An atheist has nothing to gain if they are right, and everything to lose if they are wrong. While a Christian has everything to gain if they are right, and nothing to lose if they are wrong.
Dberrymanal1, there are several responses to Pascal’s wager. My favorites are the Saganesque “Not only is there nothing to be gained by believing an untruth, but there is everything to lose when we sacrifice the indispensable tool of reason on the altar of superstition.” – Freedom from religion foundation;
“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.” – Thomas Jefferson;
“And what if we picked the wrong religion? Every week, we’re just making God madder and madder!” – Homer J. Simpson
Move to Wisconsin, Calvin. Even Atheists get snowbound here. I used to be a Christian. Then I went through a Wisconsin winter. No God would do that to a human being.
jrbj are you kidding? I used to live in Wisconsin and thanked God every day for the snow. Love it! Live in upstate New York now and even though we have it, I want more.
As to the atheist question, I guess we’ll all have to wait and see. But it behooves everyone on all sides of that question to respect those on the other sides (and everywhere inbetween) because each of the many sides of the discussion about whether God exists and what God is like can be held by reasonable people. The most pointless thing of all is to point to others and say, “You’re wrong!”
As for me, I believe in God but have long held that it is those who love who will be with God in eternity (since God is love), regardless of their faith here.
I’ve been knocking on heaven’s door for several years now, with no answer. Either nobody’s home…or they don’t want my company.
But, I think we all sometimes try to bargain with God, even for petty things like Calvin is doing. The King is under no requirement to give an audience–or answer– to his subjects. In some cultures, if a person approached the king uninvited, he was immediately killed.
An atheist has nothing to gain if they are right, and everything to lose if they are wrong. While a Christian has everything to gain if they are right, and nothing to lose if they are wrong.
~~~
That’s right. As for the snow, we’ve had plenty of it the past couple of weeks. I’d be glad for Calvin to come up here and haul it all back to wherever he lives.
Snow I don’t mind, it’s after it thaws a bit & refreezes so it becomes ice. that I hate, especially when the people in charge don’t spread the salt. to get rid of it.
I woke this morning and looked out my window to see we had got 12” short of a foot of snow here in Southen New Mexico. But it was 15 so I know I’ll have to break the cows water again…
cdward:
I live in upstate New York too and we’ve got a foot of snow here now. The time I don’t like the snow is when I have about a foot or more on the car mixed with ice to clear off. The other time is when I’m stuck in “white-out” conditions driving on our winding country roads. I do enjoy having great snow ball fights, building snow forts and snowpeople, and making snow angels and the fresh cool smell when walking in a light snowstorm. I love it when it’s frosty and the snow looks like it’s covered in diamonds as it reflects the sunlight. Right now we’re in a “cold snap” and it’s 10:00 AM and -3 degrees outside right now. A good day to stay cuddled up with a blanket on the couch with a loved one watching DVD’s or ordering a movie on the on-demand cable channel.
oh, THAT is convincing!— a bible quote that says youre a fool if you don’t believe in god….that’s like a company t that quotes it’s own hired actors to claim their product is better….
here is a couple of dusies:
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations … then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.
blind faith, is that like blind justice. I have seen how blind justice works in the court rooms and I am not convinced the legal system is either blind or just.
So blind faith seems like it would follow a similar pattern.
Good for you, nighthawks - I still love what George Carlin said about religion, so I think I’ll quote him one more time:
“Religion easily has the greatest bulls**t story ever told. Think about it, religion has actually convinced people that there’s an INVISIBLE MAN…LIVING IN THE SKY…who watches every thing you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten special things that he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever ‘til the end of time…but he loves you.”
The only reason my post yesterday was so long was because I gave the background to the comparison I used. Since you made it clear that it was too much for you to comprehend, I have gone back and edited it down to the pertinent parts.
Mocking is a form of humor, I will give you that… but it is a mean spirited form with a hostile attitude.
An insult phrased in a humorous manner is still an insult.
You can of course, make such posts if you wish, but don’t expect to do so without getting called on it.
Even most religious people must agree that the greatest gift God gave us is the ability to think, question and reason. That ability has been the source of all human development and sets us apart from all other (known) creatures.
