Summary of the Lakeside Freethinkers Meeting Aug. 21, 2025
Lakeside Freethinkers
Hello Freethinkers,
In case you missed the meeting last week, below you’ll find a short summary of the interesting program presented by Vijay about the life of Baruch Spinoza and his influence on Einstein's 'concept of god' and the Rationalist philosophers. Some general announcements are included as well.
Have a good week ahead,
Dab, LF Secretary
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Lloyd opened the meeting at 4:00 pm local time with 12 LF members participating via Zoom. He gave a report on the university student our group sponsors. Fatima has an excellent GPA, volunteers with the LCS children’s art program, plays both the piano & violin and is very personable as well. She will be able to continue her studies in the field of bio- pharmacology with our financial assistance. Lloyd has suggested a donation of $500p. per member. Please contact him if you can donate to her scholarship fund.
We then moved on to the program . As Einstein’s views on “god” were primarily based on the writings of the 17th century philosopher Spinoza, Vijay gave a detailed account of Spinoza’s work and views on religion, emphasizing his “radical” secular beliefs .. He explained Spinoza's ideas on the nature of God and the universe, contrasting them with traditional religious views. Vijay also discussed the historical context of the Catholic Inquisition and the lives of rationalist philosophers, including Spinoza, who challenged traditional religion with their emphasis on reason and logic. He highlighted Spinoza's unorthodox ideas in his works, which led to his excommunication and the lifelong ban by the Jewish community in Amsterdam.. Religion, according to him, was the expression of human weakness…and the Bible was being used to control people through fear. He had a staunch belief in the necessity of the separation of church and state, along with total freedom of beliefs and expression.
Upon a foundation of Rationalism, three hundred years later, Einstein embraced Spinoza’s concept of god . Both men looked to the orderly functioning of nature and the universe as their idea of the divine and held the view that god was not at all concerned with human affairs. Rather, one could know god by studying the universe, through relying on reason, logic and fact. Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, as well as Thomas Jefferson were all influenced by Rationalism, and collectively, laid the foundation of a more secular society. As Spinoza’s works were written in Latin, they are more easily understood by the several books on the subject written by Steven Nadler, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The most well-known among Nadler’s works is :” A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age”.
A lengthy discussion on the topic followed and eventually segued to comments about the freedom of religion and expression under the Trump administration. There was general concern about the disregard of the US law and the Constitution. A distinction was made between “freedom of religion” and “freedom from religion”. Vijay underlined the importance of reliance on fact and avoidance of extreme political positions. Vijay also shared some of his recent travel experiences, particularly in Afghanistan.
Before closing the meeting, Rich was asked to say a little about his future presentation at the September meeting . He will speak on the subject of “Epistemology”.
The meeting was adjourned at 6 p.m.
-Dab Steadman (with some help from AI)
Vijay Nilekani
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