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Bill Gates Discusses God, Church, Charity and Faith

Bill Gates Discusses God, Church, Charity and Faith

Bill Gates is not only the world’s richest person, he’s also one of the most generous. His organization, The Gates Foundation, is dedicated to eradicating diseases and helping the world’s most poor, and he’s committed to giving away almost his entire fortune. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed that part of the inspiration for helping others is based on religious principles. He told the magazine (the questions about faith are on page five of the interview),

The moral systems of religion, I think, are superimportant. We’ve raised our kids in a religious way; they’ve gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I’ve been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that’s kind of a religious belief. I mean, it’s at least a moral belief.

Though he said he agrees “with people like Richard Dawkins that mankind felt the need for creation myths,” Gate’s own belief about God seems more nuanced: “But the mystery and the beauty of the world is overwhelmingly amazing, and there’s no scientific explanation of how it came about. To say that it was generated by random numbers, that does seem, you know, sort of an uncharitable view [laughs]. I think it makes sense to believe in God, but exactly what decision in your life you make differently because of it, I don’t know” …

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