Do atheists have a God complex?
- Thread starter S.A.M.
- Start date
Einstein was insane....so was Newton....True that
Peace be unto you
Oh please, stop trotting out the fallacy that Einstein believed in God.
Newton existed in an age where deviating from Christian propaganda would have been detrimental to his career, perhaps if he'd been born into a different environment, he too, would have been an atheist, just like Einstein.
He had his problems with organized religion, and never did define what his personal view of what God was, but he was not an atheist as far as I am aware.
If you know better and can quote where he ever said otherwise, by all means, enlighten me.
wikipedia is the shittiest source to use when it comes to check on someone important's (in a good, or bad way) religion.
You'll find that wikipedia also loves to claim that all the evil bastards a la Hitler were atheists, and the likes..
You'll find that wikipedia also loves to claim that all the evil bastards a la Hitler were atheists, and the likes..
It's not Wikipedia, it is Wikiquote and there is a great difference, because there is no opinion being espoused - NO claims - only Einstein's words.
Do you have a source of his quotes that say otherwise?
Woah, did I really misread it? Ehm..apologies. But what I said about wikipedia still remains valid.
I briefly scanned through the document, and I can't seem to find where the evidence would be confirming that he wasn't an atheist..
I briefly scanned through the document, and I can't seem to find where the evidence would be confirming that he wasn't an atheist..
I did not say it is evidence that he was not an atheist.
I am saying that I have never read quote of his that is evidence that he WAS an atheist.
In fact, everything I have read by him is worded carefully to say, "My spiritual beliefs are just that - MINE. Mind your fucking business".
He had some definite views on organized religion - and certainly had respect for Buddhism and different religious figures, but, as far as I am aware, has never publicly stated whether or not he believed in God.
For anyone to claim what his beliefs were, then, is dishonest at best, and certainly disrespectful of the man.
Well, I didn't say that he's an atheist. He was a freethinker, and if anything then agnostic would be more closer.
What do you think of the following statement?
I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Guy H. Raner Jr., Sept. 28, 1949, quoted by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic, Vol. 5, No. 2
I think, based on that quote, that he and I had similar ideas on "God".
No, certainly it doesn't. It just proves that he didn't believe in the monotheistic version of God.
No, phlogistician did.
http://atheism.about.com/od/einsteingodreligion/tp/Was-Einstein-an-Atheist-.htm
It's a perspective...
Pah, the guy was supposed to be smart.
That's what humans do: put others into pre-defined boxes.
Well, he didn't want to be thrown into the cup with bigoted atheists who abhorred anything religious.
Like the following bit states: but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth.
I would deduce that he'd think of himself as an unprofessional freethinking atheist who doesn't make it his job to convince others of his belief.
Like the following bit states: but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth.
I would deduce that he'd think of himself as an unprofessional freethinking atheist who doesn't make it his job to convince others of his belief.
Not me.
My best guess would be that he believed, as Spinoza did, that the intricate balance and astounding beauty of nature is worth revering as a God, and to ascribe that God with human traits is dishonest and dangeorus.
The wisest course of action is to treat nature with the reverence that it deserves and not to waste tme attempting to discern the undiscernable - to remain agnostic on the subject of a "higher power" and distrust those who claim to know.