If there was a God I can't believe he, she, it would be the DICK described in the Bible. If so he, she, it could use some anger management therapy.

What if there is a god and she only cares that we treat each other (including animals and environment) with dignity, respect, equality, and a gracious heart? Then all the religious right would be so fucked and all the agnostics and atheists would be all right.

See my previous reply as to why I think Pascal's Wager is the most misunderstood wager in the history of gambling, but here I will discuss its absurdity if taken seriously:

1. Even if there is a God, what makes you think God would condemn you to eternal torment simply because you can not force yourself to believe in a particular version of Him/Her/Them/It? Who told you that, and why did you believe it? Not only is it absurd, but it's not actually in the Bible, you know. Even if there is a God, don't you really think, yea verily, don't you deep down feel, that this must be a false god?

2. This is MOST important. One cannot force oneself to believe in God, or a god, if one truly does not believe. It simply can not be done. Try it. Let's start with a deity-like figure called Santa Claus. (He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!) Can't do it, can you? Can't do it with The Great Pumpkin either, right? OK, now try it with Baal, Zeus, Thor, Osiris, or any of a thousand other mythical gods. No luck there either, right? Just can't force yourself to do it. You can fake it, pretend to believe, lie to yourself and others, live a life of blatant hypocrisy, but you cannot really believe no matter how many times you hit your head against the wall. Not only your brain, but your heart won't let you do it.

Now suppose I am a true believer in Woden/Odin and tell you that, just to be on the safe side, you better offer up an altar sacrifice to Woden/Odin least He condemn you to freeze forever in a Scandinavian hell. Would you go out and offer a blood sacrifice to Woden/Odin, just in case? No, of course, you wouldn't. The whole idea is just so absurd as not to be contemplated. So, why are you even considering something similar for the ancient tribal volcanic Hebrew god Jehovah/Yahweh, god of fire and brimstone, burning bushes, and a volcano-like hell buried in the bowels of the earth? Only one reason, right? Because you were raised to believe in such a god. There is no other reason.

OK, Pascal's Wager, if taken seriously, is so absurd on face value that one could simply stop there. But frankly, this is too much fun to stop short, and this brings us to the important concepts of Salvation/Justification.

4. SALVATION BY HYPROCISY If there is a God, do you truly believe that God would reward you with heaven for living a life that is a total lie? Really?

5. SALVATION BY WAGER OR BETTING. Do you really think you can hedge a bet with an omniscient, all-powerful deity and win the bet? Really? Do you think you can fool God that you really believe in Him if you don't? If God can be fooled, then He is not God. Even Santa Claus would not fall for this.

6. SALVATION BY FEAR. The real reason you are contemplating pretending to believe in such a God is fear of hell, right? So, God will reward all those who live a life of fear and trembling with heaven, and the rest of us who are not so traumatized are punished with hell. Really?

7. JUSTIFICATION BY HATRED. Such a god, who would condemn his own creation, or "children", to eternal torment for simply being the way he created them, (remember you cannot force yourself to believe in such a God, you can only fake it) is truly a god of hatred. And you want to worship and be justified by such a god. Really? Sounds like a false god to me. And that would make you an idolator, and idolators go to hell.

Also, these concepts are not even biblical. (1 John 4:8) Funny how many "Christians" who swear the bible is the word of God, don't think it is important enough to read.

8. While we are being biblical, this concept of hell is not found anywhere in the Old Testament. There are references to Sheol, the Realm of the Dead, which is similar to Hades, the Underworld, of the Ancient Greeks. Some even suspect the Hebrews took this idea from the Ancient Greeks. Christians later superimposed their concept of hell upon Sheol. But where did this truly torturous modern concept of hell in all its agonizing glory really come from? It came from Dante's Inferno. Where did Dante get it from? He got it from Persian Zoroastrian mythology. So, maybe the "Christians" who are preaching this to you are going to burn in hell for preaching Zoroastrianism in the name of Christianity? (Just saying)

9. SALVATION BY POLYTHEISM. Which god should we then worship? It is said that the believer does not believe in 10,000 gods, while the atheist does not believe in 10,001 gods. To take Pascal's Wager seriously you would have to become a polytheist and worship all gods. And while you are at it, how about making an idol to Agnostos Theos, the Unknown God. (Acts 17:23) BTW, polytheists, per Christianity, go to hell, too.

10. I love this one. Note that Pascal's Wager asks what you have got to lose if you fake it for fear's sake? I'll tell you what you have to lose:

A life of honesty, a life of sincerity, a life of authenticity, a life of happiness, and a life that is worth living. If you fake it you will live a life of fear, repression, dishonesty, hypocrisy, and regret, or in other words:

        You will live a life in your own personal hell.

Note: I have no idea why the number eights above get transposed into a smiley face with glasses...but somehow it seems like poetic justice.

OK, if any day science proves the existence of god...I will say "OK, I was mistaken. Next"

Perhaps you can remind people who talk to you like that their God is supposed to be a forgiving and loving one.....therefore, no one - in theory - should end up in hell.

Which one

Let's say, purely hypothetically, that you die, you go and say 'hi' to St Peter, and he decides whether to let you through the pearly gates or send you to the fiery pit. Once again, hypothetically. I'd rather avoid being accused of being a theist again, as has happened on another thread.

