Even if there were undesirable consequences if atheism were true, this would not make atheism false. To think otherwise is to simply engage in wishful thinking. ‘If death is final, that would be a bad thing. I don’t want to believe anything which results in bad things. Therefore, death is not final.’ Compare that with the following, which is no doubt on the minds of millions every week: ‘If this is not the winning lottery ticket, then I will be terribly disappointed. I do not want to believe anything which results in my being terribly disappointed. Therefore, this is the winning lottery ticket.’ By similar reasoning, no one’s house would burn down, no one would go bankrupt, no one would be killed in automobile accidents. All that would be required to avert such disasters is to realize that terrible consequences would follow if those things happened and then realize that one does not want to believe it. Then it wouldn’t happen. But clearly that is absurd.

— Doug Krueger