I used to believe in God. The Christian one, that is (There are a few thousand to choose from. But I was born in a country where the dominant religion was Christianity so I believed in that one. Isn't it weird how that always happens?). Luckily I was also interested in science and nature. And reason and logic. And honesty and truth. And equality and fairness. By the age of eight I was an atheist.
Interpretation
Ricky Gervais reflects on his transition from belief in Christianity to atheism, shaped by reason and a quest for truth.
In this quote, Ricky Gervais shares his journey from childhood belief in Christianity, influenced by his cultural background, to atheism. He emphasizes the importance of science, reason, and values such as honesty, truth, equality, and fairness in shaping his worldview as he matured, suggesting that belief is often a product of one's environment rather than inherent truth.
In practice
Sharing this quote in a debate about the influence of culture on belief systems.
You should make something. You should bring something into the world that wasn't in the world before. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's a table or a film or gardening-everyone should create. You should do something, then sit back and say, 'I did that.'
It's better to create something that others criticise than to create nothing and criticise others. Go create, have fun!!
Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -- evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition.
People now live their lives like an open wound to be famous - they do bad things because they're rewarded for it.
A Christian telling an atheist they're going to hell is as scary as a child telling an adult they're not getting any presents from Santa.
It’s a strange myth that atheists have nothing to live for. It’s the opposite. We have nothing to die for. We have everything to live for.
The sign of the people of bid’ah is that they do not follow the salaf.
Sense perceptions can be and often are false and deceptive, however real they may appear to us. Where there is realization outside the senses, it is infallible. It is proved not by extraneous evidence but in the transformed conduct and character of those who have felt the real presence of God within.
In my judgment, the American people are too brave, too charitable, too generous, too magnanimous, to believe in the infamous dogma of an eternal hell.
And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.
As a human being, one has been endowed with just enough intelligence to be able to see clearly how utterly inadequate that intelligence is when confronted with what exists.
I'm sure I would still have anxiety even if I got a bunch of surgery, and was the most conventionally attractive, cis-passing woman in the world; I think those are traumas that never go away.
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