r/MadeMeSmile • u/TheNerdFromGWN • 19h ago
Favorite People We all know he is basically
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u/Roguescholar74 19h ago
Sir David Attenborough is a global treasure. He is responsible for my love of the natural world and a big reason why I am a science teacher today.
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u/TheNerdFromGWN 19h ago
He’s part of the reason I was always obsessed with nature, him and Steve Irwin gave us the best sides of humanity and love for all living things
super happy he was a reason you become a science teacher, the next generations going to learn LOTS from you ✨
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u/Royale_AJS 18h ago
He and Carl Sagan changed my life.
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u/GreyWolfTheDreamer 17h ago
"Bilyuns and bilyuns of years ago..." (intentional typo of Carl Sagan quote)
There was a funny cameo Carl Sagan had in the Bloom County comic strip where he explains penguin evolution to a Bloom County courthouse full of country bumpkins.
One of the guys in the court yells out "What's a bilyun???!!!"
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u/Pitiful_Scheme9134 18h ago
Same here. There’s something about the way they made the universe feel both enormous and deeply personal.
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u/ashleyriddell61 18h ago
100 years old, yet he will be gone too soon when his bill finally falls due.
That’s going to be a day with a true global outcry.
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u/EcologyLover69 15h ago
Attenborough, Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin, the Kratts brothers… all reasons I am a science teacher as well.
Hell yeah.
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u/El_Grappadura 15h ago
So as a science teacher I hope you condemn the message that "God created animals".
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u/Roguescholar74 8h ago
Why would I condemn anyone’s beliefs when I can simply point out the lack of evidence for their claim? That leads to a much more productive conversation.
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u/El_Grappadura 7h ago
Why would I condemn anyone’s beliefs
Because they are directly opposed to the things you're trying to teach? Maybe "condemn" is the wrong word, I am not a native speaker. "Strongly disagreeing" is what I mean, including this post of course.
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u/Robrad30 11h ago
He’s absolutely one main of the reasons I became a scientist too. I hope he has an idea of the positive impact he’s had on both the world and on people’s lives.
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u/Historical_Log2471 18h ago
Was this the same kid who also didn't say "Everyone dies one day. Everyone. Even wolves. But not books. Not words. Words don't die", Rebecca?
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u/ImDero 15h ago
Was that kid Abraham Lincoln, Rebecca?
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u/PlayPsychological200 9h ago
It was, and originally posted on Lincoln’s MySpace page in 1864. Also the same page he infamously and posted a pic of himself with Mary captioned “evening at Fords theatre. Looking hella cute rn”.
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u/bougieprole 19h ago
For David so loved the world, he gave us Planet Earth, and Lo, it was good.
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u/cadex 12h ago
I mean, if I was god and wanted to send another messenger/son/himself/whatever jesus was to earth to spread a message I would send them just at the time where a world changing and transformative communication technology was in its infancy so that they could reach as many people as possible. David Attenborough started his career in TV in 1952, helped deliver colour TV and rose to the position of BBC2 controller then director of programming. TV was his mount and loving nature was his sermon.
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u/raven_478 18h ago
I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in David Attenborough! 🙏
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u/Addicted_to_Nature 14h ago
Saint Steve Irwin too
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u/raven_478 14h ago
Let’s not forget the holy mothers: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, & Biruté Galdikas.
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u/Horror_Excitement503 19h ago
Nah, he wouldn’t give a kid cancer.
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u/WetCoastCyph 18h ago
Thing about cancer is that how we interpret it actually reveals a lot about the way humans need to cope with things and rationalize big, scary problems.
We ALL have cancer. All of us. All the time. In the process of near constant cellular evolution, copies get it wrong, like... A lot. The body just is really remarkably good at detecting it and terminating those cells before they replicate out of control (yes, this is oversimplification to a degree). 'Cancer' as we know it, the disease, is when that process is unchecked for whateve reason. Either something made the bad copies happen at a higher rate, or something compromised the body's ability to deal with it quickly enough and it goes out of control.
I just find it really fascinating how we interpret 'cancer' to help ourselves understand it and make sense of the sheer randomness that our bodies are made up of.
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u/jarednards 18h ago
Right. Well he wouldnt let that happen either.
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u/MusaRilban 15h ago
I don't buy this argument, that if everything is not perfect and merry, God can't exist. It feels quite naive to me, but so does blindly believing in a religion.
