From: Olga Bourlin (fauxever@sprynet.com)
Date: Thu Jun 05 2003 - 04:10:54 MDT
From: "Karen Rand Smigrodzki" <Karen@smigrodzki.org>
> I am surprised that I haven't seen anyone mention that Einstein
> believed in the existence of a god. He was purported to be a genius. "God
> does not play dice with the universe." Isn't it right to conclude that
> intelligent minds can differ on the issue of a deity?
Intelligent minds certainly can (and do) differ on many things. As for Einstein's "deity," that would depend on how one would define "God."
Here is a quote from "Albert Einstein: The Human Side," edited by Helen Dukas (Einstein's secretary) and Banesh Hoffman:
"... of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
And Einstein wrote this on January 2, 1915 in a letter to colleague Edgar Meyer:
"I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him."
One more Einstein quote:
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own - a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms."
Olga
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