Larry King: “I Think the Only Reason for Religion is Death. If You Didn’t Die, There’d Be No Religion”

We’ve known for a while that former CNN host Larry King was an atheist, but he opened up about it more than usual during an interview on New York City’s Power 105.1 morning radio show “The Breakfast Club.”

The conversation begins around the 8:20 mark in the video below during a discussion about how he’d like to have his body frozen after he dies:

… I don’t believe that I’m going anywhere. I’m not religious, so I believe that when you die, you die, and that’s it. So I’m so curious, and I like living, and so I want one little chance. So if I’m frozen and then they find a cure for whatever I died of and they could cure me, is that better than laying in the ground or being burnt while you’re dead? Those two ways you can’t get out, but I figure if I can be frozen and then something happens…

…

I think [death is] the biggest fear people have. I think they may say they don’t. You know, I know I’m going somewhere. You don’t know.

…

I’m probably an atheist… I respect religion, I’ve interviewed every great religious leader except the Pope. … I’ve interviewed the Billy Grahams and the heads of the Mormon Church… and the Presbyterians… I don’t buy it. I think the only reason for religion is death. If you didn’t die, there’d be no religion.

When asked why he turned away from religion, King brought up that God had no answers for some pretty basic questions like “why does a baby die?” and “why is there a holocaust?” Christians often respond by saying God gave us free will, but that didn’t cut it as a solution, King said.

(via The Christian Post. Image via s_bukley / Shutterstock.com)