On the latest edition of msnbc's The Last Word, host Lawrence O'Donnell relied on some wise words from comedian Ricky Gervais to rewrite some less-than-wise words from religious television host Pat Robertson.
In a recent edition of his show, The 700 Club, Robertson accused atheists of trying to ruin the Christmas holiday:
"Well, it's Christmas all over again. Uh, the Grinch is trying to steal our holiday... Atheists don't like our happiness. They don't want you to be happy, they want you to be miserable. They're miserable so they want you to be miserable. So they want to steal your holiday away from you."
That flies in the face of something comedian Ricky Gervais, a vocal atheist, wrote about Christmas two years back. Just before Christmas in 2010, Gervais wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal explaining his atheism.
Gervais also wrote a follow-up three days later taking questions from Wall Street Journal readers. It is from that second post that O'Donnell found the right words to rewrite Pat Robertson's claims on atheists who "want to steal" Christmas from Christians. Gervais wrote that he celebrates Christmas in the following way:
Celebrating life and remembering those that did, but can no longer... They are not looking down on me but they live in my mind and heart more than they ever did probably. Some, I was lucky enough to bump into on this planet of six billion people. Others shared much of my genetic material. One selflessly did her best for me all my life. That’s what mums do though. They do it for no other reason than love.
Gervais ended his piece by wishing "Peace to all mankind. Christian, Jew, Muslim and Atheist." That led to O'Donnell's conclusion, "the happy atheist Ricky Gervais is actually more Christ-like than the Reverend Pat Robertson."