BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Atheist Random Thoughts

Phyliss wrote and this is confirmed by many reputable sources: Twain was a Presbyterian, yet for about 4 decades, he made an effort to synthesize his view of human nature and man's relationship to God and the universe. It seems that he was in deep conflict between science and religion. (source: The Bible According to Mark Twain, Introduction by Howard G. Baetzhold

Why then,do some "famous" lists state that (no mean trick!) that Twain was a DEIST, an AGNOSTIC, and an ATHEIST? one even says that such Transcendalists like Emily Dickinson and Ralph Waldo Emerson were ATHEISTS of which they were not. Even Benjamin Franklin who in his lifetime was an Episcopalian and later is said by many that he became a Deist is on one of the lists as an ATHEIST. William Shakespearen an ATHEIST?- well one list does say definitively that he was even though that has only been speculated upon. Albert Einstein was not an ATHEIST but he makes many lists as being one.

I could go on and on with such erroneous and misleading labeling but I will try to hold off until I write in the next few days an article about the pitfalls of relying on such "without knowledge" "Famous Lists."