Bill Gates
From Philosopedia
Gates, William Henry (28 Oct 1955 — )
Bill Gates, the founder and chief executive officer of the Microsoft software company, is reportedly one of the world’s richest men. In a 1995 interview on Public Broadcasting Service’s David Frost program, Gates stated,
- I don’t know if there’s a god or not. . . . I don’t [believe in the Sermon on the Mount]. I’m not somebody who goes to church on a regular basis. The specific elements of Christianity are not something I’m a huge believer in. There’s a lot of merit in the moral aspects of religion. I think it can have a very, very positive impact. [But] in terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I don’t know if there’s a god or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid.”
His wife, Melinda, is Catholic and wants to raise their child, Jennifer, as a Catholic. “But she offered me a deal,” Gates told a Time reporter. “If I start going to church - my family was Congregationalist - then Jennifer could be raised in whatever religion I choose.” Although tempted, because he said he would prefer that she have a religion that “has less theology and all” than Catholicism, he has not taken up the offer.
“Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient,” he told the reporter. “There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”
Criticism
In 2009, Ted Nelson published Geeks Bearing Gifts, in which he describes how many of his ideas were taken by others who profited handsomely.
{CA; E; Time, 13 January 1997}
