Most of you will be aware of Pascal's Wager, and indeed, of those of you who aren't aware of it by name, most of you will likely have heard it without knowing what it's called
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Sometimes known as "Utlilitarian," an obscure thinker now writes primarily under the pen-name "Alan Dawrst." He is distinguished as a kind of intellectual anomaly -- a Rara avis among cerebrally adventurous dragon chasers. His project is grounded in empiricism, in abstruse math and Bayesian rationality; yet his conclusions seldom reduce to form. Once a staunch atheist, Dawrst converted to Christianity when the logic of Pascal's wager proved inescapable
A possibility that I always thought was funny to add to Pascal's wager was that Christianity (at least the kind where there supposedly is a separate place or realm called hell) is actually the *opposite* of the truth: that there is a hell, and that for whatever reason all and only Christians will go there.
Sure! "Yeah, sorry, turns out god's a liar, and this has all been for his own perverse shits and giggles the whole time. What're ya gonna do, right? Guy deserves a good laugh once in a while. He only invented the whole friggin' universe, for frig's sakes!"
Yeah, it's not only horrid, but it's trivial to put down. Of course, there are other putdowns, but this one has nice symmetry and treats the Christians the same way that they treat us... only the difference is that we're just idly pondering it as a hypothetical to make a point, and they claim to really think that kittens would stop being adorable and the sky would fall if sadism didn't rule the universe.
1 major misconception
anonymous
May 4 2010, 16:50:09 UTC
From the wording above, you seem to be under the belief that Christians are slaves to fear and cowardice. We are not the battered wives of religion, but more like misguided children. We strive to do what is right and pleasing to our Father. We will make mistakes and try to learn from them.
True Christians do not judge other religions or try to bully non-believers. We simply present our beliefs and how good they make us feel. It's not like God gives a toaster for every 10 souls we convert. I am by no means a great Christian (if one truly exists), but I try to be a good person. I personally believe this is what is most important. I believe that many atheists already practice a lot of the facets of Christianity even without a profession of faith.
OK, that seemed a lot more "holier-than-thou" than I intended. It's not likely I'll read any responses on this. Just thought I would throw in my 2cents. I am not a BAC, they scare me too.
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might be of interest
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I think I'll put it on my laptop and try to read it at work tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll report back after I have done so!
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That seems to mess up the reasoning a little.
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True Christians do not judge other religions or try to bully non-believers. We simply present our beliefs and how good they make us feel. It's not like God gives a toaster for every 10 souls we convert.
I am by no means a great Christian (if one truly exists), but I try to be a good person. I personally believe this is what is most important. I believe that many atheists already practice a lot of the facets of Christianity even without a profession of faith.
OK, that seemed a lot more "holier-than-thou" than I intended.
It's not likely I'll read any responses on this. Just thought I would throw in my 2cents.
I am not a BAC, they scare me too.
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