Cillian Murphy: role research made me an atheist

28 days Later star Cillian Murphy has revealed that working on new Danny Boyle film Sunshine has caused him to lose his last bit of faith that there is a God.

Cillian spent time with a number of scientists in preparation for his role in the film and said recently: “I was agnostic before this film. Now I’m very much an atheist.”

“Not just because I spent time with these guys - they just confirmed what I’d always suspected.”

“For me, the film ultimately is a battle between science and religion, or science instead of fundamentalism.”

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Gandalf April 03, 2007 12:37

Well, someone has their ticket punched for hell.

hannah April 04, 2007 22:10

One of the greatest scientists that has ever walked this earth, Isaac Newton, believed fully in God and that he created this earth. God created science, and much what the Bible says ties perfectly with science. That is why there is a large percentage of scientists that believe in a God. So precise is everything in this world that if it was slightly out of tune then systems would collapse. I don’t know who this actor is but this is not a good start! Boy you need to do more research.

hannah April 04, 2007 22:11

Oh yeah i don’t descend from an ape either

Darwin's Bulldog April 05, 2007 19:30

Belief in God is a crutch. Its unfortunate that the majority of the population is either too stupid (unlikely) or too stubborn to think critically about life. If you think about any religion in existence today from a rational standpoint, you see very quickly that its just the result of age old superstition, that people are too afraid to get rid of.

Lisa Shane April 09, 2007 04:41

I lost faith in Cillian. =_( WTF!!!
The existence and belief of God does not conflict with science; science conflicts with religious and spiritual beliefs. Big Difference!
With atheism growing in popularity and the constant bashing of Christianity it proves that if someone continues to believe in God and keep some genuine faith they are being strong, not cowardly.
The true problem is organized religion, it’s one of the most dangerous institutions that humanity has ever made. Before calling God fake, first point your fingers at the religions that lied about God.

Awake April 09, 2007 21:51

Ticket punched for hell? Is that what Mommy and Daddy told you when you were growing up or did a spiritual being reveal it you personally?
Somehow I think Sesame Street style indoctrination was involved.

A man proclaims his beliefs in something other than Christianity, more importantly a lack of beliefs, and out come the wolves.

Delusion is powerful, eh?

hannah, claiming Newton is no more evidence of science and God than claiming Muslim inventors of higher mathematics that attributed all their breakthroughs to Allah.

And if everything in nature is perfect and as God designed it; then explain a few things to me.

Start with nipples on men. Why did God put nipples on men?

How about eyes on a blind cave fish?

How about feet on the fetus of a whale?

None of these items appear to you as transitory?

Tolga K. September 08, 2007 23:45

I’m glad that an actor like him not only came to his senses, but boldly admitted his new belief.

More people need to be like him. In what way, you ask?

The most important thing a person can do for his self is to understand the origins of his beliefs. Without knowing why you believe in something, you are lying to yourself when you speak about said beliefs. It can work both ways, depending on how you view yourself. But I have to say, a rational person, once evaluating his past, will ultimately end up an atheist.

“With atheism growing in popularity and the constant bashing of Christianity it proves that if someone continues to believe in God and keep some genuine faith they are being strong, not cowardly.”

Definitely not. Less than 20% of the population is Atheist, probably fewer; and we’re all living in cities which are full of religious people. It takes serious guts to reveal atheism to neighbors.

The thing is, what you see on the internet is a lot different than what you see in the real world. It seems atheists and religious folk are about 50/50 on the ‘net. So while it seems that it’s widely accepted to bash Christianity, it’s the exact opposite in real life.

Technicalities in the law prevent religiously motivated crimes against atheists from being considered hate crimes. Corruption in the law and government has lead to religious bias against atheists in many cities.

There is absolutely no way that Christians can feel threatened with the majority they have now. To say otherwise is just being ignorant.

“The true problem is organized religion, it’s one of the most dangerous institutions that humanity has ever made.”

