30 Aug 05
Eistein's disgraceful past nullifies his credibility as a scientist.
"An investigation was conducted by the FBI regarding the famous physicist because of his affiliation with the Communist Party. Einstein was a member, sponsor, or affiliated with thirty-four communist fronts between 1937 and 1954. He also served as honorary chairman for three communist organizations."
--http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/einstein.htm
30 Aug 05
I took a look at the first group of documents and one can only wonder how history might have been different if the Woman's Patriot Corporation had gotten their way in 1932 and Einstein had been denied admittance to the United States because of his vocal support and patronage of the international disarmament movement after the senseless carnage of WWI. Besides making the US an utter laughingstock it would have also been a serious impediment to many other European scientists who shared Einstein's views and later emigrated to the US. Some of these scientists formed the core of the group that worked on the Manhattan Project, the establishment of which was spurred by Einstein's famous letter to FDR. It is conceivable that Hitler would have gotten the A-Bomb before the Allies, certainly a terrifying possibility.
30 Aug 05
Originally posted by kingdanwaNot sure why you posted this in the "spirituality" section, but as far as the pure ideal of communism goes, it has philosophical/spiritual merits. Even the Bible boasts some communist theory, as in shared property. To wit...this is from Acts 4:32-37...
Eistein's disgraceful past nullifies his credibility as a scientist.
"An investigation was conducted by the FBI regarding the famous physicist because of his affiliation with the Communist Party. Einstein was a member, sponsor, or affiliated with thirty-four communist fronts between 1937 and 1954. He also served as honorary chairman for three communist organizations."
--http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/einstein.htm
32 "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need."
That passage depicts a religious communal setting, but the ideal behind it is pure communism. And in fact, historically there has been a movement called "Christian Communism", though it's not well known, as most people assume that communism and atheism go hand in hand. But this is not necessarily so.
Someone once wrote a book suggesting a blend between Zen Buddhism and Communism, further proposing that this would be the ideal future for humanity.
It wasn't all that far-fetched, either...
As for Einstein, during his initial period of interest in this ideology the problem was not communism, the problem was fascism and an insane German dictator.
30 Aug 05
1 edit
Originally posted by MetamorphosisNot that it really matters, but Einstein wasn't a Communist. According to Wikipedia, he was a co-founder of the German Democratic party, a liberal democratic socialist party in the 1920's that was for a time in one of the parliamentary majorities of the Weimar Republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Democratic_Party
Not sure why you posted this in the "spirituality" section, but as far as the pure ideal of communism goes, it has philosophical/spiritual merits. Even the Bible boasts some communist theory, as in shared property. To wit...this is from Acts 4:32-37...
32 "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions wa ...[text shortened]... s ideology the problem was not communism, the problem was fascism and an insane German dictator.
It must be remembered that in popular, right wing paranoid parlance of the 30's, 40's and 50's, pretty much ANY liberal group was a "Communist front organization" including the ACLU, ADA, AFL-CIO and many other leftist political, social and labor groups.
30 Aug 05
Originally posted by kingdanwaI wonder if this same argument is used against Christianity…
Eistein's disgraceful past nullifies his credibility as a scientist.
"An investigation was conducted by the FBI regarding the famous physicist because of his affiliation with the Communist Party. Einstein was a member, sponsor, or affiliated with thirty-four communist fronts between 1937 and 1954. He also served as honorary chairman for three communist organizations."
--http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/einstein.htm
For example:
If you replace the word Einstein in the first section with Christianity and Science with Religion... you get the classic "learned" argument against the validity of Christianity... If you read Moldy Crows next posts and any post after it, you can see how this argument for the supposedly “learned” doesn’t pan out…
example:
Christianity’s disgraceful past nullifies its credibility (or truthfulness) as a religion...
Like we all haven't heard this argument before... Its the sad banter and quotation of such events as the Crusades or Inquisitions or what have you....
I wonder if maybe this would be the Spiritual turn in this avenue of discussion
30 Aug 05
Originally posted by no1marauderYeah, like Ok, I am a communist, so the peer review says back,
Not that it really matters, but Einstein wasn't a Communist. According to Wikipedia, he was a co-founder of the German Democratic party, a liberal democratic socialist party in the 1920's that was for a time in one of the parliamentary majorities of the Weimar Republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Democratic_Party
It must be remembered ...[text shortened]... on" including the ACLU, ADA, AFL-CIO and many other leftist political, social and labor groups.
we're sorry Al, no dirty pinko commie could ever do real science,
so you can forget getting published here at Harvard.....
Come on, can't you see what you are saying?
You bitch about something that happened years before
communism was a bad word, whether he was commie or not.
It wasn't a world threat in the thirties and twenties so what is your
big gripe? You think E not = to MC2 just because he may or may
not have been a commie? give it a rest. Why don't you attack a
REAL weirdo like Lyndon Larouche? Google tha name in if you want
a headful.
30 Aug 05
Originally posted by kingdanwaThe Christians on this site really show a laughable misunderstanding of science. Science is based on establishing descriptions of physical reality that can be tested experimentally. The "moral character" (whatever that means) of a scientist is utterly irrelevant has to whether his hypotheses are verifible by experiment. Ask the people at Hiroshima if E=MC2 (don't know how to do exponents).
Shouldn't a person's moral character be a factor in determining whether or not he speaks the truth?
30 Aug 05
Originally posted by no1marauderI wonder: Do you think Science is based on a Philosophical Understanding of the Nature of Reality as well as "Christianity"? Or is science just empirically based and Christianity has nothing?
The Christians on this site really show a laughable misunderstanding of science. Science is based on establishing descriptions of physical reality that can be tested experimentally. The "moral character" (whatever that means) of a scientist is utterly irrelevant has to whether his hypotheses are verifible by experiment. Ask the people at Hiroshima if E=MC2 (don't know how to do exponents).