So Atheists what do you think about this argument from Voltaire?

Question

Voltaire was a great french poet and Philosopher, I don't know if his books were translated in English but he once took the question of belief in GOD down this way to try to convince Non-Believers.
He said: When it comes to weither or not GOD exist, there are only two possibilities: Either he exists or he doesn't. Then he said when it comes to believing in GOD there are only two possibilities, you either believe or you don't. That takes us down to for possibilities:
1) You don't believe and he does not exits:
You loose: Nothing
You win: Nothing
2] You don't believe and he exists:
You loose: Everything
You win: Nothing
3) You believe and he does not exist:
You loose : Nothing
You gain: Nothing
4) You believe and he exits:
You loose: Nothing
You win: Everything

So he basically said if you think there is a chance, no matter how thiny it is that there is a GOD, you best bet will be to believe in him and the only way you can loose it not believing.

I wanna mention that Voltaire had no doubt about the Existance of GOD, he was just trying as hard as he could to open the eyes of blinded Atheist.....
I think since atheists are all about logic, this is a great logic to think of.....
So do you know at 100% that there is no GOD?
I have no doubt about it bcauz I know GOD is more real than my Existance.......

Answer 1

Pascal's wager.



If God doesn't exist, then we've wasted and will continue to waste enormous resources chasing a false idea. Every war fought over religious differences, every life lost, every church built, every dollar spent, every preacher, every rule, every single thing we've spent precious human energy on in an attempt to glorify or honor or defend God will have been in vain.



If God does exist, and He's the horrible creation of the Bible and Qur'an, then I will go to Hell, but only I will suffer.



So... Which is the more costly error?

Answer 2

The options are actually:



1) You don't believe no God exists:

You loose: Nothing

You win: All the time, money, etc., that would have been wasted in worship

2) You don't believe a God exists:

You loose: Maybe something, maybe nothing, depending on the God

You win: Maybe something, maybe nothing, depending on the God and if you picked the right one

3) You believe and a God does not exist:

You loose : All the time, money and opportunities you gave up for the sake of worship

You gain: Nothing

4) You believe and a God exists but it isn't the one you choose:

You loose: Depends on the God

You win: Probably nothing

5) You believe and happen to win the lottery by picking the right God out of the thousands of possibilities:

You win: Depends on the God



Voltaire is guilty of a false dichotomy by assuming there is only one possible deity, just like Pascal.

Answer 3

That was Blaise Pascal's view, not voltaire's. Look under the term "Pascal Wager".



This wager assume a few things ....



A. There is only one god and this is the real god. (Which is not the case today, looking into the world, there are gods of different creed and races everywhere)



B. This god work in the same principle as the christian god, which is not the case.



C. You can believe in the wrong god the works with the christian's god principle, mean freaking jealous.



See? Take out all the assumptions and your wager loses.

Answer 4

It's actually Pascals wager, not Voltaire and it is refutable on every single level.



First of all it assumes a false dichotomy that either the Christian God exists or there is no God which, as I said, is a false dichotomy. Thousands and thousands of Gods have been created by man and you are as likely to face any of those as you are Jesus. Beyond that, there is no way of knowing what this "God" would want or how he would want you to live your life. He could only reward musicians, he could only reward artists, he could only reward redheads, etc.



Secondly it assumes that it is possible to truly believe something out of convenience which, of course, is not possible. For example, try to convince yourself now (and truly believe it) that Australia doesn't exist.



Third, it assumes that God is stupid and would not see through this false faith.



Fourth, the assertion that you lose "nothing" is inherently false. By worshiping a deity which may not exist, you are wasting time (which is a precious resource especially if you're wrong).

Answer 5

I believe that is also called Pascal's Wager and has been proven wrong looooong ago.



1)Presumes their is your god or no god. What is Baal is the real "god"? He will be a lot more pissed at Christians than atheists

2)You can lose a lot if he doesn't exist. What about all the time spent in church and income tithed?

3)An all-knowing being would see through this charade of believing just to save your own skin.



I could go on but this should be good



EPIC FAIL



edit: Here is another, more realistic quote from Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities"

And while Voltaire did believe in God, he was a staunch opponent of organized religion

Answer 6

It's as pointless as "Pascals Wager" because both assume that "belief" can be turned on and off like the lights. It also ignores the fact that many religions are proprietary. It's not enough to believe in God, according to Christians, if you're a Muslim. Or a Jew. Or any other non Christian religion. There is even debate over what Christians need to do to ensure entry into heaven.

