Yes, but religions of the orient, do not actually punish you for not believing in God. There were atheists, agnostics, ... in India, long before they were tolerated in the West.
My interpretation, and Niels Bohr's, is that it doesn't matter if you believe or not, all that matters is that it brings you happiness, and does not cause harm to others.
You don't actually have to believe in it.
Be that as it may, if you do interpolate it to less constricting religions, Pascal's wager does breaks down; but as you do say, it is an argument for an apologetic. I'm happier being an apologetic than to assume I'm rational.
I'm infact an agnostic, if you're inclined to believe me; but all this bashing of scientists for being religious is annoying. There are, things like, the world being created 6k years back, or that there lived a Super-monkey (Ramayana ?), which is plain silly. Superstitions like the one Sanal Edamaruku, also fall into this latter category. Anything that can be disproved by Science and reason, is not to be believed in.
Yes, the Middle ground is vague and ill-defined, but it's the only sane place to be.
My interpretation, and Niels Bohr's, is that it doesn't matter if you believe or not, all that matters is that it brings you happiness, and does not cause harm to others. You don't actually have to believe in it.
Be that as it may, if you do interpolate it to less constricting religions, Pascal's wager does breaks down; but as you do say, it is an argument for an apologetic. I'm happier being an apologetic than to assume I'm rational.
I'm infact an agnostic, if you're inclined to believe me; but all this bashing of scientists for being religious is annoying. There are, things like, the world being created 6k years back, or that there lived a Super-monkey (Ramayana ?), which is plain silly. Superstitions like the one Sanal Edamaruku, also fall into this latter category. Anything that can be disproved by Science and reason, is not to be believed in.
Yes, the Middle ground is vague and ill-defined, but it's the only sane place to be.