The Meaning of Life with actor Gabriel Byrne

WeeBushy

Thought this might interest a few of you here...

Interesting interview with the actor Gay Byrne (interviewed by the presenter Gay Byrne as well) where he talks about his religious upbringing, his religious views now, and his struggles with depression and alcoholism.

He doesn't outright say he is an atheist, in that he says he has a spiritual side, but renounces the idea of a god and prayer. He also has a lovely answer to Gay Byrne's last question "pretend there was a god, what would you say to him when you meet him at the gates of heaven?".

Lovely interview with great Irish actor.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1064289

pts

Very interesting interview, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the next one.

WeeBushy

Yes, it seems like an interesting series. The next one is with Tommy Tiernan I think. If he takes it seriously I would think it could make a really interesting interview.

TheCosmicFrog

WeeBushy wrote: »

Interesting interview with the actor Gay Byrne

Gabriel Byrne

WeeBushy

Whatever!

Edit: Thanks for changing the thread title mods.

Latchy

Thanks for sharing ....

Edit -just finished viewing ,very intresting to hear of his expierences and opinions and looking forward to next programme

Tim Robbins

WeeBushy wrote: »

Yes, it seems like an interesting series. The next one is with Tommy Tiernan I think. If he takes it seriously I would think it could make a really interesting interview.

Tommy Tiernan got married in a Church so I hope he presses him on that...

WeeBushy

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Tommy Tiernan got married in a Church so I hope he presses him on that...

As in he is an atheist who got married in a church, or a christian who got married in a church?

The second would make sense, well being a christian doesn't make sense, but you know what I mean

Dades

Very interesting, thanks.

Anyone catch what Uncle Gaybo is saying about drunkards on Grafton St (while Gabriel is talking) about 21 mins in?

Sounds like he's saying "F*ck this... f*ck this..." :pac:

ShooterSF

Hard to watch anything with gay byrne in it without my blood boiling but it wasn't bad

Dades

ShooterSF wrote: »

Hard to watch anything with gay byrne in it without my blood boiling but it wasn't bad

Yeah, kudos to Gabriel Byrne for not allowing the interview to descend into a religious love in. I could only imagine that show with someone like Dana being interviewed...

Galvasean

The look on Gaybo's face at 2:24 is hilarious when Gabriel tell hims that his father put the sign of the cross on his forehead each morning.

Turtwig

I love the way RTE have grouped together Religious TV programmes with the Irish language. Definitely a good sign:)

Galvasean

Malty_T wrote: »

I love the way RTE have grouped together Religious TV programmes with the Irish language. Definitely a good sign:)

Give it time. They'll be in a sub-forum of Palaeontology.

Galvasean

Must say the theme music is horrible, not to mention completely not in line with teh tone of the show.

Dades

Galvasean wrote: »

Give it time. They'll be in a sub-forum of Palaeontology.

Gaybo is a bit of an old fossil, all right.

Effluo

Dades wrote: »

Anyone catch what Uncle Gaybo is saying about drunkards on Grafton St (while Gabriel is talking) about 21 mins in?

Sounds like he's saying "F*ck this... f*ck this..." :pac:

Footless Footless,

Although if you want to hear him say "F*ck"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XWXBnWRZxE

Dades

Effluo wrote: »

Footless Footless

Footless, eh? Never heard of that one!

(I just googled the phrase but frankly got sidetracked by the google image results...)

kelly1

The interview with Tommy Tiernan was quite interesting. Not much joking from him really. He said while he was going to school he was quite religious, frequent Mass and prayer and he wanted to join the Redemptorists. But when he heard about the amount of study involved he chickened out. He still has some kind of faith in God but not what it used to be.

Agonist

Tommy Tiernan didn't explain what led him to take up religion after coming from a nonreligious home. I wish that had been explored more. It seems he started going to mass regularly in his teens.

I think Gay is very good in these interviews. He was always an excellent broadcaster, hence his success, and he's not coming across as pompous or displaying any of his other faults in this. I would have liked more concrete questions and answers with Tiernan, as there have beeen with other guests.

