It was originally given as part of the Phi Beta Kappa oration at Harvard.
“It has often been noted that the greatest horrors of the twentieth century were perpetrated by regimes—Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China—that while rejecting some or all of the teachings of religion, copied characteristics of religion at its worst: “
How many of these ideas have roots in the mystical metaphysics of Hegel is tough to say. It’s ironic to think that a committed socialist who claims (and indirectly advocates the enforcement of) Godlessness might be carrying more Christian metaphysical baggage than a scientist who might believe in God:
“No one did more than Newton to make it possible to work out thoroughly nontheistic explanations of what we see in the sky, but Newton himself was not in this sense a Newtonian.”
And Weinberg comments:
“So far in my life…I think I have achieved a perfect record of never having changed anyone’s mind.”
Well said. That’s often a good place to be.
Also Mentioned: Emerson, Al-Ghazali and the Islamic world, Einstein, Darwin, Shakespeare…
Possibly Related On This Site: Peter Singer Discusses Hegel And Marx, A Debate: Would We Better Off Without Religion?, Theodore Dalrymple In The City Journal: Atheism’s Problems the comments section.