It’s no secret that Hugh Laurie is an atheist, but a tweet from Wednesday has many bristling at the actor. Essentially, Laurie suggested that reasoned thought is rare from the religious.
Yes I suppose it’s odd that atheists sometimes say Jesus, and Oh My God. But odder than the religious saying “let’s be reasonable”?
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) September 10, 2014
It’s not Laurie’s first anti-religion tweet, either. Back in June, he tweeted about his annoyance with religion.
My tolerance for religion seems to be following the same trajectory as my iPhone battery.
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) July 28, 2014
However, the exhortation was not unprompted. Laurie fairly frequently uses emphatic phrases such as “good Lord,” “thank God,” and things of that nature, and he’s been called out for it on occasion.
Everything you see in this photo collapses into a single carry-on bag, thank God. pic.twitter.com/6gOoViMQLH
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) July 27, 2014
Budapest. Good Lord. It’s so beautiful, you feel embarrassed to look.
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) July 18, 2014
Good Lord was a figure of speech. The Lord had nothing to do with it. Imagination, aspiration, hard work in every cobble.
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) July 18, 2014
This week’s tweet was clearly a reaction to those who have questioned Laurie’s use of phrases that use words like “God” or “Lord.” However, it still angered a number of followers, and several called Hugh out on the claim.
@hughlaurie @RichardDawkins how very bigoted of you to imply 1/3 of the population is unreasonable.
— ATX Man (@ATXmanx) September 11, 2014
Pretty sure many religious people are acquainted with the concept of reason @hughlaurie @RichardDawkins Think some are even scientists.
— Dick Tracy (@iamrichardmh) September 11, 2014
Perhaps a large number of Laurie’s followers, though, are fans of his character on House, MD . The controversial tweet sounds similar to some of the character’s quotes. Compare it to these Gregory House quotes from IMDB .
Rational arguments don’t usually work on religious people. Otherwise there would be no religious people
Religion is a symptom of irrational belief and groundless hope.
So, was Laurie channeling House? Probably not. Celeb Atheists includes Hugh Laurie on their list of prominent nonbelievers , and points out that as early as 2006, he said in an interview that he shared the character’s disdain for religion.
So while Hugh Laurie may be rejoining the ranks of celebrities who offend on Twitter (he’s done it before), it’s unlikely he’ll follow in the recent footsteps of Stephen A. Smith and Richard Dawkins by continuing to over-explain himself repeatedly, digging deeper all the while (this time, anyway).
