Stephen Fry on meeting God ...

Not a person indeed - the use of the word "he" does however seem to be standard practice. As far as I can see, those who believe in god assume that "he" is able to do a number of different things - I simply enquired why "he" does not choose to correct some of the imperfections that make people's lives miserable. Seems a reasonable question to ask.

soon I looked at your link and the Bible verse. My mother was a good person and a pretty good Christian and church goer. As a young wife and mother, God sent her tests that were way more than she could bear and he didn't show her a way out. So that meant her three very small children had to bear that their mother had what in those days was called "a nervous breakdown". Oh, what fun.

Juliette. Yours is by far the most difficult post to answer.
And I dont know the total answer.
I dont know where disease comes from. I feel I should do.
It wasnt something I had particularly thought about. It was only a few months ago, that I realised with surprise, that I didnt actually know the answer.
I had a think about it and realised I had thought that it came from God. But that didnt seem right, so thought it had to come from the devil [dont like writing that. Even christians have to be very mindful and careful discussing the subject of the devil].
But that didnt seem right either, so I asked my minister. He said disease was from God. So that put me back to square one really.
I am sorry that I cant give a better answer than that. It is something that I still need to look into further myself.

God isn't a person. How can 'he' give anything a go?

Pointless discussion. It's beyond our understanding. Either you have a feeling for it to you haven't. Neither is good or bad.

We are not believers or unbelievers we are fellow human beings doing our best to care for each other in an imperfect world. If I, as a mere human, can see that and live by it, surely god could give it a go.

Marelli. It is a healthy fear. I hesititate to put a healthy fear like a person might have for their parent. But a bit like that.
I dont think about fearing God that often, but it is there at the back of my mind.

Others. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+10%3A13&version=NRSV
God is talking to christians at this point, not non believers.

The producers would have known it would make for good television having him on that particular show, and it did.

He verbalised what every person must have thought at some point, if they are the type of person who gives any thought to the big questions in life.

They are just questions after all.

Why wouldn't he go out of his way to say this on TV? - people go on TV to say a myriad of different things all the time. How is this any different?

He was asked and he answered - and very eloquently.

Well, I remember him from before we knew about his personal problems and his honesty about his sexuality.
'A bit of Fry and Laurie' anyone?
And I enjoyed that series he was in where he played the country solicitor. Perhaps not dramatic enough for some but gentle, funny and heartwarming. Lovely stuff.
I don't think his career has depended on making his problems public.

I still think he could have said 'I don't believe in a god so I won't be saying anything to him, how could I?' but he would not have then made the points that he did.

I agree with a lot of it. Just c an't understand why anyone would go out of their way to say it on tv. And yes - he knew what the interviewer on that particular programme would ask. I've no doubt that's a lot of the reason why he went on it

Brilliant. I totally agree with every word that he said.

I do not think he "proselytises" - he was asked a question - he answered it.

For Pete's sake - he was asked a question and he answered it. Gay Byrne must have known the kind of answer he would get, because Stephen Fry has never posed as an obedient unquestioning follower.

You say his career would be nowhere without his problems. He was damn near nowhere with them. The conflict he faced (personal and social) led him into a life of juvenile crime, followed by depression and considering suicide. Yes, he has used his personal life, but so as to demonstrate to many young people that others face the same things and can rise above them.

He has a most intelligent and enquiring mind, and he uses that to entertain. If we had known nothing whatsoever about his sexuality (which he denied anyway at the start of his career) he would still be a genial show host and those who actually know the man, not just the role, would still say that he is a good man and a good friend.

And he has never used what is the most personal part of his life so far - that he has just married his partner, and hopes to live happily ever after.

I wish I was as eloquent as Stephen Fry and if I had been interviewed I would have said the same as he did. Gay Byrne was the interviewer, I think?
I will never understand or been able to come to terms with the 'ours is not to reason why' attitude that some people may have with regards to the religion they choose to follow - and let's face it, it IS a choice.
Perhaps it's just easier to follow a path where no choices have to be made, because actions carried out in the name of their chosen religion are just that - and not carried out by the individual's own choice?
I don't believe in any god or believe that there was a Jesus. Perhaps there was a man who travelled and was looked on as a healer - perhaps there was more than one man and many women who did this. I'm sure there was.
Surely any 'god' (or ruler) that puts fear into the hearts and minds of his 'followers' cannot be good - and surely anyone who thinks that the 'devil'/Old Nick, whatever, is there ready to jump at any chance to lead us down the path towards the opposite of righteousness......is that not merely a method of controlling the said followers?
If I go out today and ask a beggar on the streets to come to my house for a hot meal and he then steals from me (no reason why he should, but this is just an example), is that me being a Christian and I'm turning the other cheek, or am I just doing it out of the goodness of my heart? I surely am.

He is a very articulate man who, I think, believes in what he is saying when he is supporting his causes, or considering intellectual issues such as this. I wonder what the public response was - this was an Irish TV programme.

was

Not paid money. It as the publicity that paid off.

That career would have been dead in the water without his troubles. And his use of them.

Was he paid a lot of money for highlighting his concerns about homosexuals in repressive countries?

Just wondering.

But his troubles put him very much in the spotlight. And he found a way of using them. It's all part of his role as entertainer. His "career". Or, keeping well afloat financially.

I can understand him standing up for gays and depressed people, but why does he need to proselytise on religion/atheism? Just part of his role as an entertainer?

They affect him and many others - it is similar to someone with cancer or a disability taking the trouble to show concern and campaign for others in the same plight. He need not have bothered - he could just have sat back and pursued his career with no thought for others.

Oh yes. Of course. All the things that affect him personally.

No. Nothing wrong with being an entertainer at all.

He is more jingl - he is an ambassador for people on the margins who a persecuted and ridiculed for their sexuality and mental ill health.

He is not perfect - there are things he has done that I disagree with - he is human, like us all. But he has done much for people who needed to have a voice. He has my vote.

An entertainer need not have been so honest about his illness, nor his young misdemeanours; nor need he have taken himself off round the world to help us all understand the problems of being homosexual in repressive countries.

But there is nothing wrong with being just an entertainer if that were what he was.

I didn't think that SF was clowning in that clip. The interviewer asked a question, and he got an answer. The interviewer did a bit of clowning, and it was funny!

Re God sending people hardships, (but not more than they can bear) - so that means for example in an attack, let's say attempted murder, that God has sent the attacker, who is "doing good in the eyes of the Lord" - helping God do his work. Let's hear it for the attacker!