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u/jarednards 15h ago
If God has the power to do anything, then hes an evil asshole to let innocent people suffer. Or if he doesnt have the power to do anything, then hes not all powerful.
The go-to escape from this conundrum is always 'he has a plan' and, 'turn your brain off'.
I was all of about 10 years old when I started realizing this was all made up for reasons unknown to me yet.
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u/L_PT-BigMeme 14h ago
The go-to escape from this conundrum is always 'he has a plan' and, 'turn your brain off'.
This might be the answer you get from the uneducated, but I certainly never heard it outside of comment sections
Disclaimer: I am not an authority figure in this subject, I am merely sharing what I have learned through sermons and life experience alike in an attempt to add to this debate
I have however heard priests, philosophers, debaters and teachers alike irl give a much better explanation
The main attribute of the Holy Trinity of Christianity is that God is all-loving as well as all-powerful
In order to understand the existence of evil, one must understand what evil is, for God did not create it. In the same way that shadow is merely the absence of light, evil is merely the absence of good. According to Christianity, God is all that is good, and all that is good is God. In other words, evil is the absence of God.
Now hearing this you might think, "If evil is the absence of God then it shouldn't exist because God is all-powerful and therefore omnipresent."
Firstly, if we assume God is all-powerful than that means he can choose to not be present.
Secondly, let's consider earth in the context of Christianity. It states the existence of an afterlife in one of two places: Heaven, where all is good because is fully present in all of it, and Hell, where good does not exist for God is absent.
Our lives on Earth are merely the lead up to that ultimate choice that we get to make, stay with God in love and goodness, or keep away from him, and end up in Hell.
(This is where the common misconception about Hell being a fiery inferno rather than a cold void is rather harmful. If God isn't present, it effectively means nothing exists in Hell.)
The reason evil is allowed to exist, on Earth or in Hell, is because God is all-loving, and as such always allows us to chose. The very existence of love stands atop the basis free will. If God controlled us, forced us to chose Him and to chose good by enforcing what he thinks is best, He would not be an all-loving father, but a controlling and egotistical puppeteer.
He is always present and showing the path of goodness, and He always welcomes those who go to him while never straying away from those who don't, but he forces no one to listen, he forces no one to act against their own will.
The final piece of the puzzle, is recognising the insignificance of pain on a divine scale. Assuming redemption, Heaven comes for us all, and the temporary pains of Earth that might be caused by the free will of others are negligible in the eyes of Eternity, for those who live in God will live forever.
I hope I could bring a new perspective with this, and would be happy to continue this debate in a civilised manner right here in the comment section so that others may read and share thoughts of their own.
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u/Mareith 14h ago edited 14h ago
Sure that makes sense in a very abstracted way, but cancer is not perpetrated by anyone. It's just a byproduct of our bodies existing. It makes little sense to me how free will necessitates cancer. Even if everyone was a saint we would still have cancer. This also implies that someone who leads a good life but does not attribute everything good in reality to a divine being somehow is "staying away from" that being and makes said deity seem awful conceited. Wouldn't doing good throughout life automatically make you "with God" regardless of your beliefs? Additionally the concept of God having a gender makes it especially obvious to me that the religion is really about a method of control right down to its core. Demonizing free will makes being controlled seem like the safe alternative, and they get to enforce a gender heirachy upon the practicing population to help maintain that control
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u/L_PT-BigMeme 11h ago
I am only replying to your last point in this comment for the first point about cancer will be addressed in my reply to u/butterpeanut3
The idea that God would in any way have a gender is entirely human and certainly incorrect. Merely an outcome of our limited minds.
Certainly throughout history and still in the present, many people in positions of authority use religion as a tactic to enforce their views, feed their greed, create hate.
These people are not following in God's image or living with Him, merely using His influence to fulfill their own agenda. One must seperate the earthly concept of religion from God Himself.
In fact, it is our duty as Christians to denounce these same evils.
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u/butterpeanut3 14h ago
Shadow is absence of light, but it still has a cause - an object blocking the light. If evil is like a shadow, what is blocking God? If nothing is blocking him and he withdrew voluntarily, then evil's ultimate cause is still God's choice to withdraw. You haven't removed God from the causal chain.
Even if u grant that murder, cruelty, and lying require human free will, an earthquake, childhood leukemia, or a parasite that blinds children does not come from anyone's free choice. The argument has no answer for suffering that isn't caused by human agency.
