Why are you taking such a risk?

[created atheist]

To atheists who chose the 'red' (Would worship)

why would you intentionally deny god, any gods, or bible god when you don't know 100% on their non-existence?

don't you wanna at least be honest and play safe in reality?

[pianodwarf]

To atheists who chose the 'red' (Would worship)

why would you intentionally deny god, any gods, or bible god when you don't know 100% on their non-existence?

don't you wanna at least be honest and play safe in reality?

Pascal's Wager ain't gonna fly here, friend.

[eye over you]

To atheists who chose the 'red' (Would worship)

why would you intentionally deny god, any gods, or bible god when you don't know 100% on their non-existence?

don't you wanna at least be honest and play safe in reality?

     Geez! Because with that logic, why not worship every god concocted by man and worship all of them "just in case?"

[Aceluffy]

It is not a risk.

Remember, we are choosing an action based on a hypothetical scenario. In this scenario, it is shown and proven that the biblegod exists, so there's no point in denying something that exists, it's as pointless as denying gravity.

I would still hate the pompous jerk, but I will always put my self preservation first. I look at it this way, I like to help people but I can't do it if I'm roasting in hell for eternity. So I'd rather worship the fucker while plotting a rebellion to free all you guys who pressed the blue button.

[Seppuku]

Simple. Once you choose a God you're denying all those other gods worship and you're going to piss them all off. Regardless of what you do, there's going to be several gods out there who don't like what you're doing. There's no such thing as a 'safe' option. The afterlife is a game of lottery, as skeptics, we just go by what we can know rather than take wild guesses and hope we win. It'd say there's a higher probability that we'll become wormfood and it's considerably a lot better than some of the alternative ideas out there, so if it turns out I am right, I don't think I lose. The reason I wouldn't have lost is because I will have lived my life the best I could, because that's what I plan on doing knowing that when I die...I'm dead. So I live for this life and not waste it in worship for the miniscule possibility that I win the lottery.

[created atheist]

Then your stance(actively denying all and any gods)will piss off all gods in the universe.
Not a single god will be there to help you.

Why don't you buy at least one lotto ticket?

one percent is better than zero percent

[pianodwarf]

Then your stance(actively denying all and any gods)will piss off all gods in the universe.
Not a single god will help you.

Unless there is only one god, and he/she/it punishes those who believe in it, and rewards those who don't.

Fail.

[Frank]

Then your stance(actively denying all and any gods)will piss off all gods in the universe.
Not a single god will be there to help you.

Why don't you buy at least one lotto ticket?

one percent is better than zero percent

I see. Pick one and keep your fingers crossed it's the right one. Not really much of statement of faith is it?

[Traveler]

Then your stance(actively denying all and any gods)will piss off all gods in the universe.
Not a single god will be there to help you.

Why don't you buy at least one lotto ticket?

one percent is better than zero percent

I don't know about you, but I've never been able to choose to believe something. My shirt is pink. I cannot choose to believe it is blue. When I look up in the sky, or in a telescope, I see nothing but stars and planets and clouds. I cannot choose to believe there's a god out there "somewhere," anymore than I can choose to believe that dragons are flying up there in the clouds. That's not how belief works. I could pretend, but why bother? Its absurd to go through life pretending to be someone you're not.

[nogodsforme]

Okay. I'm game. 

Which god(s) should I choose to believe in? And what should I base my choice on? Oldest faith? Newest faith? Most members? Fastest growing? Nicest god? Meanest god? Prettiest god? Best heaven? Worst hell?

Since none have any evidence....

[Aspie]

I would hardly call surrendering reality to some inane, unsubstantiated concept to be "playing it safe". If one only assesses risk based on unverifiable, unfalsifiable consequences then anything could be considered safe.

[Timo]

why would you intentionally deny god, any gods, or bible god when you don't know 100% on their non-existence?

I can't help but deny the existence of god if I'm being intellectually honest.  This is the position that I've reached based on the evidence available to me.  The hypothetical scenario posed in the other thread poses the question of what I would do if the evidence were different.

I really don't see why it should be so confusing that I would behave differently if I had a completely different view about reality.

don't you wanna at least be honest and play safe in reality?

Two things.

If I'm being honest with myself, I don't believe in god.  It would be dishonest for me to worship a being that I don't believe in.  It wouldn't be me playing safe.  It'd be a lie.

As others have pointed out, people have conceived of all sorts of gods and goddesses throughout our history.  There is no way to "play safe" unless you want to arbitrarily privilege the potential truth of one particular religion.

[Emily]

why would you intentionally deny god, any gods, or bible god when you don't know 100% on their non-existence?

Simple answer: Because I am not that lucky to be worshiping the right god, and I don't want to run the risk of worshiping a god and wasting my entire life living how this god wants me to live based on what a pastor who claims to have some direct contact with it says.

Why don't you buy at least one lotto ticket?

When you buy a lottery ticket and lose all you are doing is losing some amount of money for a short period of time. When it comes to all the major religions you are required to worship this god your entire life. It just sounds like a waste of a life to worship a god who have not left its creation any evidence for its existence.

-M

[Seppuku]

Then your stance(actively denying all and any gods)will piss off all gods in the universe.
Not a single god will be there to help you.

