I have always known that Einstein had some pretty cool and unique views on religion, but I haven’t looked into it much until today. I regret not having done so sooner! Found some really great quotes.
Religion without science is blind.
Some people really need some of this sense talked into them!
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.
The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive.
I have never imputed to Nature a purpose or a goal, or anything that could be understood as anthropomorphic. What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.
I do not try to imagine a personal God; it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.
I too agree that the idea of a personal, personified God is silly. These quotes precisely illustrate how I like to look at the world myself. Maybe that means I’m a genius too! (ha)
One thing that sets us apart, though, is his definition of “religion,” which is a little too broad for my taste. Take a look at these quotes:
I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.
Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Clearly, when he said “religion,” he wasn’t referring to your classic ones. I think he meant something like a more personal religion or belief system – which I would hesitate to call “religion,” because I find myself in the same boat, and I don’t like to call myself “religious.” Meh, it’s all good!
Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things as a meaningful unity.
There’s a nicely related NY Times excerpt from the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins that I highly recommend. He seems to share my view on the words “God” and “religion.” (I wanted to excerpt some of it here, but it said I needed the publisher’s permission. Too messy.)
Don’t miss my previous discussion of how religions are simply just tools of cultivation/self-improvement.
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