So if a person knowingly puts aside this gift and gives in to blind faith (even if it be faith in God himself) then it is an insult to God. To truly honor God, you MUST question everything, use logical reasoning, and then reach your own conclusions.
i dont understand why calvin loves snow so much
it drives me insane w/ the shoveling and it getting in the way when i wanna do something outside for once
idli
Where I’m from when the cold front hit we had very little snow but very bitter temps. This week we will have a warm front.
When we had snow around Christmas wasn’t that much thankfully.
Reads like alot of people don’t believe in a higher power. Makes me wonder if they live by the comic strip. Religion has its purpose in an peoples lives if doesn’t work for you just leave others alone and be happy with your comics.
I do believe but do not walk a fanatic line nor preach to others, I just hold my head high and struggle through life with my family and friends.
You athiest out there do more preaching than any other adhoc religion. Ha athiest preacher preaching to others that there way of life makes more sense.
Here where I live, we only get about three or four inches of snow, and it only snows once or twice every winter. Every time it snows, I always thank God for his perfect, cold, icy present.
1) Calvin is a cartoon character, a caricature of childish thinking. The strip is an analogy, and - as someone once said - you can’t make an analogy walk on all fours.
2) Re. George Carlin quote. God knows we can’t keep the commandments because we have already rejected Him. Thus He has condemned us already. His love is shown in that He gave Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, to take that condemnation on Himself so that we do not have to. But we have to believe that “good news” to be true.
3) @jtcwww and peterpunn. We fundamentalists have always been there. God is a being with reason and a God of relationship. He created us to have a relationship with Him. Where that has been expressed in human culture, great progress has been made.
Blind faith is when you believe in something with no proof of it’s existance. Therefore believing in God is not the same as having a blind faith because if you choose to see it, there is proof everywhere of God’s existance. I have seen with my own eyes a man with a seriosly injured ankle get prayed over and then take off his brace and all the wrappings that had been put on and walk across the room with no problem. That was not blind faith.
cdward said,
“As for me, I believe in God but have long held that it is those who love who will be with God in eternity (since God is love), regardless of their faith here.”
“Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the father, but by me.”
John 14:6
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
You may choose to believe the Bible or not, but it says what it says very plainly..
nighthawks said,
“ah yes, the merciful god, indeed”
God makes the rules. If God is love, and God is good, He has his reasons for what he does. If you disobey what God has determined should or shouldn’t be done, expect the consequences.
I trust that God knows what he is doing. Since God has the power to create the vast and magnificent universe and holds it all together, I have to trust that there is a marvelous ‘method to his madness’.
“What are we, just a couple specks of nothing…”
Billy Bigelow (from Carousel)
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Colossians 1:17
This refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
@Ushindi,
George Carlin is dead. Ask him (if you can), what he would like to say from beyond the grave.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Hebrews 9:27
I’ll take my chances with the God of the Bible, rather than with a blasphemous foul-mouthed comedian. How funny is he now?
The fact that the universe is here affirms the existence of God. It’s either God or evolution. Take your choice. I believe evolution is impossible, but the atheist must believe in it anyway because it’s the only alternative to God.
Every now and then, someone says something to the effect that it’s only a comic, but the comic brings out life situations. We discuss such things and reach our own conclusions or confusions. What wrong with that?
Calvin is like the more or less typical atheists. God has to be the way they think he should be or they won’t believe in Him. Take Him or leave Him, but I agree with the Bible. To deny His existence is the essence of utter foolishness.
¨An atheist has nothing to gain if they are right, and everything to lose if they are wrong. While a Christian has everything to gain if they are right, and nothing to lose if they are wrong.¨
Atheist gain the freedom for choice theirs own path without myth and superstition, and that is enough for us.
If we are true, Christian lost the only one life that we have, just for a lie and that is a major risk I think.
margueritem almost 15 years ago
It’s always God’s fault….
caucel almost 15 years ago
I atheist for that reason Calvin! :)
I share your angry! : )
FUNIG1 almost 15 years ago
maybe not, but I ALWAYS blame Someone Else!
olivetree almost 15 years ago
I wouldn’t mind some snow myself…
GROG Premium Member almost 15 years ago
I moved to Houston to get away from it. The bad news is I didn’t; the good news is it doesn’t stick around until April
carmy almost 15 years ago
Go flush an ice cube down the toilet, Calvin!
WoodEye almost 15 years ago
Snow? What’s that? I live in San Diego…
Last snow 1967, before that 1949.
lazygrazer almost 15 years ago
Calvin negotiates with God the same way I do. Gets the same results too.