Why don't you buy at least one lotto ticket?

one percent is better than zero percent

I have a lottery ticket, the prize is "live my life to the fullest and die and have no afterlife" (and I can make the former happen) and I lose the risk of, "waste my life in worship and die without having really lived". I'd say 'lottery ticket', but it seems to be the most realistic option. However, anybody who spends living their life for somebody else may find on their deathbed that it's all a lie and those years spent not doing things because they were considered sinful or spending so much time in prayer or in church that it was all actually a waste of time. I'd say the probability is much, much, much lower than 1% that one specific version of a specific God exists and has one specific set of requirements for entry. I'd say the odds that we're worm food is much higher, because the lack of evidence for all the others adds validity to the idea that nothing happens when you die.

There's versions of heaven I would be permitted to join so long as I remain a good person, given I like being a good person and it makes me happy in this life, if it turns out that God rewards 'good' people with heaven, regardless of faith (as a Christian friend believes) then I've still got a golden ticket.

But I could just make up any old statement, for example, "eat dog poo, because if you don't you will have your face eaten off by zombie Saddam Hussein in your sleep", it's a ludicrous claim, but would you eat dog poo just in case I'm right? My claim has no less validity than that of any claims about the afterlife as each have the same amount of evidence to back it up. I'm sure you don't want your face eaten off by zombie Saddam in your sleep. Does that mean you're going to eat dog poo?

[Azdgari]

CA, what if there's a real god who punishes theistic belief with eternal torture, while rewarding lifelong skepticism with eternal bliss?

Prove it's not so.

[Seppuku]

To add, what if the devil wrote all of the world's religions to confuse man into taking the wrong path to salvation and that God has granted us with the gift of critical thinking in order to save us from the devil's trickery and as sceptics and as atheists we're actually working our way into salvation by avoiding the devil's trickery?

This is something I've often wondered, so thanks for reminding me.

[Emily]

To add, what if the devil wrote all of the world's religions to confuse man into taking the wrong path to salvation and that God has granted us with the gift of critical thinking in order to save us from the devil's trickery and as sceptics and as atheists we're actually working our way into salvation by avoiding the devil's trickery?

This is something I've often wondered, so thanks for reminding me.

Now you're just speaking nonsense. 

[Ambassador Pony]

CA can't respond because he was banned. Five times.

What kind of person is told they are unwelcome somewhere, yet, returns over and over again? It's what restraining orders were invented for, I guess. 


 

[Azdgari]

The Kymer troll again?

[Seppuku]

To add, what if the devil wrote all of the world's religions to confuse man into taking the wrong path to salvation and that God has granted us with the gift of critical thinking in order to save us from the devil's trickery and as sceptics and as atheists we're actually working our way into salvation by avoiding the devil's trickery?

This is something I've often wondered, so thanks for reminding me.

Now you're just speaking nonsense. 

Lol, that's what I love about baseless claims, I can just make them up and they have equal validity. Though I dread to think that one day somebody may take them seriously and start a religion out of it.

[Nick]

How about taking it the other way.  Instead of believing in some mysterious sky daddy just because what if the entire planet said..."Stop, we have had enough...either show yourself (God that is) or get out of our way.  We have had enough of this nonsense."  What kind of a god plays hide and seek with its creation?  What's it going to do?  Send all of us to hell?

[Traveler]

To add, what if the devil wrote all of the world's religions to confuse man into taking the wrong path to salvation and that God has granted us with the gift of critical thinking in order to save us from the devil's trickery and as sceptics and as atheists we're actually working our way into salvation by avoiding the devil's trickery?

This is something I've often wondered, so thanks for reminding me.

Actually, if I were a god, and I created a species to be highly intelligent, highly curious, and highly functional in terms of changing their environment, I'd expect them to be productive leaders rather than blind followers.

[Astreja]

Then your stance(actively denying all and any gods)will piss off all gods in the universe.
Not a single god will be there to help you.

Actually, I would be more inclined to help people who didn't believe in Me at all, but who tried to make the world a more pleasant place for themselves and others.

If someone believed in Me out of fear, or treated Me like a lottery ticket jackpot... Now *that* would piss Me off.    I wouldn't send them to Hell, though; I'd just sigh heavily and look askance at them.

[Samothec]

To atheists who chose the 'red' (Would worship)
why would you intentionally deny god, any gods, or bible god when you don't know 100% on their non-existence?
don't you wanna at least be honest and play safe in reality?

My belief went through a long convoluted process where I kept applying reason and logic. So biblegod went away and I focused on the Creator. I came to the understanding that no existing religion has come at all close to describing what the real Creator would be.

Once I understood what the real Creator would be, I looked for evidence. The only evidence I found was for a malevolent god, not the Creator. Could either (or both) exist? Yes. But only the malevolent god would be unhappy with me - maybe.

Or maybe either one understands me, us, better than you can comprehend and it knows that we are who we are supposed to be.

Have you ever considered that you are worshipping a small insignificant shadow of the Creator?
(Yes, I know he can't reply.)

[kcrady]

If a god or goddess is portrayed as being obsessed with garnering human worship to the extent of threatening to torture humans eternally when such worship is not forthcoming, this in itself is evidence that the (alleged) entity in question is not a divine super-spirit of the Universe.  In the same way and for the same reason that few if any humans concern themselves greatly with receiving adoration from lemurs or katydids, any entity that is vastly superior to humans would likely have commensurately superior concerns and interests.  Seeking status among humans is a human concern; the presence of wealthy clergymen (and they're almost always men) serving in grandiose places of worship provides a perfectly explicable source for the notion of deities as ultimate status-seekers.  It is, after all, the clergies (and other humans, such as political rulers supported by religious establishments), rather than any deities, who benefit from the wealth and power garnered from human worshipers.  Surely, no real deity who was interested in collecting earthly wealth and human status would tolerate the presence of such presumptuous middle-men!