My husband and I watched the movie the “The Invention of Lying” last night. As a christian, the movie as a whole rubbed me the wrong way. This morning I decided to confirm my suspicions: Ricky Gervais is an atheist.
Let me start by saying, I love that this country was founded on the idea of freedom from persecution of religion which most definitely gives people the freedom to have no religion. And freedom of speech and expression are important as well, so I understand his desire to make a movie that expresses his beliefs or lack of beliefs.
What bothers me, however, is that he presented religion as a lie. Not believing in something is one thing, but to call it a lie is bringing things to a whole new level.
I should pause here to talk about the word “truth” since the word “lie” is defined as an “untruth”. As a christian, I believe that Christ is my Lord and Savior and that is the TRUTH… the ONLY TRUTH.
I found a quote from Ricky Gervais where he said he thinks his movie should not be offensive to those who believe in God because he can watch and enjoy movies about Angels. That is probably the worst defense I have ever heard. If I could have a conversation with Ricky, this is what I would say:
“Ricky, you enjoy movies about Angels because, to you, they present an element of fantasy that makes for a fun ride. I can relate, I enjoy SciFi movies for the same reason. I, however, found your movie “The Invention of Lying” offensive because I do not believe God is fantasy, I believe he is reality. What if I told you that everything you believe as truth is actually a lie? That would probably bother you the same way. To have faith in God means believing to the core of your being that, that is the absolute truth, and everything else falls into place AFTER that truth. So please, don’t pretend you didn’t know what you were doing when you made that movie. I think you knew you would offend people but your PR representative told you to pretend to have respect for the rest of the population.”
Yeah, his movie was a mess. At first I thought it was pretty entertaining, but then it got way off into the whole, “There is no man in the sky” deal, and he lost me there.
I’m not a huge fan of his no matter what religion (or lack of apparently) he has.
I’m really glad you wrote this because it relates to a question I struggle with constantly. What is it about atheism that is so unpalatable? In general, that is. Nevermind Gervais’ movie – it’s obvious what’s wrong with that.
It’s easier to work around religious differences, I think. Many people are willing to put it down to believing a different version of more or less the same thing: there is someone or something out there looking over us.
Those aren’t my beliefs, but somehow saying “I’m an atheist” is different from someone else saying “I’m a Christian” “I’m a Muslim” “I’m [insert other religion here]”. Saying I’m an atheist tends to draw the most visceral reactions from people, unless I somehow apologize for it – say, “Well, I’m an atheist” with a wince and a shrug, conceding upfront that my beliefs are “wrong”. Otherwise, if I label myself with the same degree of confidence that anyone else does, I am immediately classed as a rebellious teenager in an immature “phase”, or a pariah – like I am a threat to the very foundation on which someone else has built their own set of morals and values.
But why? Just because I’m not spiritual does not mean I don’t have beliefs. And my beliefs have led me to embrace the same morals as any other law-abiding, compassionate, thoughtful citizen in society. Those constitute a substantial amount of common-ground. Does it really matter what brings us individually to them or motivates us individually to adhere to them?
And yet, I couldn’t count the times I have had people tell me I’m wrong, that what I believe is nonsense, and try to change my mind. Somehow I’m supposed to accept this as some gracious act from someone who is concerned about me. But it’s really no less condescending or offensive than another Gervais, even though I don’t respect the flamboyant, provocative way he makes his beliefs known.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said. I guess I never really thought about why he would maybe feel the need to make a movie like that.
I think I understand how that sort of attitude would make you feel, though I have to admit, not entirely. I have respect for you as a compassionate, intelligent, moral person and I have respect for your right to have your own beliefs, but I have pretty much ALWAYS had a very strong faith in God (one that is constantly reinforced), so it is hard for me to understand when someone doesn’t have that same faith. I see God’s work in everything in this world, so it’s just hard to imagine that someone else does not see those same things. Like I said in the post, for me God and Christ are the truth and everything else stems from that.
I’m not going to treat another adult like they are immature or an idiot for not believing the same thing I do, but I do believe you are wrong, just like you believe I am. And I would love if you shared my beliefs because I they are very important to me, but faith is something you either choose to have or you don’t and that has no bearing on how good of a person you are… being a christian does not make someone a good person and being an atheist should not make you a pariah.
