Getting an undergrad diploma from Notre Dame is both proof that you've finished your Bachelor's degree and a certification that you've sat through hundreds of hours of babbling college kids explaining their religious beliefs. Whether it was a group discussion in a required theology class or a 2 am conversation walking around God Quad (yes, that's its real name), "Do you believe in God?" and "Do you consider yourself religious?" are questions I've heard plenty of responses to over the years. But I've never heard anyone answer those questions as clearly and articulately as comedian Ricky Gervais.
In an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2017, the two comedians got into an intense debate about whether or not they believe in God, and Gervais defended his atheism and staunch belief in science by saying this:
"If we take any fiction and any holy book and any other fiction and destroyed it, in a thousand years' time, that wouldn't come back just as it was, whereas if we took every science book and every fact and destroyed them all, in a thousand years, they'd all be back 'cause all the same tests would be the same result...I don't need faith in science."
If I had been standing when I first heard that quote, it would have knocked me to the ground. Out of all the hours I’ve spent sitting in theology classes or exchanging views with other much better-read Notre Dame students, I couldn't believe the single best rebuttal to organized religion I had ever heard in my life came from a freaking comedian. And most importantly, Ricky Gervais was right. What he said is pretty hard to deny whether you're religious or not.
It felt, dare I say, sacrilegious initially to validate the theological musings of a comedian. If you had to pick two fields that are as far apart from each other as possible, you'd probably pick comedy and theology. Anyone that has ever gotten the giggles at church knows this all too well.
But quotes like this one make me think there’s a place on the other side where comedy, philosophy, and theology all intersect. If a philosopher, a priest, and a comedian walked into a bar, they’d all probably be doing pretty similar things. The philosopher would be looking around the room, figuring out what they don’t understand, and running thought experiments to find an answer. The priest would be looking around the room, figuring out what they don’t understand, and praying to find an answer. And the comedian would be looking around the room, figuring out what they don’t understand, and writing jokes that don’t really give you an answer but at least validate that nobody understands how the hell man has yet to crack the code on making reliable touchless bathroom sinks.
I think that's why Ricky Gervais was able to articulate his religious beliefs better than anyone else I've ever heard. Because like philosophy and theology, the best comedy stems from capturing things we’ve always felt but have not always been able to articulate correctly. In other words, comedy, philosophy, and theology all grow into wildly different fields, but we invented them all for the same reason: to give us an outlet for making sense of everyday life, whether that’s through an essay or a homily or a stand-up routine.
And that’s why I always get the giggles in church.
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