Einstein was not Christian. Hitler was.

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Okay, it seems like one of the first things I seem to get when discussing religion with people is "Einstein was Christian. Do you think you are smarter than him?" Just because someone uses the word "God", does not mean that they are a Christian.

This is what is called "Quote Mining." That is when someone digs through random quotes, pulls them out of context, and says "See, they believe what I say they believe!" It's silly, juvenile, and the exact opposite of true research.

Famous misunderstood Einstein quotes:
"I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."
"God is subtle but he is not malicious."

Okay, with the two quotes above it is easy to see how the uninformed and the unread could easily think that he was a Christian. But, as most of us non-Christians have found, the average fundamental Christian is practically a pro of pulling quotations out of context. Here are a few more quotes that show the true depth of Einstein's beliefs:

I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.
-- Responding to Rabbi Herbert Goldstein who had sent Einstein a cablegram demanding "Do you believe in God?"

Make everything as simple as possible but not simpler. (*This is also known as Occum's Razor, which will get a topic all its own.)
-- Albert Einstein (attributed: source unknown)

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.
-- Albert Einstein, obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955, quoted from James A Haught, "Breaking the Last Taboo" (1996)

I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it.
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press


A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
-- Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930

It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere.... Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust.
-- Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930


It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion.
-- Albert Einstein (attributed: source unknown)

Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a Supernatural Being.
-- Albert Einstein, 1936, responding to a child who wrote and asked if scientists pray. Source: Albert Einstein: The Human Side, Edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann

I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.
-- Albert Einstein, The World as I See It

I am convinced that some political and social activities and practices of the Catholic organizations are detrimental and even dangerous for the community as a whole, here and everywhere. I mention here only the fight against birth control at a time when overpopulation in various countries has become a serious threat to the health of people and a grave obstacle to any attempt to organize peace on this planet.
-- Albert Einstein, letter, 1954

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.
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press






So, I hope this clears some stuff up. It's easy to see that he may possibly have been Agnostic. Meaning that he believed it was POSSIBLE that there was a God, but also that it was possible there was not. But he was by NO MEANS a Christian, or believed that Christ was the Son of God.

Which brings us to the most important thing we can take from this: Why do many religious fanatics feel that science and faith in a god are two concepts completely unable to coexist? Science should be embraced as the path to god, not the path away. If you are (like me) completely breathless and in awe of the magnitude of the universe, then you may also (like me) believe that there is a god. And everything you read, study, and learn from the next advance in science only reassures that belief.

But religion, for all its benefits, tends to be ridiculous. It tends to preach ignoring the scientific for the mystic. It tells you that quantum physics is a lie, while the ability to change the molecular content of water and turn it into wine is a perfectly acceptable, believable notion.

My question is why are so many Christians so willing to accept the insane (speaking, burning bushes, talking donkeys, the world populated by 2 people, 2 of every single animal ON THE PLANET on a boat (and more of some), the entire earth being covered in water (an impossibility), and the resurrection of people dead for days, etc), yet not be able to accept science which can be studied, measured, and documented. I had someone ask me the other day "If evolution is real, why isn't it happening today?"

This is exactly what I'm talking about. This was exactly the kind of thing that I heard for 30 years in church. "Facts" spit out by preachers, and my willingness to ignore my common sense made me take it at face value. I didn't care where he got his information. I never thought to look it up. I just believed, because I was told to.

I responded "First off, evolution is a slow process. It takes generations to show and is not something easily measured in the course of 1 lifetime. (I know there are exceptions to this, especially with many short-lived species, but this would be way too much for him). Second, it is still happening. It happens every day around us. Fish whose lakes have begun to dry up have begun using their air bladders as lungs to allow them to flop from puddle to puddle. Monkeys have been seen breaking off branches, sharpening them, and using them as primitive spears. (I'll find sources for these later)"

I stopped at this point because I could see his eyes glazing over and his Anti-Logic curtain falling nicely over his mind. I knew exactly what was happening inside his head, since it happened to me for so long. He was hearing the facts, and telling himself that they were wrong. Deep, DEEP inside he felt that there might be something to what I was saying, but his faith was telling him to shut me out and ignore me.

It's sad that too many fundamentalists don't have the desire, intelligence, or courage to challenge their own beliefs. (Note that I'm not saying they're all dumb. Some are. Some REALLY are. But not all are.) If you can challenge everything you believe, REALLY study, then still come out with some belief then you have something. Otherwise you are just a sheep.




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On the other side of the same coin you get all the time "Well Hitler was an atheist and look how horrible he was!" Ignoring completely that you can't judge an entire group of people by the actions of one person, we'll get into why Hitler was indeed a very devout Roman Catholic:

This is just a quickie list of some quotes, but I'll get into his philosophies and religious behaviors later:

"As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice."

“I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator”

“Who says I am not under the special protection of God?”

“Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: - by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord”



And how, as a good Christian, do you delude a country into committing horrendous acts against his fellow man? Well, let's just see:

“How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.”
- How often do you see religious fanatics go blank and ignore reality and open thinking, no matter how common-sense it is?

“It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge.”
- Which is why he won them over with faith. This is why science has spent ages fighting religion for the most basic, provable theories.

“The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.”
- Just ask the Catholic church!

“Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.”
- This shows just how intelligent and manipulative he really was. He knew that if you take a horrendous idea and couch it in a religious purpose then people will jump in both feet first. Actions that would normally horrify them suddenly feel 'right' and 'just'. Suddenly they KNOW that what they are doing is right, because they are doing it for their god.

Also, who can really fathom the torture a heaven would be were you spent AN ETERNITY doing nothing more than singing praises to god? Most people get bored after being in church for an hour.

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed”
- This is why churches make billions every year, while children all over the world starve and work 14 hour days in sweat shops.

“The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.”
- Look at the Bible. It is full of thousands of contradictions, falsehoods, and just plain dumb shit. Yet the world is more likely to believe that every single letter is inspired be God himself rather than believe that possibly this insanely contradictory, cruel, and vicious book is just a collection of really cool stories based on other mythologies.

“The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.”
- One Category: Athiests, homosexuals, adulterers, smokers, drinkers, murderers, women needing abortions, heretics, and pretty much ANYONE not a Christian. They're all evil.

“Hate is more lasting than dislike”
- Which is why the bible spreads hate against those that it finds unsuitable, rather than just mild dislike or forgiveness. Or how about a better idea? How about just ignore them all. Live your own lives, and let them live theirs?

“Great liars are also great magicians”

“Humanitarianism is the expression of stupidity and cowardice”
- Though many christians would say this is horrible, cruel, and not a christian standard, many still behave this way. The words say one thing, but their actions say another.

"It is not truth that matters, but victory."
- And this is exactly why Catholicism is the 'right' religion, while its competitors at the time (Wicca and such) are now seen as diabolical and evil. Catholicism had money. The others did not.



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Okay there, it's all said now. So now you can quit telling me that Einstein was Christian, so I should believe him. You can stop telling me that Hitler was an athiest, and look at the horrible things he did. You can stop comparing just how amazingly ignorant you are when YOU confront ME by comparing yourself to other people, and by comparing me to others.

Please, for the love of god (any of them), stop.