Einstein Says No German Church Would Have Honored Him with Sculpture As Fosdick’s Edifice

“Internationalism does not mean the surrender of individuality. There is no reason why a nation or a race should not preserve its traditions. Why should the Jew ignore his past? Why should he fail to call some spot on the globe his own? I can see no wrong in enlightened patriotism, in love of country and of race. But patriotism is no excuse for any group of men to assail its neighbors or to impress its point of view upon others by fire and sword. I believe with President Wilson in self-determination for nations and for individuals.”

These were some of the statements made by Prof. Einstein to George Sylvester Viereck. Viereck’s interview with Einstein appears in last Sunday’s Hearst papers. Prof. Einstein made the above statement after Mr. Viereck asked him how he, an advocate of internationalism, can support a nationalist Jewish State.

Asked by Mr. Viereck if any Christian church in Germany would have honored him, a Jew, in the manner in which he was onored by the Rev. Dr. Fosdick’s Riverside Church in New York, which placed a sculptured image of Einstein over its entrance, Prof. Einstein replied:

“I’m afraid not. I do not think that any Christian church in Germany would venture to honor a Jew. I admire the liberalism which is evident not only in my inclusion, but in the entire plan of the church. I notice Mohammed and Buddha among the prophets of the world honored by Fosdick.

When Mr. Viereck asked Einstein, “How does it feel to see yourself among the saints?”, the latter replied:

“I am proud of the honor not on my own account, but because I am a Jew. It certainly marks progress if a Christian church honors a Jewish scientist. Incidentally, I understand there are three other Jews, including Spinoza, who appear in the arch over the church’s entrance.”