Brad says:

“You’ll either find out or not when you get there, until then there’s no point thinking about it.”

I held this point of view once, until I realized this type of laissez faire agnosticism was actually impeding progress toward world peace.

For a man of means as concerned with and devoted to humanitarian issues as Brad Pitt (and his wife Angelina Jolie), this “no biggie” stance on religion makes little sense.

I hope Brad Pitt continues to educate himself in these matters, so that some day he will choose to apply his wealth and especially influence toward not only issues regarding hungry children in Africa, but toward ridding the world of the fairy tales and false belief systems that essentially provide cover for mass murderers, scoundrels, and thieves.

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On a website dedicated to reason, this item bothers me.  Film actors may well endorse body-sprays or hair styles, but why should anyone CARE what they think about religion?

Do they have some special insight?

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Waldo, it’s not that they have special insights, but I think it’s a good thing when prominent people openly declare their non-belief.

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Hi Banana, (never thought I’d find myself saying that!)

I can agree with that.  Just don’t see why The Reason Project should make such a big deal out of it. 

What a film star happens to think about religion does not, on tis own, advance the cause of reason one little jot.  Quoting him (“Look who we got on our side!”) seems to me to demean the whole enterprise.

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I think it’s great that we recognize Brad Pitt for his atheism/agnosticism. Even though it may seem silly, a lot of people are strongly influenced by celebrities. Say, for example, Oprah said she was an atheist. Think of how much that would help the Atheist movement. The more that celebrities say they are atheist, the more mainstream and acceptable atheism will be, and the more thought people would give to the atheist movement.

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Surely the Reason Project stands for the spread of secular valies because they are rational and reliigious values are not.  We want to encourage people to reach conclusions through reason, not by aping the ideas of “celebrities”. 

I’m unhappy about using methods which are essentially irrational in the hope of winning people over to rational thinking!

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The reason to air Pitt’s views isn’t so that others will ape his ideas thoughtlessly.  It is to spread the notion that it is “OK” to hold these views and to express them openly.  If one believes that there are far more people who are atheists in their heart than are willing to express it, and that having people express it builds momentum, then airing these celebrity opinions is worthwhile.

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