The following is a letter received by Albert Einstein from a girl named Phyllis.

“The Riverside Church

January 19, 1936

My dear Dr. Einstein,

We have brought up the question: Do scientists pray? in our Sunday school class. It began by asking whether we could believe in both science and religion. We are writing to scientists and other important men, to try and have our own question answered.

We will feel greatly honored if you will answer our question: Do scientists pray, and what do they pray for?

We are in the sixth grade, Miss Ellis’s class.

Respectfully yours,

Phyllis”

Einstein did respond to Phyllis’ question.

“January 24, 1936

Dear Phyllis,

I will attempt to reply to your question as simply as I can. Here is my answer:

Scientists believe that every occurrence, including the affairs of human beings, is due to the laws of nature. Therefore a scientist cannot be inclined to believe that the course of events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by a supernaturally manifested wish.

However, we must concede that our actual knowledge of these forces is imperfect, so that in the end the belief in the existence of a final, ultimate spirit rests on a kind of faith. Such belief remains widespread even with the current achievements in science.

But also, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.

With cordial greetings,

your A. Einstein”

Although at the time that this letter was written, Einstein had just escaped persecution in Nazi Germany, and was a Nobel Prize winning physicist living in the U.S. he still took the time to answer this question  from a child.

What is important isn’t what Einstein says, but rather what he doesn’t say. He never answers the question of whether or not he believes in a God in the traditional sense. Einstein didn’t allow himself to alienate this child by saying that there was or wasn’t a God.

Far too often today we see dichotomies created between beliefs. Either you’re with a belief system or you’re against it.

These, however, are false dichotomies. As Einstein points out, you can believe in science and scientific reasoning while still believing in a God. This is true of all beliefs.

Hate and separation are created by the idea that your beliefs make you different, but as Einstein suggests, that is not the case at all.

Alex Bertsch is the opinion editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].