As far as people seeing atheism as a phase: it is probably because, for many believers, there was a point in time when they either didn’t believe or questioned God’s existence.
I’m sorry you were so upset by this movie! I haven’t seen it yet, only saw a few previews and had a hard time understanding it from those. I’ve heard people talk about it since then, though, with mixed reactions.
I’d like to respond to what Jessica wrote. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being an atheist, what is perceieved as unpalatable about it, in my opinion, is that is a clear questioning or discounting of what is THE basis of belief for a lot of people. Plus it is an anti or negative position, which is always going to be less constructive or welcomed than a for or believing position.
Along those lines, instead of saying I’m an atheist when people are going around listing their religious affiliation, I’d suggest saying what you are rather than what you are not. In my situation, I present myself as a Humanist, and if questioned about a belief in a deity, I would be honest about my atheism, because that is what I hold to be true. You are right, though, when you say atheist, most people immediately pile on the assumptions and feel free to apply them without any further discussion or anything.
It’s too bad that people feel the need to jump on atheists with arguments of being wrong, nonsensical, or ill informed. The same arguments could be turned around, and are, by non believers who are interested in discussing and arguing the point.
While people with different beliefs can agree on and work together on various issues within society, the trouble is with the basis for those shared values. We can agree that organizing money or food for the homeless is a good thing, but for one person it is motivated by what is written in a book and put forth as the word of a deity, while for the other it comes simply from the understanding that this is a good thing to do for my community. If the basis for our shared values are different, does that then somewhat dilute or invalidate our shared values? Or is a divergent basis for shared values an acceptable foundation for working together? This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot, with no answer yet 🙂
Anyhow, my two cents!
OK. *deep breath* Ready? This is exactly why _I_ get so nervous every time I post something on my blog about my beliefs, specifically, my atheist beliefs. It’s partly because back when I was a full-on Christian devotee, I thought the word “atheist” was about the worst thing you could call a person. Who didn’t believe in God? That seemed crazy to me. So I have this feeling still that when I say that I am an atheist, I am sure that many people must cringe. It is so totally opposite from what people of faith believe that I imagine that it’s hard for some people to think that they could relate to me at all. But that aside, I also feel like I have to be mindful of every word I choose when describing my beliefs, because it seems like it is very difficult to describe what I believe without insulting what other people believe.
I do not believe that God exists. (See, I feel like you just cringed. Anyway…) You said, “What if I told you that everything you believe as truth is actually a lie? That would probably bother you the same way.” Actually, I don’t think it would. In fact, I can’t think of a single thing that I believe that I would be offended if I learned it was NOT true. Certain things would be devestating, but I would prefer to know the truth instead of believing a lie. I know a lot of atheists who compare beliving in God to believing in Santa Claus; and I know a lot of people of faith who find this incredibly offensive. While I understand that how one could feel offended, the comparison comes from a very real place that is not spiteful or mocking, at least in my beliefs. There was a time in my life when I had no doubt in the world that Santa Claus was a very real man who absolutely did bring presents to me on Christmas Eve. I was certain of this truth. Everyone I knew also shared this absolute certainty (and had the toys on Christmas morning to prove it). But my certainty didn’t make it more or less true. Turns out… totally not true. Similarly, I once was absolutely certain that God was absolutely real. But just because lots of people believe it, doesn’t make it true. Now I don’t know that God does not exist, but I personally see little evidence to suggest otherwise. So when I look back on my time when I DID believe, it DOES feel like I believed a lie, just in that I believed something that I now believe to be completely untrue. It’s not an entirely accurate word, since I do not believe that anyone who ever helped shape my Christian beliefs was intentionally trying to deceive me, which is inherent in lying. But it DOES feel like I was led to believe something that was untrue, even though those who led me there did so with the best of intentions.
I haven’t seen the Invention of Lying. I remember when it came out that I did want to see it. That’s probably because it speaks to something very real in those of us who don’t believe, especially to those of us who once did.
Very well put rubyspikes…the search for truth I feel is a basic human need. I do not think it matters where one falls on the religious scale (or even if you have fallen off of it). A lie is a lie whether you are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Hindi, atheist, or pay homage to the wood sprites and spirits that reside within the rocks. A lie is a betrayal, a raping and pillaging of our soul and leaves us shaky as to where we stand within society. If we lead a truthful life all else falls into balance…