Waiting for Faith: A Propos Pascal's Wager

          When I was searching for a diagram to illustrate Pascal's Wager, a lot of unexpected, and most welcome! results turned up. I enjoyed myself a lot and would like to share that (some of the pictures are small, so just click on them to get a better view). With my two or three readers......... Sources will be given in the post scriptum.

I do like this one, though it does not really capture the essence of my critique of the Wager. As I've already said, I do not believe that God rewards cynical faith-based calculations. And which God should one gamble on anyway? Which brings us to the next one:

As the lady says, something Blaise (Pascal) overlooked, how to know which God to gamble on? There are literally thousands of different religious views out there, so how does one now which one is correct? Christianity wasn't even the first major religion; one might as well believe in Greek or Norse mythology (or in the Flying Spaghetti Monster! though that one is contemporary)! I do love the way Richard Dawkins arguments. But now, let's look at some motivational posters:

Whomever made the one to the left, and for that matter the one to the right, is right (and hello confusing sentence!): It is inspiring! Oh! and I love the way I can now reread some cartoons and understanding the pretty deep and smart reference to the Gambit. Calvin and Hobbes, and XKCD ftW(!):

I also found some that might seem a bit offensive to Christians (and atheists, for that matter). I will let the curious search out the most offensive for themselves, though I do believe these two seem innocent enough:

And then a little bit of good-old criticism of bigotry:

And I simply adore this one ("Publie, je ne le hais point!"):

Myth busted! I will terminate this article with what I believe is what Pascal's Wager should have been, if Blaise had been better versed in religious views. It is really brilliantly thought of, and though it is amusing, it should also be lauded for its verity. I realise now that I should have included this in my previous article:

Ps. My sources cited chronologically:

1. http://www.freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Pascal's_Wager
2. http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2008/09/25/pascals-wager-in-cartoon-terms/
3. http://thethinkable.com/home.php/2009/01/27/gambling-with-god
4. http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/okay-athiest-wouldnt-you-rather-live-a-good-life-doing-what-god-says-to-do-and-believe-in-him-and/question-535535/?page=4
5. http://unreasonablefaith.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/ch090204.gif
6. http://xkcd.com/525/
7. http://www.smbc-comics.com/
8. http://fleasnobbery.blogspot.com/2009/02/pascals-wager.html
9. http://www.thadguy.com/comic/godless-atheists/251/
10. http://abstrusegoose.com/258
11.  http://thechaoscosmos.com/