Yukoner almost 15 years ago
A dead atheist : all dressed up and no place to go.
kreole almost 15 years ago
Calvin’s negotiation with God lacks focus…he should be praying to the Snow God.
caucel almost 15 years ago
A dead atheist : all dressed up and no place to go.
hehehe! Funny!
A dead religious: All dressed up and… (nothing there? Yeah science. :)
Rakkav almost 15 years ago
Be careful what you wish for, Calvin - you might get it! I’m on the southern tail end of the Current Cold Snap and it’s quite bad enough, thank you!
Dberrymanal1 almost 15 years ago
An atheist has nothing to gain if they are right, and everything to lose if they are wrong. While a Christian has everything to gain if they are right, and nothing to lose if they are wrong.
bbHhh almost 15 years ago
Dberrymanal1, there are several responses to Pascal’s wager. My favorites are the Saganesque “Not only is there nothing to be gained by believing an untruth, but there is everything to lose when we sacrifice the indispensable tool of reason on the altar of superstition.” – Freedom from religion foundation;
“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.” – Thomas Jefferson;
“And what if we picked the wrong religion? Every week, we’re just making God madder and madder!” – Homer J. Simpson
jrbj almost 15 years ago
Move to Wisconsin, Calvin. Even Atheists get snowbound here. I used to be a Christian. Then I went through a Wisconsin winter. No God would do that to a human being.
cdward almost 15 years ago
jrbj are you kidding? I used to live in Wisconsin and thanked God every day for the snow. Love it! Live in upstate New York now and even though we have it, I want more.
As to the atheist question, I guess we’ll all have to wait and see. But it behooves everyone on all sides of that question to respect those on the other sides (and everywhere inbetween) because each of the many sides of the discussion about whether God exists and what God is like can be held by reasonable people. The most pointless thing of all is to point to others and say, “You’re wrong!”
As for me, I believe in God but have long held that it is those who love who will be with God in eternity (since God is love), regardless of their faith here.
GLENN B WOODEN almost 15 years ago
I’ve been knocking on heaven’s door for several years now, with no answer. Either nobody’s home…or they don’t want my company. But, I think we all sometimes try to bargain with God, even for petty things like Calvin is doing. The King is under no requirement to give an audience–or answer– to his subjects. In some cultures, if a person approached the king uninvited, he was immediately killed.
Miss.Fit almost 15 years ago
snow…!!! It never snows in the part of the world I live in… but it’s too cold here today ….brrrrr… okay .. SNOW !! SNOW NOW!!!
zero almost 15 years ago
Cartoon characters who never have to shovel that @#%&! @#%&!, get NO vote…
rentier almost 15 years ago
Never snow this must be dreary!
wicky almost 15 years ago
Even atheists say “thank God”.
rshive almost 15 years ago
Beg and plead as you like Calvin. It’ll snow when it’s good and ready – probably on a Saturday.
alondra almost 15 years ago
Dberrymanal1 said,
An atheist has nothing to gain if they are right, and everything to lose if they are wrong. While a Christian has everything to gain if they are right, and nothing to lose if they are wrong.
~~~
That’s right. As for the snow, we’ve had plenty of it the past couple of weeks. I’d be glad for Calvin to come up here and haul it all back to wherever he lives.
lewisbower almost 15 years ago
I believe in a loving God. No snow! No snow! Do this for me God and I won’t steal so much from the collection plate.
Brother_James437 almost 15 years ago
Snow I don’t mind, it’s after it thaws a bit & refreezes so it becomes ice. that I hate, especially when the people in charge don’t spread the salt. to get rid of it.
CaptainColorado almost 15 years ago
Psalm 53:1 - “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God’.” (KJV)
Trainwreck_1 almost 15 years ago
I woke this morning and looked out my window to see we had got 12” short of a foot of snow here in Southen New Mexico. But it was 15 so I know I’ll have to break the cows water again…
cleokaya almost 15 years ago
Do you know what I believe? I believe Calvin is having one hell of a hissy fit.
bagjunah almost 15 years ago
me thinks we make to much to do about nothing, it’s a comic strip
Treker137 almost 15 years ago
I’m reminded of another strip:
Hobbes: Do you think there’s a god?
Calvin: Well, somebody’s out to get me!