I would hope that the judgement would be based on how I'd conducted myself. Whether I'd been kind to others or whether I'd been nasty. I would hope it would be by some sort of reasoning whereby my intentions were the deciding factor. Yes, I upset people when I came out as gay and transgender, but that should be on them, rather than me. I can't think of anything I've ever done that was downright malicious.

I would hope that belief and worship would be a secondary or non consideration. That those who populate the protest lines of Westboro Baptist Church are going straight to the fiery pit for choosing to make life miserable for others. I would hope that non-believers, provided they'd done plenty of good and no actual evil, would be guaranteed a spot in the nice place.

The Pope seems to agree. He's on record as saying that agnostics and atheists have a place in heaven, as long as they lead good lives.

First I tell them that since I don't believe in God, I have no fear of meeting anyone. Second, since they have lived in fear all their lives of upsetting their god and not going to heaven, I feel like I will come out ahead anyway. Third, if they truly believe that only their version of god and their way of worshiping him is the correct way to get into this heaven, that means I would be in the company of the millions of people around the world that believe in other gods or worship in diferent way and their heaven would be severley underpopulated. And lastly, I probably wouldn't want ot hand out with a bunch of people like himself for eternity anyway. Depending on whom I am talking to, I can use one answer or any combination.

Pascal's wager?

It has some explaining to do.

I would pull a Socrates and question the dude as if he were my equal. All too often I hear people talking about God like he’s some supreme being who demands the finest of sacrifices and praises just for creating the universe, but then they will turn around and talk about God like he’s this guy you can talk to and don’t need to be scared of. Why should I be afraid of an ultra being just because he could snap me out of existence? News flash, if I snapped out of existence, I wouldn’t know about it.

I’m not Christian, but I grew up Catholic, so a lot of Catholic stuff has leaked into my morals. If I think of God, I don’t see someone who deserves my praise on a daily basis. If he’s supposed to be a model of the perfect father, he wouldn’t impose rules on people who won’t know if they are legitimate rules until they die. Also if I’m a child of God, shouldn’t I technically be his grandson because my parents are in the same situation?

No, not off track at all!! XD If God does exist, I’d be okay with it. I don’t care where I end up when I die, but I would much rather know that I’m going somewhere than be teased and hoping about where specifically it is I go to.

I'll cross that bridge if I ever come to it!

You cannot loose something that is not real. These religious people want all to join in on their misreable life. If I end up in hell, I will ask for a transfer, my god allows this so nothing to fear.

But there are no gods.

Nah. It's easy to apologize and ask for forgiveness. But until such a time as that proof is presented, I shall remain entirely skeptical by lack of evidence.

If is the operative. All religions rely on IF!

I read an interesting comment by a well known Spanish writer who said if there is a God then great and if there isn't so what? God is said to be forgiving so if you live a reasonable life, don't pull of a mass murder or do lots of evil stuff you are OK and can go to the magic place in the sky called Heaven (that doesn't exsist). If you just die and become dead you won't go anywhere. You will rot in a box or mold away. Better to be burned up and become a bunch of atoms and molecules and join the molecules and atoms of Elvis that are floating around in Space.

There are over 3000 gods being worshipped, or a few gods being worshipped in 3000 different ways by most people and if you don't worship that god or gods in a certain way you will be damn . The Egyptian gods hold the record for time, I guess. The thing is if I wantedto worship a god it would be Odin . He came to rid the world of Frost giants.Jesus came to rid the world of sin.I don't see no Frost giants. The reason some don't believe in odin are the same reson I don't worry about jesus

If there is some kind of Gawd, I will be immensely pleased because after I yell, scream, and swear at "it", I will be able to kick the shit out of "it" & stomp off! Stupid mother%$#&÷@$!

I have had this question put to me a thousand times by christians I used to know. I always ask them in return "What if YOU"RE wrong". They usually rebutt with "I'm not wrong". I say "oh really! How's that?" They say, "well, because the bible says....." I tell them "You're bible is bullshit and you have no proof". That usually ends the discussion. They cannot fathom the idea that THEY have devoted their entire life to a lie and a myth.

I will say that even if the god of the bible is real, as Stephen Fry says, I don't want into heaven, not on "god's" terms because they're abusrd and ridiculous. If all the sign-waving religitards are right, I would much RATHER spend eternity in hell than in heaven with a bunch of jesus worhipping nutcases.

If I die and find myself brought before a god, that god is gonna have a whole lot of explaining to do.

My reply: How do you know there is?

Maybe, if God does exist ( I'm not saying he/she/it does or doesn't), the nature of God as known to mankind was just mankind creating God in OUR image.

If I'm wrong, then I have some serious questions about God's role as a leader!

In the UK a lot of the christian sects no longer believe in hell. They can't reconcile the idea with the loving god they want to worship. They tend to prefer something very vague like 'Those who believe and love god will, in some way, be united with him and their loved ones after death. Those who don't believe won't achieve this'.

Pascal's wager aside. I would not worship the god of Abraham, if I knew for a fact that he is real. The god of the bible is a hateful, vindictive, narcissistic monster.

My question is why would you want to spend eternity praising a creature who is so egotistical he would just as soon torture you for eternity if you didn't.