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I Believe In God

Just a reminder, Einstein was not a religious person but he did have a spiritual side.

Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or ob<x>ject is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name — Albert Einstein.
Abhih123
There is nothing absolutely good or evil; it is good to one and evil to another, evil today, good tomorrow, and vice versa. . . .Yet the riddle remains: Who presides over this Evil? Many are hoping against hope that all is good and that we do not understand. We are clutching at a straw, burying our heads in the sand. Yet we all follow morality and the gist of morality is sacrifice—not I but thou. Yet how it clashes with the great good God of the universe! He is so selfish, the most vengeful person that we know, with plagues, famines, war!

The universe is a fact; and if a fact, it is a huge composition of good and evil. Whoever rules must rule over good and evil. If that power makes us live, the same makes us die. Laughter and tears are kin, and there are more tears than laughter in this world. Who made flowers, who made the Himalayas?—a very good God. Who made my sins and weaknesses?—karma, Satan, self. The result is a lame, one-legged universe, and naturally the God of the universe, a one-legged God.

The view of the absolute separation of good and evil, two cut and dried and separate existences, makes us brutes of unsympathetic hearts. The good woman jumps aside from the streetwalker. Why? She may be infinitely better than you in some respects. This view brings eternal jealousy and hatred in the world, eternal barrier between man and man, between the good man and the comparatively less good or evil man. Such brutal view is pure evil, more evil than evil itself. Good and evil are not separate existences, but there is an evolution of good, and what is less good we call evil.

The old idea of the fatherhood of God is connected with the sweet notion of God presiding over happiness. We want to deny facts. Evil is non-existent, is zero. The "I" is evil. And the "I" exists only too much. Am I zero? Every day I try to find myself so and fail.

All these ideas are attempts to fly evil. But we have to face it. Face the whole! Am I under contract to anyone to offer partial love to God only in happiness and good, not in misery and evil?

~ Swami Vivekananda
DarksBane
*Sighs*Cold does exist. The fact that it is the lack of something does not make it fake. Cold is the absence of heat, and the absence of heat does, indeed exist. Darkness exists by the same principle.The "evil" as society believes in is not akin to either idea. Evil is the opposite of good, not the simple lack of it. Anyway, God is supposed to be infinitely powerful, and if he were, his light would pervade throughout all places, rendering the concept null.
DarksBane
I concur.
johnny253
Maybe he has created a rock that he can't pick up. That would make him all powerful:)
lazurm
I think you may have either missed the point I was making or are purposely having some sort of disruptive fun. Again, I was attempting to illustrate the logical irony that concepts such as infinity often gets itself into.
sancarn
I think one of the big problems with the Young Einsteins postulate is that God IS everywhere, IS all powerful, all loving and all knowledgeable.God, upon creating the universe would know that evil would exist and to an all loving god that would not be perfect. Since he is defined to be infinitely powerful he could change evil to not exist. Since he is everywhere then no-one could be without God.

Einstein did not believe in a personal god, only a pantheistic god. That god is the universe and learning the natural laws that run it is learning the lord. For this "god" evil can exist because the god isn't personal, but a personal god surely cannot allow evil to exist.
whiterabbit559
With out evil in this superstition there's no reason to worship it. No way to extort donations from the poor. The evil and good is in each of us. No one makes us do anything we don't want to do. Then the factions that preech you have to fear a vengeful god so they can control you. Sin is another tool to control you.
EarthlingWise
That sounds like a legend, whether it was told by Einstein or not. I've read good philosophical remarks from him, but that is lame. A professor should not be impressed by such mere comparisons. Of course cold in itself doesn't exist, the sensation does. But the opposition between an omnipotent creator and a naughty devil has little to do with the heat/cold opposition. Actually religions don't know how to explain evil, they don't know what love and 'good' is either, because good and bad are often the same thing, good intentions can lead to bad things, bad intentions can lead to good things...
EarthlingWise
Yep, Einstein was a bit more enlightened!
BlueMetalChick
What if, perhaps, cold exists and heat does not? What if heat is the absence of cold? And what if light is just the absence of darkness?
BlueMetalChick
It is still an image, and therefore a thing. It can travel faster than light, and you are wrong. Thank you for playing, please try again.
NarratorAkaTylerDurden
What is a thing? It has no velocity or mass therefore it can not travel. Sorry wrong again
BlueMetalChick
What is light, but the absence of darkness? Waves, not particles, and therefore no mass. If light can travel, so can darkness. You are wrong, and no amount of making shit up will change that. Stop wasting my time.
zeusdelight
Interesting story. Unfortunately, Einstein did not say that (refer snopes.com) God cannot be proved or disproved. People believe, don't believe, are not interested, don't care or are continually searching to see if they believe or not. That's what makes God so interesting. Most people have a need to have an opinion:)
silverwings2012
A perfect answer for an atheist.
lazurm
I think it's more useful to address the concepts of argument rather than merely depicting the author as a believer or not, and in doing so attempting to trivialize their message by nothing more than name calling, yes?
Julesyro
The cold and darkness part makes sense, but I really cannot understand the analogy to God. For me that logical link is not there. I doubt Einstein would have ever said that.
lazurm
I'm in a bit of a quandry on silverwings2012 response here as it seems to presuppose that evil can only exist "when man does not have God's love present in his heart" but there are many who may have not been considered evil in their particular day and place, but the definition of evil may have changed over time and therefore their actions may become considered evil later, even after all concerned have died (slavery is but one of many examples).

