Carolyn Conte ‘14 | Staff Writer

I used to think Stephen Hawking was a pretty cool genius. Now I know he is an extremely self-absorbed, grumpy, unhappy man who is talented in science, but can’t see past the tip of his own nose.

His atheistic views came out a bit harsh in his metaphor, “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail,” he explained to ABC News’ Diane Sawyer. “There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

But “the afterlife” has never been about the brain continuing to function. I thought heaven was based on the belief in souls, or in a spirit. If heaven is real, then based on what I’ve been taught, it is supposed to be where our souls go. Souls are not a physical thing. Our brains are a part of our body, which everyone knows dies. Religions are not denying that we die. It’s about something more that no science can prove. He is totally not thinking about religion in a, well, religious view.

Celebrities, politicians and famous people who have religions- well most, hopefully- don’t go around telling people how stupid atheists are. It’s one thing to say this to a friend, but to the public when you are a huge role model and figure, it’s just mean.

And another thing! Just because he is a genius at science doesn’t mean he knows everything else there is to know. Even if he somehow saw the end of the world and everything and did know whether God existed or not, who is he to stomp on everyone’s faith? There have to be scientists who look up to him, but are also of a religious denomination. He can keep his beliefs to himself with out making fun of something that he in no way can prove wrong. Condescending the religious is not a way to prove a theory.