Agreed.

“Before calling God fake, first point your fingers at the religions that lied about God.”

All of them. Because if there aren’t gods, then they’re all lying anyway. If there is a god or gods, then the specifics each religion require from it can in no way be accurate, because they’ve all been corrupted by human bias.

Robert Bell September 12, 2007 10:30

Gandalf: “Well, someone has their ticket punched for hell.”

For being skeptical of the existence of God for which there is no empirical evidence? Doesn’t sound like the policy of an omni-benevolent, omnipotent character to me.

To quote Thomas Jefferson, “Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than of blindfolded fear. … Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences.”

Hannah: “One of the greatest scientists that has ever walked this earth, Isaac Newton, believed fully in God and that he created this earth.”

This is evidence that some smart scientists can and have believed in God. It is not evidence that God exists.

In the sciences, theists are not uncommon, but what you do find is that atheists are disproportionately represented in the sciences. I believe this is because as Steven Weinberg has put it, “One of the great achievements of science has been, if not to make it impossible for intelligent people to be religious, then at least to make it possible for them not to be religious.”

Hannah: "God created science, and much what the Bible says ties perfectly with science. "

God did not create science, human beings created science. You can trace the history of science throughout the ages to see how it grew and developed through the efforts of mortal men and women. I think it is inappropriate to attribute to God a real and demonstrable achievement of humanity. I know you Christians think pride is a sin and all, but it is rude to not give credit where credit is due.

Perhaps you mean that God created the universe in which science incidentally exists, and that science seeks to explain. That is an unsupported conjecture. It may be correct, but I see absolutely no evidence for it, and thus absolutely no reason to believe it.

Hannah: “So precise is everything in this world that if it was slightly out of tune then systems would collapse.”

Look up the “anthropic principle.”

It is true that life seems to demand some particular, very precise conditions to arise. However, we live in a universe of billions of galaxies, which consist of hundreds of billions of stars each. With those sorts of numbers, the remote seems plausible. You could say we lucked out, but if we didn’t “luck out,” then we obviously wouldn’t be around to think otherwise.

The universal constants such as the speed of life, strength of gravity, etc. also need to be precisely calibrated to produce beings such as us. However, just as there are trillions of stars, there may be trillions of universes (with differing qualities), and there at the cutting edge of physics and cosmology, there are hypotheses that suppose just such a “multiverse.”

Hannah: “Oh yeah i don’t descend from an ape either”

Actually you did. Your mother is an ape, and you descended from here. I’m not being insulting. You are ape also. So am I. All homo sapiens belong to the family Hominidae, also known as “the great apes.”

You reject the theory of evolution and common descent, I assume. This is a position which is frankly embarrassing for a person to hold in the 21st century. The theory of evolution is a well-supported theory with predictive power (Darwin himself made many predictions via his theory, which were later validated by advances in paleontology, zoology, biochemistry and genetics) and is falsifiable, meaning that with the proper evidence, it could be disproven. Such evidence has not been produced.

Every major institute, academy and university of science/biology subscribes to the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution is just as strong as germ theory or the theory of gravity. It is fact and theory.

If your interpretation of your religion is incompatible with the theory of evolution, your only choice is to throw out pretty much all of modern science, or throw out your religion (or your specific interpretation of it).

Lisa Shane: “The existence and belief of God does not conflict with science; science conflicts with religious and spiritual beliefs. Big Difference!”

How is it that the “conflict” does not go both ways? It seems like you’re blaming scientists for making discoveries that falsify specific religious beliefs. Such bald-faced anti-science sentiments are difficult for me to fathom. How is it you imagine that your pre-medieval Mesopotamian mythes and theology trumps the rigorous methodology of empirical observation, experimentation that is used to progress scientific frontiers?

Lisa Shane: “With atheism growing in popularity and the constant bashing of Christianity it proves that if someone continues to believe in God and keep some genuine faith they are being strong, not cowardly.”

