Stephen Fry’s declaration that ‘God is a maniac’ viewed 4m times

A clip in which Stephen Fry describes God as “quite clearly a maniac”, “totally selfish”, and “monstrous” has been viewed more than 4m times on YouTube.

A long-time atheist, Mr Fry was speaking to Gay Byrne on RTÉ’s The Meaning of Life, when he was asked what he might say to God on arrival in heaven.

The English writer, actor, and presenter said: “I’ll say: ‘Bone cancer in children? What’s that about?’ How dare you? How dare you create a world in 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 which is so full of injustice and pain?’ That’s what I’d say.”