Ricky Gervais: ‘They Haven’t Got the Monopoly on Good’

I would have thought that challenging the existence of gods would be welcomed by theists if they honestly thought they were right about the existence of gods. Think about it, something that you believe in sincerely, that you could almost say that you know is real, that you have a personal relationship with, that brings you joy and fulfillment and even gives your life meaning is being challenged. What a wonderful opportunity to explain to the apparently ignorant denier how much you get out of your very real faith and how all the evidence supports the existence of your particular god. Instead people are offended and upset at the very idea that others don’t share their view. It makes me think that theists aren’t that sincere, that they protest too much.

I am trying to remember what I would have thought of this (the simple act of one atheist proclaiming it) when I was a Christian. I was never offended by anything, personally, but did my old church imply I should be? I don’t know. They must, right? Or people wouldn’t be so thin-skinned.

Hoverfrog — excellent post. That sums it up nicely. I’ve never met an angry religionist yet who could answer those questions. I think you’re right, that some religious people actually don’t believe in what they claim as strongly as they claim it, or at least they have doubts lurking in the backs of their minds. But I’m sure some of them realy do ardently believe in it. My theory is that those types of deeply religious people have two basic tenets: first, they don’t want anything they know and embrace to ever change; and second, they want everyone else to believe and think just as they do. Since religion is one of the most important things they “know” and embrace, they REALLY don’t want that to change; and when someone who absolutely disagrees with that, they just don’t seem to be able to handle that person’s refusal to agree with them.

It was very telling when Morgan laughed after Gervais said that he doesn’t get offended when someone says “Thank god”.

It had obviously never occurred to Morgan that if it’s legitimate for believers to be offended when athiests mention non-belief, then it would be equally valid for an atheist to be offended at every mention of belief. In bringing this up, Gervais accomplished two things:

1) he helped Morgan see the world through atheist eyes;

2) by showing how his response differs from that of a believer, Gervais planted the tiniest seed of doubt about the validity of the believer’s offense. You could see the wheels spinning in Morgan’s head at this point.

Gervais’ further answers about the utilitarian use of religion to “vaccinate” poor children against future violence and his thoughts on “goodness” and the afterlife, were also thoughtful responses that many likely not expect from him. Some “official spokespeople” could learn a lot from repeated viewings of this interview.

I think Gervais is incredibly valuable to us, and I’m really glad he’s becoming more overt about his atheism (plenty of showbiz people are atheists, few speak up).

The well known figures of the secularist movement are totally dominated by academics and intellectuals of various stripes. Though this is great and all successful movements need intellectuals backing them up, they often encounter difficulty communicating with non-academic or not academically inclined audiences. We need comedians, singers, sports figures, movie stars, politicians. Not to defend the intellectual validity of atheism, we have plenty of professors for that, but to be out there as out, happy, healthy, admired atheists, that can’t be ignored due to their fame and show what a lie the immoral, unhappy, “empty” atheist stereotype really is.

I’m not sure why you put controversial in quotes. It was very controversial, there’s no denying that.

Very nice quotes, love this guy. 😀

Bit of a false comparison, isn’t it? The sum total of what Ricky Gervais did was say he was an atheist. The governor in Alabama said that non-Christians couldn’t be his brothers and sisters. Gervais insulted no one (well, not in that bit at least; let’s leave the rest of the presentation out, where he was insulting plenty of people for non-religious reasons). The governor insulted everyone who doesn’t believe what he does. Gervais also isn’t in any position of authority; even if he did insult everyone else’s beliefs, it wouldn’t be relevant to his job. The governor is supposed to act in the best interests of the people of Alabama, but he said something that indicated he was biased against certain people. Imagine the uproar he would’ve caused if he’d said that black people couldn’t be his brothers and sisters! Yet because it’s about Jesus, somehow some Christians feel comfortable supporting him…

Did anyone mention that the reason believers get offended is because when we say “I don’t believe in God”, they are usually hearing: “I don’t believe in God, you are all wrong and wasting your life with your foolish beliefs”. When we say, “I’m a Humanist” or something along those lines we are stating something positive and to the human psyche saying I’m a Buddhist or a Humanist or whatever offends a lot less than stating “I don’t believe what you believe”.

Should people be offended? No, of course not – but Should is really about “What’s my opinion” in this case. Fact – people are offended when you point out you don’t believe there silly almost universal superstitions. People aren’t going to change easily, but with people like Ricky I think we can put a dent in it, humor is a great communicator!

Yes, it was contradictory and sarcastic… because it was a joke.

Morgan acted extremely ignorantly in that interview. He acted as if Ricky Gervais pretends to be an atheist as part of his act, just like Dan Whitney(Larry the Cable Guy) pretends to be an ignorant redneck, or Stephen Colbert pretends to be a fundie conservative. Coming from a major network talk show, it’s disappointing, but Ricky’s professionalism shined.

As for the awards show commentary, atheism is a big part of his comic routine, and the people that chose him as the host should have known that. Comedians always say inappropriate things at inappropriate times, and so his comment was hardly out of place. He may have mocked religious people, but if it were Dave Chappelle, he would have mocked white people, or any number of other famous comedians. It’s only offensive to people looking to be offended.

Robert W., is it possible that Gervais was not so much trying to offend as he was using irony to make a point?

BernerBits,

So, supposing that it’s correct Islamic doctrine that non-Muslims are to be converted or killed, and a Muslim leader expresses this sentiment, as long as he doesn’t express it within the context of his governing role, you would have no concern whatsover?

That is a strawman argument. Any person who professes a desire to kill another person is reason for concern, regardless of the motivation behind it.

Jonezart,

Robert W., is it possible that Gervais was not so much trying to offend as he was using irony to make a point?

Maybe but mocking through professed irony is still mocking.

I took his final comment on the award show as a parody of award show speeches, not honest christian belief. Especially the idea behind the “god” part of the speech that for some reason the supreme being of the universe likes some actors enough to influence the awards selection process.

By thanking god for being an atheist, Gervais was using absurdity to highlight the inherent humour in the practice.

(of course once you explain a joke…) 🙁

Once back in the late 70’s I wore a tee-shirt to high school that said “I swear to God I’m an atheist”. I thought it was kind-of witty. It caused a bit of a stir, though, with all the fundamentalist evangelical types.

Fundie: I have been blessed because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior. I have been born again in his loving grace and the holy spirit has has filled me. I will join him in heaven.

Skeptic: I don’t believe in god.

Fundie: Help, help my religious freedoms are being repressed.

Now you see the violence inherent in the system!

I love Monty Python.

It’s time to start referring to Tim Minchin and Gervais as well as Dennett, Harris, Dawkins, and Hitch when we say “The New Atheists.”

I loved how Ricky did that interview.

It reminded me, once again, of an episode quite a few years ago. I was on site at a customer in Jordan, with the PM there being a devout muslim. He would always drive me back to my hotel in the evening, and one evening the conversation turned to religion. He assumed I was a christian, being European, and when I mentioned I was actually an atheist, he just couldn’t believe it.

Many religious people can actually understand someone believeing a different faith, but atheism seems difficult. Even my fiancee hasn’t gotten her head around it completely yet. She understands the words, but it doesn’t seem to have sunk in that, no, I do not believe in god. And yes, I am this nice guy you really do like.

It’s odd how many theists just can’t get it into their mind that not believeing is even an option.

As such, I loved how Ricky handled that interview. It must have jiggled at least a few brains.

B.