Did anyone see the episode with Maeve Binchy? It was excellent.

Effluo

Agonist wrote: »

Tommy Tiernan didn't explain what led him to take up religion after coming from a nonreligious home. I wish that had been explored more. It seems he started going to mass regularly in his teens.

Well truth be told, i'm not sure if Tommy knew himself!
I'm not questioning his intelligence, but I just felt that he wasn't completely in tune with his spiritual side. Sure he seemed very spiritual, but it was a bit all over the place if you know what I mean.

I obv can't speak for Tommy, but I can speak from my experiences with other people. I know people who's parents never spoke about religion to them and when they grow older and then get thrown into the whole idea of religion, they were more likely to listen. If you know what I mean? Even mystified by the whole idea of it!
I grew up in a catholic family, church every Sunday + that. I was always aware of "God", Whereas to Tommy, he was never exposed to it and maybe when the Principal said he could come back into the school only if "he stopped talking about religion" made him listen a bit more?

That's what I think anyway.
When I get kids, I'll prob take them to mass even though I don't believe in it. Just so it gives them a sense of religion and the importance of authority, morality + such.(also I don't want a son like Tommy lol )
The Catholic church has right ol' morales

CerebralCortex

Effluo wrote: »

...The Catholic church has right ol' morales

Eh?!?! Murphy report anyone? No? Ryan report perhaps?

Dades

Effluo wrote: »

When I get kids, I'll prob take them to mass even though I don't believe in it. Just so it gives them a sense of religion and the importance of authority, morality + such.

All kids get from mass is a sense of boredom and a lot of mumbo jumbo. Trust in your own ability to impart a sense of morality, and in your children to be born with one in the first place.

robindch

Effluo wrote: »

When I get kids, I'll prob take them to mass even though I don't believe in it. Just so it gives them a sense of religion and the importance of authority, morality + such.

Assuming you're not winding us up it sounds like you'd prefer your future kids not develop any ability to make ethical judgments. Not a wise choice, I'd have said.

Stephen Law's excellent 'The War for Children's Minds' discusses the how and why people choose to prevent ethical discussion or development in kids, and what happens to them if you do do that. His book is available here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Childrens-Minds-Stephen-Law/dp/0415378559

Effluo

robindch wrote: »

it sounds like you'd prefer your future kids not develop any ability to make ethical judgments.

I have no idea what you mean by that!
I figure a kid understanding the difference between what's right and wrong is just easier when you've got Jesus as a role model.

I don't believe in Catholicism, but what Jesus stood for is pretty much all good.

The more we experience the more we learn.
I think an awareness of religion is very important.

Dades

Effluo wrote: »

I figure a kid understanding the difference between what's right and wrong is just easier when you've got Jesus as a role model.

Then buy an illustrated Jesus book! Don't subject the child to the monotone rituals of an organisation we all know to be deeply flawed.

Effluo wrote: »

I think an awareness of religion is very important.

An awareness of many religions is very important.

Effluo

Dades wrote: »

An awareness of many religions is very important.

They are all the same to me


A lot of people find comfort in thinking there's a God. "Opium for the Masses" Isn't that the quote?

Some people can face up to a reality in which they are here now, living and in a bit they'll be no-where other than in the memories of the living.

Some people take such comfort in their beliefs that it keeps them sane(in a sense). I know a few!
I'd love to think that my child whenever it come'th(lol come'th) that it would be strong mentally enough to deal with the world around it. That however is no given and even knowing subconsciously they might have some comfort in prayer, faith and trust in a God.

I never said only the Catholic religion would be suitable, just handy. I figure them protestants get it awful handy

pts

Effluo wrote: »

A lot of people find comfort in thinking there's a God. "Opium for the Masses" Isn't that the quote?

Not really
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=64061557&postcount=5

robindch

Effluo wrote: »

I have no idea what you mean by that! I figure a kid understanding the difference between what's right and wrong is just easier when you've got Jesus as a role model. I don't believe in Catholicism, but what Jesus stood for is pretty much all good.

