Why quibble? Millions who recognise the bible (and all religious dogmas) as nonsense, and who have no belief in god in any way, shape, or form...yet prefer to call themselves agnostic rather than atheist--especially if they are a public figure. The point is that they recognise the fairy tales in the bible and all other such fairy tales to be written by men out of fear and ignorance.
Yes, he had a great sense of wonder and awe about the universe. All great thinkers do. But he also had a deep respect for Reason, for facts, and for honest thinking.
Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression. Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment - an attitude that has never again left me, even though, later on, it has been tempered by a better insight into the causal connections. - Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp
"I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one"
Albert Einstein |
