[reasonseeker]

"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. I cannot do this in spite of the fact that mechanistic causality has, to a certain extent, been placed in doubt by modern science. [He was speaking of Quantum Mechanics and the breaking down of determinism.] My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. Morality is of the highest importance -- but for us, not for God."
[Albert Einstein, from "Albert Einstein: The Human Side", edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press]

[Maceman]

Morality is of the highest importance -- but for us, not for God.

I don't disagree with anything in this quote. I said I am not an atheist, but I am also not a Christian, and long ago abandoned the Judaism of my youth.

I never believed that God needed us to worship Him because he is insecure. I just think that God is like a river that we need to go to gain strength and spiritual nourishment. I don't think that God gets anything out of being worshipped. The worship is for us, not for him (I use "him" for convenience, because I believe that God is beyond gender).

As for morality, I see it as a code that we need to live by because it works for human beings in God's physical universe. I don't think God sits in individual judgment on us. I just think that the Universe is the physical manefestation of God's law, and we act in opposition to that to our own detriment and ultimate destruction.

So I think Einstein's perspective makes a lot of sense here.