Skip to main content

Religion My Way: Pascal's Wager

I suppose that most of you know a lot more about religion than I do. I have lived a long time and was raised to be a good girl using the Christian Ethic so I am not totally clueless.  However, I am finding that I love Pascal's Wager. This little philosophy describes the games so many of us play with our religious beliefs.

Blaise Pascal was a philosopher that lived in the mid 17th century. Here is the game of chance he talked about:
Pascal's Wager is an argument in apologetic philosophy which was devised by the seventeenth-century French philosophermathematician, and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662). It posits that humans all bet with their lives either that God exists or does not exist. Given the possibility that God actually does exist and assuming the infinite gain or loss associated with belief in God or with unbelief, a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss. Wikipedia
unknown; a copy of the painture of François II...
unknown; a copy of the painture of François II Quesnel, which was made for Gérard Edelinck en 1691. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I find that rationality and religion belief are two intellectual inclination that cannot walk hand in hand very successfully. I try to live a moral and good life but I often question belief systems and widely held rules. However, I always keep in mind that I could be very wrong about what I think is true. I suppose that is the reason I live as though I believe it all and remember the golden rules of religion. It seems that it is a good idea. After all, according the Pascal, I have everything to gain if it is true and nothing to lose if it is not.

I think Pascal's Wager is fascinating. How about you?

b+
Enhanced by Zemanta

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites.  Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come.  I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a Snowbird in 2024

Early years in RV resort! Our motor home is parked next to our  first Park Model When it begins to cool in the evenings and the geese fly in formation, my mind turns to Arizona. Yearning for the desert air and vibrant blue sky is compel me to fly away. I do it every year and will as long as I am  allowed. Townhome near Tucson's Pantano Wash and bike trail. We started this way of life when we retired. First with a fifth-wheel trailer, later with a motor home, and finally in something permanent that evolved over the years.  First, it was a park model in an RV Resort, then a townhouse close to walking trails, and finally into a home on a small golf course.  Congress Hotel from window of near by hotel. Each time we moved, we upscaled and increased our monetary wealth. That is the way our mind works. It is as though we couldn't just have fun without working a lot. We painted and planted flowers and haunted thrift stores to find just the right furniture. We were always hav...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...