> The following news was on CBC on May 15,2008:

> http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/05/15/einstein-letter.html
> {
> Einstein letter dismissing God sells for
> $330,000 US
> Last Updated: Thursday, May 15, 2008 | 5:19 PM ET
> CBC News
> A letter written by Albert Einstein in which he dismissed belief in God as a “product of human weaknesses” was auctioned off Thursday for more than $330,000 US, destroying previous selling records of letters by the renowned physicist.

> The letter, written in German in 1954 to philosopher Eric Gutkind, was sold in London, England, by Bloomsbury Auctions to a private collector. It had initially been expected to fetch between $12,000 US and $16,000 US.

> “It beats the world record for an Einstein letter by about four times," managing director Rupert Powell told the Guardian newspaper. "It's a massive difference."

> In the letter, Einstein writes "the word 'God' is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

> Einstein, who was Jewish, also rejects the notion that Jews were God’s chosen people
> "For me, the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions,"

> he wrote.

> He added that "the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong, and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity, have no different quality for me than all other people.

> “As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise, I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."

> Einstein's religious and spiritual beliefs have been the subject of much speculation by both believers and skeptics.}

> Well, such an understanding demonstrates that he had an overall narrow viewpoint about the universe.

> I imagine he was possibly out of his mind a year before his death.

> Dr.M.Basti