How Did You Lose Your Religion?

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"How Did You Lose Your Religion?" - Ricky Gervais @ Big Think.

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Question: How did you lose your religion?

Ricky Gervais: Well, I love I love Jesus. You know, I believed in God. I think, my mom wanted me to. I think, for a working class woman, whos rushed off her feet, you know, the most she can hope for is the their son dont so they dont get killed in a bar room fight.

And Jesus, I suppose, is an invisible, free babysitter, you know. If I cant see you, someones watching you. Which is obviously misplace. Very sweet, you know, but misplaced.

And I was about 8 and I was I was doing something from the Bible and my brother came in, he was older than me, his name is Bob, still is, and he was about 19, and he said, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'I'm doing this for Jesus, God'. He said, 'Why do you believe in God?' And my mom went, 'Bob!', and I knew you.

I knew then that she was hiding something from me and he was he was telling the truth. And I thought about it. And I was a bit of a scientist even then. You know, I could read really well by the time I was 3. I suppose I was a bit of an experiment cause I was the youngest by 11 years, you know.

And I was into science and nature and I suppose I was a logical person. And I thought Yeah. But I learn it through body language. I learn it through that human [interplay] between this two people.

The one was worried about what the other one was going to tell me so I assume that my brother had something big to tell me and my mom, protecting me, didnt want me to hear it. So I just made the conclusion that he was right.

Question: Do your beliefs affect your comedy?

Ricky Gervais: No, Im just being honest, you know. I mean, I I cant see that there could be a God, you know. I mean, spiritually and religion is two different things, dont forget, you know.

I cant make myself believe something I dont believe. I wish there was a God, you know. And I wish he was all the things people said he was, all powerful and kind and and all that. By definition, the impossibility is overwhelming, to me.

And then, theres religion, which use that truth for the for their own personal gain. And thats something else. And thats [barren] and disgusting. Religious fascism is the only thing, apart from animal quarry, that gets my blood boiling.

But people who believe in God doesnt worry at all. You know, I live by I live by Christian values, I suppose. You know, I live by or any religious values that preaches forgiveness and, you know, do as you would be done by and you know. I just do it for different reasons.

I do it because I think this is my only time on Earth and I should I should enjoy it and be part of it and celebrate it and be nice to everyone cause were were animals, we need to be loved and lead a decent life.

So, yeah. If you believe in God and that gets you through and it makes you a nicer person, then then so be it. But I just I just I dont believe. And I feel sometimes that atheists, and Im an atheist, not agnostic, one of the few things Im sure of in life, I think they get a bad [press] that we take the art out of beauty in the world, which is not true.

The fact the, you know, the Earth is 4.6 billion years old and, you know, the 4 million species of animal and and theyve evolved by accident is, I think, more beautiful than any intelligent design [that could claim].

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Ricky Gervais is an English comedian, author, actor, director, producer, screenwriter and former pop musician. He achieved mainstream fame with his television series "The Office" and the subsequent series "Extras", both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and collaborator, Stephen Merchant.

Besides writing and directing the shows, Gervais also played the lead roles of David Brent in "The Office" and Andy Millman in "Extras". Gervais has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including "For Your Consideration", "Stardust", "Night at the Museum" and "Ghost Town".

• http://bigthink.com/rickygervais
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Category:

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[SOAS007]

What are christian valuses. What did this Jesus character allegedly say that was so mindblowing. Cos he just sounds like any hippyfield chap:-) peace out.!

[MrTadbu]

Just in terms of allocation of time resources,religion is not very efficient.theres a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning. Bill gates

[Grokefish]

@SOAS007 What did Jesus do? He suggested for the first time that a person is responsible for his actions and has choices in matters. Before, everything was pre determined and the will of god/the gods.

[MrLevel42fan]

@DukeMcManhands My first question was about how you can account for knowing that based on that worldview.  There is an evolutionary argument against naturalism, but it would take too long time to formulate it here.

In regards to #2. Are you saying that the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis in order to acheive their morally perceived end of developing a master race compared to the efforts to stop it is basically reduced to ice cream preference? Are there degrees?

[wiley2431]

@SOAS007 He said that the reason He lived was to testify to the truth. Pretty hippy huh.

[DukeMcManhands]

@MrLevel42fan the obvious explanation for morality is from a sort of social evolution, where the mores that make a society more likely to survive are maintained in the society and spread to others. this yields no reason to believe in "absolute" right or wrong.

as for the other question, i don't believe there is any property inherent in the universe that would deem the actions of Nazi Germany "wrong" and the actions of the Allies "right"

[MrLevel42fan]

@DukeMcManhands 1. How can you account for knowing that there is no "absolute wrong" in a worldview of materialistic naturalism? 2. You believe in moral relativism? Were the allied forces right in stopping the advance of Nazi Germany, yet Nazi Germany was just as right from their perspective?

[SOAS007]

@polishguy994 " If you don't believe me them search WUQMJR2BP1w " yup bart points out that there are different"portraits" of jesus.! " do we have any conteporary evidence" Bart .. no! My point proved.! He probably did exist because of the way gospel writers make mad thing fit, which would not be necessary if he was completely made up.

[aDislikeBot]

@TEEBOxZIECON1 Apparently if you don't obey your god, your are tortured eternally, that doesn't sound like freedom to me.

"Walk by Faith, not sight" Now i'm starting to think you're a troll, are you honestly saying believe things without evidence just because your parents have told you they are true, and not due to evidence and reason? With that logic you may aswell still beleive in santa.