A Return To Pascals Wager

[Xamonas Chegwé]

I've not yet heard of a god that didn't want people to believe.

Sounds like a deity that Terry Pratchett would come up with. If you believe then you're damned, if you don't believe you're saved. There'd be a priesthood dedicated to convincing everyone that he didn't actually exist.

Damn fine line to walk, being a priest for the Nonexistent God.

Sounds an excellent premise for a satirical book, Laklak. "If god didn't want us to believe in him, why did he put rabbit fossils in preCambrian strata? Eh? Answer that one!"

[laklak]

So, all other priests are worshiping false gods?

Of course.

And you're a priest of the true god?

Of course not, my god does not exist.

How can you be a priest for a god that does not exist?

Well, look at all those other priests, their gods don't exist either.

[Cormac]

I've not yet heard of a god that didn't want people to believe.

[pedantry]I've not yet heard of people that didn't want you to believe in their putative god.[/pedantry]

A definite improvement.

Thank you!

That's actually a very odd statement to be at an atheist bulletin board I, for one do not want people to believe in my (putative) God. That would be quite insane from an atheist.

I read that as "theistic" people.

How the mind plays tricks.

[Cormac]

I've not yet heard of a god that didn't want people to believe.

Sounds like a deity that Terry Pratchett would come up with. If you believe then you're damned, if you don't believe you're saved. There'd be a priesthood dedicated to convincing everyone that he didn't actually exist.

Damn fine line to walk, being a priest for the Nonexistent God.

That is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote it.



A ragged, skinny, terrified priest, who could tell Boone anything about his religion. A bit like the hermit in Life of Brian, but with a Prathett style.

[cronus]

I'm guessing that some of you here had bad experiences with priests when younger? all I can say is that has no bearing on the existence or not of God, it may confirm God to be a shit but he won't go away over that given what powers he has compared with your imagination.

[laklak]

I don't know if you'd call it "bad". Brother John could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.

[Cormac]

I'm guessing that some of you here had bad experiences with priests when younger? all I can say is that has no bearing on the existence or not of God, it may confirm God to be a shit but he won't go away over that given what powers he has compared with your imagination.

Faith in the existence of a god has no bearing on their existence either.

...unless our universe contains Discworld.


...in which case - All gods are bastards!

[HomerJay]

Pascal's only works with one very particular god though, belief is required but at the same time god doesn't know if it is genuine or not. So a bit of a weedy god who could probably be sweet talked into letting us in.

[cronus]

The kind of God that could only be meaningfully accessed via the same gene/langauge mechanism universal to all sentient species? foxp2? same across the cosmos?

[Jason]

Pascal wrote that at a time when the Christian god was the only god to the overwhelming majority of people around him. A modern Pascal would have us betting equally on every number on the roulette wheel for every spin. Never mind the cognitive dissonance, that would consume all your time and be extremely costly - a lot of religions involve expensive ceremonies, donations, and things of that sort.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Pascal wrote that at a time when the Christian god was the only god to the overwhelming majority of people around him. A modern Pascal would have us betting equally on every number on the roulette wheel for every spin. Never mind the cognitive dissonance, that would consume all your time and be extremely costly - a lot of religions involve expensive ceremonies, donations, and things of that sort.

Actually, Pascal practically invented probability theory - he would advise that the best possible, long-term outcome at roulette is achieved by never playing. Weirdly, he failed to apply such keen logic to his own wager.

[Collector1337]

But you only actually profit from the wager if you pick the correct god.

Incorrect.

[rainbow]

And you're a priest of the true god?

Why would a true god need a priest?

[rainbow]

Rationalia is not in principle atheist....the sane position and the most rational one is to leave all options open and even more so when the stakes are high. In theory this board should attract more agnostics than strict 7.0s.

Can you be really sure of this?

[rainbow]

I've not yet heard of a god that didn't want people to believe.

[pedantry]I've not yet heard of people that didn't want you to believe in their putative god.[/pedantry]

How would you have heard of a God, that didn't want you to believe?

You didn't think this through.