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The Theism-Atheism Debate: Ricky Gervais Discusses Morality and the Afterlife with CNN's Piers Morgan

January 21, 2011 By 5 Comments
Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais

Last night, Ricky Gervais sat down to discuss religion — and lack of belief –with CNN's Piers Morgan.  Morgan claimed that Gervais' "thanking God for being an atheist" while hosting the Golden Globes was offensive to most Americans.  As Gervais pointed out, people say "thank God" all of the time — and as an atheist, he is not offended because people's beliefs are not his concern.

Gervais came from a working class background and went to Sunday school, but is not a Christian. He stopped believing when he was 8.

"Christians do not have a monopoly on good," he explained. Gervais personally chooses to treat others kindly, and it does not require being religious to do so.

The Afterlife.

Gervais does not think his life is worthless because he does not believe in going to heaven.  Morgan contended that "atheists must fear death ten times more than Christians."

"You're saying you believe because the alternative is too terrible," Gervais responded. "There are 2,798-odd gods, and if you are a Christian, you believe in one of them and you don't believe in all the others."

Piers cut Ricky off at this point and quickly went to a commercial, following with a different subject.

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  • http://preacherskeptic.blogspot.com Douglas

    When someone assumes that atheists must fear death much more than Christians, does it not occur to them that the likelihood is that religion was invented for precisely that reason – to take away the fear of death? Atheists just have a much more reality-based notion of the afterlife – i.e. it's just a fantasy to make us feel better. Besides, who says something has to go on forever to have true value?

    • http://www.goddiscussion.com admin

      You'd think some theists would fear hell, too. So conversely, Christians might be even more afraid of death because of the possibility of eternal torment.

      It may not have to do with fear of death, but it's interesting that a study published in March 2009 revealed that terminally ill religious people and their families were more inclined to try to prolong lives with life support than the non-religious:

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090317162842.htm

    • LadyFriend

      Regardless of what who teaches…as an atheist, I'm not a fan of death. I like life (most days, anyway hehe). I don't fear death because of some silly judgment belief. I guess I don't really fear death at all. I'm just not looking forward to it. To me, the greatest gift that my atheism has given me is that I have such an appreciation for life now. This is all I get and I'm going to use it. I had a long stint of depression and hard times. My aunt is very Catholic and has been through the same type of experiences. We have wonderful conversations because we are both fascinated by religion and belief and love each other enough to listen to each other. I will never forget the look on her face when I told her that I felt that my atheism was a factor that saved me from suicide. I saw shock. I said to her…this is the only life I get and I don't want to throw it away. Aside from our disagreements, I felt that our conversation was probably the most important moment that we had in her understanding why my atheism isn't a devastating and meaningless philosophy. I wish that more people could understand the value that I see in this life.

  • Mike

    I'm a Christian and I don't think Ricky was offensive.