But wouldn't it be true that God would consider something either evil or good and not relative? Additionally, some things are partially evil and greatly good so how does that work out by way of your explanation? Does that mean that the doer only had partial Godly love? If so, that leaves me more confused. The same goes for things that are considered evil in one culture but not evil in another, the same for goodness.

Also, the Church has already stated that atheists can be good people and there are many examples of such. They don't, by definition, have God's love present in their heart (or do they) but are good anyway.
johnny253
God is good or good is God, the opposite of God is evil.
johnny253
One does not have to intellectually believe in God to have God in his heart. God is there whether he recognizes him or not. That's why we always from the beginning have a sense of what's good and what's evil. You say that"What's good in one society may not be good in another Society." That is true but that person THINKS it's good and that's what counts. We have, as a Society certain norms which we define as Good and those opposed as Evil. That's true in all Societies in all times no matter where.
twinklestar2014
Good Morning

Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.”“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have :)
Yasmeenaofficial
Here : http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Evil-And-God/5170823
Yasmeenaofficial
don't you already worship of out of fear , you don't want to go to hell, that is fear. religion is abuse and restricts your personality, sexuality, every aspect of your life is controlled.
SW-User
No. I do not worship out of fear. I actually really have no fear. What restrictions in the Bible are not not used to present day? Do you believe killing is correct? Do you believe cheating is correct? Do you believe lying is correct? If you do, you must be very untrustworthy. I am actually not afraid to die because I have hope for a better life. You, I am not so sure about. You see how horrible this world is yet believe that this is how it is supposed to be. You can have this earth because everything on here is temporary. Religion is not an abuse or restriction to any aspect of my life. If you want to sleep with 20 men, go ahead, just be aware that you can get diseases. If you want to eat unhealthy food everyday, go ahead, just be aware of the sicknesses you will get. If you want to smoke, drink, and drug your life away, go ahead, just be aware the you are killing yourself. I rather live a healthy and wholesome lifestyle. I can't say the same for you.
Khyr
I believe that evil exists so that good can triumph over it. so yes God in his infinate wisdom created evil but for the truimph and victory of good. as a Muslim i find it hard to understand how a person can 'reject' God knowing that this world is not self existant
NarratorAkaTylerDurden
Besides the statement of "Gods love" i don't agree with saying Einstein wasn't religious. Agnostics can be very religious actually. Again he didn't have a belief. He knew there was a God.
Yasmeenaofficial
if such a thing/being exists then G-d (s) she/he/they are responsible for evil and such a creature is not worthy of my praise. If I met G-d I will kill him/her/they
NarratorAkaTylerDurden
There is no proof of this account. I myself think it ver Einstein like. I will say Einstein would never ever say Gods love
adkfjdlkf1
I think theres more then one way of looking at god and definitely more then one way to view darkness, light, good and evil :)
whiterabbit559
Trickery does not prove a god exists no proof of god proves does not exist.
SW-User
So, are you saying God does not exist or there is a possibility but we just can't prove His existence. These are two different things. Punctuation is a very important thing.
spirituallyfit
True or cause, I liked it and I will share it with my friends because it made me feel like god is real
Enlightener
lololo..wowwww..I need to learn from youuu..
me and Einstein share the same beliefs though.
boxersoff4u
brilliant , but then ..... Albert Einstein WAS brilliant wasn't he !
Souleater10
Il put it this way :) .. The answer is perspective and perception
GreenButtercup
I really love this story. Thanks for sharing!
daylinparkson
Who cares if Einstein said it or not...
EarthlingWise
People interested in the truth and respecting real people.
lcbill13
Evil exist in the hearts of all people.
atom56
no,it is the product of mind
neuilly
Brilliant...and thank you for sharing...
samuelsluck986
that is cool and yes evil does exist :-)
syedanazia
god gave me best life <3
charityhelp
i love god so much
GarnetRoses
Great read! Thanks
1alwaysdreaming
Amazing :D
mrmoose1947
twinklestar2014
how are you?
jjoe01
Cool, I like it.
silverwings2012
Wonderful.........

 
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