Ricky Gervais’ series After Life, which explores the concepts of life, death, grief and spirituality, aired on Netflix earlier this year. On the Under the Skin with Russell Brand podcast, Gervais, a self-proclaimed atheist, said he sees the world with as much wonder as “anyone who believes God created it.”
The comedian-actor spoke candidly with entertainment pro and podcast host Russell Brand about spirituality, and railed against the poor perception atheists get.
He explained his view of religion by saying, “I’m saying, if you already know right from wrong, you don’t need the book.”
Gervais, 61, also admitted that he “used to” believe in God, but after digging deeper into the issue, concluded, “I don’t think I need God.”
However, Gervais revealed: “What I really reject is the assumption that you can’t be a good person if you don’t believe in a god.
“There are good atheists and bad atheists, there are good Christians and bad Christians, and one God has never changed that.
CONTINUE READING: Gary Lineker forced to explain ‘BH’ tweet about lionesses as he is accused of sexism
“One should not judge people by what they believe, one should judge them by their actual behavior. I feel like I don’t need a structured guide outside of my own morals.”
He suggested that this is one of the “myths about atheism,” explaining that atheism, by definition, is not a belief that there is no God, but “there is not yet evidence” of a greater being.
Gervais deciphered this concept further, musing: “If we agree that no one knows, we are all atheists. Well what do you think?
“Believers will say I believe there is a God, and atheists will say I don’t believe there is a God because I don’t have proof yet.”
An outspoken atheist, Gervais revealed that people have asked him if evidence has been found proving that God exists, would he become religious? He claims he would, but noted a potential problem.
He said, “It wouldn’t even be belief, it would be knowledge. But until we know, I don’t want to live my life believing in something I don’t have evidence of, that’s all.”
Gervais went on to explain that he understands and experiences all the same concepts of wanting to understand the reasons for life and connection to a greater power that religious people feel, but he just does it “without belief in god or gods.”
Gervais claimed this was essentially spiritual, saying “religion is something else”.
DO NOT MISS:
He added: “Anyone’s belief in God has never bothered me, it depends on what you make of it.
“It’s when suddenly there’s an agenda that happens to favor the person.”
Later in the podcast, the pair discussed how this “dogma” of balancing scripture with one’s reasoning has transcended religious conversation and has now infiltrated politics and even pop culture.
Gervais explained these as potentially controversial situations where one side inadvertently states that “luckily God agrees with them”.
He continued, “We know that everything that’s ever begun was written by typically a man with an agenda.
“It is no coincidence that all these rules in the Old Testament favor certain men.”
Brand agreed with Gervais, saying, “I really, firmly and deeply believe that spirituality is for me, not for me to say to other people, ‘Oi, I don’t think you should be gay!’.”
Gervais has also recently made viral rounds on social media after his hometown named a garbage truck “Ricky Gerwaste” after him.
He tweeted a picture of the truck in early July and captioned the post, “Is there any greater honor than your hometown to name a garbage truck after you?”