[mjn.mixael]

I feel like stirring the pot for some reason..

I came across this quote just recently...

"It's belief or damnation. That's an awfully big gamble."

Discuss.

[Kolgena]

Pascal's Gambit, sort of?

[General Battuta]

Pascal's Wager breaks down as soon as you introduce multiple competing criteria for belief and damnation, each one claiming exclusivity, with no externally testable method to select between them.

The flaw in the quote is that it presents 'belief' as a singular. It's actually more like this:

'belief in A or damnation in B C D E F G H I J K L, or belief in B and damnation in A C D E F G H I J K L, or belief in C and damnation in A B D E F G H I J K L'

recurse for all available inputs. Not such an easy gamble now.

[Polpolion]

ironic

The quote implies you need to believe the right thing to not be damned. Most people's beliefs don't agree, so you'd think that at least most people would be damned, and it's perfectly possible that everyone believes the wrong thing and is damned.

But then the quote could be wrong too: maybe you're not damned at all if you're wrong. Personally, I like this idea the most.

[NGTM-1R]

"It's belief or damnation. That's an awfully big gamble."

Belief in what and which?

[mjn.mixael]

Still a big gamble though perhaps?

Belief in what and which?

The quote's context specifically implied belief in Jesus Christ as God and savior.

[General Battuta]

Yeah, that just makes it worse.

I think if you're going to believe you should do so because you have been moved to believe. You shouldn't need a rational argument to justify it, that just implies doubt.

[redsniper]

If there is not God, then it doesn't matter.

If God is a kind, loving, all-knowing God, he won't care which religion you follow, just that you are a good person.

If God is so petty as to care whether or not you worship him, or which version of him you worship, then he is not a God worth following and should be opposed.

[Snail]

If God is so petty as to care whether or not you worship him, or which version of him you worship, then he is not a God worth following and should be opposed.

What if He does exist and He's actually evil? Or perhaps not malevolent, just a bit of a jerk?



(not that I think this or anything, just throwing it out there, big fan of Gnosticism and all)

[JCDNWarrior]

IMO, If only religions would figure out how closely related their scriptures are, as most 'books' especially between Christianity and Islam seem almost exactly the same. If they were to combine the narratives and information given in all these books, we could be onto something more interesting and closer, combined with evolutionism, to the full story.

Also, agreed with Redsniper. Good way to break it down in my opinion.

[Mefustae]

IMO, If only religions would figure out how closely related their scriptures are, as most 'books' especially between Christianity and Islam seem almost exactly the same. If they were to combine the narratives and information given in all these books, we could be onto something more interesting and closer, combined with evolutionism, to the full story.

It seems that the closer two religions are, they more hostile they are towards one another. Think of it like two brothers close in age. There's a very good chance there's going to be animosity between the two, compared to siblings some distance apart in years.

[mjn.mixael]

It seems that the closer two religions are, they more hostile they are towards one another. Think of it like two brothers close in age. There's a very good chance there's going to be animosity between the two, compared to siblings some distance apart in years.

Interesting...

The Bible suggests this will be the case between the descendents of Ishmael (Abraham's offspring with his wife's servant, Hagar) and Isaac (Abraham's son via his wife Sarah).

Food for thought.

[Grizzly]

So bassicly, the whole Isreal Palestina thing is a sibling rivalry gone too far...