Re: That love requires libertarian free will. That's a specific, contested view of freedom. Compatibilists would say you can be free, responsible, and capable of genuine love even if your character determines your choices. If compatibilism is true, God could have made us with characters that freely always choose the good.
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u/HasGreatVocabulary 11h ago
That doesn't make sense. At the end he is still subjecting you to a purity test, and has, through the bible etc, told you all your life there will be a purity test at the end. So by telling you he is watching everything you think and do, he is in fact controlling you and what you choose in your life. All while telling you you have free will and that you can ignore the purity test if you want to, and that he loves you. Loves you but won't hesitate to throw you in hell for eternity if you don't follow His instructions for 80-odd years.
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u/GoosieMane52 3h ago
Amen! I was reading all the comments and thinking I needed to chime in. Well said. There is a God (Jesus Christ) every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is king.
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u/Corona21 15h ago
It’s the interpretation of God that causes the issue.
I think you can square the circle with a fallible non-omnipotent god.
But a boundless universal being that knows and controls everything and is the ultimate good - thats a harder sell.
Theres a few religions that tell you you have to act a certain way because the second form of God is the one worth listening to.
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u/cadex 12h ago
But a boundless universal being that knows and controls everything and is the ultimate good - thats a harder sell.
I find it hard to believe in a god that continuously controls everything and easier to believe in a "god" that set the conditions of the universe and hit "go", then let the laws of physics run their course.
Lately I've entertained the thought that "gods" have started many universes with different conditions/laws of physics in an attempt to create a universe with a high yield of life. Each universe is a petri dish experiment. I could believe something created a universe but I could never believe that I or anyone else alive would ever understand it. Anyone reading a book written by humans and claims to understand it is talking shite. It would be like expecting an ant to understand quantum physics.
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u/Corona21 4h ago
It’s a totally reasonable position. I guess the next question would be, can they control what they set in motion, and if so why do they allow suffering. The get out, i feel is still the same as you put, they can set it and go about their business. likelihood would be they aren’t aware of suffering or worshippers deference or non-believers indifference.
I personally like the pantheist or Spinoza’s god interpretation. It saves there being a separate being(s) setting things in motion and the question of where they came from. If the universe is god, and it’s mysteries it’s own, then I think it ties in much nicer. God is more a narrative device we use to try and understand those mysteries.
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u/alextremeee 12h ago
“Cancer as a disease” as you describe it is what is known as cancer. So no we don’t all have cancer.
It’s like saying we’re all starving because we need food but we’re really good at just eating, or we’re all serial killers whose minds have just not let us kill yet.
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u/NeemOil710 5h ago
more accurate to say we all have cancerous cells, but id your body is healthy, you will only have them for a very short time before they are destroyed.
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u/CosmacYep 51m ago
you do realise theres evil in the world they balance eachother out as well reddit atheists are so stupid God does what they can they are all powerful but so is the devil there are things we dont understand like 'unstoppable force vs immovable object' ik thats a meme but thats how God and the devil are we dont know what would happen you claim to be so smart but you're not, you're just in echo chambers
ignore any part of this comment that is wrong, but you know is not the point and will just nitpick cuz redditors are stupid and love to nitpick when they dont know how to respond
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u/gently_into_the_dark 19h ago
You know.. i am kinda bored with this argument as it takes zero responsibility.
WE gave the kids cancer. US!
With our automobiles and fossil fuels.
With our forever chemicals and single use plastics.
With our unnecessary sun tanning and eating of processed foods.
With the smoking and alcohol and recrrational drugs.
With our air, land and water pollution.
We gave the kids cancer! For fucks sake, if you didnt believe in the man in The sky then stop blaming him for shit WE did.
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u/PriorSolid 19h ago
you can also just get cancer normally, people got cancer before fossil fuels and skin cancer is from sun exposure
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u/Edon-Orr 18h ago
You can also get cancer from breathing oxygen. The same reason why oxygen makes a great element for respiration also causes cancer. The term is reactive oxygen species and this oxygen can cause cellular damage which can also cause cancer.
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u/sevenliesseventruths 19h ago
Dinosaurs had cancer. Cancer is just a cell that refuses to die, a factory mistake. Nothing more.
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u/UnluckyHost9649 19h ago
I mean if you're a calvinist then he made us do those things
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u/Kioskwar 19h ago
There's nothing we can do about it. That's predestination. Now some people might think that that's awfully cruel, but that's life, that’s the way she goes.
