Originally Posted by
Heavy Sleeper
I think it's worth pointing out here that you keep using the Pascal's Wager argument, knight31. It basically states that between theists and atheists, atheists have everything to lose if they are wrong in their opinions, whereas theists are safe in whatever case. This argument was thoroughly debunked a long time ago. Firstly, the question must be asked, how is one to know which religion is the true religion? There have been thousands of religions throughout history, with thousands of different interpretations of God/gods and the afterlife, many of which contradict each other. If an atheist were to simply pick one doctrine out of the many and follow that particular set of beliefs, there is a distinct possibility that they could have chosen wrong. If I choose to adopt Christianity as my religion and I later find out that Islam happens to be the one true religion, then I'm just as screwed as any atheist. Furthermore, Pascal's Wager rests on the assumption that the God or gods in charge wouldn't be able to tell that I'm just following their religion out of self-preservation and not true belief. Pretending to believe a certain doctrine is entirely different from truly believing that doctrine, and thus would surely not be counted as belief at all by an all-knowing deity.
The assertion that theists stand to lose nothing in this life is also open to challenge. Many theists spend a significant chunk of their time on this planet praying, attending masses and poring over religious texts (among other things). Precious time that would all have been wasted if it turns out they were wrong. Non-religious people are not encumbered with this burden and are free to spend their time pursuing their own interests in life. It also has to be noted that intellectual integrity means a lot to many atheists. These are people who believe reason, rationality and the pursuit of truth to be the most important values we can have. Asking them to abandon what reason and evidence has shown to them to be true in favour of unsubstantiated opinions about the world, simply in the hope of saving themselves, would not be a welcome premise to most.