Losing my religion, or trading it in for something else?

[citizenzen]

The underlying theme of Pascal's Wager is to hedge your bet (wager) that if there is a god(s), then token concessions to that belief may earn you rewards.

If I were a Gawd, my greatest wrath would be directed towards those who believed in me on the off-chance that I existed and just wanted to play it safe.

 

[Resigned]

If I were a Gawd, my greatest wrath would be directed towards those who believed in me on the off-chance that I existed and just wanted to play it safe.

I’d just wipe’em all out and start over. Maybe he’ll get this creation thing right… eventually. Darn kids...

 

[juantoo3]

The underlying theme of Pascal's Wager is to hedge your bet (wager) that if there is a god(s), then token concessions to that belief may earn you rewards.

How do you relate any of that to my post?

Pascal's Wager:

“God is, or He is not. But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up... Which will you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us see which interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and the good; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, your knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one rather than the other, since you must of necessity choose... But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is... If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.

“Let us see. Since there is an equal risk of gain and of loss, if you had only to gain two lives, instead of one, you might still wager. But if there were three lives to gain, you would have to play (since you are under the necessity of playing), and you would be imprudent, when you are forced to play, not to chance your life to gain three at a game where there is an equal risk of loss and gain. But there is an eternity of life and happiness.

“But there is an eternity of life and happiness. And this being so, if there were an infinity of chances, of which one only would be for you, you would still be right in wagering one to win two, and you would act stupidly, being obliged to play, by refusing to stake one life against three at a game in which out of an infinity of chances there is one for you, if there were an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain. But there is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. It is all divided; wherever the infinite is and there is not an infinity of chances of loss against that of gain, there is no time to hesitate, you must give all...”

~Blaise Pascal

Pascal's Wager (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

I'm not sure how one can assess that "token concessions to that belief (in G-d) may earn you rewards," but I guess interpretation is in the eye of the beholder.

The entire god question is a pretty important one I'd say. For me, it's not something to just roll over and believe because if you truly dig deep into what allows you to believe, you will find there is no clear reason to believe as you do-- the differing paradigms out there do not make a single case that rises above the others. In other words, there is no reason to believe Christianity over Islam over Buddhism over Judaism over Hinduism.

But none of them make the absolute case of authority -- hence, I select the default position of atheism until such time as there is a clear defining reason to select one over the other.

The bolded portion is the wager of yours I referred to. Since you wager that "there is no reason to believe Christianity over Islam over Buddhism over Judaism over Hinduism," you conclude "the default position of atheism." I see a variation on a theme, whether intended or not.

...what is more courageous than saying, "I want to know the truth?" (wherever it leads).

I think it is important to point out that I do agree very much with this statement.