Penn Jillette on NPR
I was just over at God is for Suckers!, where I found a link to a fabulous essay that Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) read on NPR. Here is an excerpt, but you should read (or listen to) the entire thing.
I believe that there is no God… Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I’m not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it’s everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more… Believing there’s no God means I can’t really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That’s good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around… I don’t travel in circles where people say, “I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith.” That’s just a long-winded religious way to say, “shut up,” or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, “How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do”… Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-o and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.
~I AM~
November 24th, 2005 at at 2:18 pm
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.
November 24th, 2005 at at 3:37 pm
And, as always, Teller was silent on the issue. Oh, Teller.
November 24th, 2005 at at 11:23 pm
I agree with everything but the Jell-o. I burned out on that too.
November 25th, 2005 at at 9:32 am
I heard this when it aired on NPR, it stopped me in my tracks. Yesterday I was doing some work on the PC it appeared on my google side bar under “What’s Hot” which would imply there’s been a lot of people reading the piece.
November 26th, 2005 at at 1:24 pm
I couldn’t find the link on NPR’s website… anyone have the audio file of his piece?
Also, has anyone noticed that the only celebrities who actively speak out about their atheism are comedians in one way or another (Penn Jillette, Bill Maher, George Carlin, etc.)? Is it because they’re the only ones who can say the unspeakable (”there is no god”) and get away with it (”Aw, he’s just joking. The idea that there is no god makes me very, very nervous, so he must be joking. Ha ha ha.”)
Or is it because atheism improves one’s sense of humour? I can think of a long, long list of brilliant comedy with atheistic overtones (Monty Python, Lenny Bruce, Oscar Wilde, Matt Groening… heck, even the original Greek comedies), a handful with vague spiritual leanings (Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes), but not a single overtly religious comedian who’s the slightest bit funny. It may be because of my interests, and what I find funny, but still… can anyone think of a single one?
Also… Hooray for NPR! Can you believe that rural America is listening to viewpoints like this for free? Even in Kansas! Go and give them some money.
November 26th, 2005 at at 4:08 pm
The only thing that bothers me about this NPR segment is that negative beliefs are not allowed. Penn found a way to express atheism positively but it seems almost designed to exclude atheist.
November 27th, 2005 at at 12:24 am
Genghis:
The audio link is right at the top of the page.
November 27th, 2005 at at 1:21 pm
I actually heard it in the car in the morning. I immediately ran home and posted the whole text on my blog, forget copyright - this is something thet everyone should read/hear.
November 27th, 2005 at at 5:47 pm
now if he can toss his belief in the invisible hand of the free market…..
November 29th, 2005 at at 12:21 pm
This essay was WONDERFUL! Penn says to a national audience what many of us think but are too nervous to discuss in public–it’s just us down here, no big guy upstairs to blame your irresponsibility on. MORE, PLEASE!!!