{"id":97,"date":"2013-08-29T23:22:03","date_gmt":"2013-08-29T22:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikebirdblog.wordpress.com\/?p=97"},"modified":"2024-04-16T14:53:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T13:53:26","slug":"stephen-fry-and-bertrand-russell-on-atheism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/?p=97","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Fry and Bertrand Russell on Atheism"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Peopl<\/span>e <\/span>o<\/span>ft<\/span>e<\/span>n t<\/span>e<\/span>ll <\/span>Stephen Fry<\/span>tha<\/span>t <\/span>he <\/span>s<\/span>houldn’t <\/span>c<\/span>a<\/span>ll him<\/span>s<\/span>elf an ath<\/span>ei<\/span>s<\/span>t<\/span>, he <\/span>s<\/span>h<\/span>o<\/span>ul<\/span>d <\/span>cal<\/span>l him<\/span>se<\/span>lf <\/span>an agn<\/span>os<\/span>ti<\/span>c <\/span>b<\/span>e<\/span>c<\/span>a<\/span>u<\/span>se <\/span>he can<\/span>‘<\/span>t <\/span>k<\/span>no<\/span>w <\/span>th<\/span>e<\/span>r<\/span>e <\/span>i<\/span>s<\/span>n’t <\/span>a God, an<\/span>d <\/span>th<\/span>e<\/span>r<\/span>e<\/span>fo<\/span>r<\/span>e <\/span>he <\/span>mu<\/span>s<\/span>t b<\/span>e ag<\/span>n<\/span>ost<\/span>i<\/span>c<\/span>. <\/span>B<\/span>ertrand <\/span>Ru<\/span>sse<\/span>ll <\/span>a<\/span>n<\/span>swe<\/span>r<\/span>e<\/span>d thi<\/span>s <\/span>on<\/span>e <\/span>brilli<\/span>a<\/span>nt<\/span>l<\/span>y <\/span>m<\/span>a<\/span>n<\/span>y ye<\/span>ar<\/span>s ago<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

B<\/span>ertrand <\/span>Ru<\/span>sse<\/span>ll <\/span>said <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMa<\/span>n<\/span>y t<\/span>h<\/span>i<\/span>ngs <\/span>ar<\/span>e <\/span>b<\/span>e<\/span>yon<\/span>d th<\/span>e <\/span>r<\/span>e<\/span>a<\/span>lm <\/span>o<\/span>f <\/span>a<\/span>b<\/span>so<\/span>l<\/span>u<\/span>t<\/span>e knowledge <\/span>i<\/span>n an<\/span>y se<\/span>n<\/span>s<\/span>e<\/span>, <\/span>bu<\/span>t <\/span>l<\/span>e<\/span>t <\/span>m<\/span>e <\/span>p<\/span>u<\/span>t <\/span>i<\/span>t <\/span>t<\/span>o yo<\/span>u <\/span>that <\/span>th<\/span>e<\/span>r<\/span>e <\/span>i<\/span>s a teapo<\/span>t <\/span>o<\/span>rbi<\/span>t<\/span>i<\/span>n<\/span>g <\/span>V<\/span>e<\/span>nu<\/span>s <\/span>in <\/span>s<\/span>uch a m<\/span>anne<\/span>r <\/span>t<\/span>hat <\/span>w<\/span>e will neve<\/span>r <\/span>b<\/span>e <\/span>a<\/span>bl<\/span>e <\/span>to <\/span>s<\/span>e<\/span>e <\/span>it. <\/i><\/span>I<\/span>t <\/span>i<\/span>s o<\/span>b<\/span>sc<\/span>ur<\/span>e<\/span>d <\/span>fro<\/span>m <\/span>our <\/span>v<\/span>i<\/span>s<\/span>io<\/span>n. <\/span>N<\/span>ow<\/span>, <\/span>i<\/span>f s<\/span>om<\/span>eo<\/span>n<\/span>e <\/span>w<\/span>e<\/span>r<\/span>e t<\/span>o <\/span>tell me <\/span>th<\/span>a<\/span>t t<\/span>h<\/span>e<\/span>r<\/span>e we<\/span>r<\/span>e s<\/span>uc<\/span>h a <\/span>teapo<\/span>t, <\/span>I <\/span>c<\/span>ould <\/span>no<\/span>t <\/span>d<\/span>e<\/span>m<\/span>o<\/span>n<\/span>st<\/span>r<\/span>ate to <\/span>t<\/span>hem t<\/span>hat th<\/span>e<\/span>y w<\/span>e<\/span>re wro<\/span>n<\/span>g<\/span>, <\/span>b<\/span>ut <\/span>I <\/span>w<\/span>ould b<\/span>e <\/span>p<\/span>er<\/span>f<\/span>ec<\/span>tly wi<\/span>thin <\/span>t<\/span>h<\/span>e <\/span>lim<\/span>i<\/span>ts of ort<\/span>h<\/span>od<\/span>o<\/span>x <\/span>p<\/span>r<\/span>actice and <\/span>sens<\/span>e and, <\/span>I would say<\/span>, <\/span>philosophi<\/span>c<\/span>al <\/span>recti<\/span>tu<\/span>d<\/span>e, i<\/span>f <\/span>I <\/span>wer<\/span>e t<\/span>o <\/span>base my life<\/span>, <\/span>perfec<\/span>tl<\/span>y <\/span>h<\/span>app<\/span>y, <\/span>in <\/i><\/span>t<\/span>he <\/span>b<\/span>el<\/span>i<\/span>e<\/span>f and certain ‘kno<\/span>wl<\/span>edge<\/span>, <\/span>as c<\/span>ertain as .knowled<\/span>g<\/span>e <\/span>as can be, <\/span>t<\/span>hat<\/span>, <\/span>t<\/span>h<\/span>e<\/span>re is no teapot <\/span>re<\/span>vo<\/span>l<\/span>v<\/span>i<\/span>ng V<\/span>en<\/span>u<\/span>s. <\/span>An<\/span>d <\/span>t<\/span>hat is why I cal<\/span>l <\/span>myself an ath<\/span>eist.<\/span>“<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sorry, I couldn’t resist quoting Stephen Fry quoting Bertrand Russell in an interview with the <\/span>Radio Times,<\/span><\/i> 24-30\/08\/13, Sort of a “Re-Tweet”!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People often tell Stephen Frythat he shouldn’t call himself an atheist, he should call himself an agnostic because he can‘t know there isn’t a God, and therefore he must be agnostic. Bertrand Russell answered this one brilliantly many years ago. Bertrand Russell said \u201cMany things are beyond the realm of absolute knowledge in any sense,… Continue reading Stephen Fry and Bertrand Russell on Atheism<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mikes-comments","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":370,"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikebird.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}