Ricky Gervais on why he's an atheist
“Do unto others…” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. Buts [sic] that’s exactly what it is -‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell.”
You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.
I was recently watching Ricky Gervais on The Graham Norton Show and thinking that I like him a little bit more every time I see an interview or a different side of his humor. My other favorite part of this is where he says that he always tries to give a sensitive, reasoned and honest answer, in an attempt not to be patronizing and impolite, only to find that the sensitive, reasoned and honest answer is taken as patronizing and impolite. Yeah, welcome to my world, Ricky. I'm actually not an atheist, but as an agnostic, a woman who doesn't want children, an academic who studies religion, and someone who spends a lot of time trying to explain to people why their ideas are not as perfect as they think they are, I hear you on that dilemma.