Pascal's Wager has too many flaws for this atheist to take it seriously. Basically, Pascal's Wager says "If you don't believe in the Christian God, and the Christian God exists, you will go to Christian Hell. If you do believe in the Christian God and there is a Christian God, you will go to Christian Heaven. If you do not believe in the Christian God and Christianity is false, you get nothing and lose nothing. Therefore, it is in your best interests to believe in the Christian God no matter how unlikely it is." Here are the five main problems with this argument:

1) It assumes that the Christian God is the only God worth worrying about. There are lots of other religions that threaten you with hell if you don't believe in them too. Pascal's Wager applies equally to Christianity and Islam, so what am I supposed to do, flip a coin?

2) It assumes that God will send me to hell if I don't believe in him. It rejects the idea that God might judge us on our actions rather than our metaphysical beliefs. It rejects the idea that there might be a non-Christian God who likes atheists (who worship no gods) more than Christians (who worship the wrong god). It rejects the idea that God might respect intellectual honesty, admiring an atheist who admits there isn't sufficient evidence for gods more than he admires a Christian who believes out of fear or out of a selfish desire to get to heaven.

3) Pascal's Wager ignores the fact that I cannot consciously change my beliefs. If somebody tells me there's a unicorn who will burn me for all eternity unless I believe in unicorns, that can't change the fact that I have never seen any evidence for unicorns and hence will not believe in unicorns until I see some evidence compelling enough to change my mind. I can't choose my beliefs at will. I can't just wake up and say "Today I feel like being a conservative pro-war Hindu anti-abortionist who believes in the Loch Ness Monster."

4) Pascal's Wager is not an argument for believing in God. It is an argument for pretending to believe in God. No part of Pascal's Wager affects the likelihood of God's existence. Even if I go on believing that God's existence is extremely unlikely, Pascal's Wager says I should act as though I believe in God anyways. I am not willing to be that dishonest, and besides, wouldn't an omniscient God see right through the act?

5) Any God who tortures people for all eternity because they don't believe in something for which there is insufficient evidence is an asshole who is not worthy of worship. If Adolf Hitler gave me the choice between converting to Nazism or burning in a gas chamber, I'd gladly take the gas chamber. Same goes for God; I'd rather burn and keep my dignity than submit to a childish egomaniacal cosmic dictator.
Oneironaut Reviewed by Oneironaut on . Pascals Wager Im already a Christian...but have any of you atheist on here though about Pascals Wager? Rating: 5