What do you think of the following analogy for EVIL?

Question

A University professor at a well-known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question.
"Did God create everything that exists?"
A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"
"God created everything?" The professor asked.
"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil.
And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."
The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor does cold exist?"
"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The other students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'
The professor sat down.
The young man's name -- Albert Einstein

Answer 1

No matter who said it, it's still a crackin' good analogy.

However, for an easier, more profound, (and funnier) explication of good and evil, get Robert Farrar Capon's "The Third Peacock". It's outta print, but I bet you could Google it and find a copy. It's worth whatever you pay for it, believe me!

Answer 2

It seems to me that he was just defending a student that couldn't defend himself. The points he made about cold and dark being things of negative existence are true. I don't agree with his point on evil being an absence of good though.

Good and evil are only percieved points of view - a tornado may wreck and ravage life but it is neither good nor evil, only it's actions may be percieved as so. One man's evil can be another man's good, it is not analogous with a negative existence. One man's dark cannot be another man's light (not in visible spectrum anyway) and the same goes for heat and cold.

So basically, my answer is that I don't think it's an analogy, it's figure of speech compared to two realities in a very unrealistic way.

Answer 3

Nice little story. There are many statements Albert Einstein made. I don't think this was one of them, but if it was; sorry Albert, I do not agree. My humble opinion is that evil IS measurable and the whole "absence of god"-thingy is a big big crap. In fact we are calculating the best places to live by the absence of crime. That means that humans are docile until some "smart" guy has the urge to impose some "religious" doctrine on them. That's when suddendly we're not humans anymore but religious factions who "have to" behave in certain ways and occasionally "have to" fight. I'm not talking about the 50+ Amish communities, we're looking at the big picture here.

Less religion, less crime, go read;
http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/christian/blfaq_viol_index.htm

Einstein made a lot of very revealing statements on religion and theology;
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Theology-Albert-Einstein.htm

Answer 4

The most ironic thing about that story is that Einstein was an atheist. Or at the very least, he CERTAINLY didn't believe in the Christian God. I can almost guarantee that that conversation never happened.

"About God, I cannot accept any concept based on the authority of the Church. As long as I can remember, I have resented mass indocrination. I do not believe in the fear of life, in the fear of death, in blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him, I would be a liar. I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."
-- Einstein

When he talks about "his God" he's not talking about Yahweh. He wasn't a Christian.

Answer 5

Evil isnot an absence. Evil is a presence. So the logic doesn't hold. And Albert Einstein was so young and proud. Atomic bomb is evil, but it is not an absence, it is a presence. And while for the US government of the period the atomic bomb was good, it was evil for the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagazaki. Evil is only the interpretation of self of the "other". Good story though.

Answer 6

That is AWESOME. I'm going to copy and paste that.

The only problem is, I don't think there's any way that Einstein could have said all that. From my recollections, he never went to college.
Other than that, it's excellent!

Answer 7

Evil is indeed the absence of God in your life.
Fear is the result when God is absent from your life.
Joy is the result of being one of God's kids.
Faith is when you lean on God and know that He is in control.

Loved your post. Thanks and God Bless!

Answer 8

love it!!!!

Answer 9

So cool Thanks for sharing.