Are you more afraid of going to hell or not going to heaven?
By weezy250m
@weezy250m (1892)
United States
2 responses
@tanujarneja (2829)
• India
14 Dec 06
This sort of question is based upon a common theological argument known as Pascal's Wager: if the believer is wrong and God doesn't exist, then nothing has been lost; on the other hand, if the atheist is wrong and God does exist, then the atheist risks going to hell. Therefore, it is smarter to take a chance on believing than to take a chance on not believing, and the atheist is in a bad spot.
There are a number of problems with this argument. For one thing, it assumes that believing or not believing is a choice which a person can make rather than something determined by circumstances, evidence, reason, experience, etc. Wagering requires the ability to choose through an act of will, and it seems unlikely that belief is something which you can choose through an act of will. I, as an atheist, do not choose atheism - I am incapable of believing a claim without good reason, and currently, I lack any good reasons to believe in the existence of any gods. Atheism is not chosen, but rather the automatic consequence of my circumstances as I understand them.