"Ex Machina"
Voltaire alleged that if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him as both explanation and enforcer. From the other camp, Martin Luther concurred that "frogs need a stork" to keep them in line, although, like any good German, he believed that God had entrusted that task to the civil authorities.
Pascal wagered that it is in one's own best interest to act as though God exists, since if He doesn't, little harm has been done, and if He does, much punishment has been avoided.
Jesus never spoke of such calculations, asserting only - on the basis of rather mixed evidence - that God was love. But he pointed out that people were on the hook for enabling their own salvation. One reached that hook by a leap of faith, which meant a leap of logic.
TITLE - "Ex Machina"
WHERE - Fraser River Barge, New Westminster, British Columbia (2014)