Sybaris Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Most of you have probably already heard that before. The first time I heard it was today, in an email, an urban legend retelling a debate between Einstein and an Atheist Professor. http://www.snopes.com/religion/einstein.asp I received this email from a Fundie Psychiatrist/Lawyer who often sends me these types of things and I fire right back with the facts and resources to disprove them. Kinda strange, a Psychiatrist who knows full well the weaknesses of the mind yet is a fundie. This is the first time he has sent me anything regarding religion and after reading it my reactions were: 1) This is obviously a fictional story and Einstein was inserted to give some genius level integrity. 2) By the logic used in the boys position, any region or country predominately inhabited by non-christians must be evil and in chaos. 3) Since the Christian god nor Zeus can be disproven it's basically a zero sum game. Anyone been sent this urban legend before? If so, what was your reply? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcdaddy Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I saw it on FB. I just said that there's no way in hell Einstein said that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Valk0010 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 And even if einstein did say that, he is wrong. Immoral actions are actions of themselves. There is no such thing as nonevil. Actions are either good or evil. If that arguement is correct, then there would be such a thing as nonevil, which is a absurd concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser01 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Einstein was a pantheist at most, Christians try to claim him as a christian all the time but he rejected organized religion at the age of about 15. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looking4Answers Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 If we make the assumption that evil is the absence of god, then we already have a problem with the Bible's god. Why? Because, according to the Bible, god is everywhere (omnipresent). If this were the case, then god cannot be absent (even if he wanted to be). And, thus, if god is good, then evil could not exist because god and his goodness would fill everything. There simply would be no place for evil. Therefore, if god is absent (anywhere), then god is not god because he cannot be omnipresent and that would mean that god is limited (thus, not god). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddbird1963 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 The "absence of god" definition has also been used to describe hell. It's part of the constant goal post shifting of religion. Old definitions proved to be no longer rational or useful so the great theological minds started to redefine concepts to make their particular religious view seem more palatable to the prevailing culture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Einstein said he believed in the God of Spinoza. Spinoza was excommunicated from the Jewish religion and was more of a naturalist believing the universe could operate on its own accord by works of nature. Einstein felt the same. Einstein did not hold to any religious doctrine but preferred exploring the natural world. Most Christians are used to quote mining by way of memorizing pet bible verses. Few actually read their own bibles beyond the constraints of their doctrine so I would not expect most, if any, to actually read Einsteins biography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelHappy Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Einstein was a Panenthist, same as Spinoza. I remember when some girl posted this in my old church group and I said wait there is no way this is true because Einstein definitely didn't accept a theistic god....my girlfriend got pretty pissed at how insulting I guess I was... but really this retarded ignorance is so hard to see and not say something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Normally Christians who say that evil is an absence say it's an absence of good. As with the evil of blindness is the absence of the ability to see. They say this as one of the ways of trying to absolve God from the charge of creating or willing evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybaris Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Apparently whoever wrote that urban legend forgot this verse Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 The story is an urban legend. Though he wasn't an atheist, he wasn't anything what Xtians would like either. The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. Letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, January 3, 1954 2. Albert Einstein & Spinoza's God: Harmony in the Universe 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. - Albert Einstein, responding to Rabbi Herbert Goldstein's question "Do you believe in God?" quoted in: Has Science Found God?, by Victor J Stenger 3. Albert Einstein: It is a Lie that I Believe in a Personal God 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, letter to an atheist (1954), quoted in Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas & Banesh Hoffman 4. Albert Einstein: Human Fantasy Created Gods During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution, human fantasy created gods in man's own image who, by the operations of their will were supposed to determine, or at any rate influence, the phenomenal world. - Albert Einstein, quoted in: 2000 Years of Disbelief, James Haught 5. Albert Einstein: Idea of a Personal God is Childlike I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being. - Albert Einstein to Guy H. Raner Jr., Sept. 28, 1949, quoted by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2 6. Albert Einstein: Idea of a Personal God Cannot be Taken Seriously 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. 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, November 9, 1930 9. Albert Einstein: Scientists Can Hardly Believe in Prayers to Supernatural Beings 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; quoted in: Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas & Banesh Hoffmann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Absence of God. I thought he was omnipresent... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Those stories are great. And Einstein had the answer. God is like...not cold and darkness...but heat and light. He knew they could be measured. So evil cannot be measured, like cold and darkness, but god can just like heat and light. Apparently he set out to measure god. And then he created the Theory of Relativity which has led to quantum mechanics which has led to god not being needed at all. Good job Einstein. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inqui Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Here's a good post that debunks this Christian favourite. http://religionvirus.blogspot.co.nz/2011/07/refuting-atheist-professor-vs-christian.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolorado Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Obviously, the people who wrote this crap never read anything Einstein actually said. I tried to explain to an xian about how their GPS has to be reset because of the speed of time slowing or speeding up based on proximity to large objects and gravity. Einstein proposed this a hundred or so yrs ago and the satellites are programmed to adjust accordingly, and gps proved Einstein was correct. This xian, aka otherwise sane person, thought I was crazy! God doesnt change time! I had to find the scientific info to prove it, and I did. But the answer from the xian? 'God is never wrong, Einstein was.' I suggested that person not use gps because god was wrong on that. So, why do they want Einstein? He proved them wrong, over and over and over.....never underestimate the power of brainwashing over logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted July 11, 2012 Super Moderator Share Posted July 11, 2012 Things that don't exist are absent by definition. Evil is the absence of chocolate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Anyone been sent this urban legend before? If so, what was your reply? It's been around for a very long time, probably 10 years or so (maybe more). Evil = absence of intelligence (as proven by the story). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybaris Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Here's a good post that debunks this Christian favourite. http://religionvirus...-christian.html Here's another that's pretty good, rewritten with realistic dialogue: http://www.rationalresponders.com/debunking_an_urban_legend_evil_is_a_lack_of_something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike D Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Evil = Absence of God Christian = Absence of Brain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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