Coffin, Meet Nail.

Josh Aldridge

A letter to be auctioned this month spells out the great 20th century scientist Albert Einstein's thoughts regarding religion in unequivocal terms. The letter written to friend and philosopher Eric Gutkind describes the bible as a childish superstition and the word god "nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses". The letter written one year before his death in 1955 details a clear and mature view regarding his personal feelings towards religion and god.

Quote-miners on both sides of the religious debate have claimed Einstein for their own over the years as letters and writings are found and become available to the public. The famous quote, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" has been used over and over as proof somehow of the pious nature of Einstein. The non-religious have also previously claimed Einstein by citing such quotes as, "I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar."

Above all the bickering and intellectual ownership claimed by both sides, Einstein can instead be claimed by all as a humanist and a gift to all who strive for the betterment of mankind by mankind.

I believe in the brotherhood of man and the uniqueness of the individual. But if you ask me to prove what I believe, I can't. You know them to be true but you could spend a whole lifetime without being able to prove them. The mind can proceed only so far upon what it knows and can prove. There comes a point where the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge, but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap.