Is Pascal's Wager Real Christianity


Most know of "Pascal's Wager." It is that even if one has doubts about the faith, the price of misery in hell is great and the price of believing is small. Why not buy the insurance?

The Christian author of the link reviews the creator of the comic strip, Dilbert. The creator has Dilbert running through the wager only a few days before the creator himself died of cancer. It is not known whether the creator was serious or poking fun at the Christian narrative.

The link author points out going through the motions of believing merely for self-interest is not really Christianity. Neither are the various arguments that Christians are happier or more successful. Add to the self-serving that Christian societies are better ones for democracy and so on. Real Christianity, he writes, is believing the faith's god forgives sins and that he "loves" his entourage.

The link author allows, however, that sometimes actual belief comes along eventually even if one begins by going through the motions. This, he says, is just fine. 

This is no different from Paul in the Bible. He said he sometimes pretended to be different person than he actually was in order to get church members. Apparently, the commandment Thus Shalt Not Lie is not absolute but needs to be considered in context. A little lie to get converts is OK.  

The Mormons had an even better deal than Pascal. They held ceremonies converting dead people. Apparently the dead people, already sweating and crying in a fiery hell, were issued pass note from the management saying they could now leave and take the long float up to heaven.

The conclusion must be that Pascal's Wager is not the good deal Pascal claimed it to be. From what we can tell today, heaven will be filled with MAGA people many of us cannot stand and hell is filled with likeable people having a good time.   

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