Dino-1 almost 15 years ago
cdward: I live in upstate New York too and we’ve got a foot of snow here now. The time I don’t like the snow is when I have about a foot or more on the car mixed with ice to clear off. The other time is when I’m stuck in “white-out” conditions driving on our winding country roads. I do enjoy having great snow ball fights, building snow forts and snowpeople, and making snow angels and the fresh cool smell when walking in a light snowstorm. I love it when it’s frosty and the snow looks like it’s covered in diamonds as it reflects the sunlight. Right now we’re in a “cold snap” and it’s 10:00 AM and -3 degrees outside right now. A good day to stay cuddled up with a blanket on the couch with a loved one watching DVD’s or ordering a movie on the on-demand cable channel.
Nighthawks Premium Member almost 15 years ago
oh, THAT is convincing!— a bible quote that says youre a fool if you don’t believe in god….that’s like a company t that quotes it’s own hired actors to claim their product is better….
here is a couple of dusies:
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations … then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.
ah yes, the merciful god, indeed
ninmas almost 15 years ago
sigh… this was one of the the first C&H that i saw…
napaeric almost 15 years ago
blind faith, is that like blind justice. I have seen how blind justice works in the court rooms and I am not convinced the legal system is either blind or just. So blind faith seems like it would follow a similar pattern.
martymac almost 15 years ago
just talking to God proves you’re not an atheist.
lingsu almost 15 years ago
Hey! Miss Fit it cold here where I am plus got lot of snow To bad there not a way to send some snow like you would
Ushindi almost 15 years ago
Good for you, nighthawks - I still love what George Carlin said about religion, so I think I’ll quote him one more time:
“Religion easily has the greatest bulls**t story ever told. Think about it, religion has actually convinced people that there’s an INVISIBLE MAN…LIVING IN THE SKY…who watches every thing you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten special things that he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever ‘til the end of time…but he loves you.”
1148559 almost 15 years ago
@ Aardvark359,
Regarding your response to my post of yesterday:
The only reason my post yesterday was so long was because I gave the background to the comparison I used. Since you made it clear that it was too much for you to comprehend, I have gone back and edited it down to the pertinent parts.
Mocking is a form of humor, I will give you that… but it is a mean spirited form with a hostile attitude.
An insult phrased in a humorous manner is still an insult.
You can of course, make such posts if you wish, but don’t expect to do so without getting called on it.
COWBOY7 almost 15 years ago
Faith is what you personally make of it. Have faith, Calvin!
peterpunn almost 15 years ago
Even most religious people must agree that the greatest gift God gave us is the ability to think, question and reason. That ability has been the source of all human development and sets us apart from all other (known) creatures. So if a person knowingly puts aside this gift and gives in to blind faith (even if it be faith in God himself) then it is an insult to God. To truly honor God, you MUST question everything, use logical reasoning, and then reach your own conclusions.
jtcwww almost 15 years ago
peterpunn, you win!!! Great point. Hope all those fundamentalists get a clue.
jbmetalmonster almost 15 years ago
i dont understand why calvin loves snow so much it drives me insane w/ the shoveling and it getting in the way when i wanna do something outside for once idli
MILDOG172 almost 15 years ago
I belive in God. Not so sure about snow.
MILDOG172 almost 15 years ago
I belive in God. Not so sure about snow.
MILDOG172 almost 15 years ago
I belive in God. Not so sure about snow.
MILDOG172 almost 15 years ago
I belive in God. Not so sure about snow.
MILDOG172 almost 15 years ago
I belive in God. Not so sure about snow.
kab2rb almost 15 years ago
Where I’m from when the cold front hit we had very little snow but very bitter temps. This week we will have a warm front. When we had snow around Christmas wasn’t that much thankfully.
alviebird almost 15 years ago
jtcwww, Who said fundamentalists advocate blind faith? Your assumption is way off base. Sounds to me like peterpunn could be one of ‘us’.
nomistake almost 15 years ago
Reads like alot of people don’t believe in a higher power. Makes me wonder if they live by the comic strip. Religion has its purpose in an peoples lives if doesn’t work for you just leave others alone and be happy with your comics.
I do believe but do not walk a fanatic line nor preach to others, I just hold my head high and struggle through life with my family and friends.
