Re: Security Guard - God Guided Me And Protected Me

Jean Paul wrote:

"Islander" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:M_adncUCq62_ufLanZ2dnUVZ_jydnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jean Paul wrote:

"Islander" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:OKGdnTRFzNcUjvLanZ2dnUVZ_oOnnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Olly Mensch wrote:
I do not care if the religious people or atheists damn me for my
"wishy=washy' agnostic beliefs!!! I never struggled for a moment, since
there is no way I can accept religion - yet - I cannot prove that their
beliefs are false.
If I am not mistaken, Einstein had said that the world, the question of
its origin, the way it "works',and so many other related wonderments,
are all so amazing - - and add to that - he said - that science has been
unable to "disprove" the existence of a"God" - nor can they prove it - -
therefore, it begs for the concept of agnosticism.
For me - that is good enough!!
Olly

On Einstein by Loren Petrich, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Labs:

"He wrote an article for the _New York Times_
expounding his religious beliefs (reprinted in _Ideas and Opinions_).
He spoke of himself as having a "cosmic religious sense," which knows
"no dogmas and no God made in man's image," which he said was shared
with the great mystics; he compared himself with the likes of
Democritus, St. Francis, and Spinoza. He also commented that one must
have a poor moral sense if the only way one could act virtuously is if
one expect rewards and punishments after death."

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/einsci.htm

"In another article (reprinted in _Ideas and Opinions_) stated
that the concept of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-benevolent
being runs afoul of the Problem of Evil. He also stated that the
dominant religions of our part of the world could do without this
particular concept. He seemed to feel that one could not conclusively
_disprove_ the existence of such a being, but felt that there was no
positive reason to believe that one exists, so he did not believe in
the existence of any such being."

The religious often cherrypick Einstein quotes to claim that he believed in God. He attempted to set the record straight in "Albert Einstein: The Human Side"

"It was, 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."

Then, in 1950, in a letter to M. Berkowitz, Einstein stated:

"My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment."

I don't have the article anymore but Time Magazine ran a feature on A. Einstein not long ago. It said much the same as you have produced here plus the fight he had with one of the religious leaders that confronted him about his lack of beliefs.

JP
That would have probably been Archbishop Fulton Sheen who expressed outrage with the NYT article that I quoted above, calling it, "the sheerest kind of stupidity and nonsense." Imagine someone saying that about Einstein!

Sheen seemed to have an on-going vendetta with Einstein having to do with the supposed negligence of the Catholic church in opposing Hitler prior to WWII.

Could have been. I remember the article talking about the fact that when Einstein clarified his position on God and religion is so upset the man that he wrote a letter and chastised Einstein for doing so. He claimed that Einstein was a role model and idol for many people that looked to him for guidance on this issue and he was letting them all down.

I remember something from my teenage years that stated that Einstein wrote that his view of God was something like the sum total of all the forces in the Universe. Before he died, he made a statement to the effect that when he died he hoped the Universe was friendly.

JP
Not a deathbed statement, but part of his dialog relating to God playing dice with the universe"

When asked by a reporter something like :"What, in your opinion is the most important question facing humanity today?" Einstein thought for a bit then replied, "I think the most important question facing humanity is, 'Is the universe a friendly place?' This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves.

"For if we decide that the universe is an unfriendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to achieve safety and power by creating bigger walls to keep out the unfriendliness and bigger weapons to destroy all that which is unfriendly and I believe that we are getting to a place where technology is powerful enough that we may either completely isolate or destroy ourselves as well in this process.

"If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially 'playing dice with the universe', then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice and our lives have no real purpose or meaning.

"But if we decide that the universe is a friendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to create tools and models for understanding that universe. Because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives."

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Philosophy : Beyond Reductionism
    ... BEYOND REDUCTIONISM: REINVENTING THE SACRED by Stuart A. Kauffman ... A great divide splits contemporary society between those who believe in a transcendent God, and those, including myself, who do not. ... world gave way in the Enlightenment to a Deistic God who wound up the universe, set the initial conditions, and allowed Newton's ... On "Religion and Ethics" last night, ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: The Reasonable Minority
    ... irrational paranoia, dishonesty, and misrepresentation of science ... any evidentiary contribution of religion to science. ... God in all scientific endeavor of consequence. ... It's not clear what Einstein meant by "God". ...
    (talk.origins)
  • The Universality of Islam
    ... The Universality of Islam ... religion that claims to have universal appeal. ... unqualified belief in the One and Only God of the whole universe. ...
    (alt.religion.islam)
  • The Universality of Islam
    ... The Universality of Islam ... religion that claims to have universal appeal. ... belief in the One and Only God of the whole universe. ... divisions among the powers" that control the universe. ...
    (alt.religion.islam)
  • The Universality of Islam
    ... The Universality of Islam ... religion that claims to have universal appeal. ... belief in the One and Only God of the whole universe. ... divisions among the powers" that control the universe. ...
    (soc.culture.palestine)