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all 74 comments

[–]Carbon_Dirt 45 points46 points ago

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Definitely can't help but read this quote in his voice.

Also, have to mention that I enjoyed how "The Invention of Lying" turned out to be a big slap in the face to religions.

[–]tehdancinqueen56 20 points21 points ago

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such an underrated movie. I liked how it made you really understand why people are religious with the deathbed scene. More atheists on reddit should have that kind of understanding.

[–]ThatsgoodThatsbad 4 points5 points ago

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Never in my life have I witnessed a movie fall apart like the invention of lying. Great idea for the movie, but when he turned the movie into a religion bashing fest, all creativity went out the window.

[–]eggmanwalrus -1 points0 points ago

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Agreed. I love Gervais, and I consider my self very atheist and happy to defend my beliefs, but the invention of lying was so disappointing.

[–]FatTristan 0 points1 point ago

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I know! The premise is actually genius but it turned into a cheesy and rote chick-flick.

[–]cuddlemonkey 0 points1 point ago

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Yeah, it was obnoxiously obvious that the message "religion is a lie" was his sole reason for making the movie, and then he tossed in a romantic comedy subplot for Hollywood kicks. It would have been better if he'd teamed up with an actual storyteller.

[–]brianbrianbrian 11 points12 points ago

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So glad his stance on this hasn't changed. Hopefully someone will put it up again next week, so we can be sure he's being consistent.

[–]Edg-R 0 points1 point ago

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First time I see it. It's awesome!

[–]spikey666 4 points5 points ago

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If Ricky Gervais says he can fly, I believe him

[–]shrmn 2 points3 points ago

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I know he can fly. I can feel it.

[–]LarryBagina 2 points3 points ago

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Are u 'avin a laugh?

[–]laetus 1 point2 points ago

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Maybe he should start a religion that says that god is dead. And we know that for sure, because Ricky Gervais killed god himself.

Then you can go around yelling at Christians "Prove that god isn't dead"

[–]AssailantLF 1 point2 points ago

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Why do I believe in Ricky without evidence? Because I've felt him in my life and how he impacts my life from personal experience, and no one else but me can confirm that.

/unarguable point I hear on occasion, basically saying they're ignoring everything because of supposed personal experience

[–]GHDUDE17 0 points1 point ago

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I was loving the sarcasm, but why explain your joke!? You ruined it!

[–]godlessatheist 15 points16 points ago

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Atheism because I before E doesn't apply.

[–]Troglodytarum_Facies[S] 4 points5 points ago

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Oh my. Sorry about that, I was so concerned with spelling Gervais correctly that I overlooked Atheism.

[–]alettuce 6 points7 points ago

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You could always post it here.

[–]Padmerton 0 points1 point ago

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Oh my, that's fantastic! I was always surprised that, when submitting, there's no list or autocomplete for the subreddit. But then we wouldn't get gems like these!

[–]Neckwrecker 0 points1 point ago

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Hahaha, that's great.

[–]fragglet 1 point2 points ago

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I before E except when god doesn't exist.

[–]Kalstorm 8 points9 points ago

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I absolutely love this quote. It always frustrated me when I would get into a discussion and a religious person would say "prove god doesn't exist!". That statement is so idiotic I always seem to be at a lose for words but this quote sums up what I was trying to say perfectly.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points ago

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I agree.

When you're reduced to arguing that it's not possible to prove a god doesn't exist, you might as well be saying you believe the universe was created by a piece of omnipotent cheesecake.

Sadly most people aren't able to distinguish the line between obvious reality and obvious nonsense.

[–]sirpasteypete 6 points7 points ago

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I am still a pastafarian.

[–]DoctaPayne 2 points3 points ago

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Upvote for cheesecake. (Although, I'm personally a fan of FSM R'amen)

[–]KeithManiac 1 point2 points ago

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I usually go with 'sneezed out the nose of a giant space goat' which I think is a Douglas Adams line.

[–]girlfoundoldusername 4 points5 points ago

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Yes but then you generally get an answer like "The bible! How'd all that happen if there is no god" and you realize that rationalizing about this topic is impossible.

[–]slumsquirrel 1 point2 points ago

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Anybody have any articles on circular logic? I would love to retort to Christians with a well-informed logic topic. How do you know God is real? "The bible says so." How do you know the bible is true? "Its the word of God." That kind of stuff irks me and I would love to able to deconstruct that argument further than just "Thats circular logic."

[–]My_ducks_sick 0 points1 point ago

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"That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence" - Hitchens

[–]instapunish 0 points1 point ago

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And yet somehow I constantly find people trying to assert that the burden of proof is on atheists to prove that god does not exist. Its the most frustrating thing.

This being the perfect example. A combination of a lack of who bears the burden of proof plus mixing up gnosticism with atheism out of ignorance.

[–]FireJunkie 3 points4 points ago*

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People of /r/atheism, please notice how the word "atheism" is spelled with "ei" and not "ie" like it sounds. Confused while posting/commenting in this subreddit? Look at the address.

[–]pianobadger 0 points1 point ago

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In what way does it sound like "ie"? If it were spelled 'athiesm' I would expect it to be pronounced [ejθiɛzm].

[–]A_T_H_E_I_S_T 4 points5 points ago

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[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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I'm still amazed people actually ask me to prove god doesn't exist and don't realise the craziness of their request

[–]Qayl 1 point2 points ago

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Athiesm

[–]rglove 1 point2 points ago

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Ironically reminds me of what the Catholic church did back in the day where they would torture you and to "prove" that you were innocent you would be able to withstand the pain cause god would help you

[–]kravitzz 0 points1 point ago

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Monty Python parodies that in The Holy Grail.

