The truthful are truthful, whether they believe in God or not.
The good are good, whether they believe in God or not.
Truth and goodness is truthful and good, whether one believes in God or not.
As such, belief in God is of arbitrary importance.– Stonepeace
A good theist respects a good atheist.
A good atheist respects a good theist.
If not, what good is theism or atheism?– Stonepeace
This is a video version of something that circulated by email years ago. It’s certain that Einstein never said what he was supposed to had in the video for he did not believe in a personal God and was widely regarded as dull-witted in school when young. This post is not anti any religion, but a simple philosophical exercise to stimulate personal reflection. It might seem logical at first but the reasoning in this very short video is flawed in many ways, as we shall see:
1. If there is a creator God, who created everything, not that there is a need for one at all (as nature can exist as it is by itself, recreating itself in natural cycles), he created the possibility of evil, cold and darkness too. Even if he did not, he allows it to exist as the other end of the spectrum. In this sense, he did created and sustains evil, cold and darkness.
2. To say evil, cold and darkness do not exist is ridiculous – especially to those who suffer greatly from evil-doers, who almost freeze to death and who are discriminated for being blind.
3. What the video shows indirectly, is that a God that is perfectly good who created everything cannot exist – because if he does, he would have created a world without evil, cold and darkness. And if there is really a creator God, it is true then, that he is evil.
4. To say that evil is a result of absence of God’s love in the heart is problematic too because it is saying that all who don’t believe in God are evil. This is obviously not the case as there are millions of good people who don’t believe in God, many of whom love more sentient beings (including animals) than the average God-believer, who believes animals are created by God for them to eat. It is also a problem why an all-loving God’s love should possibly be absent from anyone’s heart in the first place – unless there is no such God in the first place.
5. The video is about bringing religion back to school as a science when creationism is simply bad science according to most scientists. ‘The U.S. National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have termed it pseudoscience. Others in the scientific community have concurred, and some have called it junk science.” – Wikipedia
“He who has eyes can see the sickening sight;
Why does not Brahma [equivalent to creator God idea] set his creatures right?
If his wide power no limit can restrain,
Why is his hand so rarely spread to bless?
Why are all his creatures condemned to pain?
Why does he not to all give happiness?
Why do fraud, lies, and ignorance prevail?
Why triumphs falsehood — truth and justice fail?
I count your Brahma one the unjust among
Who made a world in which to shelter wrong.”– Bhuridatta Jataka, No. 453
“If there exists some lord all-powerful to fulfill
In every creature bliss or woe, and action good or ill,
That Lord is stained with sin.
The human being does but work his will.”— Mahabodhi Jataka, No. 528