Ricky Gervais vs. Christian Fundamentalists Twitter Battle Continues, Gervais' Photo Burned

Ricky Gervais' battle with Christian fundamentalists heated up on Thursday, following a report by The Huffington Post detailing the comedian's week-long Twitter dialogue with religious extremists.

The "Office" star has been fighting back -- and sometimes mocking -- attacks on his atheism, as well as pushing back on homophobic and otherwise intolerant messages from a number of twitter users, including user @GodsWordIsLaw, who has been his primary antagonist.

Gervais tweeted HuffPost's initial article, writing "Christians and all other faiths.. Pls RT And say no to bigots preaching hate in the name of your God. Peace."

That created a commotion on the social networking service, with users both backing Gervais and @GodsWordIsLaw trading barbs. Tweets poured in at @GodsWordIsLaw (who lists himself as Keith from Minnesota), starting arguments over the existence of God, the alleged sins of homosexuals and the veracity of evolution.

Keith tweeted HuffPost's original article, writing, "How UNBELIEVABLY bias is this article? I really loathe liberal publications, so intellectually dishonest."

In addition to debating various other users, Keith posted a video of himself burning a photo of Gervais on a mock cross that originally came from a recent issue of New Humanist Magazine. Keith was unable to finish burning the photo of Gervais because he burnt his own finger in the process.

He also wrote, "Christian Soldiers need to start fighting 4 their beliefs or we'll go down in history as the generation that allowed Atheist bigots to win."

Comments

[Steven Brooks]

10:56 AM on 01/14/2012

Re "GodsWordIsLaw" - let's assume God exists, and further assume HIs word IS law. Who can presume to KNOW what HIs word is? We can BELIEVE it is in the Bible, or the Koran, or the Bhagavad Gita, or "Doonesbury", but that doesn't make it so.

[Steven Brooks]

10:52 AM on 01/14/2012

A battle of wits with these religious nuts is like fighting an unarmed man.

[sobaytransplant]

02:51 AM on 01/03/2012

I LOVE that the guy burned his own fingers while trying to burn the photo! God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?

[HextallDrums]

07:27 PM on 01/02/2012

"Keith" wants to talk about bias, and bigotry? How about being bias against anyone who shares a different religious view, or none at all? How are liberals bias when all we want is equality?

Look at all the big names in Progressive and Liberal movements that changed the world. MLK and Harvey Milk, to name two, were killed for their views, but they showed the world that hatred was not the way. They changed it for the better. Some clowns would rather we revert back to the crusades. I find it incredibly troubling that conservatives are the ones crying about Sharia Law, while they fight tooth and nail to pass legislation based on a set of religious laws.

SHAME ON YOU!

[Steven Brooks]

10:50 AM on 01/14/2012

Right on!

[Joseph Camel]

05:33 PM on 01/01/2012

"Keith" is probably a comedian of a much different caliber than Gervais.

[SkreetGil1]

01:28 PM on 12/31/2011

That "burning" was a fail.

And yet the genius put it up? Ha! XD

[baseballgal]

02:36 PM on 12/30/2011

Oooh that Fundy showed Ricky who's boss.

[Centrist 53]

02:28 PM on 12/30/2011

I doubt that this Keith guy is even 20 yrs old yet. Never argue with the young -- their sentience and therefore their logic tends to be mostly superficial.

[SpeakupNation]

01:46 PM on 12/30/2011

C'mon Ricky! Stop picking on the mentally infirm.

[luisroman]

01:44 PM on 12/30/2011

He had to stop burning the picture because he burned his finger. 'Nuff said!

[Tracie Thaldorf Hodgdon]

01:37 PM on 12/30/2011

wow. he's really got a handle on that lighter, huh?

[Gadgetman]

02:36 AM on 12/29/2011

"...Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!   But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!" ~ George Carlin

[alberto93]

04:21 PM on 12/28/2011

Ricky Gervais demonstrated that the biggest accomplishment of religion is The Invention of Lying.

[Auldskul]

11:15 AM on 12/27/2011

Regarding religious fundies, the phrase that comes to mind is one that Barney Frank used to terminate a pointless conversation with a radical Obama hater that simply continued to spew hate as a substitute for reason.."I would rather talk to a dining room table". While it's important not to let the voices of divisiveness and hate go unchallenged, the likelihood of penetrating the wall of mindless, cult-programmed insulation and rote rhetoric that these acolytes wrap themselves in is miniscule. Best to simply keep them away from power whenever and wherever possible...please vote, never become discouraged and stay home!

[Joe Bowers]

10:37 AM on 01/19/2012

Agreed. They are insane and beyond the reach of logic and reason. The solution is to keep them out of power and try to prevent their infection from spreading to future generations.

[arthurb3]

02:09 AM on 12/27/2011

I bet these christian fundelmentalist have no problem with having sex outside of marriage? You know the bibles says you should die for that, too?

[csgrela]

11:04 PM on 12/29/2011

Thats original, you must have read deep into the book to find that one. Do you have any more. I'll help you read Romans 3:10 then read Eph 2:8-10.

[InTheSouth]

04:46 PM on 12/31/2011

And you are hilarious. It is a well known fact that atheist know the bible far better than those who wave it around and quote it piecemeal.