Brad Pitt: 20% atheist, 80% agnostic = 100% confused
Brad Pitt, one of the most famous and influential actor in Hollywood today, revealed he doesn’t believe in God. Brad Pitt told a German newspaper last week :”No, no, no! I’m probably 20% atheist and 80% agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You’ll either find out or not when you get there, until then there’s no point thinking about it.”
I’m sure everyone knows what an atheist is, but maybe not so familiar with ‘agnostic’. Wikipedia has got a great definition so I’m using it:” Agnostic is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims — particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of deities, spiritual beings, or even ultimate reality — is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, inherently impossible to prove or disprove and hence unknowable.” (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism)
Well, it’s certainly Brad Pitt’s right to believe as he sees fit, and I commend him for being honest about his beliefs. I wonder what got him to believe the way he does. (and this was not some nice intro used to soothe your feelings so I can throw in a very mean/critical statement about Brad next, and make it seem okay just because I’ve said nice things about him first.)
I’ve just recently watched ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ on my IPOD. Didn’t get a chance to see it when it came out (you know, being swamped and all), plus I’m always on the go. So watching it on my IPOD seemed like the solution. (But I promise to watch all of Brad’s movies on the big screen next time because tiny screens seriously suck). So after being hit hard by all the usual existentialist questions, as it usually happens when I watch movies that have life and death as a central or strongly dominant theme, I find out this about Brad. I don’t know about you, but the movie TCCBB lacked something, it left me somewhat unfulfilled. It should have been a little more developed. But you know what ? In a way, it is prefect the way it is because so many questions never get answered. What was the purpose of Benjamin’s life ? You can’t help but feel life is so short… and at the peril of sounding like a pessimist, meaningless. What’s the purpose really ? We come and we go. We may be remembered or we may be forgotten altogether. We love hard, we hurt hard.
Isn’t there some comfort in believing in God, after all ? Are all those who believe in a God people who can’t think for themselves or deny reality ?
I’m not sure if we can ’prove’ God in a scientific way but I’m certain of this: we can feel Him in our hearts, and it’s more real than any mathematical equation, scientific discovery or material object. Just like when you look at your child. (assuming you have tasted the joys of parenthood.) You can’t explain everything about him/her in medical, scientific, anatomical, psychological or any other rational terms, yet you surely can feel the love in your heart for him/her, and you know you’d give up anything to just be with him/her.
What do you think? Is there such a thing as ‘percentages’ when it comes to faith ? Can you reduce God to a mathematical calculation? You decide.
