2007-08-08 22:05:23 · 25 answers · asked by Cyclops 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Rukrym, I wasn't trying to devalue your beliefs, or anyone elses for that matter, I just asked out of curiosity
2007-08-11 07:15:51 · update #1
Inthedark ,I promise you I have no worries whatsoever about this subject !! LOL !!
2007-08-11 07:17:52 · update #2
Zoobren, if I wanted to ask other faiths then I would have. Youre all so serious !!
My question was addressed to Atheists, with all due respect, thank God some intelligent Atheists have bothered to answer !!
2007-08-11 07:20:55 · update #3
According to that theory, so should theists. What it Zeus is real? Then christians and muslims are screwed.
Pascal's Wager is at best, a crappy argument.
2007-08-08 22:09:15 · answer #1 · answered by Tom :: Athier than Thou 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Your are wrong that it doesn't matter. Atheism is a belief system, and no less valid or meaningful than any religion. You ask 'Don't you ever worry just in case you're wrong?'. Well you could ask the same of anyone who believes in a certain religion. What if theirs is the wrong faith? That is kind of the point of faith, isn't it, to believe in something without proof or evidence? I suppose I would be considered and atheist, and as such, while I recognise that nothing in science precludes the possibility that some form of god exists, I choose not to believe that that is the case. To say that my beliefs don't matter is the same as saying a christians, or muslims beliefs don't matter.
2007-08-08 22:16:00 · answer #2 · answered by rukrym 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is the beauty of being atheist. You just don't believe there is the slightest possibility of being wrong. Which is the same as anyone in a belief too.
You lose all of the guilt as well. No Eve leaving us all in a mess. No weird rules to obey for no particular reason. No strange rituals to worry about. It is great.
2007-08-08 22:29:00 · answer #3 · answered by eclomaxkiwi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pascal was only using religion to demonstrate the decision matrix for a decision theory that could deal with undecidable questions.
In effect when you use Pascal's wager you are declaring yourself as an actual atheist because you are admitting that you do not believe God is real.
If you believed that God was real you would not need the decision matrix to decide what to do. You would not be wagering.
2007-08-08 22:23:43 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really-- a belief cannot be changed forcefully, it's just how the human brain works. I didn't choose to disbelieve, and I cannot choose the believe. If God existed, would he send me to Hell for something I could not change about myself? It would be like sending me to Hell because my eyes are brown...I could wear blue contacts, but underneath my eyes would alway be brown.
Even if I went to church, I still could not believe, it's just how the human brain works-- just because I tell you over and over about a unicorn doesn't mean you'll start believing me.
So why worry about it? Life is short, have some fun instead.
2007-08-08 22:13:54 · answer #5 · answered by mathaowny 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What if Satan is real and GOD is made up by Religious Freaks just to control mass behaviour of the people. Religious Freaks will be in a very bad position then don't you think?
2007-08-08 23:03:51 · answer #6 · answered by kitto 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, because I'm not dumb enough to spend much time dwelling on Pascal's wager. I can't force myself to believe in gods any more than I can force myself to believe in the Easter bunny.
An omnipotent omniscient god would hopefully not be so cruel to condemn me to an eternity of torture for using my (god-given) brain to look at the (god-created) world and concluding there are no gods based on a complete lack of evidence. If he would, then he would be a cruel god and not worthy of worship.
2007-08-08 22:10:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Just as much as you worry about being wrong about Quetzalcoatl.
I mean, how much time do you really devote to worrying about whether you ought to follow the teachings and wisdom of Quetzalcoatl just in case he's real and might send you to Mictlan, the lowest of the 9 Underworlds, in the event that you DON'T follow his teachings?
2007-08-08 22:09:33 · answer #8 · answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
No - I have more plursable things to worry about like: 'How can we stop the religious fanatics taking over our schools' and 'When will global warming finish off humanity' (and the innocent animals) and 'How long before we are all forced to go to church or mosque each week.'
2007-08-09 00:59:43 · answer #9 · answered by Freethinking Liberal 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm an Atheist, if it turned out I was wrong and god didn't forgive me or he condemned me to hell (don't believe in it), then he wouldn't really be a god would he?
Other than that, I am certainly not afraid of being wrong.
2007-08-09 01:18:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