You Bet Your Life

DNCall

It is said that life is a gamble.

When you join a religion, you are wagering some portion of your life. You may choose not to risk too much. A nominal association with a low-demand religion is a safe bet—minimum outlay with the hope of an afterlife. But, if you want to go all in, I would recommend Jehovah’s Witnesses. Once you have accepted and embraced their beliefs, they demand total sacrifice, submission and unquestioning obedience to Jehovah God and His earthly organization. It is a case of forfeiting a comfortable life at present for the possibility of having a future unending life on a paradise earth, or for a relative few, immortality in heaven.

When religion is not a part of your life, you simply live your life. You are not conforming your life to the demands of an alleged higher power in order to experience an afterlife.

People of faith argue that atheists, humanists and the like have no hope for the future. Not true.

For those without religion, there can be hope and (better still) planning for the future of their present life—the only life that is certain. Absent religion, one can still hope for an afterlife—something that, for all we know, may naturally occur. For yet others, like physicist Stephen Hawking, an afterlife is not desired. Hawking was content with the richness of inquiry and discovery he experienced during his lifetime. It was enough for him.

Perhaps it is more correct to say that life offers opportunities to gamble rather than to say life is a gamble. Most try to navigate these opportunities knowingly and wisely. However, going all in with your entire life, given the stakes and alternatives, is not a smart bet. More to the point, it is a grievous waste of life.

the girl next door

I never joined a religion. I was compelled to be a part of one from birth by my parents. My baptism was not a choice, it was compulsory if I wanted a happy family life. Studies show that children generally follow the faith beliefs of parents.

Fortunately I was part of a religion where youth frequently leave the religion.

I was atheist since birth. There is no other explanation. I never believed. Ever.

Like Hawking my inquiries were my devotion, inquiries into all religions and religious books to validate my gut feelings. I wasn’t disappointed.

Am I gambling with my life? Should I safely claim agnosticism? No. I live, I attempt to do good for myself and others, not out of fear or for some devine reward, I am at total peace that when I die that is it.

The gamble has already been made. I was one of a billion sperm to reach the egg. I won the lottery. Everything else is gravy.

jp1692

This sounds like a refutation of Pascal's wager -- or some version of it. However he pondered the pros and cons of mere belief in God, which is clearly NOT the same as membership in and obedience to some man-made religion with the corresponding obligation to observe all of it's rules and rituals.

And I doubt he would have ever endorsed membership in a high-control, authoritarian cult as ante worth placing on the gaming table of life. That would definitely be a huge mis-stake (pun intended).

waton

Absent religion, one can still hope for an afterlife—something that, for all we know, may naturally occur. DNcall

Everything else occurs naturally, and there is an unending variety, so, who is wt, or the various clergy to claim that they are purveyors, monopoly merchants of it?

It is Monopolies that do not occur naturally.

StarryNight9

@the girl next door

Me too!! I tried to "believe" when I was growing up, but it was never genuine. I eventually discovered the name for how I felt... atheist.

Tameria2001

It took me a long time to finally get my head on straight, I'll give you a hint, it was only a couple years ago that I finally was able to get past the whole religious stuff. I was raised as a JW since I was 4 (mom fell for the whole 1975 lie), I got baptized in 1987, and left it in 2001. Yes, I will admit I too fell for their spill hook line and sinker, mainly because I had total faith in my mom. When I left it, I immediately started attending another church, which I don't regret, because they helped me to get quite a bit of the JW garbage out of my head. Went there for a while, and then I ended up moving to another location. The thing about going to churches, even the mainstream churches, after a while they all felt just the same as the JWs, and that was the feeling of them trying to take total control of my life. This was something I vowed to myself to never again allow what the JWs did to me, to ever happen again.

I now believe in spirituality, and not religion. Spirituality is the spiritual connection between the individual and God. Religion, on the other hand, has done nothing but harm, and to control the masses. I mean how many people have been killed or harmed in the name of religion? How many wars or terrorist actions have happened and religion was right in the middle of it? I don't expect an answer, it's just how I feel.