So first Dumbledore was gay and now Harry’s an atheist!? Next, Hermione’s going to be shooting heroin with Lindsey Lohan! And Ron will have a collection of dead hobos in his backyard.
The Examiner reports:
Though many people have suspected that Daniel Radcliffe is an atheist for some time now, he confirmed it in an interview with Esquire according to a report published on the Telegraph Web site. The Harry Potter star said:
I’m an atheist, but I’m very relaxed about it. I don’t preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do. Anything he does on television, I will watch.He went on to say, jokingly:
There we go, Dan, that’s half of America that’s not going to see the next Harry Potter film on the back of that comment.
This can’t be too much of a shock. I mean, the kid was naked on stage at 17. That’s doesn’t really indicate a strong religious upbringing to me.
Hey, I can’t help but think that when I was twenty I said a lot stupider things than that. I thought Tears for Fears were the greatest band ever. I thought Ayn Rand had a cohesive individual philosophy. Look, Daniel Radcliffe has a lot of life to live and a lot to learn.
But I guess for Radcliffe for now, God is the real “He who must not be named.”
July 6, 2009 at 2:43 pm
And it reveals how little he understands the half of America that he thinks wouldn't see the movie.
July 6, 2009 at 2:45 pm
As a recent college graduate… I think a lot of modern young people almost feel like it's something they have to do- it's a certain amount of Grown-Up-Ness or sophistication to have moved beyond God (as if it were possible). Let's not give up hope yet!
The irony in your title though is that JK Rowling has actually imbued her series with quite a lot of Christian teaching and imagery (NOT obviously the spellcasting or Dumbledore's (seemingly chaste) sexuality- is that sufficient to ward off the curses of the Harry-wary?).
July 6, 2009 at 3:14 pm
"Hey, I can't help but think that when I was twenty I said a lot stupider things than that. I thought Tears for Fears were the greatest band ever."
Tears for Fears? There we go Matthew, that's half of this blog's viewing public that's not going to read tomorrow's posts. hahaha!
Just kidding!
July 6, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I also thought REO Speedwagon was great.
July 6, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Wow! I just read the greatest atheist manifesto ever written. Seriously. It's called the Real Messiah:
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Messiah-Throne-Origins-Christianity/dp/1906787123/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246864135&sr=8-1
It's written by a Jewish writer who found proof in a number of ancient sources that Jesus never claimed to be the messiah. It was all made up by later Christians in Rome to distract from the truth that threatened to overtake the whole Empire.
You see there was this Jewish king named Marcus Julius Agrippa. He was the St. Mark who wrote the gospel. He wrote the gospel secretly to have Jesus announce HIM as the messiah. Then the Roman authorities caught wind of what was going on and then cut Agrippa out of the gospel.
Don't you see!!! It's all a big lie – even the biggest lie in history. Jesus never claimed to be what all these people now say he was. They have been fooled by a second century editorial effort that still goes undetected.
How is Huller so sure of this conspiracy? He found an ancient throne in Venice which Italian sailors stole from the most ancient Church of St. Mark in Alexandria in the ninth century. The author proves that the throne goes back much further than that – i.e. all the way to the beginning of Christianity in Egypt.
In any event the throne has Hebrew letters and symbols which prove the real story of Christianity and how the modern Church is one big fake.
The throne is real. Here are pictures of the throne:
http://www.therealmessiahbook.blogspot.com
You can look it up with Google. It's a real object. But now the game is up. Christianity is proved to be a big lie and the world will never be the same again.
It's so great to be on the winning side at last! I've got to tell everyone.
All I got to say is that you got to read this book. This is the straw that breaks the back of the Church.
July 6, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Greeeeat.
Although we all should have seen the Dumbledore thing coming: Albus Dumbledore is an anagram of "Male bods rule, bud" (pointed out by some journalist at the time that bomb was dropped). I may never stop laughing about that.
Anyway, now that I've filled the CMR quota of seventh-grade humor for the day, off to read your other posts…
July 6, 2009 at 4:48 pm
7th grade!? That's an insult. We're shooting for second grade. Well, I guess we've been getting a little too brainy over here. Time to lower the standards yet again.
July 6, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Should we break out the butter beers for Stuart? He sounds so very happy that a religion that teaches we should love our neighbors as ourselves is false.
July 6, 2009 at 5:43 pm
i'm in my 20s now and think REO Speedwagon is great…and my best friendship is founded on the ever-wonderful mmmbopping of Hanson.
Ah well.
Poor Harry…if there's nothing else to live for beyond this life, nothing to truly fight for, why does he fight so hard?
July 6, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Tears for Fears is not the greatest band ever?
Sadly, this story is not a big shocker and I highly doubt his profession of atheism will harm box office receipts any more than his role in Equus.
July 6, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Stuart finally read a book and it has made him quite gleeful, he thinks after 2000 years he has the found the real answer,haha,
hope he keeps in mind most will find an answer they want, not always the right one though.
July 6, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Meh, another lazy atheist.
I'll take my angry agnostic friends any day–at least they have a simi-coherent philosophy that doesn't involve insisting that 99% of everyone who ever lived is an idiot, or that they're some of the select few who have seen through a great conspiracy…conducted in another language… thousands of years ago.
July 6, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I thought Marxism was cool and thought communism would solve all our problems when i was 17 or 18. Mea Culpa
July 6, 2009 at 7:28 pm
matthew I don't know if you knew at the time or not, but not only are Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith avowed atheists, they were very leftist in their philosophy. You can hear it throughout their lyrics in songs from the big chair. But don't take it too hard. I used to like hardcore rap, and while the lyrics aren't very communist leaning, they are…less than noble.
July 6, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I liked Xanadu…what you gonna do?
July 6, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Is there anything to Stuart's claim?
July 6, 2009 at 9:58 pm
SK – it's entirely hogwarts… uhm, hogWASH.
SherryTex – I liked the soundtrack, anyway. But I can say that because half of America already ignores my blog, give or take the other half.
July 6, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Am I the only one who never even considered that Stuart was serious? That was so tongue-in-cheek!
July 6, 2009 at 11:39 pm
So was it, or was it not? I often struggle with doubt when books like the one he mentioned come out?
July 6, 2009 at 11:52 pm
No I hate to admit it but I was being serious. I believe that we will never get rid of religion until we understand it ON ITS OWN TERMS. Too many atheists simply dismiss religion as being 'dumb.' I really think the author has presented a plausible explanation of the origin of Christianity. If you don't want to look for an explanation (or if you are simply self-satisfied with repeating that religion is dumb, dumb, dumb and its followers are dumb, dumb, dumb. You should really check out this book.