why do believers say "its better to be safe then sorry" when you say "there is no evidence of god"?

Yes, yes. We're all aware of Pascal's Wager out here.

The fact is, hardly anyone on this site says it as a means of supporting their mindset and none of my evangelical Christian friends say it. All of them understand that, not only is it a poor argument for the faith, but it's also a pretty shaky foundation on which to * build * a faith.

To top it all off, if God truly knows our heats, He understands who truly believes and who is simply "hedging their bets".

It's Pascal's wager

There are a couple of ways to discuss it: the beliver always assumes that he/she has chosen the right god. But they'll be in just as terrible position if they chose Jesus and it turns out Zeus is the one true god.

And they don't exactly lose nothing: they waste their life beseeching a non-existent entity; they grovel and fawn to nothing; they waste money and time on worshipping when - if they were genuinely good people - they could be making a difference to the world.

The humanist wager is a better one: live a good and decent life, then if you find that there is a benevolent god when you die, your conduct will speak for itself; if there isn't then you've made life better.

Look up Pascal's wager on wikipedia.

It's the stupid premise that out of all the choices, it's better to

believe to avoid burning in hell for all eternity.

Basically pascal plays the part of a mean casino boss who

is telling you how to play. So in reality it should not be called

a wager. It should be Pascal's forced opinion down your throat.

I agree! If they are wrong they just wasted the one life they got fearing an imaginary place and doing good just to get a reward that's never coming to them. They think they're going to get something so much better in heaven so they don't care as much about enjoying their life here and doing good for good's sake (the real reward). I think that's something to lose!

Hell doesn't exist, it is translated into the literal meaning, "Grave".

Ha! 99% of Christians, maybe even more, don't know that fact!

"Hell" was coined by the catholic church to scare people, to get more followers, and thus, more money and power. OH- and Satan? That's the literal translation of "Somebody/thing causing trouble for you.

Because if we are wrong believing was a good thing for others and was no loss to us.

when you don't believe(not because you didn't know) but because you knew

and hardened your heart you could lose everything.

(Pascal never read Augustine)

Because its true. It makes mathematical sense to believe in God, because if you are right, then you have heaven to look forward to, and if you're wrong, you would be at the same point as if you didn't believe in God anyway.

Basically, there is no advantage to not believing in God. :)

And I know its frustrating, and that there are many arguements against God, for example why does he let innocent people die, but you just have to respect people's views.

who says there is no evidence of God (capitalized)? It's everywhere.