Danny Gans Death Sparks God Debate

Back in the mid-'90s during a Ramada convention in Puerto Rico (during my hotel industry editor days), I had the chance to see Comedian/Impressionist Danny Gans up close as he riffed on various people in the audience, including the president of the company. Not since I saw Don Rickles do the same to the Holiday Inn executives did I laugh so hard.

In any case, I remembered Danny Gans, and was floored to see that he had his own show at The Mirage casino in Las Vegas some years later. He expanded his entertaining to singing and dancing, as well. He was an extremely funny, talented guy.

Gans, known to be a family man, died suddenly on May 1 from an unknown cause. I searched today to see if there was any update on what caused his early death at age 52, because it often takes at least a month for toxicology reports to be completed. Instead of getting any clarification, I discovered a debate on God raging on an entertainment blog.

Apparently Gans was a born-again Christian who made his beliefs part of his act, something truly unique in a place like Las Vegas. The blog debates were with tinged a mixture of grief and anger, as well as contempt toward the religious who mentioned this fact. What I found interesting was the lack of an open mind on the part of the anti-religious. Certainly that's the easiest position to take, since faith is required of the other, but I wonder why it's so threatening to someone in this context, and why at least one poster thinks that belief is simply "fire insurance" for Hell. They are missing out on the bigger picture.