> _If_ there's a God like the Christian God, with the additional property of > accepting 'faith' based on self-interested, than the wager works. If God is > just watching, and has never directly inspired a religious work, and is never > believed in because people don't want a God who is vast, cool, and > unsympathetic, then the bet can hold you back. LOL. I have this image... "Let's see... I'll match your faith, and raise you my immortal soul." If god is real, he's running the game, not playing it. And anyone who bases their faith on process of elimination and what's in their best interest (read: self-interest), at least to my mind, doesn't have a great deal of faith. It's just playing the numbers. (Oh, and don't get me wrong: everyone is ruled by self-interest to some degree...) And me? Heh. I like seeing what cards I hold, before making my bet. If I lose in the end, oh well... No one take offense. It is, perhaps, too early for me to be posting on serious topics... <grin> Cheers, Chris "He is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins." - Frederick Douglass