Belief in God (Abrahamic) is Logical

Hello, and welcome to debate.org. This is a form of Pascal’s Wager, which has been well refuted. You have not actually argued that it is logical to believe in God. That there are potential benefits to a belief has nothing to do with whether a belief is logical. You have made no logical arguments for God It is not logical to believe until you find evidence or a logical argument that reasonably concludes there is a God. Until you do the belief is not logical even if the belief provides potential benefits by hedging your bets. Problems with Pascal’s Wager: You are assuming there are only two options There is no telling how many religions have gone extinct and there are currently around 42,000 distinct religions [9]. In recorded history there have been hundreds, even thousands of God’s. This site lists only some and I counted around 100 gods that begin with the letter ‘A’[1]. Even among devout followers of a single religion there are many versions that contradict each other. There are around 41,000 [2] denominations of Christianity and 73 distinct sects of Islam [3]. Egypt is now predominantly Muslim but for 3000 years they practiced a polytheistic religion and there are many God’s that are no longer worshipped [5]. This is also true of the Celts [7] who are now largely Christian and the ancient Greeks [8]. Choose a country, look into their history and you will likely find several Gods. It is not a choice between belief and disbelief in one single God. If it were even possible to force a belief it would take a great deal of effort to research all the possible options and new religions are invented all the time. Look into Cargo Cults, Scientology and Mormonism. There are additional requirements for entrance into heaven beyond belief Core requirements of many versions of Islam are that you must worship Allah and accept Muhammad as a prophet [4] and Muslims do not accept that Jesus is necessary for salvation. Christians do not Accept Muhammad as a prophet or worship Allah. According to Christianity you must receive salvation from Jesus. Acts 7:11-12 states, “Jesus is, ‘the stone you builders rejected... Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Jews typically reject Jesus as the Messiah, do not worship Allah and reject Muhammad as a prophet. Even these three versions of the Abrahamic God are completely incompatible. By practicing one religion you violate the commands of the other risking hell. Since there are so many Gods by accepting one religion you are statistically more likely to anger a God then please one. You frame religion as costing nothing Each religion has a specific code of conduct and additional behavior requirements that take a lot of time and energy to learn and practice. The bible is around 1700 pages and is difficult to understand and practice which led to the 41,000 denominations. Many religions have rules that prohibit normal sexual behavior and some, such as Judaism, have detailed dietary restrictions. Muslims often pray five times a day and fast from food and water for the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. Religions are a way of life and adopting one religion requires a lot of study and dedication. Joining one religion is very costly and requires a lot of energy and discipline to follow. If this is the single life you have then all this time is wasted. Why are you convinced that belief is a matter of will? Even if I agreed with you, how would you suggest that non-theists believe? You have in no way proven that it is possible to force yourself to believe. How would someone with a background of religious indoctrination be able to readopt these beliefs that they have carefully considered and rejected. You are assuming that you can will yourself to believe something but this is counter intuitive and is a claim you will need to prove. If someone claims to believe without being legitimate how would this please God? Jeremiah 17:10 describes the Abrahamic God, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Are you suggesting that God would be pleased if I pretend to believe in him as a form of insurance? If God is willing to punish me forever because I don’t believe, what would he do if I lied to avoid hell? Your argument can be used to support many, in fact, an infinite number of religious claims Your argument supports any religion that commits this sort of blackmail. Agree to do this and you get an infinite reward, refuse and you will be punished forever. An argument that works for an infinite number of possible conclusions is not an argument that can be used to support any conclusion. Religions all use the same standards of proof Please correct me if I am wrong but there are no sound logical arguments or evidence for any kind of God. All religions use some version of faith to support their validity so one religion is as good as the next. This is equally true of all extinct religions. Since religions use the same standard of evidence and contradict each other it is logical to withhold belief until sound logical arguments and evidence are found for one particular religion. - You argue that there are potential benefits to a belief in God, which does not support your resolution. Not only that but there are no such benefits to a belief in the Abrahamic God. It’s not possible to believe on cue and if you could, following one single God would only offend the thousands of other possible Gods. [1] http://machineslikeus.com... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] http://www.real-islam.org... [4] http://en.wikipedia.org... [5] http://en.wikipedia.org... [7] http://en.wikipedia.org... [8] http://en.wikipedia.org... [9] http://www.adherents.com...