Life of Pi (with spoilers) - Page 2 - Religion, God, and Theology

is that what life is without God, a routine with no purpose until you die??

im not sure i got the message here..

any suggestions for antireligion movies btw

Last edited by luckofficial; 07-28-2013 at 08:13 PM.

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07-28-2013 , 11:32 PM

#27

ganstaman

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 10,861

What?

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07-29-2013 , 01:40 PM

#28

newguy1234

self-banned

Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 3,101

So the 'moral' is that we can take things how we want?

Is that what you are asking? Or are you asking what the use would be in that?

I didn't see or read the story so I can't comment much on the plot, but I can explain why it would be a worthy understanding to see the power of whatever one believes to be true being valid.

I think it flips ones mind into a state of better understanding of the 'world' around us.

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07-29-2013 , 01:52 PM

#29

Doggg

veteran

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,121

Quote:

Originally Posted by ganstaman

I know there was a book I didn't read, but I just saw the movie and needed to discuss it here. I will first fill you in on the basic story and why it's in RGT so you don't have to read the book or see the movie to follow along (of course, if you plan to do either and like surprises, go away).

[plot]
Pi is a guy who is telling his story to a writer, and Pi says his story will make him believe in God. As a child, Pi was attracted to many religions, and considered himself a Hindu Catholic Muslim. Pi and his family go on a boat ride with zoo animals and the boat sinks. Pi makes it onto a life boat with a tiger and some other animals (only the tiger survives). Months later he finally makes it to shore alive. He tells a pretty fantastical tale of things happening while out at sea.

The people who insured the boat that sank ask Pi what happened, but they find his story too fantastical and don't believe it. So he retells the story, but instead of animals on the boat it's other people (who all die). This version is more realistic but also less exciting.

Pi doesn't really say which is true, but says to the writer that either way, the boat sank, his family died, and he is where he is now, so which version do you prefer? Writer says, "the one with the tiger." Pi says, "and so it is with God."
[/plot]

I hated this movie. Seemed like a whole big story (of lies! the version with the animals is clearly not realistic, so why would we believe it?!) to get to this metaphor with religion, and I don't even like the metaphor. But, the metaphor is what brings me to RGT with this thread. I can take it one of 2 ways:

1) He is comparing theism (story with animals) with atheism (story with just humans). If they both get you to the same place in the end, and you can't prove one right over the other, why not just believe whichever you like better?

2) He is saying that there are multiple paths to God, and all get you there (the different accounts of the events lead you to the same end point), so you can just choose the version of God/religion that you prefer to believe in since it's all the same.

Very similar points, both of which I disagree with. Settling on a version of reality just because you prefer it seems lazy to me. I prefer to search for the truth. Sure, you can tentatively hold onto a working version of the truth, but the plan should be to update that version as you continue to seek out the truth. To instead just surrender to what makes you feel good just feels bad to me. Am I way off or all alone here?

The movie itself wasn't bad, but the claim that "this story will make you believe in God" was certainly left unfulfilled. In fact, there is more merit to the claim that the movie was designed to NOT make you believe in God, imo.

Pff... Hollywood.

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07-31-2013 , 03:13 PM

#30

Hector Cerif

old hand

Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,556

Read the book and I'm glad people hated it as much as I did.

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07-31-2013 , 03:15 PM

#31

Hector Cerif

old hand

Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,556

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisV

This is obviously completely ******ed and appeals to the sort of morons who think stuff like "Dude, how do I know if I'm awake right now or dreaming? Pass the bong" qualifies as philosophy.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/47...-real-1301987/

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07-31-2013 , 06:03 PM

#32

Huehuecoyotl

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 29,257

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doggg

The movie would have been good and actually would have made a good point about a reason why people believe in god if it would have stuck to the existential reasons to believe in a story or set of stories called God. The original story of the cook killing his mom and then him killing the cook was a horrific visceral story and I could understand why he would want to invent a story to cover it up and even why others would willingly want to cover it up with him, but they covered up the story knowing it was false, not because they were convinced or persuaded god existed.

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