Have you read all of the New Testament, or even just the bit where Jesus says:

Jesus wrote:

I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

That's not much of a role model! And while he did say some nice stuff elsewhere, none of it is original with him, and all of it was said better, and with less surrounding fluff than Jesus did.

If I were you, I'd have my kids spending the 90 minutes every week doing some helpful social activity -- shopping for elderly neighbors, sweeping footpaths, whatever. That'll teach them a lot more about being good people than showing up once a week to hear an elderly man drone on about how important it is that everybody believes what he's saying.

Effluo wrote: »

I think an awareness of religion is very important.

There's a big difference between believing what religion says about itself, and simply being aware what religion is. The first is credulous, the second, as you say, is completely necessary, though you are highly unlikely to get an unbiased account of any religion from any of its believers.

aidan24326

Effluo wrote: »

When I get kids, I'll prob take them to mass even though I don't believe in it.

Why on earth would you do that? Kids take nothing positive from mass, they sit there bored to death and aren't even listening to what the priest is saying most of the time. Whether you're religious or not taking young kids to mass is a rather pointless excercise(**other than where it's necessary since there's no-one at home to mind them)

Just so it gives them a sense of religion and the importance of authority, morality + such.(also I don't want a son like Tommy lol )
The Catholic church has right ol' morales

What do you mean by 'the importance of authority'? What importance? And btw, the best people to give kids a sense of morality is their parents, not a priest. The priest will tell your children that their punishment for committing sin is an eternity in the fires of hell, do you find that an acceptable morality? I know I don't.

Effluo wrote: »

I think an awareness of religion is very important.

An awareness of religion is important, but give them an awareness of different religions, a balanced view. Organised religion promotes the assertion of 'we're absolutely right and the other crowd are absolutely wrong' (not to mention stupid, evil and whatever else). That creates a sectarian mindset and is the very reason why no child's mind should be poisoned with religious indoctrination. So again, why take them to mass? Teach them about various religions, and don't tell them that our entire moral framework is taken from religion. It isn't.

Mark Hamill

Effluo wrote: »

I figure a kid understanding the difference between what's right and wrong is just easier when you've got Jesus as a role model.

Really? Why? When you bring Jesus into discussions of right and wrong you get all kind of complications what it is that actually makes things right and wrong-an objective source (but then why didn't Jesus come out against things that today would be considered almost universally wrong?) or are things right and wrong simply because Jesus says so (which is just an argument from authority which doesn't apply if you aren't christian and which doesn't explain why things are right or wrong anyway).
Far better to teach kids ethics and rational reasoning behind whats right and wrong without muddying the water by including one of the most immoral books there are - the bible.

Mark Hamill

Effluo wrote: »

Some people can face up to a reality in which they are here now, living and in a bit they'll be no-where other than in the memories of the living.

Some people take such comfort in their beliefs that it keeps them sane(in a sense). I know a few!
I'd love to think that my child whenever it come'th(lol come'th) that it would be strong mentally enough to deal with the world around it. That however is no given and even knowing subconsciously they might have some comfort in prayer, faith and trust in a God.

Replace "beliefs" with addiction and "prayer, faith and trust in a god" with drugs, would you be happy now with that? Would you be happy that your child takes comfort in their life through drugs even though you yourself might not believe thats its a viable path to take? Would you take them to their first drug dealer because there is the possibility that they might need the comfort of a syringe instead of dealing with their life head-on?

Antbert

Methinks Effluo isn't an atheist at all... Imposter!

Mark Hamill

Antbert wrote: »

Methinks Effluo isn't an atheist at all... Imposter!

antiskeptic

WeeBushy wrote: »

Thought this might interest a few of you here...

Interesting interview with the actor Gay Byrne (interviewed by the presenter Gay Byrne as well) where he talks about his religious upbringing, his religious views now, and his struggles with depression and alcoholism.

He doesn't outright say he is an atheist, in that he says he has a spiritual side, but renounces the idea of a god and prayer. He also has a lovely answer to Gay Byrne's last question "pretend there was a god, what would you say to him when you meet him at the gates of heaven?".

