My dearest Monisia had a book lying around... what would you do? I picked it up and flipped to what looked interesting at the moment.
I was richly rewarded. The book I picked up was "Einstein In His Own Words". A book of Einstein quotes, with commentary separating them.
Nothing seems to weigh more on my mind than religion. I've had a bit of a battle this week. And not in the way you might think. This week at school I've been compiling a playlist on my Ipod of the "100 Songs Every American Should Know", as compiled by MENC (www.menc.org). A lot of them are spiritual songs... and as I fumbled around for them, I came across some songs that used to make me bow. So there I sit, in my computer chair at school, listening to Christian music (the good stuff, mostly hymns), and finding myself thinking about God and wishing that things were as easy as fundamentalist Christianity would have you believe. This has been a very hard week.
My mind skipped over to a quote that Danielle commented with on my first post. "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."
Surely you have heard this before. And what I found myself realizing, is that Marx was right. Joseph McCarthy would be coming after me right now... but I think he's dead. And I think Marx was right about a lot of things. Now, I'm no communist, but I just might subscribe to Marxism... not sure yet. But back to the main veins. Marx was right. Lately, having not stood alongside religion for almost 2 years now (with a third year prior as transitory), I find that the only time I need "God" is when I'm hurting or in despair, and yes, stress counts.
Anyway, Marx interests me... and so does Paul Tillich. Neither are what you would call an easy read though.
Now, the quotes I read in Einstein... I found them to agree with what I think. Of course, these are just a select few, but I read many more.
"I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations."
"My position concerning God is that of an agnostic."
"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals."
"Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not God."
And finally (for tonight)...
"I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of his children for their numerous stupidities, for which he himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only his non-existence could excuse him."
My thoughts are those that are still in progress... I do not claim to have the right answer. I simply believe that this is MY right answer. And sorry that the blog tonight was 1) too long, and 2) so scattered in thought.
Take care, 'till next time...
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3 comments:
If you haven't already, you really should try reading Conversations With God. It goes over similar themes which those quotes touch on, and I think it's probably one of the most forward thinking books for people to read.
I'm not sure about that book. I knew that I'd heard of it before. I think my problem with it stems from it being one man, who claims that God would want to write through him... it just doesn't make sense. Why then wouldn't God write through, or at least answer, the prayers of all of the dying during the Holocaust? Why would God be so choosy? The answer? If he is truly God, he wouldn't. He should either speak to us all, or speak to none of us.
Actually Seth, this book is very progressive and answers why he does or doesn't answer prayers. Honestly, even though a man wrote it, it just makes so much sense. It gives me the same feeling as when I read C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity for the first time. It's very logical and technical in some areas, which makes it much easier to believe.
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