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Greta Christina Discusses Pascal's Wager, in Depth [1]

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Date: 2023-10-24  

After having finished “Questioning faith: Is believing in God really a 'safe bet'?” (www.alternet.org/...) by Greta Christina, written on 22 October 2023 at Alternet.org, I felt a moderate need to discuss Pascal’s Wager.

Let us start by defining what Pascal’s Wager is. There are vast disussions of what it is, and isn’t; however, in a nutshell, it asks one to choose to believe in a deity for fear of pain and suffering, and thus for reward. So, it asks those that do not believe to profess false belief, in order to avoid pain and suffering and reap reward.

Any omnipotent being would not be fooled by this; ergo, any person professing false belief, attempting to avoid pain and suffering and reap reward, would be sussed out by an omnipotent, omniscient, being. Thus, the wager is self-defeating from the beginning.

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” — Albert Einstein

A similar quote exists from Thomas Jefferson; however, at this time, I am unable to find the quote. The gist of it is: “I think a god would prefer an honest atheist who professes no belief in that god and lives an honest and decent life, rather than a dishonest theist who professes belief for reward, or to avoid punishment”. If anyone knows where this quote can be found, please let me know. The interweb engines push religious doctrine to the top, so it is difficult to locate this quote.

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