You have an interest concept of courage and cowardice.

Christianity is one of the most popular, powerful ideological movements in the civilized world. The persecution complex developed by some Christians is simply absurd. It does not take courage to conform to the status quo, and religious beliefs are afforded an absurd amount of built-in respect and protection from criticism.

To me, it does not take courage to continue believing what you’ve always believed, holding a comfortable belief that won’t do you any real harm in the real world.

What takes courage is to place yourself in a misunderstood, distrusted and sometimes hated minority. What takes courage is looking at the evidence, exercising reason, and CHANGING YOUR MIND, admitting that you were wrong.

It is intellectual cowardice to not look at the evidence, to reject the methods and conclusions of modern science, when you are surrounded by and enjoy fruits of science in the form of all sorts of technologies and medical treatments. It is cowardice to live in fear of Hell or divine reprisal for thinking “prideful” or “blasphemous” thoughts.

Atheists are often accused of using insulting, biting rhetoric when discussing religion, but look here who fired the first shots, leveled the first insults at a young man for SIMPLY DECLARING WHAT HE BELIEVES.

Take a good, long look in the mirror, folks and ask yourself who is truly out of line, here.

Lisa Shane: “The true problem is organized religion, it’s one of the most dangerous institutions that humanity has ever made. Before calling God fake, first point your fingers at the religions that lied about God.”

Organized religion is one problem.

The fact that people believe things without evidence, and apply these beliefs to the way they live their lives, with consequences for both themselves and those around them is the more basic problem.

People who demonstrate such a lack of critical thought are like sheep, it is inevitable that a few people are going to specialize in herding and exploiting them.

The best way to get rid of organized religion is to get rid of religion period.

Newton? September 17, 2007 05:44

Newton was not really that impressive a scientist.

He was a wealthy aristocrat with a penchant for the fad of the day… mainly, trying to become well known as a scientist or inventor. The nobility and well-to-do of Europe at that time were all attempting to out do one another in the realms of medicine, science, and discovery. He happened to conduct a few experiments and pen a few theories that managed to stick, and has become a renowned ‘scientist’ for the effort.

Newton’s contributions are actually redundant to much of the other work being done at the time, and ultimately, he even conceded that his work was derivative of other ‘better’ scientists works, most famously in his ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ quote.

Also, as I recall, Newton was a deist, not a christian, like most of the empowered elite of his day.

Newton? September 17, 2007 05:48

Isaac Newton: “Affiliation: Anglican, Heterodox; Newton was born into the Anglican church and publicly conformed to it.” At about age 30 he came to believe “that Trinitarianism was a fraud and that Arianism was the true form of primitive Christianity. Newton held these views, very privately, until the end of his life. On his death bed he refused to receive the sacrament of the Anglican church.”

ryan October 23, 2007 21:24

I just wanted to say that your comment was well put. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you.

tsabitha May 01, 2008 14:17

have u all ever heard mother theresa was said this part : “if we cannot love the person whom we see, how can we love god, whom we cannot see ?”

believe in God’s exixtence is every people right. but i juz wanna say that sometimes we only need a faith to go on. being realistic is good. really helping. but now let me ask u all: who has created us?? r we juz shown up this way without being created?? who made us in this very good shape, with goodness and badness?? can a man do that huge stuff?? no!! we aren’t compatible for it!!

now i’m gonna make an analogy. if a carpenter made a desk, does the desk know the face of the maker?? no, right?! but the desk is still exist! the desk doesnt appears juz at that moment without being created, right?!

i really love cillian, really do..
but hearing bout his loosing faith matter makes me wanna cry.. i’m not a christian, i’m a moslem, but i idolize him.. but that’s fine.. still i wish he can figure out it again.. i wish that he can b religious again.. it’s very important for his son, right?!

cheers everybody..

jj December 27, 2008 19:17

what an idiot!

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