Atheist do you realize and understand the problem with Pascals Wager....?

Question

Is it's really an excuse to not be obedient?

If a parent tells a child to go clean his/her room or get their butt whipped with a belt;the kid is in no position to claim "Pascals Wager" becuase the kid isnt the one making the rules; the parent is.If a kid tries to use Pascals wager as a way to justify not cleaning his/her room,he/she will promptly feel a belt smacking their bare behind.
Same with God, tryna tell Him that's Pascals Wager will get you no where with Him;you'll only be delaying your punishment and torment by a few seconds maybe.But ultimately arguing pascals wager has only gotten you the punishment men and women of Christ have been warning about.

So how much longer do atheist plan on using Pascals wager as an excuse to be disobedient?

Again remember,you're not making the rules,God is.

Answer 1

Your analogy might make sense if the child had never actually seen the parent and the rules were only a vague set of instructions passed along by complete strangers.

But Pascal's Wager is a theists argument, not an atheist argument. It's an argument to pretend to believe in a deity out of fear and the hope for a reward. Not to mention it foolishly presumes only two scenarios.

What if everyone is wrong and Zeus is really pissed? Try and tell Zeus that you thought you picked the right religion and you thought someone else was making the rules...

Answer 2

My main issue with Pascal's Wager comes more from a cost benefit analysis considering the probabilities involved. I believe the probability of a generic god-creator existing is quite low. Pascal's Wager is only applies for religions that assert an eternal afterlife with a choice of heaven or hell. I think the probability of a god of that description existing is almost negligible. Given the time, effort, and money you have to invest to sincerely follow a religious faith, it's just not worth it. Even considering eternity.

Answer 3

Pascal's Wager (or Pascal's Gambit) is the application by the French philosopher Blaise Pascal of decision theory to the belief in God. It was set out in the Pensées, a posthumously published collection of notes made by Pascal towards his unfinished treatise on Christian apologetics.

The Wager posits that it is a better "bet" to believe that God exists than not to believe, because the expected value of believing (which Pascal assessed as infinite) is always greater than the expected value of not believing. In Pascal's assessment, it is inexcusable not to investigate this issue:

Before entering into the proofs of the Christian religion, I find it necessary to point out the sinfulness of those men who live in indifference to the search for truth in a matter which is so important to them, and which touches them so nearly.[1]

Variations of this argument may be found in other religious philosophies, such as Islam, and Hinduism. Pascal's Wager is also similar in structure to the precautionary principle.

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

I think a better question would be "how much longer do christians plan on using Pascal's Wager as an excuse to debate with atheists?" You know it's bad when not even your christian counterparts come in to help you...LOL!

Answer 4

Some people are just too stupid to be included in grown up discussions. Pascal's Wager, obeying your parents, apples and bananas.....

Just show us any real documented , repeatable, proof for the existence of any deity. (2000 year old books based on the myths of Bronze Age goat herders is not proof.)

I'm a skeptic, I don't believe in anything. I can't disobey a myth. So I'm free of living in fear of some big invisible guy in the sky that will punish me forever if I don't follow his impossible to follow rules.

Have a Very Merry and Grateful Christmas.

Answer 5

Is this a joke? You do know that Pascals Wager is used by theists, not atheists, right? Atheists rejected Pascals Wager a long time ago.

Answer 6

Pascal's wager is interesting. It's good as far as it goes. But it assumes that if there -is- a God, then it's easy to know all about him, what he is like, what he wants from us, etc. And in order to believe this, you have to believe that the Bible is -real-, that it is God's revelation to man, and that we all agree on exactly what it means. But even Christians themselves don't agree!

If you don't believe that about the Bible, if you don't believe that there is one true, well-known way of believing in God, then Pascal's wager falls apart. How do you know YOUR way of believing and worshipping is the right one?

Atheists (and agnostics like myself) would rather put our faith in our own consciences. We all have an innate sense of right and wrong, but it is a 'still small voice' that is easy to override. If you reflect on difficult moral choices, and if you are brutally honest with yourself, you will take religious teaching with a grain of salt, you will test everything by your own sense of right and wrong. Personally, I think that's what God would want from us. Paul even said 'Test everything and hold fast to that which is right.'

And Christians even do this! In Levitticus it says that disobedient children should be put to death. Christians will say "Oh, well we don't take that literally. We know God wouldn't really want us to do that! It's obvious!" And here is an example of 'testing' a Biblical 'law' against our moral sense, and the moral sense wins out; we trust our moral sense more than we trust scripture!

Answer 7

Are you really trying to use a fairy tale to validate itself? You're claiming that the fairy tale of this 'god' character is what proves the fairy tale isn't a fairy tale. The circular logic and ignorance of this is astounding from someone who would claim that atheists don't understand Pascal's wager. Take a class in basic logic kid, you don't have a clue.

Answer 8

The Child has some very solid evidence that their parents exist, and that the spanking is real.
Bring us some evidence.

By the way, your example to illustrate Pascal's wager demonstrates you really havn't got the slightest clue about what it means.

Atheists accept that they are totally responsible for their actions. For one thing, they don't have a magical Skypixie floating around waiting to bail them out.

Answer 9

Last I checked, God made no rules. I don't know what rules you're talking about.
Secondly, I don't believe in God, I don't use Pascal's Wager to justify being 'disobedient'. This is a non-issue for me and most atheists.
It's basically the equivilent of telling an orphan to behave if not their parents will punish them.

Answer 10

I don't understand what you mean by "atheists use Pascal's wager as an excuse to be disobedient." Could you clarify?

LOL @ St. Alia's response.