Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician, master of prose, physicist, inventor, and philosopher. Pascal’s “wager” was that if God does not exist, the skeptic loses nothing by believing in Him; but if he does exist, the skeptic gains eternal life by believing in him. Being skeptical means having an attitude of doubt or questioning the truth of a claim. A skeptical person does not take things at face value and prefers to evaluate evidence before believing something is true or useful. A line I learned trying to sell Insurance: “better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it!” So MAYBE there is an all powerful, all knowing, and judgemental personality we commonly address as God, Jehovah, Allah, Krishna, Yahweh, or any other of a multitude of names. Practically all of these monotheistic (one supreme powerful theos or god) views of reality has prescriptions for ethical and moral behavior. In classical western culture, which would be from the beginning of recorded history until the Renaissance and the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, the generally accepted concept was that there was God through whom the political authorities gained their power. With the gradual advancement of science, rationalism, and empiricism (all knowledge is derived from sensory experience) the absolute authority of the Church and the political authorities connected to it began breaking down. At the end of the 18th century with the American and French revolutions and the Napoleonic wars, power was transferred from the church to the state. The State becoming the authority by which society was organized began developing legal systems to control and protect the populations at large. The Classical period of history we were controlled by the religious authorities and in Modern times we are controlled by The State. Pascal’s “wager” works in either circumstance; no matter who maintains authority over us we are safer and more secure if we follow the rules and principles of our masters and lead ethical, moral, kind and considerate lives…