International Skeptics Forum - View Single Post - Therapist says if you're an atheist you should lie to your kids about God.

JoeMorgue · 5th January 2020, 04:56 PM

That's the problem with any version of the "Believe in God as a simple cost-benefit analysis" argument going all the way back to Pascal's Wager.

"Which God" and "Believe how?" are not minor side discussions or nitpicks, they are core parts of the argument.

Every religion puts specifics on what God is and how he has to be worshipped. Yes, all of them.

Okay so I want to "hedge my bets" or teach my children to do the same. What do I do? Do I face Mecca, pick a rosary, slaughter a chicken, not eat pork, not eat meat on Friday, get circumcised, not get circumcised, what? And no I can't just do all of them and no I can't not do them either.

"God is this vague, non-picky thing who's going to be happy with any type of worship he gets" is no more logical or self evident then the God who has a specific set of rules to follow.

5th January 2020, 04:56 PM	#99
JoeMorgue Self Employed Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 30,664	That's the problem with any version of the "Believe in God as a simple cost-benefit analysis" argument going all the way back to Pascal's Wager. "Which God" and "Believe how?" are not minor side discussions or nitpicks, they are core parts of the argument. Every religion puts specifics on what God is and how he has to be worshipped. Yes, all of them. Okay so I want to "hedge my bets" or teach my children to do the same. What do I do? Do I face Mecca, pick a rosary, slaughter a chicken, not eat pork, not eat meat on Friday, get circumcised, not get circumcised, what? And no I can't just do all of them and no I can't not do them either. "God is this vague, non-picky thing who's going to be happy with any type of worship he gets" is no more logical or self evident then the God who has a specific set of rules to follow.
	__________________ Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate."