Albert Einstein

Hate pervades our culture.  Anne Coulter’s book, Guilty, is on the New York Times best seller list; Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glen Beck reap high viewership ratings on the Fox News Channel; Michelle Malkin is a popular blogger; Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh do well on radio, and TMZ brings its mean-spirited tabloid journalism to television and the internet.  When tempted to confront, return in kind, or “sit and stew” over this hate, I turn to a quote by the 17th century Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza.

I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.

Baruch Spinoza

Einstein, when asked if he believed in God, replied, “I believe in Spinoza’s God”.  But Spinoza was a rationalist whose philosophy planted him firmly in the camp of the atheists, so just who was the God of Spinoza and Einstein?

Spinoza took the view that “God is nature”.  Not that God was in everything, and everything was of God, like a pantheist might believe, but rather that the universe played out according to the laws of nature.  Spinoza’s God was not a “personal God”, and he did not believe in the supernatural aspects of religion.  To Spinoza, the “passions and emotions” that played out in Christianity and Judaism, did not provide an individual with true freedom.  Real freedom came from revealing and understanding the laws of nature, and removing the hopes and fears associated with being a slave to the belief in an omnipotent and judgmental God.  To Spinoza, knowledge not only unlocked the mysteries of the universe, but it served to guide one’s morality.  Virtue was something a person desired, not so much as a prerequisite for a blissful hereafter, but to ensure that life here on earth was enhanced through the mutual respect of men.

Baruch Spinoza

I love the way Spinoza argues against traditional religion while leaving the door open to the possibility that the Bible and religion do hold some truths.  While this diplomacy didn’t seem serve him very well during his lifetime, as he was excommunicated by his synagog and ostracized by his community, it does serve as an example as to how we can tolerate and learn from different opinions and actions.  I can embrace parts of Spinoza’s thinking without feeling like my entire belief system is under attack.

Unfortunately this tolerance of ideas is missing in much of  the world today.  Rather, ideas are treated as George W. Bush saw the larger world; “You are either with us, or against us”.  Ideas falling outside of our narrow belief systems are treated as something that must be destroyed.  Hate is the result.  We can choose to understand it like Spinoza, or we can let it seep into our psyche and allow it to diminish us.

Laws which prescribe what everyone must believe, and forbid men to say or write anything against this or that opinion, are often passed to gratify, or rather to appease the anger of those who cannot abide independent minds.

Baruch Spinoza