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Stephen Fry On What He’d Say To God At the Pearly Gates: ‘How Dare You’

OUTSPOKEN

The recently married gay comedian—and staunch atheist—was asked what he’d say to God when he reached the pearly gates. His answer is priceless.

Marlow Stern

Senior Entertainment Editor

Updated Apr. 14, 2017 12:08PM ET / Published Feb. 01, 2015 3:20AM ET 

Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Stephen Fry is a man of many talents. The 57-year-old Brit is a witty comedian and satirist, a novelist, an Emmy Award-nominated presenter, and a Golden Globe-nominated actor. He’s also a disciple of polemicist Christopher Hitchens, and shares the late writer’s disdain towards religion.

So Fry, a staunch atheist, made for a particularly compelling guest on the Irish TV program The Meaning of Life, which features host Gay Byrne interviewing famous people about life, religion, and the afterlife.

In a clip released online, Byrne asks Fry what he’d say when “confronted by God” at the pearly gates—assuming there is a heaven, that is. Fry chuckles, and then lets it rip.

“I’d say: ‘Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world where there is such misery that is not our fault. It’s not right. It’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?’ That’s what I’d say.”

Then, Byrne asks him whether he thinks he’d get in if he gave such an answer. “But I wouldn’t want to! I wouldn’t want to get in on his terms. They’re wrong,” Fry says.

You can watch Fry’s full response here:

The openly gay Fry was recently married to Elliott Spencer, 27, and is half-Jewish (on his mother's side). He didn't have a religious upbringing, and identifies as a “humanist,” thus lending his support to the British Humanist Association. He's been critical of the Catholic Church's views on sexuality and LGBT rights, and once took part in a debate (along with pal Christopher Hitchens) against Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop John Onaiyekan on whether the Catholic Church was a force for good, or otherwise.

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