Originally Posted by John Lawrence Schick
Made me think of what Tchaikovsky said about religion. He said he believed because he was too afraid not to. grin


John, that in turn reminds me of "Pascal's wager." Blaise Pascal postulated that a rational person would believe in God. In the absence of absolute certainty, if you believe in God and are wrong, there is no reward or punishment. However if you disbelieve and are wrong, you're severely punished in hell. So it's wiser to simply believe.

That being said, it's good to remember that people once believed with their heart of hearts in an immortal pantheon of Olympian gods and that storms and lightning were Zeus' handiwork. These days, those beliefs are fodder for blockbuster movies starring Liam Neeson and CGI monsters. We don't go around worrying that we'll be sent to Hades when we die or that Hermes will appear in the form of a goose to seduce our wives. In fact, if you made such claims today, they'd probably institutionalize you.

But once, those beliefs were real, and those gods were feared and worshipped.