American Reacts: Stephen Fry on God 😳 | The Meaning Of Life | RTÉ One

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome back to the Runaway American UK edition. I have watched Stephen Fry talk about his uh his opinions on the Catholic Church and as also as well as political correctness. I was really interested in his opinions on the Catholic Church and he kind of stated, I believe that he's an atheist. Um at the very least he's agnostic, but I do think he's a true atheist. And I just saw this video which says Stephen Fry on God because it was interesting. He was talking more about like the actual religion of Catholicism more than his own beliefs in God or hereafter or anything of that nature. So, I thought it would be interesting to hear what his thoughts are on God itself and not just religion. Uh I don't know. It may be interesting, it may not be not uh not interesting. I may agree with him, I may not. I'm interested to hear though. A lot of you guys were saying to me cuz I stated in my thing that I'm not really raising my son in Catholicism. I'm not really I would he was baptized and I said that and it was that my parents who were who are Catholics and are very interested in religion still and are very like um kind of still in the whole aspect of God, religion, perspective like the religious house and that he needed to be baptized in order to be I don't know, cleansed. I have no idea.

[00:01:27]So, I did it as kind of just a nice thing to do as a daughter and um did I agree with it? Not necessarily. Do I raise him in any religion of any sort?

[00:01:38]Not at this point. I kind of just teach him to be a good person. But I'm excited to hear what Stephen Fry says because I do think he's a truly intelligent amazing individual. So, let's hear.

[00:01:51]Suppose what Oscar believed in as he died in spite of your protestations.

[00:01:56]Suppose it's all true and you walk up to the pearly gates and you are confronted by God. What will Stephen Fry say to him, her, or it? I will basically That is the Odyssey. I think I I'll say, "Bone cancer in children? What's that about?

[00:02:14]Mhm. How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly utterly evil. Why should I respect a precious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?

[00:02:33]That's what I'd say. Ooh, he looks truly uncomfortable.

[00:02:36]>> I'm not but I wouldn't want to. I wouldn't want to get in on his terms.

[00:02:40]They're wrong. Now, if I died and it was it was Pluto, Hades, and if it was the 12 Greek gods, then I would have more truck with it because the Greeks were they didn't pretend not to be human in their appetites and in their capriciousness and in their unreasonableness. They didn't present themselves as being all-seeing, all-wise, all-kind, all-beneficent.

[00:03:03]Yeah.

[00:03:03]>> Because the god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac. Utter maniac.

[00:03:11]Totally selfish. Wow.

[00:03:13]>> We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him?

[00:03:16]What kind of god would do that? Yes, the world is very splendid but it also has in it insects whose whole life cycle is to burrow into the eyes of children and make them blind. Ooh. They eat outwards from the eyes.

[00:03:29]Why? Why did you do that to us? Ooh. You could >> It was truly just like >> in which that didn't exist. It is simply not acceptable. So, you know, [snorts] atheism isn't not just about not believing there is a isn't not believing there's a god but on the assumption that there is one, what kind of god is he? It's perfectly apparent that he is monstrous. Utterly monstrous. He deserves no respect whatsoever.

[00:03:54]The moment you banish him, your life becomes simpler, purer, cleaner, more worth living in my opinion. That sure is the longest answer to that question that we [laughter] have had in this entire series.

[00:04:08]I'm not sure who is interviewing him. He did look like I'm not going to say perturbed. He looked more just like um exasperated maybe with his answer.

[00:04:18]I'm not sure. I think that Stephen Fry didn't even go It wasn't To me it wasn't as much of a tangent as it was just saying like his true thoughts on the nature of God. It's a really interesting perspective though because his thought process is that atheism isn't just not believing that there's a God but on the assumption as he said that there is one that he's a truly just monstrous creature. So so so interesting to me because as another like something that I thought was an interesting take was him saying that if it was the Grecian like the Greek gods, he would be more maybe like settled with it or more like accepting of it because of the fact that they were human in nature, that they had their own appetites, that they were they did evil things but they didn't um they didn't ask for I don't know like benevolence and they didn't they weren't people that were seeking um extreme prayer I guess in order to enter the kingdom of heaven as the God that Christianity um Judaism and so forth believes in which is like the one God that is almighty, all knowing, um all kind as he said. I have always had my own shall we say like uh doubts and also >> [sighs and gasps] >> my own like wrestling with the fact that if there is a God, what like why do things happen in the way that they do, right? Like, why is there suffering? Why is there people who hold all of the wealth in the world and can build 20 yachts, and then there's a child who can't find clean water or sleep in shelter for the night, or that goes to bed hungry every night, or children that get bombed and die? Like, there's there's so much that he kind of says that is extremely true. Whereas, in religion, at least in the Catholic church from what I was taught growing up, and I could have obviously interpreted it wrong, but it was that God is in control of everything.

