Warren Buffet, Reason and God

Warren Buffet, Reason and God

Certainly, Warren Buffet is an atheist. One can see this from a fellow atheist, Austin Cline who is proud of Buffet's type of charity. He brings down a quote from Roger Lowenstein's biography of Buffet when he quotes '" He did not subscribe to his family's religion. Even at a young age he was too mathematical, too logical, to make the leap of faith. He adopted his father's ethical underpinnings, but not his belief in an unseen divinity (Cline 2006)."

Further on, Cline notes that Buffet "isn't giving it to any religious foundations and he isn't even giving to secular groups, like the United Way (ibid)." In other words, he sought out charities like the Gates Foundation to promote causes that atheists espouse, like Planned Parenthood. His issues with his family religion were based upon what he saw as a conflict between faith and reason.

However, one also has to look at his good qualities. How can anyone be influenced to a position as a believer unless they are dealt with in this way? D.L. Moody put it succinctly: "Blessed are the money-raisers, for in heaven they shall stand next to the martyrs (Ahonen 2010 3) ." What else could be done for charity if we had more fund raisers and givers? For all of his bad issues, Buffet is an example of thrift, drive and the ability to pull himself up to a high position without the help of anyone else. Would anyone rather that he should be a burden on society, as so many individuals are, lacking the drive to make them selves better? It is unfortunate that he has not spent more time being close to and with his family rather making money, but who is perfect.

As Cline points out, Buffet resembles Bill Gates who when asked about Christianity said that he is not a believer and does not attend church regularly, but finds the moral teachers of Christianity useful and inspiring (Cline 2006). Is this so bad? Both of them can teach most people about the need to work, save money and then give back to the society that nurtured them.

This seeming dispute between faith and reason is hardly new and is an illusion that is easily dispelled. After all, Christianity did not come out of a box with Luther's theses in 1517. The seeds had already been planted in the High Middle Ages/Early Renaissance as learning revived in the wake of the Crusades. This cultural awakening of the High Middle Ages raised issues that scholars such as the great Thomas Aquinas wrestled with in his classical Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica. He held that there were two types of truth. First, reason could demonstrate God exists. On a higher level, some things must be accepted on faith alone (Patterson 2001 93).