You remember that wager— trusting in God and His resulting safety versus believing that there is no God, and not "worrying”. Writers have pointed out that the wager seems quite self-serving, that if belief isn’t there it can’t be manufactured. On the other hand, if there is a God, it’s discourteous at best, not to investigate.
One brilliant scientist who has commented (obliquely) on this wager is Richard Dawkins, especially when he was involved in a bus advertising campaign in Britain in 2009. The ad his group were touting said, “THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.” The key word here is “probably”. Dawkins wanted to use the wording, "There is almost certainly no God”, but that still leaves a tiny window of possibility.
Let’s put some probabilities against the two sides of the wager— the ad said “probably” so let’s say 25% “God”: 75% “no god”. Odds of 3:1 are not good!
Let’s up those odds— let’s say 10% “God”: 90% “no god”. Even 9:1 odds are bad odds. Would we give in to Russian roulette?
Up with those odds!— 1% “God”: 99% “no god”. Now we’re talking— 99:1 is pretty good, but remember what is a stake: “nothing, nothing” versus “happiness and peace with God forever” or the flip side of “loneliness and pain apart from Him.”
“Just get on with your life” seems pretty pathetic on that scale. Since the “no god” side of the wager really has no effect on the bettor, it really should be totally ignored. The “God” side has infinite value if it is true. This means that at least 99% of our investigation should be into “God” and everything about Him. No, it should be 100%! We can’t give up until we KNOW!
