Man sought to alter the disposition of these gods in his own favor by means of magic and prayer. The idea of God in the religions taught at present is a sublimation of the old concept of the gods. Its anthropomorphic character is shown, for instance, by the fact that men appeal to their Divine Being in prayers and plead for the fulfillment of their wishes."
Even though it seemed Einstein was writing more about traditional religious ritualism, I realized that the last line of the passage also referred to my type of belief in a higher power, but what he wrote next really challenged my previous concept about God directly: "[I have] no use for the religion of fear and equally little for social or moral religion. A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to [me] for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motions it undergoes. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties, and needs. No religious basis is necessary."
Both Einstein and Russell went on in some detail about how Meaning in human life comes only from (1) living morally in so far as that means treating others kindly, and (2) doing whatever one can to help others in life and contribute to social welfare in some way. I have to admit that part of me still wonders whether there is anybody "up there" observing me, but after reading more of what these two brilliant authors wrote about God and Morality in human life, I have decided that it doesn't really matter, because everything that Einstein and Russell wrote about morality in human life was very similar to what most traditional religions tell us...
I am still not 100% sure about what I believe, but I admit I am now leaning toward Einstein's view, which he expressed in one of the most eloquent passages I have an ever read:
The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery, even if mixed with fear, that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds, it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of God who rewards and punishes his creatures or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death. Let feeble souls from fear or absurd egoism cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."
References
Dukas, H., Hoffmann, B. (1989) Albert Einstein: The Human Side.
Princeton: New Jersey
Einstein, a. (1954) Ideas and Opinions. Crown: New York Russell, B. (1950)
Unpopular Essays. Simon & Schuster: New York
