God is a childish superstition...

Personally, I've kept thoughts about "God" to myself so as to not offend others which include my own mother and father and many other people that I hold dear in my life. My willingness to express my disbelief in any god came from the recently uncovered writings by Albert Einstein.

"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."

I agree with Albert Einstein in many ways. I've always felt "God" was more like an imaginary friend that people use as a crutch to get through life. And no, I am not going to look at all the "beautiful" things around me as "proof of God" while I completely ignore all of the bad things in the process; nor will I seek to blame some imaginary "Satan" for the problems of the world, either.

I also agree about the bible statement as well. It's a great piece of literature and you can learn a lot from it, but it's not some handbook for life. There are many other books that I've taken knowledge from and the judeo-christian bible is probably on the very bottom of a short list of books that offer knowledge. If you want a real "bible", go read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He's my "Jesus Christ" and there's no doubt that he actually existed. I like the idea of the Ten Commandments and Seven Deadly Sins.

At any rate, "God" has been a recurring issue in my mind for possibly the last few years. I've come to the conclusion that I am agnostic...

agnostic
a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly; one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god.

The primary reasons for my decision stem first from the rejection of organized religion, specifically Christianity/Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam; the chief monotheistic religions of the world. Next came the need to understand the concept of god. I realized that since time immemorial, god was the reason for everything - the sun, the moon, the stars.

This primitive excuse for existence lead people to believe to assign different gods for different duties. This brought about the idea of mysticism, or magic, much like tarot card, and palm, reading. People would view specific circumstances and match their consequences, thus becoming prophets. For example, a person who may have had a broken leg may know it will rain when they feel pain in that leg.

These men and/or women, were treated as prophets, or even priests. They were thought to have connections with the gods for their abilities. Then if they praised a specific god, they would gain some sort of specific reward, or blessing. The lowly farmers praying for a blessing of rain for a good harvest would ultimately find out when their prophet was signaled through the pains in his previously broken leg. When no pain came, they were told, they didn't do enough. When the rains did come, they were told that their god was pleased with them and that they would be blessed.

What's sad is that not much has truly changed since then. I was watching an episode of Good Times. The Evans family was going to be evicted unless they could come up with the rent. So, when it came time for the moving men to kick them out, James went to go hustle pool while Florida stepped over to her picture of Jesus Christ and asked the Lord "to make it rain." James came back with the rent money. After all was said and done, Florida thanked "God"! I guess not much has changed in the last few millenniums.

Ultimately, my views of god center around the infinite possibilities of the universe. This is why I don't completely discount the idea that there is a god as atheists do. There's simply too much in this universe to accept or reject a being that can be defined as a god, in general terms. However, I do not subscribe to the Christian definition of god, or any organized religion's definition of god. One thing that's great about the universe is that in it's chaos, there's incredible order and balance. I believe in balance, equal and opposite reactions, and karma. For example, if you maintain evil people and evil ways, evil things will come back to you. An easier way of saying that is, you live by the gun, you die by the gun. And the opposite is true; it's balanced.

The great thing about my beliefs is that I don't have to live according to any arbitrary restrictions. I can enjoy a ham sandwich. I can enjoy premarital sex. I do unto others as I'd have them do unto me. I don't have any misconceptions. I don't imagine that some old white man will catch me when I fall. There is no old white man. When I fall, the earth catches me. Whether I live or die depends on how high I am. The force with which I hit the ground is equally spread throughout my body. Small fall = small force = no damage. Big fall = large force = potential for damage/death. I may scream out for God but that's only because settling on being agnostic is new to me. I am still shedding my Catholic upbringing.

Anyway, read the article. But, take notice toward the end. I think Einstein does understand his views offend his people and even lies a little so as not to offend. Sometimes, it's easier to just shut up! I guess we geniuses think a lot alike! LOL.

Belief in God 'childish,' Jews not chosen people: Einstein letter
Tue May 13, 9:02 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday.

The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.

As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".

"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," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper.

The German-language letter is being sold Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, said the auction house's managing director Rupert Powell.

In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people.

"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said.

"And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people."

And he added: "As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."
Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.

Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP.

And here is another article that I found with a few extras.

Einstein letter calls Bible 'pretty childish'
Famous scientist also dismisses belief in God as product of human weakness
The Associated Press
updated 3:16 p.m. ET, Tues., May. 13, 2008
LONDON - Albert Einstein: arch rationalist or scientist with a spiritual core?


A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."


The letter, handwritten in German, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions on Thursday and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.


Einstein, who helped unravel the mysteries of the universe with his theory of relativity, expressed complex and arguably contradictory views on faith, perceiving a universe suffused with spirituality while rejecting organized religion.


The letter up for sale, written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954, suggests his views on religion did not mellow with age.


In it, Einstein said that "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."


"For me," he added, "the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."


Addressing the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people, Einstein wrote that "the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."


Bloomsbury spokesman Richard Caton said the auction house was "100 percent certain" of the letter's authenticity. It is being offered at auction for the first time, by a private vendor.


Quirky beliefs
John Brooke, emeritus professor of science and religion at Oxford University, said the letter lends weight to the notion that "Einstein was not a conventional theist" — although he was not an atheist, either.


"Like many great scientists of the past, he is rather quirky about religion, and not always consistent from one period to another," Brooke said.


Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1879, Einstein said he went through a devout phase as a child before beginning to question conventional religion at the age of 12.


In later life, he expressed a sense of wonder at the universe and its mysteries — what he called a "cosmic religious feeling" — and famously said: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."


But he also said: "I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."


Brooke said Einstein believed that "there is some kind of intelligence working its way through nature. But it is certainly not a conventional Christian or Judaic religious view."


Einstein's most famous legacy is the special theory of relativity, which makes the point that a large amount of energy could be released from a tiny amount of matter, as expressed in the equation e=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). The theory changed the face of physics, allowing scientists to make predictions about space and paving the way for nuclear power and the atomic bomb.


Einstein's musings on science, war, peace and God helped make him world famous, and his scientific legacy prompted Time magazine to name him its Person of the 20th Century.