Through the years, numerous celebrities and public figures have shared their religious beliefs with the general public and used it to define who they are as a person. Tim Tebow would have simply been a mediocre quarterback, but the focus on his strong religious beliefs caused him to stay in the spotlight for years. Charles Manson would have been just another cult leader who convinced his followers to commit murders if it weren’t for his strong love of Satan. Both of these examples pushed their religious beliefs on us to the point that we kind of got sick of hearing about them. It was always, “Oh great, Tim Tebow is getting all preachy again.” Or, “Here we go, Charles Manson is dedicating another taken soul to the dark lord with a blood sacrifice.”
It just gets old.
Most public figures, at the very least, give hints or suggestions of their religious beliefs, but throughout his entire career there is one man who has gone out of his way to keep his personal spiritual preferences to himself. That man is, of course, Ricky Gervais. Honestly, how does he do it? In a time where reporters, fans and TMZ are constantly prying into your life and looking to make a big deal out of every little detail, how has he avoided sharing his beliefs with us? He’s certainly had plenty of opportunities to share them; that’s for sure. Between movies and TV shows, he could have EASILY inserted little hints and jabs at opposing views, but Ricky Gervais is better than that. He doesn’t need to use his platform to belittle others in an attempt to make himself feel superior. What’s the point? His religious feelings didn’t get him there, so why would they need to be brought up? He knows that and he’s confident enough in his own abilities instead of having to rely on mocking people who only have the agenda of keeping others from spending eternity in a lake of fire. Who needs it?
There are some, like the Westboro Baptist Church or Richard Dawkins, who seem to spend countless hours on the Internet spouting off smarmy comments about how their thoughts are the only correct thoughts and anyone who thinks differently is a fool. Not my boy, Ricky. He’s like the Banksy of religious perspective. You never see or hear them because he lets his art do the talking. Why, even the idea of bringing up his religion probably makes him blush with embarrassment. “What do I believe?” he’d probably ask. “Well, I believe that everyone has a right to believe whatever makes them happy and, gosh, if it’s good enough for them then it’s good enough for me. Now let’s go have a jolly mincemeat pie! Harry Potter!” he’d probably declare.
I’ve never met Ricky Gervais and I’ve never been to his house, but I bet it’s safe to assume that every room in his home is dedicated to a different spiritual belief. He probably has individuals from every walk of life come over for a dinner party where they share the positive aspects of their beliefs and Ricky just lies in the middle of the circle on the floor and weeps loudly from soaking up all the knowledge from these kind souls. “You never stop learning,” I assume he’d mumble through his hypothetical tears. And that’s what I admire about Ricky Gervais. He doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. He doesn’t take every opportunity humanly possible to remind everyone of his opinion. He’s the bad boy of award show hosting, for crying out loud.
There is nothing in the world more hardcore and edgy than getting up at an awards show and reading a bunch of prewritten zingers about celebrities. It takes real courage. The kind of courage we’ve only seen from YouTube commenters, Twitter accounts that have two followers and an egg as their profile picture, and bathroom graffiti. He could EASILY use that moment to push a religious agenda, but he doesn’t rely on cheap humor for laughs from the lowest common denominator. He’s a hero. He rises above and imparts comedic wisdom without settling for the easy route.
I don’t know what Ricky Gervais believes and, honestly, I don’t know if any of us ever will. Maybe there’s a close inner circle that he shares his thoughts with, whether it be a rabbi, priest, close friend or demon ghost that lives in a child’s closet and wants them to dedicate their firstborn to him like on Paranormal Activity 3. Whatever it is, I hope it makes him happy and fulfilled and that, one day, we’ll finally be able to put the pieces together and see what fuels that little light inside of him. God bless Ricky Gervais and his ambiguous religious beliefs.
