[Mackerel]

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No No No. The two biggest reasons are that other religions might say believing in the Christian God is what sends you TO hell

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That there are other beliefs in no way repudiates the general point. Atheists should be encouraged to examine all of those beliefs and make the "play" that seems most +EV to them. I do realize that this is a very loose analogy.

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and the even stronger refutation that you can't help what you believe and pretending will get you nowhere.


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Okay, I will concede this point. My example was only meant to be illustrative of a concept and was probably not the greatest choice (and besides, it's late and I'm sick!). The real point, is the objective evaluation of the available evidence, since this is potentially a very high-stakes wager. After a meaningful review of the evidence, each will have almost certainly come to a decision to pursue one belief system over the others, even if they still aren't fully convinced one way or the other. Having doubts, questioning God's existence or purposes, and not blindly believing in something just because you were taught it as a child (for reference I was never inside a church except for weddings prior to adulthood) is not a sin as I understand it. Blindly denying without seeking with an open mind, or rejecting evidence because one does not wish to believe is another matter. To the extent, therefore, of intellectually honest examination, you can help what you believe.

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Even Not Ready does.

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I haven't spent much time in this forum before, so I am not familiar with Not Ready's views on this matter. Certainly, Christians disagree on many minutia of doctrine, it is only the major points that join them all together as Christians.

I've really got to go try to get back to sleep now because I may be dying here. If I kick off, I'll try to get conclusive word to you from the other side (assuming I don't just blink out of existence). [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]