Richard Hammell
Name: Richard Hammell
Birthplace: Thompson, Manitoba
What type of work have you done?
I’ve worked mostly as a fabricator, a mechanic, and an electrician. I’ve always ended up fixing things. That’s been the story of my life — fixing things.
How would you identify yourself in terms of religion/spirituality?
Anti-theist.
What are some of your reasons for joining CFI?
I was trying to expand my circle of friends who have similar ideas, and I also wanted to increase my intellectual contacts.
Are there any books or movies that have had a big impact on you?
I was a huge science-fiction reader, and two of the authors who influenced me greatly were Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven. It was like taking an anthropology course. Science-fiction shows examples of all cultures, and you see all versions of it. I’m a big movie-goer and have an interest in all genres. Great influences for me were Wes Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), Luc Besson (“The Transporter”), and Stanley Kubrick (“Clockwork Orange”). I like every movie that the film director Hayao Miyazaki has made.
What were some of the defining moments that led you to the point where you are now, in a spiritual/relgious sense?
Interestingly, one of the things that I noticed in middle school when studying the Egyptians was that they had a plethora of gods that didn’t match the Western culture’s single God. That sent me on a path of discovery. There was no religion in my family anyways, and everything that I learned was self-reinforcing.
