Quote Originally Posted by afghooey
I'd like to pose a question.

You refer to the choice between atheism and belief as a wager, where on one side one has everything to gain, and on the other one has everything to lose.

It's called 'Pascals Wager' if you wanna look it up and it's criticisms.

But isn't the act of believing in God solely for one's own purposes (IE: the benefit of one's purportedly immortal soul), rather selfish? It doesn't matter whether it's the fear of hell or the desire for heaven that leads you to your belief. If you look at it as a bet, a wager, you're always looking at what is to be gained and lost for you.

Everyone has their own self interests and this is in no way immoral. If one's self interests include choosing to serve a God and choosing to believe in the afterlife, then what is selfish about that? I believe it would be selfish of me not to share this information with people.

And what if someone uses rational thinking to compare atheism and belief, and decides... "Well, maybe it's so. Maybe if I believe in a higher power, I will have more to gain than if I didn't." Then what?

Then you will share a belief held by millions of others. Does this necessarily mean anything? It depends on your perception. People make choices depending on what interests them and what they view as valuable. The point of the wager is why not bet on god? What's there to lose? There is more to lose in terms of afterlife if you are wrong when betting against God. If you win while betting on athiesm, you don't get to know you won, so what's the point?

They might try to believe, though perhaps other rational thoughts may contradict this new line of thinking. But the very act of trying, all other goals regarding gain and loss aside, implies insincerity. If you try to love someone, do you really love them? If you try to believe, do you really believe? And even when you believe, there is always doubt, because belief is not the same thing as knowledge.

Trying is the first step towards failure OR success. Knowledge is justified true belief, causation may flow in there somewhere.

Can you choose to love God?

Yes, with free will.

Is it really that easy? Remember, the very act of trying implies failure. Likewise, should morals be a means to an end? Or should they flow naturally, incidental to your love for God?
Mankind creates morality as a painter creates a painting, through our choices in every day life, we decide what is good or bad. Morals should flow from the highest region. We should treat people as means, not means to an end.

The odds would be 50/50, i do not take stabs in the dark yet footstep after footstep into the light.