Lovely interview with great Irish actor.

1) Gay Byrne is an appalling interviewer. CringeworthyTV.com

2) Gabriel Byrne is a spiritual man but because of 1) above we are none the wiser regarding that aspect of himself. He indeed doesn't say outright that he's an atheist and to consider the prospect that he is one (albeit in closet) would be to take one appalling interview and ignore all that was said on that subject.

3) The interview was too broadbased to live under the moniker "RTE Religious"

4) Gabriels views are pretty run of the mill cultural Catholic. His "lovely answer" to Gay's last question indicates distant aquaintence with some of the reasonably satisfactory (and easily accessible) answers to "the problem of suffering" as supplied by Christian apologetics

WeeBushy

antiskeptic wrote: »

1) Gay Byrne is an appalling interviewer. CringeworthyTV.com

I disagree with you, I think he's actually very good. But that's a matter of opinion.

antiskeptic wrote: »

2) Gabriel Byrne is a spiritual man but because of 1) above we are none the wiser regarding that aspect of himself. He indeed doesn't say outright that he's an atheist and to consider the prospect that he is one (albeit in closet) would be to take one appalling interview and ignore all that was said on that subject.

You don't have to ignore anything to consider that prospect. He said:

I wasn't a practicing catholic... I was a daylight atheist

He goes on to say he's spiritual alright, but it's clear he as atheistic views.

antiskeptic wrote: »

3) The interview was too broadbased to live under the moniker "RTE Religious"

It focuses on religion, religious upbringing and current religious views. That moniker seems quite apt to me.

antiskeptic wrote: »

4) Gabriels views are pretty run of the mill cultural Catholic. His "lovely answer" to Gay's last question indicates distant aquaintence with some of the reasonably satisfactory (and easily accessible) answers to "the problem of suffering" as supplied by Christian apologetics

His answer strikes me more atheistic than any acquaintance with christian apologetics.

aidan24326

antiskeptic wrote: »

1) Gay Byrne is an appalling interviewer. CringeworthyTV.com

Gaybo has his faults, but I thought he handled that interview well enough. He's a much more composed and professional broadcaster than Tubridy will ever be, that's for sure.

2) Gabriel Byrne is a spiritual man but because of 1) above we are none the wiser regarding that aspect of himself. He indeed doesn't say outright that he's an atheist and to consider the prospect that he is one (albeit in closet) would be to take one appalling interview and ignore all that was said on that subject.

In what way was the interview 'appalling' ?? enlighten us.

3) The interview was too broadbased to live under the moniker "RTE Religious"

No-one claimed any such moniker. The show is called 'Interview with...' , you can take from that what you like.

4) Gabriels views are pretty run of the mill cultural Catholic. His "lovely answer" to Gay's last question indicates distant aquaintence with some of the reasonably satisfactory (and easily accessible) answers to "the problem of suffering" as supplied by Christian apologetics

He actually came across as a pretty straight-up and quite interesting guy, who spoke candidly about his experiences. If that was lost on you then that's your problem. BTW, your post part4 doesn't really make any sense.

Pushtrak

The Tommy Tiernan one is up now. Haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1064825

Herbal Deity

Malty_T wrote: »

I love the way RTE have grouped together Religious TV programmes with the Irish language. Definitely a good sign:)

No it's not. It irritates the crap out of me that the Irish language is associated with old, Catholic Ireland in some contexts.

To me, having gone to an Irish speaking secondary school, Irish has been an important part of my upbringing, memories and identity, whereas Catholicism has nothing to do with this besides having had a presence in my life I resent. The two are worlds apart.

aidan24326

Pushtrak wrote: »

The Tommy Tiernan one is up now. Haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1064825

The Tommy Tiernan interview is a little disappointing, he is quite reticent and doesn't really open up that much. At the end of it you're not much the wiser as to where he's coming from.

Mickeroo

Effluo wrote: »

I have no idea what you mean by that!
I figure a kid understanding the difference between what's right and wrong is just easier when you've got Jesus as a role model.

I got more out of out of watching superman than i ever did out of mass.