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u/Hephaistos_Invictus 19h ago
Cancer was discovered in dinosaurs. Did WE also give the dinosaurs cancer?
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u/RastamonGanja 19h ago
Yeah except a lot of cancers are genetic not just from environmental factors.
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u/johnaross1990 19h ago
The specific example David Attenborough gives for not believing in god is the existence of a parasitic worm whose life cycle involves causing blindness in the eyes of children.
David Attenborough isn’t god, he wouldn’t do that
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u/0_0_- 17h ago
Alright then what about birth defects? What about allowing children in war zones to die and not intervening during the worst atrocities in human history? What about tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, and various other natural disasters that kill people?
Yeah there are causes of cancer that are man made. But you know people can live some of the healthiest lives possible… And still get cancer right?
I don’t have an issue with the idea that God exists. I have an issue with that fact that most major religions feel the need to humanise the ‘all powerful, all knowing, all present, beyond human comprehension’ being with ‘but he loves us so very mwuch 🥺’
If God exists, God does not care about humanity. And that’s fine. It is when he supposedly does care there’s an issue.
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u/Tight-Temperature670 17h ago
All those dinosaurs drinking and smoking and giving themselves cancer 🙄
You're a fool, educate yourself
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u/BrainJar 15h ago
People died from cancer long before the world was industrialized. There are skulls with bone cancer from thousands of years ago that proves it. We are contributing, but why would a God make the body so poorly with his divine gifts and intelligent design? What is intelligent about making our breathing hole the same hole that if its cutoff from air, we die?
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u/Trick-Goat-3643 19h ago
I've been a practicing Dudeist for over a decade
But... if any religion were to lure me away Attenboroughism would be it
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u/TheNerdFromGWN 19h ago
That’s it we’re starting Attenboroghism and the only law is to be a good person and love the worlds nature around us as he commands
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u/StanBlaok 18h ago
He’s Just David to me still… being an atheist. Doesn’t take away what a fantastic man that guy is. Enjoy everything he does
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u/jeweliegb 17h ago
"Just" David. That "just" is doing a lot of work.
You can be an atheist and still believe in Attenborough!
I believe in the FSM and Attenborough!
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u/DontTellHimPike 17h ago
The Fairy Sex Machine?
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u/OvertlyOffensive 16h ago
Flying Spaghetti Monster
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u/Sensitive_Elephant_ 17h ago
Let's not forget the person(s) who shot those amazing videos and everyone responsible in making those videos.
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u/Direct_Fondant_3125 16h ago
He’s an improvement on god, he actually talks to us and we can hear him.
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u/Ashamed-Tour-4670 14h ago
No, if David Attenborough had it in his power to end childhood cancer, he would do it.
Don't diminish Sir David by suggesting he is merely God.
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u/BlazerWookiee 19h ago
I misread the sub name as MurderedByWords and got REALLY pissed for a second, lol...
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u/Garchompisbestboi 15h ago
Lmao what a garbage fucking post, I know a karma bot made it but come on
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u/Retro_Nights 14h ago
Ironically David Attenborough is an atheist.
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u/AnotherMan55 11h ago
Ironically, he also shows off god’s creations to outline that there is no god, including the example of a parasite he saw burrowing into the eyeball of a child in Borneo.
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u/irishcybercolab 9h ago
What a really lovely thought.
I think the same thing about Mr. Fred Rogers.
He wanted to hang out with us to remind us that we are all loved and cherished .
Then He left us and we have never needed him more.
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u/Lunar_mirror4 11h ago
Stop sharing pictures of this man, whenever I see one I shit myself thinking oh fuck he's finally gone and died
In all seriousness though, amazing human, once he's gone thats it, truly the dark times
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u/EricMagnetic 19h ago
then David is a POS and i hope its not true
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u/SnooDoggos4029 19h ago
Nah. Like the Kurt Russell line in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. It’s god - “Small g.”
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u/HorrificAnalInjuries 18h ago
Shows that Ego, who - well - has a massive ego, at least knows his place.
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u/Ok-Imagination6497 16h ago
He was friend of my dads so I met him in 70s (I was kid) when he came to Australia to promote one of his books - his enthusiasm was so infectious - and genuine. What you see is what you get - not an act
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u/SelfSustaining 9h ago
It wasn't a 6 year old who came up with the theory but I guess it wasn't a good enough story if weirdos on the internet came up with it.
