I am an atheist. I was born a Catholic, but after I had traveled to Northern Ireland with some Catholic friends, and we had a horrible experience with the English Protestant police, I lost all taste for formal religion.

In this quote, Guy Laliberté reveals his personal journey away from religion, particularly from his early identity as a Catholic. He shares that his shift towards atheism was influenced by a traumatic experience in Northern Ireland, where he and his Catholic friends faced hostility from English Protestant police. This encounter led him to lose all interest in formal religion, as it seemed unable to protect or comfort him in a situation marked by violence and division. Laliberté’s experience highlights how personal events can have a profound impact on one's faith and beliefs.

Laliberté’s story also illustrates a larger conflict between religion and politics, particularly in regions like Northern Ireland, where sectarian tensions between Catholics and Protestants were historically tied to religious identity. The violence and discrimination he encountered may have led him to question not just the religious systems in place, but the broader societal structures that often use religion as a tool for division. His shift from Catholicism to atheism suggests a desire to reject organized religion as an institution that can often fail to deliver on its promises of peace and unity in the face of such injustice.

The quote also touches on the idea that faith and religion can be fragile, especially when confronted with real-world suffering and injustice. Laliberté’s loss of taste for religion points to the disillusionment that can arise when one witnesses the ways in which religious identity can be manipulated or twisted to serve political or ideological ends. His personal experience with religiously motivated conflict shows how religion, instead of being a source of solace, can sometimes become entangled in negative, destructive forces.

The origin of this quote comes from Guy Laliberté, a Canadian entrepreneur and founder of the global circus arts company Cirque du Soleil. Laliberté's statement is a reflection of his individual journey of self-discovery, and his rejection of religion after a formative experience shaped his worldview. His shift toward atheism underscores the power that real-world experiences can have in shaping our belief systems, especially when those experiences challenge the foundations of faith and traditional structures.