By Jack Linshi
Actor-comedian Stephen Fry, an outspoken atheist, had an answer ready this week when asked what he’d say if “confronted by God.”
“Suppose it’s all true, and you walk up to the pearly gates, and you are confronted by God,” asked Gay Byrne, host of RTÉ One’s The Meaning of Life. “What will Stephen Fry say to him, her, or it?”
“I’d say, Bone cancer in children? What’s that about?” answered the 57-year-old Brit. “How dare you? How dare you create a world to which 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 that is so full of injustice and pain?” Fry said. “That’s what I would say.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Cecily Strong on Goober the Clown
- Column: The Rise of America’s Broligarchy
Contact us at letters@time.com