[–]rjnr 1 point2 points ago

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It's an excellent quote and it does explain the biggest problem with having the atheist stance. Sometimes office politics turn to religion and working with mostly muslims, their thoughts on religion are very all or nothing, not the unsure thoughts of the average Christian in the UK. I tend to keep quiet and just nod, I gave up on religious debate mainly because of this very issue! What's the point in arguing what can't be proved or disproved... The phrase "pissing into the wind" comes to mind.

But then again, I don't disagree with having faith as long as it's harmless. I think the percentage of people with harmless faith is much greater than those who might be dangerously obsessed. We just need to wait for it to break even, time is the only cure. From my experience the more you tell someone not to do something, the more likely they are to do it. Save your breath!

[–]EvOllj 1 point2 points ago

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"i have superpowers, prove that i cant fly" is a great response in many situations towards superstitious people.

[–]hanahou 1 point2 points ago

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Why is it I cannot find this guy funny? I can't even take him serious either. Also no reddit athiests. I am one. I just don't find him appealing. He just annoys me for some reason.

[–]kittehgurl 1 point2 points ago

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for the love of god it's spelled "athEIsm"

[–]LoganTylerm 4 points5 points ago

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I fucking love Ricky Gervais!

[–]TopographicOceans 2 points3 points ago

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My only fear of "prove that I can't fly" is that some nutjob would throw me off a roof, figuring that if I can fly, that'd be one damn good time to prove it.

[–]about_14_of_them 5 points6 points ago

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Of course, you wouldn't fly. You'd intentionally fall to your death, because you love the world so much that you'll die for its sins.

[–]philosoraptocopter 0 points1 point ago

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cough salem witch trials cough

[–]HeBoughtALot 1 point2 points ago

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"he's thrown a kettle over a pub. what have you done?"

[–]Chewy-MJ 0 points1 point ago

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"6 legs, 8 legs!"

[–]Leckett 0 points1 point ago

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I can't help but picture a group of religious people throwing Gervais off a cliff after reading this...

[–]El_Poopo 0 points1 point ago

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He's talking about Bayesian priors!

[–]keeblur 0 points1 point ago

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This should be common sense, but sadly theists lack that.

[–]zombie_wizard 0 points1 point ago

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Well, If I threw someone out of a plane I am pretty sure I would prove that they couldn't fly.

[–]cartopheln 0 points1 point ago

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Look at the url of this pic...

[–]whiteguy128 0 points1 point ago

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I totally want a shirt like that, with a big block of text just chillin at he bottom.

[–]velocet2 0 points1 point ago

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[–]turnleftdale 0 points1 point ago

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Ricky Gervais is a comedian.

[–]Outofmany 0 points1 point ago

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You can say you merely doubt the existence of god but that would be a lie. It's the belief that there is no god or soul or afterlife, and attempting to convince other people that they should live their lives accordingly.

[–]Atheist_Simon_Haddad 0 points1 point ago

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Do NOT push religious people off of tall buildings.

[–]BlackPride 0 points1 point ago

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I suspect that as he falls off the bridge to his death, Gervais will be cursing himself for using such a counterproductive counterexample. Both proofs will be provided at that point.

[–]slowcal 0 points1 point ago

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Downvote for poor spelling.

[–]bk_moto 0 points1 point ago

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Why is it so hard to spell atheist correctly? If you're gonna be one, might as well spell it right.

[–]vanillaafro 0 points1 point ago*

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i agree with this with the christian/islamic/jewish etc god, but the argument of God/no God is a little bit complicated because everything we see in nature comes from something else....so the first human wonders what does the first thing come from etc....i.e. the ball is in the atheist's court to show in world/nature where something comes from nothing

[–]radium88 0 points1 point ago

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You guys don't actually agree with this analogy do you? The premise of any belief in a divinity is based on faith and by definition, lacking proof. For two individuals trying to come to the same conclusion where one is basing their ideals on faith and the without, the only means of discussion for the latter is faith. It's true that the burden of proof lies on the atheist, but that's only because the theist does not need proof.

[–]mearvk 0 points1 point ago

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Here's the thing. I don't shove my views down people's throats. If I believe in the FSM then I don't have to bear the burden of proof as long as I understand that it's a question of faith.

Whoever moves the conversation out of the realm of faith bears the burden. As a theist I don't make any claim that I can prove God's existence so I bear no burden.

[–]Dekar173 0 points1 point ago

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We'll see how you like it buddy...

I can't BARE it when people MISPELL atheism. It almost hurts even more when they CAPITALISE the A. But HAY, at least you had the common DESCENTSY to make this shameless HORING of someone else's idea (not to mention repost) a self-post, right? Oh wait, you fucking didn't.

[–]Cestdujamaisvu 0 points1 point ago

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Awesome to see this quote from him. I though of the exact same thing when talking religion with a friend some time ago.

[–]throwaway0013 0 points1 point ago

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It annoys me that the burden of proof is on us.

It's not. wtf, Gervais, you know better than this.

[–]thefreq 4 points5 points ago

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I think he meant more that he is annoyed that Christians and others THINK it is. :)

[–]yamman13 3 points4 points ago

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I think he more means that society places the burden of proof upon us, not that rationally, the burden of proof is on us.

[–]Wahrheit 0 points1 point ago

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I posted this fucking picture about a week ago. I got 10 karma for it and everyone bitched about it being a repost.

BUT OH NO GIVE THE MAN HIS 700

[–]LibertariansLOL -1 points0 points ago

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nice circlejerk

[–]levnikolayevichmys -3 points-2 points ago

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I love Ricky Gervais' TV shows, but god damn what an obnoxious atheist.

[–]TaffyRaphie -1 points0 points ago

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yay! athiest are the most smarterest, right guys!