Two Articles I Would Literally Regret Not Sharing With You

So I thought I was on holiday break.

But two articles I came across recently are so good that I realized that I would literally regret not sharing them with you.

First is this piece by Ricky Gervais. It's from The Wall Street Journal and it explores the roots of his atheism. Comedians are some of the brightest users of language around, so it should come as no surprise that this piece is sharp, cutting, and extremely thought-provoking. Here is just one of the many outstanding passages that the piece contains:

The dictionary definition of God is “a supernatural creator and overseer of the universe.” Included in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6,000 years ago, historians have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 can be considered deities.


So next time someone tells me they believe in God, I’ll say “Oh which one? Zeus? Hades? Jupiter? Mars? Odin? Thor? Krishna? Vishnu? Ra?…” If they say “Just God. I only believe in the one God,” I’ll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don’t believe in 2,870 gods, and they don’t believe in 2,869.

Kudos to you, Mr. Gervais.

Second, and maybe more importantly, is this piece from GQ by Mary Rogan. Brian Burke is a name that any hockey fan knows, one that is synonymous with words like ruthless, and domineering, and notorious bad-ass. When his son Brendan died in a car accident in February of 2010, it was a tragedy. But it was also the start of Brian's new role--as a gay rights advocate.

You see, Brendan was a pioneer--a high-profile name in the sports world, certainly the first in the professional hockey world, who was openly gay. He came out during an ESPN.com interview, after he'd told his family. His older brother Patrick remembers how it happened, right after he'd returned from a road trip to Rhode Island:

"I had a bunch of bags in the car, and I went inside to tell Brendan he had to help get the luggage out. We're walking to the car and he said, 'I have something to tell you: I'm gay.' I said, 'Are you being serious? Are we having this conversation, or are you just joking around?' He said, 'No, I'm serious.' I said, 'Well, that doesn't change anything, and I love you—now grab those bags and let's go inside.' The whole conversation was about thirty seconds long, and when I opened the door I yelled, 'Mom, you owe me twenty bucks—I told you he was gay!'"

I was in tears for most of this piece, and I expect you will be too.


And that's all until 2011.
JS