You athiest out there do more preaching than any other adhoc religion. Ha athiest preacher preaching to others that there way of life makes more sense.
nomistake almost 15 years ago
Praise Calvin the all mighty and his vengeful tiger.
BigHug almost 15 years ago
My daughter’s the same way. She’s so anxious for snow. It’s come now, she’s so cold and wants to go inside. Can’t wait for summer now lol.
Smartone2000 almost 15 years ago
Here where I live, we only get about three or four inches of snow, and it only snows once or twice every winter. Every time it snows, I always thank God for his perfect, cold, icy present.
dsom8 almost 15 years ago
1) Calvin is a cartoon character, a caricature of childish thinking. The strip is an analogy, and - as someone once said - you can’t make an analogy walk on all fours.
2) Re. George Carlin quote. God knows we can’t keep the commandments because we have already rejected Him. Thus He has condemned us already. His love is shown in that He gave Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, to take that condemnation on Himself so that we do not have to. But we have to believe that “good news” to be true.
3) @jtcwww and peterpunn. We fundamentalists have always been there. God is a being with reason and a God of relationship. He created us to have a relationship with Him. Where that has been expressed in human culture, great progress has been made.
daphygirl almost 15 years ago
@ napaeric
Blind faith is when you believe in something with no proof of it’s existance. Therefore believing in God is not the same as having a blind faith because if you choose to see it, there is proof everywhere of God’s existance. I have seen with my own eyes a man with a seriosly injured ankle get prayed over and then take off his brace and all the wrappings that had been put on and walk across the room with no problem. That was not blind faith.
mrprongs almost 15 years ago
So you only wnat grass duirng the hot summer months, when you’ll soon have to mow it?
Puddleglum2 almost 15 years ago
cdward said, “As for me, I believe in God but have long held that it is those who love who will be with God in eternity (since God is love), regardless of their faith here.”
“Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the father, but by me.” John 14:6 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 You may choose to believe the Bible or not, but it says what it says very plainly..
Puddleglum2 almost 15 years ago
nighthawks said, “ah yes, the merciful god, indeed”
God makes the rules. If God is love, and God is good, He has his reasons for what he does. If you disobey what God has determined should or shouldn’t be done, expect the consequences. I trust that God knows what he is doing. Since God has the power to create the vast and magnificent universe and holds it all together, I have to trust that there is a marvelous ‘method to his madness’. “What are we, just a couple specks of nothing…” Billy Bigelow (from Carousel) “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:17 This refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Puddleglum2 almost 15 years ago
@Ushindi, George Carlin is dead. Ask him (if you can), what he would like to say from beyond the grave. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Hebrews 9:27 I’ll take my chances with the God of the Bible, rather than with a blasphemous foul-mouthed comedian. How funny is he now?
Puddleglum2 almost 15 years ago
The fact that the universe is here affirms the existence of God. It’s either God or evolution. Take your choice. I believe evolution is impossible, but the atheist must believe in it anyway because it’s the only alternative to God. Every now and then, someone says something to the effect that it’s only a comic, but the comic brings out life situations. We discuss such things and reach our own conclusions or confusions. What wrong with that? Calvin is like the more or less typical atheists. God has to be the way they think he should be or they won’t believe in Him. Take Him or leave Him, but I agree with the Bible. To deny His existence is the essence of utter foolishness.
caucel almost 15 years ago
¨An atheist has nothing to gain if they are right, and everything to lose if they are wrong. While a Christian has everything to gain if they are right, and nothing to lose if they are wrong.¨
Atheist gain the freedom for choice theirs own path without myth and superstition, and that is enough for us.
If we are true, Christian lost the only one life that we have, just for a lie and that is a major risk I think.
caucel almost 15 years ago
Puddleglum2: Atheist believe in the science, Evolution is just a theory, if the science find another answer we change the mind about evolution.
I try say, we believe in facts, science is about show evidence, about investigation.
Just because you thinking that Unicorn exist , doesn’t means that is there.
Aardvark359 almost 15 years ago
Welcome to the club Calvin! (We all get there eventually!)
diggit03 almost 15 years ago
it’s may be a blessing in disguise calvin, sweety. God know’s what he’s doing.
wowzo over 12 years ago
Ye of little faith,calvin
elchinodewita almost 11 years ago
Did you notice they skipped a couple of strips? Wonder why…
jr1234 over 1 year ago
Calvin, live in MinneSNOWta