Sir Anthony Hopkins: I couldn’t be an atheist

M

Mind Over Matter

Registered Senior Member
Sir Anthony Hopkins told the Catholic Herald more than a month ago that he "couldn’t live with" the certainty of being an atheist.

The actor, who was knighted in 1993, said: "Being an atheist must be like living in a closed cell with no windows".

Sir Anthony said: "I’d hate to live like that, wouldn’t you? We see them, mind you, on television today, many brilliant people who are professional atheists who say they know for a fact that it’s insanity to have a God or to believe in religion. Well, OK, God bless them for feeling that way and I hope they’re happy."

He added: "But I couldn’t live with that certainty, and I wonder about some of them: why are they protesting so much? How are they so sure of what is out there? And who am I to refute the beliefs of so many great philosophers and martyrs all the way down the years?"

Sir Anthony, who is most famous for playing the cannibal Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, stars as Fr Lucas in The Rite, based on the experiences of American exorcist Fr Gary Thomas.


http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/02/11/sir-anthony-hopkins-i-couldnt-be-an-atheist/
 
So what?
Some "famous" guy makes a pronunciation on a subject he appears to know little about, while at the same time ignoring his own hypocrisy?
How, and why, is this news?
 
What do you mean.

He's the guy that played Hannibal for crying out loud what more do you want.
 
And?
So he played some guy in a film I wouldn't watch again and regret watching in the first place.
Does that give him special privileges?
 
Mind Over Matter said:
Anthony Hopkins is against organized religion because he says certainty is to blame for a lot of terrors in the world, making a comparison with Stalin and Hitler.
But they where both secular terrors, they had nothing to do with religion.
Click to expand...
And your point?

Signal said:
What do you mean by "hypocrisy" here?
Click to expand...
It's quite simple: while railing against the limited number of atheists that state they "know for certain" god doesn't exist he not only fails to castigate those who state they do know that god exists and appears to subscribe to that stance with his words "Well, OK, God bless them".
Does this "certainty" not exist on both sides of the argument? And probably more so on the theist side (i.e. greater numbers). :shrug:
 
Hope he's happy. Our windows are the Hubble telescope and the electron microscope, which illuminates wonders not to be found in any fable.
 
Dywyddyr said:
It's quite simple: while railing against the limited number of atheists that state they "know for certain" god doesn't exist he not only fails to castigate those who state they do know that god exists and appears to subscribe to that stance with his words "Well, OK, God bless them".
Does this "certainty" not exist on both sides of the argument? And probably more so on the theist side (i.e. greater numbers).
Click to expand...

Why should he castigate those who claim or imply to be certain that God exists?

Do you mean that the only way not to be a hypocrite is to say "Nobody knows anything for certain" -?
 
Signal said:
Why should he castigate those who claim or imply to be certain that God exists?
Click to expand...
If you're criticising someone for certainty then surely both sides should be on the receiving end?
Or was he simply criticising them for being certain about something that he holds the opposite view on, equally certainly - and hence hypocritically.

Do you mean that the only way not to be a hypocrite is to say "Nobody knows anything for certain" -?
Click to expand...
Apparently, from MoM's second link, that's what he is saying: while at the same time coming down, to a certain extent, on the pro-god side.
 
Mind Over Matter said:
Sir Anthony Hopkins told the Catholic Herald more than a month ago that he "couldn’t live with" the certainty of being an atheist.
Click to expand...

Everyone's got an opinion, even movie actors.

The actor, who was knighted in 1993, said: "Being an atheist must be like living in a closed cell with no windows".
Click to expand...

Anthony feels trapped by real life, apparently. He's getting up in years, so maybe religion offers him hope of an escape from his own mortality.

I'm sympathetic, but not impressed.
 
Sir Anthony Hopkins told the Catholic Herald more than a month ago that he "couldn’t live with" the certainty of being an atheist.
Click to expand...

Then he's not an atheist.

The actor, who was knighted in 1993, said: "Being an atheist must be like living in a closed cell with no windows".
Click to expand...

Pot. Kettle.

Sir Anthony said: "I’d hate to live like that, wouldn’t you? We see them, mind you, on television today, many brilliant people who are professional atheists who say they know for a fact that it’s insanity to have a God or to believe in religion. Well, OK, God bless them for feeling that way and I hope they’re happy."
Click to expand...

He should have ended with that.

He added: "But I couldn’t live with that certainty, and I wonder about some of them: why are they protesting so much? How are they so sure of what is out there? And who am I to refute the beliefs of so many great philosophers and martyrs all the way down the years?"
Click to expand...

It's okay to refute people that are wrong, who didn't have information we have now. It's called progress.

I think it was the "why are they protesting so much" that gets me. It's the whole "shut up atheists" all over again. If you're secure in your belief system, then you should be okay with others giving their viewpoint. Maybe an education into why they do protest would help...there's a number of reasons.
 
Breaking News: "Bloke says he couldn't be an atheist... it just doesn't feel right to him!"

Wow. Shocker.

If the OP is an attempt, in any way, for us to accept Hopkins as an authority, then not only is it flawed in that regard (i.e. what is his authority above anyone else's?) but also in the classic fallacy of appeal to authority.
 
Signal said:
Why should he castigate those who claim or imply to be certain that God exists?

Do you mean that the only way not to be a hypocrite is to say "Nobody knows anything for certain" -?
Click to expand...

No. But people who says this are either: Lying, misled or insane. Not necessarily hypocrites.

Also - the OP is an obvious troll.
 
I had a lot of respect for Anthony Hopkins, but he doesn't realize something. BELIEFS KILL. Just like that abortion doctor that was killed. The Fort Hood Shooting. The persecution of gays. So it's not unbelievable that some Atheists think religion poisons people against reality and causes them to be hostile vs people of opposing views. Imagine the constitution without the separation of church and state. Atheists have a right, just as any religious group to say what they think and be as vocal as they want to about it.

Sir Anthony Hopkins...is a moron.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top