The Godless Heathen does a good job of exposing and debunking this argument:

It’s a fantastically stupid argument.  It makes the baseless assumption that 1) the only possible God is of the Judeo-Christian variety, 2) that there are no negative consequences as a result of living a religious life, and 3) that if a God exists he/she/it rewards belief and punishes skepticism.

Another snippet:

Wasted Time. All that time you worked from house-to-house, going to meetings, giving talks, it was all for naught.  Even if you think that it’s the “best way of living” and it doesn’t matter if there’s no paradise reward, doesn’t it bother you that you spent your entire life teaching people things that weren’t true?

Read the rest of his counter-arguments at the full article.

Richard Dawkins has this to say in his book, The God Delusion:

Suppose we grant that there is indeed some small chance that God exists. Nevertheless, it could be said that you will lead a better, fuller life if you bet on his not existing, than if you bet on his existing and therefore squander your precious time on worshipping him, sacrificing to him, fighting and dying for him, etc.

Would you bet on God’s valuing dishonestly faked belief (or even honest belief) over honest skepticism?

Even if the skeptics and atheists are wrong, and there is some sort of creator who requires humans to worship him in some specific manner, the chances that a theist has correctly placed his/her bets on one of the many thousands of Gods or religions that have come and gone throughout human history is exceedingly minuscule. No doubt most believers in history also genuinely believed they were worshiping in truth, and living the best possible life. Almost every religion has a oral tradition or holy book which lays out specific criteria for worship, and likewise just about every religion or sect believes that they are the only ones doing so properly. Yet most Jehovah’s Witnesses would agree today that those who spent their entire lives worshiping Thor, Wotan, Ra, or Zeus were essentially wasting their time.

If you’re a Jehovah’s Witness and are comfortable with taking this gamble, fine. Just know that the rest of the world feels the exact same way about you — that you are wasting your life, and are effectively exposing yourself as a roulette-playing amateur by bringing up Pascal’s Wager in debate.

Image sourced from Alenthony on Twitter.

Acquaintances described Sanchez and her mother as devout Jehovah’s Witnesses.’They would come up to our door every so often, but I told them I was Catholic, so they left,’ said Elaine Calchin.

The above quote was taken from this article.

This follows right on the heels of several other stories this week of heinous crimes committed by members of the Watchtower, including a con artist and a deadly gun rampage.

Judging by the headlines just this week alone, the Jehovah’s Witness organization is not exactly the safe haven they claim it to be. First a deadly gun rampage, now fraud. And this is by no means the first large-scale theft committed by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Several years ago, two Jehovah’s Witness elders in Deer Lodge, Montana, stole $6 million by scamming an elderly church member, living a lavish lifestyle on the loot. It remains the largest theft case in Montana history.

On to the article:

Securities industry regulators say a St. Peters stockbroker ran an eight-year ponzi scheme in which he swindled brokerage customers, fellow church members and a cousin in order to support a “lavish personal lifestyle” and $4,000-per-month entertainment bills.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Monday that broker Kenneth George Neely took $600,000 from at least 25 victims, claiming he would invest it in a fictitious investment club and a nonexistent real estate investment trust.

Without admitting guilt, Neely last week consented to an order banning him from the brokerage business. He could not be reached for comment. FINRA officials said he does not have a lawyer.

FINRA, the self-regulatory arm of the brokerage industry, gave this account of Neely’s activities:

Neely has been a broker since 1987. In 2001, he was working for UBS PaineWebber Inc. when he fell on hard times amid the collapse of the technology investment bubble. His income dropped from $150,000 in 2000 to $30,000 in 2002. He was having trouble paying bills. He ran up some of those debts buying dinners and drinks for clients and friends at his country club.

“It was during this period of personal financial stress that (Neely) conceived and effected his ponzi scheme,” FINRA said in its order. He invented the “St. Louis Investment Club” and the equally phony “St. Charles REIT,” promising 20 percent returns. He made up investment “certificates” for the club and REIT to give to clients. His first investor was a cousin who invested $30,000, expecting returns of up to 10 percent.

Neely portrayed membership in the investment club as exclusive. He told a retiree, a longtime friend and fellow church member (Neely is a Jehovah’s Witness) that he would tell her when “openings” occurred in the club. “Seven or eight” other church members invested in the scam, said James Shorris, executive vice president at FINRA. “In no sense were these sophisticated investors,” he added.

Neely also signed up his brokerage clients, while trying to hide that fact from his employers, regulators said. FINRA records show that Neely moved from UBS to Stifel Nicolaus and finally to AXA in Clayton. In all, at least 25 people eventually invested in the scheme, FINRA said.

A ponzi scheme operates by paying current investors with money from new investors. Neely returned about $300,000 to clients over time, FINRA said.

Neely spent the other $300,000 on his personal expenses including “his lavish personal lifestyle, including entertainment expenses at his country club, sometimes totaling over $4,000 per month,” the FINRA order said.

Such schemes depend on a constant flow of new money. By 2007, Neely “desperately” needed funds to repay investors who were demanding their money, FINRA said. He convinced a longtime friend to invest $154,000 in the St. Charles REIT. The friend’s daughter invested $10,000.

According to FINRA, the scheme continued until this month, when FINRA investigators confronted Neely. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis said there are no criminal charges against Neely. The St. Charles County prosecuting attorney could not be reached.

Neely’s disciplinary record shows that UBS paid out more than $240,000 to settle four cases brought by investors claiming they were placed in unsuitable investments.

AXA said it discharged Neely the day it learned of the scheme early this month and said it is investigating the matter.

Article sourced from stltoday.com.

The 24-year-old felt that even though he had become a Jehovah’s Witness himself, he had never truly been accepted and blamed her devout parents for the break-up.

A month after they split, Cock killed Miss Hustler’s father, Adam, 41, and injured his 40-year-old wife, Amanda, at their £500,000 home in Cornwall. He then attempted to take his own life.

More details from the source article, here, and here.