Jesus = several persons ?

[sean miguel]

"His celebrated "wager" puts it in hucksterish form: what have you got to lose? If you believe in God and there is a god, you win. If you believe in him and you are wrong-so what?

Other than going through persecution including being put to death for that belief, so what?

 

[Rattrap]

I think Atheism is a leap of faith also

That's equivalent to saying not believing in the tooth fairy is a leap of faith.

As far as religion I'd rather be unsure than certain as the journey of learning continues and evolves. The staunch believers in my family are the first to throw a fit about being questioned about their faith. They appear to be more vulnerable than unshakable.

Good observation. Offense - in many realms, not just the religious - is often a sign of weakness in belief, a fear that the offense could be true.

"His celebrated "wager" puts it in hucksterish form: what have you got to lose? If you believe in God and there is a god, you win. If you believe in him and you are wrong-so what? I once wrote a response to this cunning piece of bet-covering, which took two forms. The first was a version of Bertrand Russell's hypothetical reply to the hypothetical question: what will you say if you die and are confronted with your maker? His response? "I should say, Oh God, you did not give us enough evidence." My own reply : Imponderable Sir, I presume from some if not all of your many reputations that You Might prefer honest and convinced unbelief to your hypothetical and self-interested affectation of faith or the smoking tributes of bloody altars. But I would not count on it."
-Christopher Hitchens. 'God is not Great'

Great quote. Here's one from Richard Dawkins along the same lines:

But what if you choose the wrong god to believe in? What if you get up there and it’s not Jehovah but Baal? [laughs] And even if you pick the right god, why should God be so obsessive about you believing in him? Plus, any god worth its salt is going to realize you’re feigning.

 

[Straight Shooter]

I think Atheism is a leap of faith also

I'll give you another Hitchens quote:

"Actually, the "leap of faith" is an imposture. As he himself(Soren Kierkegaard) pointed out, it is not a "leap" that can be made once and for all. It is a leap that has to go on and on being performed, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary. This effort is actually too much for the human mind, and leads to delusions and manias. Religion understands perfectly well that the "leap" is subject to sharply diminishing returns, which is why it often doesn't in fact rely on "faith" at all but instead corrupts faith and insults reason by offering evidence and pointing to confected "proofs" ."

 

[ChefChiTown]

There is only one Jesus. And, nobody fucks with him.

 

[Johan]

 

[zeeblofowl_1969]

Jesus = fairy tale gone bad