Pascal’s Wager and Spiritual Blindness

August 31, 2009, 8:10 am by dc-agape.

John Chapter 9

This passage is one story.  It starts the healing of a blind man.  It includes the question of who was responsible for this man’s blindness.  The largest portion is about “the Jews” questioning a Jew about this healing.  It ends with Jesus meeting the man who was blind later, after the man had suffered interrogation and humiliation at the hands of “the Jews”.

Here is the verse that eliminates “Original Sin”, yet all Christians still believe in some form of this popular Tradition of Man.  Blindness, being an imperfection in Jewish traditions was a punishment bestowed on one generation for the sins of the previous generation.  Yet here Jesus is claiming that this man was not born blind because of sin.  No the reason this particular man was born blind was so that Jesus could heal him!  First, we see YHYH manipulating DNA to make himself look like a super-hero.  This is similar to a man starting a fire so he can then “save” the inhabitants of the burning house!  This is without a doubt a sign that YHWH does interfere with freewill, when it pleases him.  This then makes him no different than the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse gods.

But what is worse is that this man, with the DNA that YHWH manipulated, was tortured by “the Jews”.  I mean tortured because a simple citizen being brought before the ruling council of Israel must have been extremely nerve-wreaking.  And not only was the man himself so treated, but his parents were dragged into the fiasco as well.  We know that they were terrified:

John 9:22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

So in the act of healing a man that YHWH purposely made blind, three people are terrorized by the leading religious leaders of the day.  The man, who was blind, was insulted and thrown out of the synagogue (most like ex-communicated).

When Jesus finds him later, of course the man who was blind has nothing to lose by following the man that made him see.  He could no longer be abstained of sin in the synagogue, yet he knew that he would not receive the blessing of YHWH during his lifetime because of Jesus’ healing!  His only option was to believe that Jesus was truly divine.  Wow, what freewill he had.

Jesus uses this experience to also teach about “spiritual blindness”.  Even though the man was thrown out of the synagogue, the Pharisees were nearby and overheard the conversation between the man who was blind man and Jesus. 

Here is an interesting verse:

John 9:41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim that you can see, your guilt remains.”

This single verse explains much about who will make it to heaven and who will go to hell.  Those who claim to understand YHWH are with sin, not those of us who are “blind”!  So actually by the spreading of the “Good News” Christians are dooming people to hell.  Yet today’s Christian wants to spread the “Word” as far as possible, but not insure that those who hear it understand it.  Wow, you do realize that this is exactly the same thing that happened in Iraq?  We invaded the country with enough fire power to dispose a tyrant, but we did not bring enough man-power to ensure democracy.  Christians do the exact same thing today.  They quickly go on missionary trips to “save souls for Christ” yet do not teach the new converts the intricate details of how to be disciples of Jesus.  They open the “spiritual eyes” of the “sinner” yet do not ensure that the new converts are going to remain saved.  Even here in the US, the true Christian continues to whine “they aren’t real Christians”.  But they do nothing to correct these people that are going to hell!  It is not the un-believer that needs to be saved…it is the false Christians who need to be saved.  The real Christians have missed the mark, “sinned”, by not recognizing this simple fact.

As an Atheist, I am glad that I am spiritually blind!  This adds an entire new dimension to Pascal’s wager.  In fact, it makes Pascal’s wager false!  For living life as if YHWH exists, yet not “seeing”, will cause the one who wagers to bear the guilt.  For the one who wagers that YHWH does not exist, we remain “blind” and carry no guilt.  This turns out that Pascal’s wager dooms many more to hell and to heaven.

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