Sir Anthony Hopkins: I couldn’t be an atheist

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by Mind Over Matter, Apr 15, 2011.

  1. Mind Over Matter Registered Senior Member

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    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/
     
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  3. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    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?
     
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  5. 420Joey SF's Incontestable Pimp Valued Senior Member

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    What do you mean.

    He's the guy that played Hannibal for crying out loud what more do you want.
     
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  7. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    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?
     
  8. Mind Over Matter Registered Senior Member

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  9. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    What do you mean by "hypocrisy" here?
     
  10. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    And your point?

    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:
     
  11. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Hope he's happy. Our windows are the Hubble telescope and the electron microscope, which illuminates wonders not to be found in any fable.
     
  12. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    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" -?
     
  13. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    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.

    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.
     
  14. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    Well, Sir Anthony ought to come over to Sciforums!
     
  15. Yazata Valued Senior Member

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    Everyone's got an opinion, even movie actors.

    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.
     
  16. ArmisExposcerePacem Registered Member

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    Stalin yes.. Hitler? No...
     
  17. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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  18. Rhaedas Valued Senior Member

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    Then he's not an atheist.

    Pot. Kettle.

    He should have ended with that.

    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.
     
  19. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    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.
     
  20. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Atheist: I couldn't be Sir Anthony Hopkins.
     
  21. YoYoPapaya Trump/Norris - 2012 Registered Senior Member

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

    Also - the OP is an obvious troll.
     
  22. JuNie Registered Senior Member

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    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.
     
  23. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    The constitution without separation of church and state would be... England.
     

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