Bertrand Russell – the Atheist

I am told that as the Head of the Bertrand Russell society of the Philippines, Russell must be turning over in his grave bothered by my logical inconsistencies and mathematical inefficiencies. I am duly flattered. However, after he died, Russell was not buried in a grave. He was cremated. His ashes were scattered over Welsh hills. I hope the Lord in heaven will not have a hard time resurrecting the ashes of Bertrand Russell during Judgment Day.

Russell was a man of enormous intellect. A rare genius. He deeply understood the power of creative thought. Indeed, there is neither logic nor mathematics in creative thought. Creativity makes its own rules. Genius transcends them. Russell shook the foundation of mathematics by reducing it into logic and showed how little logic can do especially in the search of the truth.

Russell was one of the founders of the computer age. In human affairs, he had the stature and the voice to speak up. Towards the end of his life, Russell became a world figure for global sanity, especially for the young. They read his books, listened to his broadcasts on radio and saw him on television. Russell helped set the tone for future protests and encouraged young people to challenge entrenched political and social ideologies. He had no respect for authority and encouraged everyone to share in his distrust of conventional politics and politicians. And for this alone many people will remain forever grateful. Especially this high-school dropout from De La Salle University in the Philippines.

Years before his death, atheist Russell wrote: “I may have thought the road to a world of free and happy human beings shorter than it is proving to be. . . Nevertheless, many (of us) still share the pursuit of a vision, both personal and social. Personal: to care for what is noble, for what is beautiful, for what is gentle: to allow moments of insights to give wisdom at more mundane times. Social: to see in imagination a society that is to be created, where individuals grow freely and where hate and greed and envy die because there is nothing to nourish them.” Poch Suzara