(1) Sincere belief is not something that can
be turned on and off, although one can pretend to believe something
and go through the motions.
(2) The "gambler" is not faced with a simple
either-or choice, but a large number of choices. Pascal tacitly assumed
that the Christian god, with rewards and punishments according to Pascal's
form of Christianity, is the only thing in question. However, there
are many other possible choices for what to believe or not. Which god(s),
and which form of belief: Hebrew, Christian (several variations), Muslim,
Hindu, Zoroastrian, American Indian, Voodoo, ...? All of them have had
many sincere adherents. One can't worship or believe in them all, or
even compromise, since in some cases worshiping one of these gods will
antagonize another one. Remember that the god of the Hebrews is explicitly
jealous. Maybe some of the other gods are too. So you might have more
to lose by wagering on the wrong god than by wagering on none at all!
(3) Suppose we agree, say by "creation science"
reasoning, that there is a god and only one god. But maybe the real
god is a bit different from the Old Testament god, in that he (she,
it) hates having people always trying to kiss his butt, does not approve
of the killing of animals for sacrifice, and prefers people to have
enough self respect that they won't do those things. Maybe the god (or
gods) prefers people to listen to reason rather than have faith in mythology.
Another possibility is that he wants us to annually throw a virgin into
the crater of a volcano! How does one know?
(4) In the spirit of "just in case" or "what
if", we should take precautions against voodoo curses, avoid bad luck
brought on by black cats, knock on wood, and throw salt over the left
shoulder. We should go to every fortune teller, psychic, and astrologer,
for maybe one of them is legitimate. Always carry a crucifix and a bulb
of garlic, just in case the stories about vampires are true. We should
follow all the 600-odd rules for living as laid down in the Bible books
of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. This paragraph might seem like just a
cheap attempt at reductio ad absurdum, but I maintain it's more,
since all of the above have their sincere believers.