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Pascal's Wager and the New ToleranceBY: Jessica Parker | Category: Religion | Submitted: 2010-02-26 10:59:55
Pascal posited his wager to his readers in his "Pensees." In a discussion about determining the existence of God, Pascal determined that because there is no real way to definitively figure out whether or not God exists, it is better to believe in God and live your life according to the highest standards, than to not make a decision or decide not to believe in God and miss out on whatever rewards or outcomes are in store if in fact God does exist. Essentially, Pascal said that you have nothing to lose if you believe in God (whether or not God exists). If you don't believe and it turns out that God does exist, you have everything to lose. Pascal's wager was a breakthrough in the thought processes used for religious decisions. This is true primarily because it relies not on a religious decision at all, but on a logical one. One problem with Pascal's wager is that he doesn't specify which God he is talking about. Because there are various understandings, beliefs, and definitions of and for God, Pascal's wager is only as valid as the God that it is applied to. Christian apologists have responded to this criticism by appealing to Pascal's larger collection of writings. In these, Pascal makes it clear that the only God to which his wager can be applied is the Christian God. Gods of other faiths cannot uphold the wager primarily because of the value for what has recently been coined the "new tolerance." Tolerance is defined by dictionary.com as "a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry." This definition helps us understand the strict definition of the word. The terms "fair, objective, and permissive" indicate that our opinion of another religion or worldview does not define tolerance; instead, it has to do primarily with how we come to our decision about that worldview. Recently, however, the popular definition of tolerance has changed. In our day-to-day lives, when someone says that we should be tolerant of others, they most often mean that we should be accepting of their worldviews as equally valid to our own. The validity of a worldview is the key thing to notice. This point of view makes choosing a faith similar to choosing ice cream; our choice is based on opinion. When we choose our favorite ice cream, instead of saying that "chocolate is the best tasting flavor," what we mean in reality is that "chocolate is the tasting flavor to me." The addition of these last two words makes all the difference. Religions are not all equally valid. If one faith claims exclusivity (as Christianity does), then we can make the following conclusion: either all of the religions are wrong or only one of the religions is right. With this understanding of religious tolerance, truth, and Pascal's wager, it's no wonder that Blaise Pascal believed that the Christian God was the only one who could fulfill his wager. Article Source: http://www.writearticles.org/ About Author / Additional Info: By Jen, http://www.jenhurst.wordpress.com Comments on this article: (0 comments so far)
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