Einstein On Religion
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- CALLES
LONDON (AFP) - Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday.
The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.
As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".
"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.
"No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper.
The German-language letter is being sold Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, said the auction house's managing director Rupert Powell.
In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people.
"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said.
"And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people."
And he added: "As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."
Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.
Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP.
Its tuesaday... Discuss
- Khurram0
You are such a twat Calles...
- hey i didn't write the letter... Just read the article.. Just someones opinionCALLES
- Why would you insult Calles
it's an interesting read..
Calles didn't write it...so...WTF??marychain - stfu nerd..Khurram
- < mature stuff eh?TaylorB
- Opening a can of worms..Jaline
- I think he meant
"You are suck a twat Einstein..."Meeklo
- Jaline0
It seems likely, seeing how he is a scientist...
- harlequino0
Well sports fans, today at the QBN kumite we'll be seeing the sparring might from the likes of QBN classic fighters, like TheBlueOne, teleos, mrdobolina, and possibly "new Pop who packs the pop" gramme.
Today's match is brought to you by Rauschenberg and Jan Hammer. Keep your set tuned to this channel, and we'll be right back!
- kona0
*DING DING*
- Eyeline of photographer is...understandable.harlequino
- he isn't looking at her.********
- ninjasavant0
The opinion of a person. I happen to agree with him but thats not to say there aren't other ways of looking at it.
- kelpie0
must... not... post... quote...
must... not... post... quote...
ah fuck it
"As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power."
bit prescient?
- gramme0
I'm pretty sure I've covered my bases on this one before.
- Bluejam0
"Two posts and one pass, a good start for this thread"
- BattleAxe0
how many gods are there?
- ********0
seems like old Al is talking about Zionism not all of religion, he'd be missing out on a few important points otherwise
- Einstein was a zionist and supporter of israel. Zionism has nothing to do with the 'Chosen' notion.laurus
- gramme0
A friend of mine wrote a compelling argument for the existence of God, from a scientific viewpoint (he is a scientist). Any takers? I won't post it here unless people ACTUALLY want to read it. It's a 6 page Word doc.
- trying to sing some free agents i seeCALLES
- No thanks.2cents
- why not , I got time to killBattleAxe
- Someone needs to explain why God is hiding in the first place.Mimio
- I'm interested.seed
- A coworker had me read "A case for faith" by Lee Strobel which supposedly proved the existence of god but . . .ninjasavant
- The book ONLY referenced the bible or said stuff like "god is love, isn't that great? so god is real." pretty uncompelling.ninjasavant
- send it over, i bet it's crap – proof and belief don't go togetherlaurus
- ********0
Great article...
- designbot0
"So what about these wisemen, these scholars, these brilliant debaters of this world’s great affairs? God has made them all look foolish, and shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. For God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find God through human brilliance"
- mehhh no body can understand god. so whatever we said god is will ever be correct.pango
- kelpie0
@battleAxe
as of this morning:
6809689765
- fugged0
I love you Einstein.
- harlequino0
"Well, Don, it's an interesting start. 2cents has started out aggressively, making it clear he wants that cup. gramme, always the stealthy alley cat is offering some goods, we'll see if there are any takers. What do you think, Don? Is it a trap? Will we see any shennanagins like the one on the replay screen from last year's match?"
"Don, still to early to tell. This is anyone's game right now. The heavy hitters are still not all here. Let's get back to the game, Don."
- ********0
Religion and greed and or the two root causes for all global wars, poverty and disease period!
- so what is religion doing for all the peacful people suffering from these? nothing? no hope?********
- I believe that is a disingenuous cop-out. People twist religion to suit their needs.gramme
- Agree with gramme... humans are the cause, religion just happens to be the easiest excuse for people.ismith
- not only the organized religions are helping people. in the end it's all simply people helping people.pango
- so what is religion doing for all the peacful people suffering from these? nothing? no hope?
