I am an atheist more out of a lack of conviction than out of conviction, and so I am always looking for evidences either of the existence or nonexistence of a good God. My latest evidence, I am afraid, is of the nonexistence of a benevolent deity: Henry Kissinger has just turned 100. I mean really, there was no need for that
I knew Kissinger 65 years ago when I was a young instructor
at Harvard and he was a somewhat older assistant professor. He was ambitious,
condescendingly scornful of those of us who were terrified by the dangers of
nuclear weapons, not very bright, but ominously skillful at advancing his
career.
I only actually met Kissinger once and then, I am pleased to
say, I was able conversationally to slip a shiv into him. It happened like this. A number of us at
Harvard were doing everything we could to warn of the dangers of nuclear
weapons. At one point, Kissinger wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in which
he undertook to explain to us that “this is a very serious subject.” Not long
afterward, he invited me to make a presentation to the seminar he gave each
year on international relations in which he postured and preened before the
young men who had come to Harvard from various third world countries and would
go on in later years to be important figures in their home governments.
Kissinger asked me to make a presentation about The Strategy
of Conflict, a splendid book by Thomas Schelling that had just been published.
When I stop by Kissinger’s office before the class, I asked whether there was a
blackboard in the room where we would be meeting. Kissinger asked why I needed
one, and I said that I wanted to put up some mathematics as part of my
discussion of Schelling’s book. Kissinger got a rather squirrelly look. It was
obvious to me that he did not have a clue about game theory or anything
associated with it and was afraid of being shown up for the poser he was. I
looked at him seriously and said, “Well, Prof. Kissinger, it is a very serious
subject.”
So much for fond memories. Later today I shall address the
comments on my post of yesterday.
3 comments:
Professor Wolff: You should give god a break. There’s historical precedence for magnanimity in such cases. Milton didn’t hold it against god that he created Satan. And Kissinger isn’t in the same league as Satan (even though Kissinger might be in league with the devil).
"I am an atheist more out of a lack of conviction than out of conviction, and so I am always looking for evidences either of the existence or nonexistence of a good God."
Being totally serious. Who cares if God is good or bad? I don't. I try to do some charitable deeds throughout life for the suffering so I don't end up as barbeque. Because that's what Hell is: barbeque. If I'm wrong, then I'm just content with a mixed up life philosophy for the time being. If I'm right, then my philosophy in life was put to excellent use for all eternity.
And God may even agree with me that it doesn't matter if God is just or good but that I shouldn't care either way, but that I should still be charitable to the suffering. Proof? The Book of Job for starters. At the end of the Book of Job, God explains to Job that one shouldn't fear God because he is a just God, but rather because he's an all powerful God.
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