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u/KayJay282 6h ago
His older brother Richard actually had the title of Lord Attenborough.
He also recreated the dinosaurs 🦕
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u/metal_jester 3h ago
When he passes away I vote for it to be the first GLOBAL holiday for all nations, creeds and religions to do.
"Best of ourselves" day or something.
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u/IAmAnAlion 18h ago
I remember seeing this beloved guy on the Graham Norton Show being sleazy with a young female guest. Guess men are made in god’s image.
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u/Which_Concept_4510 10h ago
I know a girl who was working in a pub that he frequented from time to time and she said the exact same thing. Also, his own kids don't talk to him apparently. Granted there can be a lot of reasons for that but I don't think he is a squeaky clean as a lot of people perceive him to be.
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u/lcl111 18h ago
Pretty sure he called god into question specifically because of how nasty some of these critters are...
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u/stareagleur 18h ago
A Human calling other creatures evil and destructive sure is an interesting position to take…
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u/Tight-Temperature670 17h ago
Please don't compare this amazing human to a genocidal blood thirsty make-believe bronze age book character 🙏🏼
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u/Hopeful-Flounder-203 18h ago
Said no 6 year old, ever.
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u/emilyv99 18h ago
"Year 6" reads to me like a non-USA way of saying "6th Grade", not "6 year old".
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u/NinjaGrows 17h ago
A "year 6 child" in the UK, where this was likely written given the context, would be a child of 10-11 years old. Hope this helps.
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u/Garchompisbestboi 15h ago
But the obvious karma bot that made this garbage post included text over a photo, how can you refute such compelling evidence that this story definitely 100% happened?!
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u/Made_Human_Music 8h ago
Who cares if it happened? It’s still a pleasant thought
If you ignore the part where God came to Earth, saw the state of the world, and decided to spend his time saying “hey guys, look at these cool animals I made” instead of fixing anything
But I’m getting too pessimistic, my point is to just enjoy nice things
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u/ripyourlungsdave 15h ago
The ones claiming God and Jesus are the ones that are signing off on destroying this "creation".
Us filthy hippie commies are the ones fighting for it.
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u/hugh_jack_man 13h ago
Too bad he failed, majority of people still don't give a shit about climate change or the animals, since they keep voting for the assholes who sell the eco system to capitalists to rape.
If we went vegan we would need half the land and wouldn't be fucking up the live stocks for profit, all our meat is traumatized. But bring up veganism the jokes are still same, we spend billions of litres of water to grow crop to feed the beef only.
Climate change is here, droughts, floods and hurricanes are gonna be very common and gonna happen very often.
100 companies are responsible for 71% of destruction.
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u/texxelate 10h ago
Why does God need to enter the equation? The reality is much more amazing, and David wants to spread that joy.
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u/Hi-Lander 8h ago
And his brother Richard tried to play God in a movie and it didn’t go well. Classic God’s brother complex, am I right?
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u/Deleted_dwarf 8h ago
Absolutely love this dude; his documentaires are fascinating, educational, informational, and all round a pleasure to watch ❤️
I hope we will have him with us for a long long time to go ❤️
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u/suzemagooey 53m ago
If there ever really is a god, I would want them to turn out to be that six year old child who thought Attenborough was.
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u/WaffleTacos666 28m ago
So what you're saying is a God wants to be appreciated for awesome things that he created and wouldn't do anything to help anyone that sounds like good
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u/ThroatDistension 17h ago
David Attenborough didn't creat the documentary, though. He was hired to narrate it.
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u/Downtown_Rough1964 16h ago
Oh crap...with the recent news about Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen...
Hey, totally unrelated question: How is David Attenborough doing lately?
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u/Back2basics314 14h ago
I can imagine at National Geographic, David’s voice being used for the mandatory sexual harassment training videos.
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u/jet-black-heart13 12h ago edited 12h ago
I've never heard of this man, but damn, he is 100 years old!
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u/ASCII_Princess 12h ago
Much like god, don't ask him about what he knew about the activities of Jimmy Saville during his tenure as the head of programming at BBC2
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u/Deinobi 17h ago
Now let's not get carried away and put people on pedestals here, David Attenborough has done amazing work in being a science communicator and instilled a love of the natural world in the hearts of probably hundreds of millions (and counting) but at the end of the day, he is still just another human like you and me. We can acknowledge and appreciate someone's contribution to human history without raising them to godhood.
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