From: bruce@liv.ac.uk (Bruce Stephens) Subject: Re: Why do people become atheists? Organization: Centre for Mathematical Software Research, Univ. Liverpool Lines: 31 >>>>> On 11 May 93 06:38:48 GMT, Fil.Sapienza@med.umich.edu (Fil Sapienza) said: > In article maxwell c muir, > muirm@argon.gas.organpipe.uug.arizona.edu writes: >>The ambiguity of religious beliefs, an unwillingness to take >>Pascal's Wager, > I've heard this frequently - what exactly is Pascal's wager? Either A: God exists, or B: He doesn't. We have two choices, either 1: Believe in God, or 2: Don't believe in God. If A is true, then 2 brings eternal damnation, whereas 1 brings eternal life. If B is true, then 1 has minor inconvenience compared with 2. Thus, it is rational to believe in God. This has numerous flaws, covered in the FAQ for alt.atheism, amongst other places. >> Do I sound "broken" to you? > I don't know. You point out that your mother's treatment upset you, > and see inconsistencies in various religions. I'm not sure if that > constitutes broken-ness or not. It certainly consititutes > disillusionment. Disillusionment strikes me as an excellent reason for stopping believing in something. -- Bruce CMSR, University of Liverpool Religion is myth-information