Richard Feynman harbored an immense guilt for his contributions to building the atomic bomb. He helped build the device because he believed in the liberating forces fighting for freedom; he believed that if the Allies created massively destructive weapons, they would stand against oppression, slavery, and genocide.
Some people unjustly link atheism and communism. Atheists lack a god belief because there is no empirical evidence for any gods; similarly, the scientific method requires empirical evidence.
On the relationship between atheism, communism, and democracy, Richard Feynman spoke out on May 2, 1956:
I would like to remark, in passing, since the word “atheism” is so closely connected with “communism,” that the communist views are the antithesis of the scientific, in the sense that in communism the answers are given to all the questions—political questions as well as moral ones—without discussion and without doubt.
The scientific viewpoint is the exact opposite of this; that is, all questions must be doubted and discussed; we must argue everything out—observe things, check them, and so change them. The democratic government is much closer to this idea, because there is discussion and a chance of modification.
Watch Feynman's videos on The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.