[00:06:23]Obviously, there is free will, but he controls everything that happens, basically. Like, your life is a plan. It is what it is.

[00:06:29]Um So, it's kind of one of those things where okay, so if he's controlling everything that happens, why do you so many horrible things happen? And why did he create cancer? Why did he create, as he said, bone cancer, which is extremely painful, um and have children have it?

[00:06:49]Like, these innocent creatures. Why would he like allow the thoughts of war or like just starvation, which is such a terrible way to die? It is It's an extremely extremely interesting perspective. And it is one where I feel like if you're not wrestling with it, if you have complete faith, and you don't question it at all, what's wrong with you? Because, like, I Here's my thing. If you have researched everything in life, you're 100% secure in your thought process of God is not only real, but he's also just maybe that the church is wrong.

[00:07:29]That like it was the Bible was written by people, not God, and they're interpreting sayings, or they're interpret they're they're using their own interpretations, but that you don't necessarily believe that God is almighty, all-knowing, that he has control of everything, that he created all of us in his image, that it's more free will, and basically that he put us on here on Earth and like kind of let us run wild and then crap got out of how hand, right? Like it was experiment gone wrong. That I could maybe like deal with. Maybe you say like, "Okay, well, like I pray to God.

[00:08:05]Like I believe in the heaven above that I want to get there at one time to have eternal peace." Um but not necessarily that you think that God is almighty, all-knowing, all of these things, benevolent, that you don't spend every day praying on your knees as he said like giving thanks for this world that I it does offer plenty of wonderful things, but it also offers so many horrible things.

[00:08:29]Um and life just seems to be a lot of luck, right? So, I guess my thought process was if you've done all those things and you've accepted that there is that he you know what I'm saying, that religion isn't all-knowing and that there's a lot that you should be wrestling with and you still choose to believe. I think that's one thing. If you believe it and just blindly follow it with no questioning, no um no wrestling with the fact that there are these horrible things that happen in the world and why would they happen uh when God is supposed to be controlling everything and why is it that some children die of cancer and then others are completely healthy? It's is what like, you know, the thing of like God only gives you what you can handle. I've seen many people crumble and die and, you know, life is not necessarily what you can handle.

[00:09:28]>> [gasps] >> So, I think that he's right in his perspective. I know that it's a very hot button topic. I know that people get quite perturbed when people question religion or people question God and and I'm not saying that I don't necessarily believe.

[00:09:44]I just say that for me it's more of a question and not something that I can just blindly obey or blindly believe in without wrestling with my own demons in regards to it because I'm not really sure where I stand and I'm not really sure as he said if I want in someone that would do those things or is it that it is just like an experiment? Like it was like maybe we were created and then it was like it got out of hand and then there was no stopping it and it kind of just is what it is now. I'm not really sure. I have no idea. Obviously no one has the actual answer. It's all just a um I don't know, a guess.

[00:10:28]>> [laughter] >> Uh a hypothesis of what is real and what is not and what could be the case and what is not the case. No one knows for sure until you're dead, I guess, right? And then we can't ask. So, again though, really really interesting video. Loved hearing his perspective. He truly is a brilliant man in my opinion and he has so much um He just thinks about things so deeply, I feel like and that's I just wish more of us did. More of us gave those like thought about those things as he said when he stopped believing, he lived like a more pure, peaceful life and I do understand that cuz I do think that when you're living life just for morality's sake instead of trying to accomplish something like such as getting into heaven, um it probably makes life a lot more real and true and you're doing things not out of like trying to gain brownie points or gain something, but you're doing it out of your own kindness. You're doing things out of the fact that it's what's right or it's what at least feels right. So, thank you so much for joining. I know again, this is a hot button topic or a very an issue that a lot of people feel that they need to avoid, but I think it's important. So, I like to talk about it.

[00:11:44]So, if you want to leave me a comment down below, tell me what your thoughts on religion are, tell me what your thoughts on God are. Like, are you a believer? Are you not a believer? Are you questioning? Do you believe we should all believe? Are you fine with everyone having their own individual opinions on the matter? Let me know, and I will see you all next time. Don't forget to like this video and subscribe to my channel if you're not already subscribed. Bye-bye.