Answer 7

Pascval's Wager has an error no one has mentioned yet; it assumes that "Believing" is necessary and sufficient for getting into Heaven. That ain't what Jesus taught. You also have to DO all the things that Jesus commanded his followers to do. Such as: Following the entire Law of Moses, down to the last Iota. Such as: selling everything you own and using the money to do good works. Such as: Practicing strict nonviolent pacifism. Such as: abstaining from all sin, even in your thoughts.



Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me `Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? 47 Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."



See http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/JesusEthics.htm

Answer 8

So you should believe, just in case it's true. But then what do you do when you just don't believe, when your heart just isn't invested in it, do you fake it? But wouldn't he know you were faking it? Because he is all knowing, right, he can see what lies in the heart of a man. Would he take your false faith as legitimately as he would the genuine faith of a true believer?



I love the way it was put, it makes me smile when I read it, But he is missing something very important. That you can't fake it, you can't just give it lip service, you have to actually invest fully to the faith that there is a God in order to gain everything. And for someone who doesn't buy into it to just go along with the crowd, just in case it's true, would be so wrong that even if it turns out to be true I don't think they would gain anything anyway. Because a God would know what truly lies in your heart, and that can't be faked.

Answer 9

Will you people please spell "lose" correctly. It makes you look foolish.



Let's look at the more interesting (and, according to you, important) question: Does God exist or not?



How does this argument, in ANY way, address this question? It does not. You offer absolutely no evidence to support your position, and you expect this to win people over?



"...I don't know if his books were translated in English..."

Oh my...



"So do you know at 100% that there is no GOD?"

Nope. And I never made that claim. I'd accuse you of making a straw man argument, but I think what's really going on is that you simply don't understand the issue at hand.



"I know GOD is more real than my Existance"

Incorrect. You do not know that.

Answer 10

When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life. - Sigmund Freud



If the Devil doesn’t exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness. - Fedor Dostoevsky.



We have just enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love one another. - Jonathan Swift.



A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. Friedrich Nietzsche



A certain sense of cruelty towards oneself and others is Christian; hatred of those who think differently; the will to persecute. Hatred of mind, of pride, courage, freedom, libertinage of mind, is Christian; hatred of the sense, of the joy of the senses, of joy in general is Christian. Friedrich Nietzsche:



"Religion is leading us to the edge of something terrible... Half of the American population is eagerly anticipating the end of the world. This kind of thinking provides people with no basis to make the hard decisions we have to make." - Mel Konner, ecologist, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia



"If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian." Mark Twain



"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies." Thomas Jefferson



"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." Thomas Jefferson

Answer 11

Pascal's wager again. This gets brought up on Y!A about 10 times a week.

Answer 12

That was Pascal, not Voltaire.



[edit:] If God doesn't exist and you believe in him, then you lose time, which happens to be one of the most precious things in existence.

Answer 13

this is far and away the most creative pascal fail i have ever seen. unfortunately i am tired of explaining the ways this logic runs of the track so please just go read the wiki page about arguments against pascal, apply appropriately to this and then remind yourself that i have a couple more that aren't on there

Answer 14

There are 0 first rate, no longer to indicate sturdy, LOGICAL arguments. no longer a unmarried one. There are compelling (to 3 human beings) EMOTIONAL arguments. Cuz hi who desires to give up to exist? and that i in my view theory I felt this 'element'...

Answer 15

Everyone has already told you, but I had jump in and have my fun...



This wasn't Voltaire, it was Pascal.



And Pascal's Wager is an egregiously flawed argument.

Answer 16

Pascals wager coming from a great man is still a logical fallacy

Answer 17

I can not force myself to believe so it doesn't matter what the outcomes are.



And what if God like atheists more?



And believers lose time and energy and sometimes knowledge.



Are you trying to misspell words?

Answer 18

Pascal's wager my dear. *drinks merrily*



Now tell me dear- which god should I believe in and devote myself to? There are thousands you know, and some don't like you worshiping other gods.

Answer 19

god isn't real becuase evolution has been proven

and god hasn't

there

and if he does exist and i loose everything then oh well sucks for me

Answer 20

What if god, if he exists, only saves nonbelievers because they had the nerve to use logic and reason which he provided.

Answer 21

Pascal, not Voltaire.



This ranks as one of the most ignorant posts I've ever encountered.

Answer 22

That's not Voltaire, it's Pascal's Wager. And it's stupid.

Answer 23

Substitute Zeus for God, and then ask a Christian this same question.

Answer 24

Pascal's Wager has been refuted for a billionth time already.

Answer 25

Pascal still sucks.

Answer 26

I noticed you had some responses but no answers to your question. Maybe they don't have any.

Answer 27

There's one born every minute.

Answer 28

really? you wanna try pascal's wager?