves that they are alive, that is the mark of an inferior human being, such should be euthanized to keep from polluting the human genome with cretan kid's
2007-06-19 14:24:42 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure Pascal's Wager involved drinks at some point... So Christians, if God exists I'll buy you a beer. Deal?
2007-06-19 14:21:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'll ignore the "Hide the Spoon" remark and order a Margarita.
2007-06-19 14:22:40 · answer #6 · answered by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think it's time for a break from R+S personally. The same stuff gets so repetitive, I remember why I left in the first place.
2007-06-19 14:19:51 · answer #7 · answered by Southpaw 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Atheists - Pass me a beer.
You could stop by and watch football with me after church and that might be OK, but I hate the fundies and here I am.
2007-06-19 14:18:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Loka- pass me that J
and someone get some bourbon in this place- I'm feelin' godlike.
2007-06-19 14:22:49 · answer #9 · answered by Hounds of Bell 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I needed a good drink.
2007-06-19 14:19:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