I wish to devote a special
section to the enticement called "Pascal's Wager." Many who are
undecided about their religious feelings will have some theme and
variation of "Pascal's Wager" offered up as an allegedly convincing
argument for them to adopt some set of religious beliefs or another. DON'T TAKE THAT BET!
"Pascal's Wager" is usually presented as something like:
"Your only chance of winning eternal happiness is believing, and your only chance of losing it is not believing."
What
those who propose this "bet" do not tell you is the PRICE YOU PAY for
accepting "Pascal's Wager." Let's face it: any bet has a price. The
price you pay for "Pascal's Wager" is that you lose your freedom in
THIS LIFE. If you lose, and there is no eternal life after you die here
on Earth, you have traded your religious freedom for the rest of your
life in return for an empty (and completely unfulfilled) promise.
Remember: the only chance you have of winning the wager is if the
particular religious sect which you choose to believe in turns out to
be the "one true religion." Almost all religious sects believe that
only their followers will be the ones who are eternally "saved." What
do you think your chances are of picking the "right" sect? About zero,
in my humble opinion.
You see, in Book VII, Section A, I point out the following:
Truth = Freedom; Mysticism = Slavery.
When
you accept "Pascal's Wager," you are trading Truth and Freedom for a
life of slavery to the "head mystic" of whatever religious sect you
choose to believe in as a result of accepting "Pascal's Wager." In the
here-and-now, "Pascal's Wager" is popular among the so-called
"Born-Again" Christians, because they need a bunch of believers who
will walk into the voting booths of this country and vote in the
purveyers of their "Anti-Christ" views! They don't care what promises
they make to rope you into their brainwashing sessions, they just care
that you end up seeing things their way. You see how dangerous this can
be? "Pascal's Wager" could end up with your enabling the "Anti-Christ"
to take power here in the USA!
I don't know how much plainer I can make it: just don't take that bet!