"Hoping that something is true doesn't make it true," says Ricky Gervais.

Corbis

aking to The Wall Street Journal to offer a "holiday message" (and, not coincidentally, promote his upcoming HBO special), Ricky Gervais explains why he doesn't believe in God but doesn't care if you do. Best known as a co-creator of "The Office," the comedian was raised Christian in working-class England, a "good boy" who attended church unquestioningly. But when his older brother asked his mother to explain her beliefs, she panicked and refused to answer, triggering Gervais' own doubts. "Within an hour," he writes, "I was an atheist." Here, an excerpt:

Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, "Why don't you believe I can fly?" You'd say, "Why would I?" I'd reply, "Because it's a matter of faith." If I then said, "Prove I can't fly. Prove I can't fly see, see, you can't prove it can you?" You'd probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, "F—ing fly then you lunatic."

Read the entire article in The Wall Street Journal.