Door Bell Come in! Hi Julie, how're you doing? Oh, Hi Jake. I'm fine! What's up? Well, it's a pretty day, and I thought we
might go for a walk. Um, Ok! Sounds good! What a nice view! I thought you might like it! So? What have you been doing with yourself
lately? Oh, the usual, work, study, and then church on Sunday I See! Well, Sounds like you've been keeping busy! That's the truth! But i'd still like to find some time to
spend with you, if i could. Well, we're here together, now. I know! And i'm really enjoying it But I was hoping you could come to
church with me this Sunday. Jake, you know that I'm an Atheist, so I don't go to church, and even if I
said 'yes", what would the people there say when they find out? Our church is all
about a reaching out to non-believers and maybe, after you hear the preacher
and understand more about christianity you might come to believe. Jake its you
who don't understand. I know all about Christianity, i was brought up in a Christian household,
by believers. I've been to church many times. And I've studied different religions and have come to the conclusion that god, and indeed
all supernatural beings, don't really exist. To me they are just myths, handed down from generation to
generation without any foundation in reality. Julie, you know i'd like you very much and I
thought that maybe if you could just try to believe. Have you ever heard of Pascal's Wager? Back in the sixteen hundreds philosopher
Blaise Pascal said that if you believe in god and a wrong you really haven't
lost anything but if you believe in god and you're right
you get to go to heaven and live forever, but if you don't believe, and you're
wrong, you go to hell and suffer for eternity. I don't want that to happen to
you! I care for you! And i worry about you Oh, Jake, I really appreciate your concern and I truly understand it, but this is really an example of the
little knowledge being a dangerous thing. What do you mean? Well, you know how I said I studied various
religions? Yeah. Well, I also studied anti-apologetics as
well. many atheists do. It gives them the knowledge to counter
arguments like that. Where did you hear about Pascal's Wager? Um, My preacher mentioned it to me during a
time when i was wavering in my faith. It made a lot of sense to me and I
thought it might help you as well. Wll, your preacher may or may not know the
answers to Pascal's Wager, but he could be holding them back from
you to keep you in the fold. Would you like to hear them? Um, okay, I guess. I tell you what. Let's get something to eat and we can
talk about it afterwards ok? Okay! Thank you, Jake. That was a lovely dinner. and the ambiance in here is very nice. Your welcome, Julie. I enjoyed it myself. So, are you ready to talk about Pascal's
Wager? Sure. Go ahead. Ok! First, Pascal was assuming that the god
of Christianity, that is the God of his culture, was the
one and only true god. But if he had grown up in any one of a thousand
other cultures, it could have been any one of a thousand gods. Which one is the
right one? They all claim to be right! Or what if
you just happen to be going to be born into the wrong culture, what then? And what if you choose
the wrong sect of the right religion? There are over thirty thousand Christian
sects in America alone. Your own Christian denomination says that all
the others are wrong and vice versa. Right? Um, yeah, that's right. Ok, and I'm convinced that
god is truly not real. You can't just turn belief on and off
like a light. You believe things based on being convinced of their truth. Do you think you could make yourself
believe something if you really don't? Like do you think you could make yourself
believe you have a million dollars? uh... no And have you ever wondered why Belief,
itself, is the criteria for entry into heaven? You always hear that to get to heaven
we need to be good, but you know that any ax murderer, or psychopath on death-row
who believes that the last minute, gets to go to heaven? But even if i did
pretend to believe, in order to get by the wager, do you
think that for one instance an omiscient god wouldn't know that I
really didn't believe? No, I guess not. Also you couldn't "just
believe in god". I would also have to believe in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. That someone died a violent death, was dead for three days, and then returned to life as a god. Right? That's right. Then you're preachers would
demand that I accept the full religious package. In Christianity, that would mean that I also have to
believe in angels, demons, Satan, heaven, hell, saints, sin, prophets, miracles, cherabim, etc. Right? Um, right... Probably. And. by doing so, it would mean putting these
preachers in a power position over me, allowing them to dictate not only my
beliefs, but my actions, even down to the way I dress. Um... right..
And the second part of Pascal's Wager says if there is no god you haven't must anything by worshipping
Him. That's simply not true. Why? I don't understand. At the very least you have lost the money that you give the church. Do you give according to an approved church schedule? Um, yeah... Then that would be an
appreciable portion of your wages. Isn't it? Yes, that's true. But the church uses that money for
charity work. Does it? That's what they tell you, but have you ever gone to the trouble to
verify it? Well, they keep that kind of information to
themselves. And how much more effective would that
money be if taken to an approved secular charitable organization? I wonder? Maybe, like the Red Cross, or Doctors
Without Borders? You're probably right. And that's just the money, how much time as energy do you sacrifice
daily to studying the bible, and the other details of your religion, and discussing it with other believers? And how much guilt is associated with
religion? Guilt that is absolutely unnecessary. And how much stress is generated by that
guilt? Also believing in a god that never shows himself means that you have a preacher telling
you what god wants of you. That's very convenient for the preacher
don't you think? And in worst-case scenarios, accepting
these outlandish religious beliefs could cause you or your child to be abused by these "holy" men, go off to enlist and die in a holy war, and in some religions, you could actually be convinced to blow
yourself up in an attempt to kill infidels. Wow, I'd never thought of it
that way. Belief in god does have some very real
consequences. I'll have to do some serious thinking
about this, but i don't want to make a mistake where my eternal soul is
concerned. But that is a the very center of all of this. The very existence of souls, themselves have never been proven. There's no evidence that any part in
us continues to live after death. First the church tells you that souls
are real, so you'll worry about where your is goes
when you die. Then the invent hell and original sin so you'll believe your
soul is doomed! Then they invent, and sell you the cure for all of this. And without a shred of evidence for any of it. Now can you begin to understand where
atheist's are coming from? Yeah, I never thought of it like that before.
But at the center of all of this is fear. Truthfully, wasn't it fear component of the wager that actually convinced you to buy into it? Looking back on it, yes. I guess
it is what got to me about it. So you can see that Pascal's Wager is really just a threat. Yes, I can see that now. But I really was just worried about you.
I'm sorry. I understand, I know you were. And that's very kind. But when you
realize that hell is the consequence of the few religions, out of thousands of
religions the world over, none of which have evidence to support them, you can see that it's just silly! And all
of this has been handed down from generation to generation for thousands
of years. It's time to leave it all behind! Well, I'm seeing all of this in a new light. I
don't know what to make of it right now but i'm really glad to have heard all of
this from you, and it really has been a lovely day. Thanks, Julie! Thank you, Jake. I enjoyed it too!
