Say your an atheist...?

Question

If you don't believe in God and you are "wrong" then you will go to hell. If you don't believe in God and you are "right" then there is no heaven.

So all the world's different religions placed aside (say there's just one big religion w/ one God)... what is the point of being an atheist? Religiously speaking you can never experience the joys of heaven or vice versa the horrors of hell. And logically speaking you have already eliminated the possiblity of going to heaven.

So why risk going to hell or never going to heaven?

Thanks for the answers, however simply re-telling me that this is Pascal's Wager answers nothing. If I titled this Pascal's Wager all i would get would be 'drink'... oh wait. But seriously i am curious to better understand those who attempt in answering

... not once did i mention Christianity by the way

Answer 1

Pascal's Wager.
*Cheers*
This ought to help you.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/pascal_w.htm

If your God feels it is more important to kowtow to Him than to help your fellow man, is He worthy of my worship? Is He worthy of yours?

Answer 2

Pascal's Wager. Again. *Drink*

One day you guys will get tired of using it, because the argument falls flat on its face. There is more than one religion. There is more than one way of worshipping the Abrahamic God. There are more than 30,000 different Christian sects alone, many of whom exclude the possibility of any of the others being even remotely "right". Then there are the other two Abrahamic faiths with their sects and subsects. Then there are many, many non-Abrahamic faiths--some that have deities and some that do not.

Your argument assumes a great many facts not in evidence. No one will be in the least bit persuaded by it.

Answer 3

False dichotomy here. It's not a choice between atheism and Christianity. It is a choice between atheism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism, Taoism, Scientology and all the other religions and belief systems out there. Christianity is just a fish (pun not intended) in the ocean.

Haven't you ever thought about what if Islam was right? Christians AND atheists would be going to hell together. So, only in one scenario (where Christianity is right) is it a Christian/non-Christian choice. So the only foolproof way of avoiding any kind of negative afterlife is to somehow simultaneously subscribe to every belief system in the world hoping that you picked the right one. In the meantime, I'll stick with rationality.

Answer 4

Let me answer this question with a question.

Say you pick a god, or a religion, (let us use christianity in this example) and you eventually die. You get up to heaven and there sits Baal, looking pretty pissed off. "Why didn't you believe in me?" he asks.

Moral of the story - why pick a religion when there is absolutely no reason why any particular god is more probable than the other, and when the consequences of picking the wrong god are so dire.

Oh, and the fact that religious beliefs are irrational, almost missed that point.

Answer 5

Old argument and only one side of itat that . if you were an ant and you believed that there were god like creatures called humans so you ventured out of your realm and got stepped on what good is this kind of conjecture?
I prefer to live in the real world apart from clever deceit and superstitious thinking . heaven and hell are here and now if you look around you'll see people determine most of this .
Instead of expending your energies blindly on pipe dreams try to apply some of those high flown morals to things that matter here and now . just a liitle of that wasted effort applies to fight nature could save thousands of lives with new discoveries in medicine .where you devote you itme is your own personal conundrum please give it some thought .
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
Albert Einstein

Answer 6

There's no evidence that hell or heaven even exist, and not all religions have a conception of one or the other (some of them focus on Nirvana or reincarnation, like Buddhism).

But life is here and it is short. I'm not going to waste it continuing the myths of my ancestors. I am in no way in fear of hell or other fear-based systems of belief. I fear not living to the fullest.

How do you feel about the Elysian Fields? Do you fear Hades? This is the same way I feel about your afterlife.

Atheism is not about wishful thinking or about what I want to be correct. It's about reality, and not believing in things that have no evidence (deities in this case). As a result, I must value the things I know to be real.

Answer 7

Pascal's Wager!
What's next, Russell's Teapot?

Answer 8

Pascal's Wager. Question moot. You cannot push aside all the world's religions because they're just as valid as the "one big religion with one god".

Answer 9

Pascal's Wager is flawed. That's why. Not to mention, I simply don't believe in God.

Can I drink now? I mean, this IS a drinking question, right?

Answer 10

there's a difference between believing and "believing". remember that old saying it's the thought that counts...well here is a perfect example


i AM an atheist, and still can tell you that if you say you "believe" in god just to insure yourself a spot in heaven, with no real meaning behind it...guess what...you will end up burning in hell with the rest of the heathens.

if i know in my heart that today is nov. 14th...i cannot TRUELLY convince myself that it's not......if i did, i'm only fooling myself.

Answer 11

Ok, as a Christian I have to say, that's a silly question.
They don't believe in a God. Why would they worship something they don't believe in 'just in case'?
Most religions are based on faith, not 'just in case' or 'I'm not hurting anyone'.
It's simply their belief system. They don't believe God exists, so they don't worship.