Pascal's Wager: Another View

The following is one of the most eloquent refutations to Pascal's Wager I have come across. It was written by Zack Adgie, and originally appeared in a Yahoo message board of replies to a science story, "Asteroid Caused Earth's Largest Mass Extinction". I have reproduced it here, with permission of the author, for purposes of posterity. It appears in its original form, with changes made only for a couple minor grammatical corrections, and for formatting.

Pascal would've lost bad in vegas.

by: vorro (21/M/atlanta, GA) 08/31/01 12:36 am
Msg: 46 of 78
6 recommendations

You wanna throw Pascal's wager at us? Fine. I got 2 replies to it.

1) Any person who "chooses" to believe solely for their own self-protection is not a true Christian. There is so much more than just saying "I believe in God" - I'd like to think that altruism of some sort is involved.

And that ties into #2...

2) Here's a spin on Pascal's wager, which I'll dub the "Atheist's wager." Granted, not all Atheists may agree with it, but I'm sure that for the most part it won't cause too much of a problem.

I am going to continue to live my life the way I have. Instead of spending my time worshipping a deity I've never encountered with any of my senses or experienced at all, I'm going to spend time doing what I can for the person that I see in the mirror every day, for the children that I can hear playing, for the friends that I feel in every handshake, for the less forunate trapped in the smell of poverty and third-world suffering, for my lover whose lips I taste, and for all of the people whom I experience the great thing that we call life.

Instead of giving my money to a church, I will use it personally to help the poor. Instead of spending my Sundays in a church, I can spend it with my friends and let them know how much I love them. I will not judge others by standards that someone else imposes on me; I will let them live their lives in the freedom that they deserve.

As I am an Atheist, I am sure you can figure out that I have no belief for the afterlife - instead of going to heaven or hell or purgatory or anyplace else, I simply die, and my life and my experience within it is over. By the same token, I believe that this applies to everyone. As we are all given such a short lifespan, I feel the need to do what I can to help other people enjoy their lives to the fullest, and herein lies my wager.

If I live my life by these standards, and am correct in there being no afterlife when I die, then in the end I lose nothing while still having experienced a fulfilling life. If I am wrong, and God is benevolent, then he will understand why I could not believe in him, and will still be pleased with what I did for mankind. If the deity in question cannot accept my acts, then I fear what his heaven would be like and want no part of it.

Do what you wish, and live your life by your standards, but do not expect me to give in so simply to something like Pascal's wager. Such a philosophy is not based on altruism, but is in fact the opposite; Pascal's wager is based upon selfishness. I'm not in this life for me, I'm in it for all of my friends and family and for all of the people who I do not know and those whom I never will know. I'm in this for all those living now, all those dead and those yet to come. I'm in this for those who understand what I am saying and agree with it, for those who do not agree with my beliefs yet still respect them, and I am also in this for those who do not understand me and hate me, for while you may see me as your enemy, I bleed just like you, and that makes you just as important to me as it does everyone else.

-----------

If you got this far down, then I thank you for taking the time to read this. I know it's long, but I don't really think I could make it shorter without risking people misunderstanding who I am and what my motives are.

Posted as a reply to: Msg 15 by jaysonjaz

	This page is hosted by Get your own Free Home Page!
	Email me, Andrew Trapp, at dreamer-71@yahoo.com.

Pascal would've lost bad in vegas. by: vorro (21/M/atlanta, GA)	08/31/01 12:36 am Msg: 46 of 78 6 recommendations
You wanna throw Pascal's wager at us? Fine. I got 2 replies to it. 1) Any person who "chooses" to believe solely for their own self-protection is not a true Christian. There is so much more than just saying "I believe in God" - I'd like to think that altruism of some sort is involved. And that ties into #2... 2) Here's a spin on Pascal's wager, which I'll dub the "Atheist's wager." Granted, not all Atheists may agree with it, but I'm sure that for the most part it won't cause too much of a problem. I am going to continue to live my life the way I have. Instead of spending my time worshipping a deity I've never encountered with any of my senses or experienced at all, I'm going to spend time doing what I can for the person that I see in the mirror every day, for the children that I can hear playing, for the friends that I feel in every handshake, for the less forunate trapped in the smell of poverty and third-world suffering, for my lover whose lips I taste, and for all of the people whom I experience the great thing that we call life. Instead of giving my money to a church, I will use it personally to help the poor. Instead of spending my Sundays in a church, I can spend it with my friends and let them know how much I love them. I will not judge others by standards that someone else imposes on me; I will let them live their lives in the freedom that they deserve. As I am an Atheist, I am sure you can figure out that I have no belief for the afterlife - instead of going to heaven or hell or purgatory or anyplace else, I simply die, and my life and my experience within it is over. By the same token, I believe that this applies to everyone. As we are all given such a short lifespan, I feel the need to do what I can to help other people enjoy their lives to the fullest, and herein lies my wager. If I live my life by these standards, and am correct in there being no afterlife when I die, then in the end I lose nothing while still having experienced a fulfilling life. If I am wrong, and God is benevolent, then he will understand why I could not believe in him, and will still be pleased with what I did for mankind. If the deity in question cannot accept my acts, then I fear what his heaven would be like and want no part of it. Do what you wish, and live your life by your standards, but do not expect me to give in so simply to something like Pascal's wager. Such a philosophy is not based on altruism, but is in fact the opposite; Pascal's wager is based upon selfishness. I'm not in this life for me, I'm in it for all of my friends and family and for all of the people who I do not know and those whom I never will know. I'm in this for all those living now, all those dead and those yet to come. I'm in this for those who understand what I am saying and agree with it, for those who do not agree with my beliefs yet still respect them, and I am also in this for those who do not understand me and hate me, for while you may see me as your enemy, I bleed just like you, and that makes you just as important to me as it does everyone else. ----------- If you got this far down, then I thank you for taking the time to read this. I know it's long, but I don't really think I could make it shorter without risking people misunderstanding who I am and what my motives are.
Posted as a reply to: Msg 15 by jaysonjaz