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Ricky Gervais: Why I'm an Atheist


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Who is Ricky Gervais and why do I care that he's an athiest?

 

He's a writer and original star of the BBC The Office, and sensational writer, comedian, actor.

 

My favorite was "Well, nearly. 75 percent of Americans are God-*‐fearing Christians; 75 percent of prisoners are God-*‐fearing Christians. 10 percent of Americans are atheists; 0.2 percent of prisoners are atheists.":D....and I'm not an athiest.

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My favorite was "Well, nearly. 75 percent of Americans are God-*‐fearing Christians; 75 percent of prisoners are God-*‐fearing Christians. 10 percent of Americans are atheists; 0.2 percent of prisoners are atheists.":D....and I'm not an athiest.

 

I guess I wondered if he was making it up for the laugh line (he's a comic) or if he really had any stats. It sounds more like stand up comedy vs. research, which is ok because I enjoyed the laugh.

 

cookies. definitely cookies. logging out and getting something to eat.

 

-crystal

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I know he's the creator of the series, The Office. Other than that, who's anybody and why do we care anything about them? No one is demanding you to care at all, or read the link, or respond. But perhaps I'm not understanding you?

 

Happy Holidays to you, though!

 

I just had no idea who he was and was curious why his particular opinion mattered.

 

Merry Christmas!

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Who is Ricky Gervais and why do I care that he's an athiest?
Who he is:

Gervais is the part of the writing team behind the The Office (UK) upon which the US series is based. If you haven't seen it, you probably also haven't seen his series Extras. He's been in a few movies, and has hosted at least one major awards show in the US. I happen to think he's a very funny guy.

 

Why you should care:

No good reason. It's OK to not care. Really. I don't care that Steven Curtis Chapman is not an atheist, and I'm not sure what he does other than he's occasionally mentioned here. However, I don't recall taking the time to post my non-sentiments previously.

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Who he is:

Gervais is the part of the writing team behind the The Office (UK) upon which the US series is based. If you haven't seen it, you probably also haven't seen his series Extras. He's been in a few movies, and has hosted at least one major awards show in the US. I happen to think he's a very funny guy.

 

Why you should care:

No good reason. It's OK to not care. Really. I don't care that Steven Curtis Chapman is not an atheist, and I'm not sure what he does other than he's occasionally mentioned here. However, I don't recall taking the time to post my non-sentiments previously.

 

Thank you for explaining who he is. :)

 

And I don't care, in the sense that his beliefs don't affect me. He's free to believe whatever he likes without grief from me. LOL

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He's the museum curator in Night at the Museum. He is hilarious, even if I'm a Christian.

And I find Dawn French to be hilarious, even though I'm an atheist. :D

 

(There are a number of comedians I know to be atheist or skeptic because it's central to their comedy, but with most I really don't know.)

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I guess I wondered if he was making it up for the laugh line (he's a comic) or if he really had any stats. It sounds more like stand up comedy vs. research, which is ok because I enjoyed the laugh.

 

cookies. definitely cookies. logging out and getting something to eat.

 

-crystal

 

 

That's what made it so funny to me...It reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle when they were sitting around the table making up stats about getting married over the age of 40.

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That's what made it so funny to me...It reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle when they were sitting around the table making up stats about getting married over the age of 40.

 

 

yes! exactly why I ended up laughing in the article. I've never heard of this guy or seen any of his routines yet. He sounds like a funny guy in the article. I like to laugh.

But being the classical educator that I am...... silly me went looking up stats. LOL.never mind..... it's too off topic to care.

 

I should go find some clips of him on stage or something. laughing is so important. but I should preview it after kids are out of the room, right?

 

-crystal

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Great post by Ricky. I happen to believe in a creator, living, active God but not one scripted by humans or exclusive to "X" faith or denomination.

 

Nonetheless, a lot of what he writes strikes me as accurate for me. I've found similar liberation in letting go of an exclusive God idea.

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I'd love to see the source for the prison stats. I suspect it is probably true . . . though the first thing that popped into my head was how USAFA cadets all find religion. According to my 3 sibs who attended, religious services were far more pleasant than the alternative for godless heathens. Non-religious cadets were picked on. :(

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I'd love to see the source for the prison stats. I suspect it is probably true . . . though the first thing that popped into my head was how USAFA cadets all find religion. According to my 3 sibs who attended, religious services were far more pleasant than the alternative for godless heathens. Non-religious cadets were picked on. :(

 

My dh had Atheist put on his dogtags when he entered the Marines and was told very quickly to have it changed or he would find trouble. He had a second set made.

