Wait on God or fix it ourselves?

by joelbear 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  joelbear

  Several times in the past few days posters have posed the question:

  Is there any hope for mankind and his screwed up governments other than god stepping in?

  Its an interesting question, the answer to which has grave consequences for the human race.

  If there is a god, we are powerless over his decision making process. He will do what he wants when he wants to do it. Indeed everything that mankind as a whole does is irrelevant since god would be able to repair any damage done and start us off anew on a happy road. So, if there is a god, the human race will be saved and eventually live happily ever after.

  Great, if true.

  However, if not true, and mankind continues to go smashing along, ripping the trees from their roots, polluting the air, multiplying and continuosly destroying the ecosphere, with the great majority of mankind saying, oh, god will fix it one day (I literally heard Jerry Falwell say that one time, mind boggling) and then there is no god to fix it, then at some point there's gonna be a great big Uh Oh! floating out there.

  So, Pascal's wager turns out to be a double edged sword for humanity as a whole. Waiting on god to make everything nice nice may not be a wise long term strategy.

  Joel
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  funkyderek

  So, Pascal's wager turns out to be a double edged sword for humanity as a whole. Waiting on god to make everything nice nice may not be a wise long term strategy.

  Agreed, Joel. In fact, Pascal's Wager when thought through properly leads me to the conclusion that in the absence of certainty either way, it is better NOT to believe in god. If there is no god, then at least the one life we get will not have been wasted waiting for the next one. If there is a god and he's fair, then he would not punish me for not believing in him when he gave me no reason to believe. (On the contrary, he might punish me if I pretended to believe.) If there is a god and he's unfair, then there's nothing I can do anyway. I'm entirely at his mercy. So it turns out that the most intellectually honest thing for me to believe should also be the safest.

  --
  Those who can induce you to believe absurdities can induce you to commit attrocities - Voltaire
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  Martini

  Hi joelbear,
  Perhaps your topic should have said...Wait on God, only to fix it ourselves.
  As humans, often we manage to get to the 'edge of a situation' and just before the fall we 'fix' our ways to where we are a little safer! Many crisis situations great and small, personal and universal begin and end this way, so it seems! Religious people add the 'God' thing into the mix.

  So to answer your question JB, I suppose you and your friend Pascal are correct ...'God the repair man', is only a stratigic figment of our survival instinct.

  Martini,
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  OUTLAW

  Hey Joel,I couldn`t agree more!...OUTLAW
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  joelbear

  'God the repair man', is only a stratigic figment of our survival instinct.

  Joelbear says:

  Actually my take is slightly different. I think the concept of the supernatual or life outside the natural came about because life, in the end, is the highest thing of value, therefore we want as much of it as we can get, so as soon as we evolved imagination, we imagined god.

  See Cessation Theory on my lifeism page. ...http:/www.joelbear.com/lifeism.htm