My Opinion: Jón Gnarr - God ©

The reaction to my last article, “God does not exist”, has been tremendous. Plenty of people have commented on it on the social media and elsewhere. Many priests have come forward and written response articles both on visir.is and on tru.is. I, therefore, find myself compelled to reply, correct some misrepresentations and misunderstanding, and at the same time try to clarify my stance a little better.

I have been criticized for generalizations. I did not, however, generalize that much in my article. Most of what I said is based on my personal opinion, background and experience, as I clearly stated. For example, I never said that religion defies rationality, I said it defies my rationality. There is a great difference. And I even confined it to the belief in a personal god. I didn’t say that religion and science were opposites, I said they often were. Does that surprise anyone? I can name, as an example, Darwin’s theory of evolution and the debate about global warming, or stem cell research, and so on and so forth. Many people think that neurological research will be the branch of science that will be most at odds with the principal religions of the world in the near future, because there, scientists are stepping into the private lot of religion and philosophy, the human spirit itself. And I am quite correct when I say that science has thrown religions from the pedestal where they once were. They are no longer the supreme power they used to be.

Gay men and women will never become the Pope

As for human rights, I don’t think I need to enumerate all the injustice and human rights violations committed throughout the world in the name of religion. Regularly, there are demonstrations in France and elsewhere to protest against homosexuality. There, the impact of religion and doctrines is very prominent. Those who don’t see that, simply don’t want to see it. The status of women is another example. I, and many others, think that religions often belittle women and put them at a lower level than men. This is horribly confirmed with the attitude to abortions. There, the inherent right of women to be in control of their own body has to give way to religious dogmas. In 2012, Savita Halappanavar died in a hospital in Ireland from a miscarriage. The doctors could probably have saved her, but were forbidden to by the laws against abortions.

So the supposition that human rights are in perfect harmony with the so called charitable god does not add up, and the priests’ generalizations to the contrary turn out to be empty contradictions. The Reverend Sigurður Árni Þórðarson, the pastor of Hallgrímskirkja, says, for example, in his response article, “God and Jón Gnarr” on February 17, that “the attitude to gay people is e.g. usually a cultural thing rather than a religious one”. I do not agree with this. And besides, the state church maintains that “The evangelical Lutheran state church is an integral part of the culture and history of the Icelandic people and other Nordic nations”. And isn’t it like that all over the world?

Comedy is dead serious

Many have said that I don’t have the right to express myself in this way, that I don’t have the education or the sense to discuss these issues, “neither moral nor intellectual right”, as the Reverend Sigurður Árni puts it in his article. He, Bjarni Karlsson, pastor of Laugarneskirkja, and others seem to be of the opinion that you must not make fun of people’s beliefs. This, I think, is a really dangerous attitude. This must surely be a joke, right? Most people criticize me sharply for generalizing that god does not exist. And yet they themselves generalize the opposite every day, and have done so for a long time. Not only does god exist, he is love and he is this and he is that. What is it that gives them the right, but forbids me the same? I cannot accept that. And I cannot accept the conclusion of many that even if I haven’t found god, then god has found me. Sigurvin Jónsson, pastor of Neskirkja, talked about my article in his sermon on February 15 and said: “The idea about a personal God is not remote and irrational, but accessible to everybody who is willing to search for Him in prayer.”

I think this is just quibble. A generalization is answered with another generalization. And my story is being mocked and my life stance degraded. It says that my opinion does not matter because god has another opinion, and that the only reason I haven’t found him is that I am a fool and haven’t searched well enough.

I want to remind believers that atheism is a life stance protected by law in Iceland. I am a member of Siðmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association. I am a proud humanist. I have exactly the same right as everybody else to express my life stance, and to express myself in whatever way I want about these things. Unlike so many others I am fortunate enough to be a citizen in a democracy that observes freedom of expression. God is not the private affair of priests and they don’t have the exclusive rights to the concept of god. Priests have their employment and livelihood from talking about and preaching a belief. They use their rights as they see fit. I know all these priests, and only from good things, and I want to ask them, and other religious people, to respect my rights, like they respect other religions. I earn my living from comedy. I make fun of what I think needs to be made fun of, in the way I want and when I want.

I am Charlie!