I’ve decided to post some of his quotes - as many of them are very interesting.

“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.”

This was a response to an atheist who wrote him questioning his famous quote, “I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos.”

“Why do you write to me ‘God should punish the English’? I have no close connection to either one or the other. 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.”

“I do not believe that a man should be restrained in his daily actions by being afraid of punishment after death or that he should do things only because in this way he will be rewarded after he dies. This does not make sense. The proper guidance during the life of a man should be the weight that he puts upon ethics and the amount of consideration that he has for others.”

“The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.”

Hmm, this is an interesting one - anyone have any thoughts on this?

“I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar.”

“Mere unbelief in a personal God is no philosophy at all.”

Also interesting and relevant to atheism I think. Of course, many of us probably have our own personal philosophies that extend beyond unbelief.

“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.”

“The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive.”

“It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I feel also not able to imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem - the most important of all human problems.”

“I am a deeply religious nonbeliever…. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.”

This quote is quite interesting as it seems to be an argument that has arisen recently - is atheism a religion in itself?

“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.”

“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.”

“It is quite possible that we can do greater things than Jesus, for what is written in the Bible about him is poetically embellished.”

“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.”

To finish it off, I’ll leave this quote:

“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.”

These quotes are in no way meant to “support” the idea that there is no God. They are simply meant to support the fact that Einstein was not a Christian and show how he felt about the world. I’m sure many of us feel the same way as many of these quotes show, so I posted this as an interesting glimpse of Einstein’s views.

If you’d like to read more pick up the book: The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

Like it?

Questions? Disagree? Then please leave a comment

And for those of you who would rather read at your own pace:

• Is it not likely that had you been born in Cairo you would be a Muslim and, as 840 million people do, would believe that “there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet?

• If you have been born in Calcutta would you not in all probability be a Hindu and, as 650 million people do, accept the Vedas and the Upanishads as sacred scriptures and hope sometime in the future to dwell in Nirvana?

• Is it not probable that, had you been born in Jerusalem, you would be a Jew and, as some 13 million people do, believe that Yahweh is God and that the Torah is God’s Word?

• Is it not likely that had you been born in Peking, you would be one of the millions who accept the teachings of the Buddha or Confucius or Lao-Tse and strive to follow their teachings and example?

• Is it not likely that you, the reader, are a Christian because your parents were before you?

• If there is a loving God, why does he permit - much less create - earthquakes, droughts, floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters which kill thousands of innocent men, women, and children every year?

• How can a loving, omnipotent God permit - much less create - encephalitis, cerebral palsy, brain cancer, leprosy, Alzheimer’s, and other incurable illnesses to afflict millions of men, women, and children, most of whom are decent people?

• How could a loving Heavenly Father create an endless Hell and, over the centuries, consign millions of people to it because they do not or cannot or will not accept certain religious beliefs?  And, having done so, how could he torment them forever?

• Why are there literally hundreds of Christian denominations and independent congregations, all of them basing their beliefs on the Bible, and most of them convinced that all the others are, in some ways, wrong?

• If all Christians worship the same God, why can they not put aside their theological differences and co-operate actively with one another?

• If God is a loving Father, why does he so seldom answer his needy children’s prayers?

• How can one believe the biblical account of the creation of the world in six days when every eminent physicist agrees that all living species have evolved over millions of years from primitive beginnings?

• Is it possible for an intelligent man or woman to believe that God fashioned the first male human being from a handful of dust and the first woman from one of the man’s ribs?

• Is it possible to believe that the Creator of the universe would personally impregnate a Palestinian virgin in order to facilitate getting his Son into the world as a man?

• The Bible says that “the Lord thy God is a jealous God.”  But if you are omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and the creator of all that exists, of whom could you possibly be jealous?

• Why, in a world filled with suffering and starvation, do Christians spend millions on cathedrals and sanctuaries and relatively little on aid to the poor and the needy?

• Why does the omnipotent God, knowing that there are tens of thousands of men, women, and children starving to death in a parched land, simply let them waste away and die when all that is needed is rain?

• Why would the Father of all mankind have a Chosen People and favor them over the other nations on earth?

• Why would God who is “no respecter of persons” prohibit adultery and then bless, honour, and allow to prosper a king who had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines?

• Why is the largest Christian church controlled entirely by men, with no woman - no matter how pious or gifted - permitted to become a priest, a monsignor, a bishop, an archbishop, a cardinal, or a pope?

• Jesus’s last words to his followers were “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.  And, lo, I am with you always.”  But, despite this and to this date - some two thousand years later - billions of men and women have never so much as heard the Christian Gospel.  Why?

While many of these seem like they should be simple for a Christian to answer, I have yet to hear a decent one.  If any Christians are reading this, and would like to humour me, please leave a comment or e-mail me at thenoose@atheistmind.com.  Next week I’ll look over the answers to these questions and reply.

If you’d like to read more of Charles Templeton’s book, you can get it here: Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith 

I’d also highly recommend reading the Portable Atheist which has selected readings and introductions by Christopher Hitchens. This is one of the many readings included. You can buy it here: The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

Enjoy the vid.

Check out some past atheist humor posts:
Atheist Humor 1: Some of God’s Many “Cool Designs”
Atheist Humor 2: Flying Spaghetti Monster vs. Invisible Pink Unicorn
Atheist Humor 3: Mr. Deity Shows Us How Prayer Really Works
Atheist Humor 4: A Look at Creationism
Atheist Humor 5: Diseases are Caused by Sin (Not God)
Atheist Humor 6: An Explanation of Religion by Lewis Black

You may be wondering, “why?” After taking the effort to create an atheist blog, spreading the word of this sinful lifestyle, and even mocking the religion to which I now turn, “what would make me change?” The answer is simple really. There are far too many rock-solid, logical arguments for creationism and God. There are simple questions alone that shake the foundation of modern science.

Questions like:

If humans evolved from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys?
If God isn’t real, then where do morals come from?
The bible says God is real, why would God lie to us in His own book?

This is but a mere fraction of questions that science cannot answer. Meanwhile any question that science throws at religion can be answered with one book: The Holy Bible. Is that all that has turned me? No, there are two major bodies of evidence that have tipped the balance, allowing Jesus to enter my heart. Please watch these, and I hope that you too will see the light.

If that wasn’t enough to sway you to the good side. Then please, I urge you to watch more profound truth that He is real.

This man is an engineer and obviously an authority figure on the matter. His views should not be taken lightly, and for me - they haven’t been.

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Psalms 14:1 - and I will be no fool.

* This has been a paid message by an anonymous Christian organization. The views and beliefs portrayed in this message do not necessarily reflect those of the owner/writers of this blog*

Enjoy the vid!

Check out some past atheist humor posts:
Atheist Humor 1: Some of God’s Many “Cool Designs”
Atheist Humor 2: Flying Spaghetti Monster vs. Invisible Pink Unicorn
Atheist Humor 3: Mr. Deity Shows Us How Prayer Really Works
Atheist Humor 4: A Look at Creationism
Atheist Humor 5: Diseases are Caused by Sin (Not God)