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Did anyone see the movie, The Invention of Lying? It all makes sense now.....

 

Yes, my DH reminded me of that movie when I asked him why Gervais looked familiar.

 

No cookies around here. But I did find some chocolate covered espresso beans languishing in my mom's pantry. They'll do. :D

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I didn't know Ricky was an Atheist.

 

Did anyone see the movie, The Invention of Lying? It all makes sense now.....

 

Can eat cookies AND have coffee? It's that time of day!:tongue_smilie:

 

 

I caught part of the movie the other day and it really captured my attention. I dvr'd it so I could watch the whole thing.

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Ricky Gervais always makes me laugh. Ds loves to watch him on YouTube. Thanks for posting this. I knew he was an atheist, but never heard him speak (somewhat) seriously about it.

 

Re: the military discrimination against atheists. That is just so sad. They are protecting our freedoms and being harassed for exercising their own.

 

We don't have any cookies, but I'm planning to bake some tomorrow. I'll be sure to eat some. :001_smile:

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Hearing someone is an atheist never surprises me, I'm more surprised when some people identify as a Christian when there's no evident fruit, please know I mean pleasantly surprised, kind of like wow, really, cool. Anyway, I'm weighing in because I am a Ricky Gervais fan, but more for Extras than The Office. The Office is definitely funny, but Extras often has me laughing hysterically. Love the Sir Ian McKellen scene "On Acting" and when Orlando Bloom is obsessed with Maggie finding him attractive. :lol:

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Hearing someone is an atheist never surprises me, I'm more surprised when some people identify as a Christian when there's no evident fruit, please know I mean pleasantly surprised, kind of like wow, really, cool. Anyway, I'm weighing in because I am a Ricky Gervais fan, but more for Extras than The Office. The Office is definitely funny, but Extras often has me laughing hysterically. Love the Sir Ian McKellen scene "On Acting" and when Orlando Bloom is obsessed with Maggie finding him attractive. :lol:

 

I'm a fan of anything Ricky Gervais does, but Extras is my favorite, and the Orlando Bloom episode is the best one. :lol::lol:

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Hearing someone is an atheist never surprises me, I'm more surprised when some people identify as a Christian when there's no evident fruit, please know I mean pleasantly surprised, kind of like wow, really, cool. Anyway, I'm weighing in because I am a Ricky Gervais fan, but more for Extras than The Office. The Office is definitely funny, but Extras often has me laughing hysterically. Love the Sir Ian McKellen scene "On Acting" and when Orlando Bloom is obsessed with Maggie finding him attractive. :lol:

 

 

My faves on Extras were Patrick Stewart and David Bowie. I cannot look at a picture of Ricky Gervais without hearing Bowie crooning...

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Great post by Ricky. I happen to believe in a creator, living, active God but not one scripted by humans or exclusive to "X" faith or denomination.

 

Nonetheless, a lot of what he writes strikes me as accurate for me. I've found similar liberation in letting go of an exclusive God idea.

 

Me, too. I think. I'm still working through it all, but I thought his article was quite well-written, AND it made me laugh, which is always a bonus. :-)

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my favorite is Ricky and Elmo

 

 

Oh yes...I love the 2nd one! I caught it when DD was watching Sesame Street. It's a bit twisted.

 

 

Wait...they showed the 2nd one on Sesame Street!? That's hilarious! I didn't know they actually showed it on the show. I thought it was something that Ricky did w/ Elmo as part of an act, but not for Sesame Street.

 

That's really funny. All the parents forced to watch SS that night were in for a break from the monotony.

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Wait...they showed the 2nd one on Sesame Street!? That's hilarious! I didn't know they actually showed it on the show. I thought it was something that Ricky did w/ Elmo as part of an act, but not for Sesame Street.

 

That's really funny. All the parents forced to watch SS that night were in for a break from the monotony.

 

Yep! It was slightly edited (the beginning part). I was only half paying attention at first until the first round of "Nanananana-ing". Then thought, "what the heck is he doing on SS?" Elmo's wonky eyes are the best. As is his closing line of Ricky doing enough.

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