Have all of the atheist's here heard of Pascal's Wager? If so, what do you think of his premise?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager

Answer 1

The premise of Pascal's wager is currently being loosely used in series of videos on youtube about global warming. Although not an atheist, the logic that Pascal employs in making this decision is sound, and can be applied similarly in other matters.

Answer 2

# Adolf Hitler substitute into an atheist! # The Bible proves it # Pascal's wager (Why God is a secure wager) # Lord, Liar or Lunatic? # what's Occam's Razor? # Why this is stable to have faith in Jesus # Why i comprehend that God exists # Einstein and "God would not play cube" # everybody worships something # The universe is so complicated it might desire to have been designed # Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem # George Bush on atheism and patriotism # i comprehend the place hell is! # Biblical contradictions wanted # the USA of a is a Christian united states # the USA of a isn't a Christian united states # The Bible says "Thou Shalt no longer Kill ..." # What does "xian" advise? # The Bible says pi is 3! # are not atheists Satanic the rest?

Answer 3

It's presumptuous and is at it's base an argument for pretending to believe in a Christian god out of fear. To buy into it you have to first presume you know which religion and way of practicing it are the 'right' ones then you have to pretend to believe in it and go through the motions hoping that the god you presume exists won't notice you're just pretending.

And of course you have to ignore the fact that this argument like all arguments for believing in a Christian god works equally well for all mythical gods.

Given that neither you nor any other theist has even a hint that you're following the 'right' religion you might take a look at the 'atheist wager' in the same page you posted.

Answer 4

Pascal's Gambit indicates a SELFISH motivation for belief in god: to avoid the fire pits of hell.

I have always been an atheist. OK, that is not completely true. I am not an atheist. I am not a believer. I am not an agnostic. I am none of these because the answer to god's existence is unimportant.

People ask what would convince me that there is a god. I'm not sure, but certainly open to any tangible evidence. I don't know what evidence would convince me because I believe (I don't know) it is impossible to prove the existence of god. I might believe perhaps if Jesus returned, turned some stones into bread and wine to feed thousands. What evidence would convince you that god does not exist? See? It's hard to answer that question!

Please don't quote me bible passages as evidence of god's existence. Remember, this is my standard of proof, not yours. However, if proof were provided that convinced me god exists, I would change absolutely nothing in my life or my behavior.

I ask you the counter question: If evidence were provided that convinced you god does not exist (evidence according to your standards of proof), what would you change in your life?

Would you stop evangelizing?

Would you start sinning more?

Would you stop helping those less fortunate than you?

Would you feel that life is meaningless?

People can commit good deeds and attempt to avoid causing harm to others without belief in god. I never claim that god is on the side of America when discussing politics. God does not take sides, does he?

SO...why do you believe in god? I like to live a purposeful life and certainly would not do something if there was no purpose or pleasure. So if god does not exist, what would be the point in believing? Turn that around and so assuming god exists, what's the point? How do you use that knowledge in your life? Do you use that knowledge to affect positive change in the world? Is it not possible to follow the Golden Rule, do good deeds, and affect positive change in the world without believing in god? Please don't quote John 3:16 that ONLY believers enter heaven as that sounds like belief is motivated in some selfish personal reward.

I have no vested interest in god's existence. I do not see existence of heaven or hell as a reward or punishment. If you believe in god because you want to enter the pearly gates or wish to avoid the fires of hell, that seems rather selfish. Isn't the whole purpose of religious belief so you can become a better person?

For all those thumbs down, I ask you to think about your personal motivation for believing in god.

Good works come without faith too. And those good works can be quite fruitful. But claiming that good works won't get me into heaven sounds like some of you believe that I have some motivation for performing these good works -- the hope of being rewarded with admission to heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth.That seems to be the faulty premise many Christians make about non-believers.

I don't do good works to get into heaven. I perform good works because it is the right thing to do. I have no expectation and have no desire of any reward for my good works. Why is this concept so difficult for many Christians to comprehend?

Answer 5

His idea is that it's better to believe just to be on the safe side . His idea is badly flawed .
First , we believe what our intelligence and common sense tells us to believe.We can't just select beliefs like shopping for a tie .
Next , Wagner believes it's a choice between the Christian 'god' , or no god . He doesn't even consider that the Christian god might not be the true god .
To waste a lifetime worshipping the Christian god , only to learn that Vishnu , or Rama , Baal , Woden , Lugh , or any of the other gods is the real business , would be a tragedy . What's his answer to that ?

Answer 6

It has a fundamental flaw in its logic, although doing good works is never a bad thing. Have you heard of the atheist's wager? It is a variation on this that makes more sense to me, and I'm not an atheist.

Answer 7

First, it isn't an argument for the EXISTENCE of god.

Second, as others point out, if you "believe" merely on the basis of fear of hell, then WHICH god or version of god, or gods, should you believe in, to avoid that fate?

Finally, even if I were to buy this argument, the question arises "HOW?" That is, how do I believe something that I, in fact, don't believe?

Can you believe that your left hand is made of pork rinds?

If I told you that you'd suffer eternal torment for not believing in the Giant Purple Unicorn that lives on the Third Moon of Saturn, could you believe it?

How?

So, it provides no evidence or reason for the existence of any god or gods, let alone reason to believe in any particular one, or set of gods. (The one that offers the worst punishment, perhaps?). And, even if one buys the argument, it's impossible to live by, as all one can do if one doesn't believe is PRETEND to believe. (This actually arises out of its first flaw, that it isn't at all an argument for god's existence.)

As others have mentioned, you could have found out what we think very easily, by doing any search on this site. (All questions and answers are archived and can be searched, so people can find the answer without having to ask questions that have been asked several million times already.)

Next!

Answer 8

I am not an atheist. I read some of your post on Pascal's Wager. On and on it went. The whole of it was silliness.
God knows you better than you know yourself.

Answer 9

Yes, so you live your life according to Gods law.....basically NO fun and No kind of life I would want, then you die and theres no God...you lose. If there is a God you win!

You live life as an atheist and are able to do what you like to do your life is fun and exiting. You die theres no God...you win, you die and there is a God...you lose,

so the odds are the same no matter which path you follow.

Answer 10

If's and buts create nothing so we could all use the analogy and the equation to just about meet any subject or criteria we wished,I find little if no value in this...infact I find it weak and cowardly ..you live life,you don't trade it away for eternal life or any other such fantasy....