Belief in God produces Hell on Earth

[kowhoho]

GameOver22 said:

sapphi_snake said:

Umos-Cmos said:

Science and Religion can and should co-exist.  Albert Einstein acknowledged a Creator or God.  Just sayin.

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."

"Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe-a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble."

Those are just a few choice nuggets.

That's a lie. Do your research. Read ordoboros' post.

There is a difference between saying there is no God and saying there is no personal God. Most of the quotes from Einstein are criticisms against a personal God who intervenes in human life. A person who believed in a non-personal God, such as a deist or a pantheist, would not confront these problems. Given that Einstein says he accepts Spinoza's God (Spinozism is the best example of pantheism), it could be said that he believed in God. He just did not believe in a personal or religious God.

The problem I have with scientists talking about their belief in God is that it is sometimes difficult to tell when they are using God as a metaphor and when they truly mean God. In Einstein's case, I could easily see someone arguing that he used God as a metaphor for the orderly structure of the universe. Personally, I find Einstein's views on God to be ambiguous.

Einstein was not a believer of any of the supernatural practices or beliefs of religion. He may very well have been a Deist however. I can appreciate this position. Belief in some kind of "higher power" without any of the crazy mumbo jumbo. I just wonder what people found this belief upon.

Oftentimes people say that the universe and Earth are so intricately fine-tuned for our survival that there must be a God; this is a silly statement considering only about 15% of the Earth is inhabitable by humans.

Disclaimer: this is only one point of contention. Just keeping the discussion going.