Brad Pitt Is an Atheist! Kind of…

Looks like semi-atheist Angelina Jolie finally put her feminine wiles to some good use.

Brad Pitt recently made the following comments about religion to BILD (a German newspaper):

BILD: Do you believe in God?
Brad Pitt (smiling): “No, no, no!”
BILD: Is your soul spiritual?
Brad Pitt: “No, no, no! I’m probably 20 per cent atheist and 80 per cent 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

According to Richard Dawkins‘ spectrum in The God Delusion, where 1 represents 100% belief that God exists and 7 represents 100% certainty God doesn’t exist, Brad Pitt’s atheism would presumably be at a 6 (where Dawkins is) and his agnosticism would be at a 4 (right in the middle).

Let’s do some math…

(0.2 x 6) + (0.8 x 4)….

Carry the 2…

Add the 4…

I have Brad Pitt pegged at a 4.4 on the spectrum.

He’s not quite in our camp… but we’ll take him!

(Don’t you love my brilliant Photoshopping skills?)

(Thanks to everyone for the link!)

Darwin’s Dagger

Eh, they can have him back for all I care.
beckster

He’s purty.
toomanytribbles

oh, i’d take a bit of him even if he was a theist.
Jen

You know, Brad and Angie are supposed to the hottest couple in Hollywood, and I just don’t see it. However, since everything they do is reported by the media, and Madonna follows them, so we need to get some sort of atheist symbol for Hollywood wanna-bes to make trendy so they can be like Brangela.

(Anyone else seeing only these replies in this thread in all bold? Strange.)
J Myers

Brad Pitt Is an Atheist! Kind of…

???

BILD: Do you believe in God?
Brad Pitt (smiling): “No, no, no!”

100%. FWIW.
Jeff B

we need some kind of wristband. Instead of live strong…any ideas?
andrew

maybe its just me, but i don’t understand how you can be 80% agnostic and 20% atheist. it seems to me that the two terms address different questions:

Agnosticism – is there a god?

Atheism – do you believe in a god?

so I don’t think a weighted average of the two makes any sense.
Diego

I still like Angelina better. She has boobs. Oh, an being a great actress who spends millions in help for people in need also counts.
Jennifurret

Er, I thought we already knew Brad was an atheist? He was already on all those “famous atheists” lists. Maybe it just wasn’t official.
Jonah

Hello! Well, I’m new commenting in your blog, but I read your page every day. You’re awesome dude.

Well, not talking about this news, I went to Fox News to see what they said about this, but they didn’t say anything special, but their comments are really something else lmao.

http://entertainment.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/07/23/brad-pitt-doesnt-believe-in-god-or-telling-sex-secrets/

One comment makes me thing, cause is from a girl with the name of Lola, and it says something like this:
“What a poor little soul. He’s beautiful but he’s ugly inside. At least now I know I’m better than him.”

HAHAHA! She’s better cause he’s an atheist and she’s a christian. Now this is funny and sad at the same time…

Well, Cheers!
Ms Constantine

Just when you think he couldn’t be any dreamier.
Vincent

I think you’re math is wrong because you presume when Brad Pitt says “atheist” he means a 6. Since he’s not willing to say he’s completely atheistic, though he says no no no about the God question, I think when he says 20% atheist he’s thinking atheist is a 7.
So .2 x 7 + .8 x 4 = 4.6
Aj

On Dawkin’s scale agnosticism goes from 50% probability in the existance of a god in the middle (point 4), in two directions, one towards theism, the other towards atheism. Therefore 80% agnosticism does not translate into lower than point 4 on the scale. 20% atheism translates to lower than 50% probability. Point 5 covers anything under 50% down to “very low” which means Brad is point 5 on the scale.
Pseudonym

I don’t know if any of you remember, but back in the day, every month like clockwork someone in the gay rights movement came out (sorry) with a statement declaring that some fictional character or other was homosexual. Sherlock Holmes and Noddy were popular targets.

This has nothing to do with anything. This post just brought back memories that I wanted to share.
Ethan

That picture is a pretty great clincher. You should do this for other celebrities as well. 🙂
littlejohn

I think your ad hoc math is wrong (assuming you’re serious). He plainly said he doesn’t believe in god. I think he’s a 6 on the Dawkins scale, i.e., he’s an atheist with near certainty. On the other hand, who really cares?
Stephan

Brad Pitt’s comments just show he doesn’t know the definitions of atheist and agnostic. He’s an atheist. Period. An agnostic atheist as well, but an atheist. Hemant, you should know better than to even try the “kind of” label on this.
hoverFrog

An atheist! And an actor. Will no-one think of the children!
Kiera

Eh, I think he’s just scared to go full-blown atheist with all the hate going around. At least this way people will wipe their brows and say “whew, well at least he’s not 100% atheist! at least he’s saying he doesn’t know!”

Even with that being said, this is pretty awesome.
Shannon Vaughn

we need some kind of wristband. Instead of live strong…any ideas?

I think this is a fabulous idea–How about “LIVE GODLESS.” We could probably get Lance (Armstrong) to wear one–he’s very public about his atheism.
Revyloution

@ Stephan and Andrew,

I think I might just give up on those arguments. Ive been fighting them for years, but to no avail.

Yes, the definitions of agnostic and atheist were very clear. Agnostic was simply ‘Without knowledge’ and atheist was simply ‘without religion’.

But definitions change. Language evolves, and words loose their old meanings. These two words are doing just that. Agnostic has become “Someone who isn’t religious, but isnt confrontational. Someone who thinks there might be a diety of some sort, but just hasnt seen any evidence”. And atheist has become “Someone who knows there is no god/gods. Someone likely to be confrontational to believers. Someone to advocate for dismissing religion.”

Im sure many people will take issue with my definitions. Thats the real problem with the evolution of these two words. Their meaning today is non specific. A non believer might describe himself as atheist amongst other non-believers, but call himself agnostic at a family funeral.

It’s a shame that the old definitions are falling out of use. They were clear and specific, with no baggage attached to them. In the end, fighting a pedantic battle won’t help our cause. Im tempted to just adapt these fuzzy definitions as they offer an in between stepping stone for those in the process of loosing their belief in the supernatural.
Brüno

Bradoph Pittler?
bobcarp

A person either believes in god or dosen’t believe in god. Agnostics are the luke-warm christians of the atheist community.
Calvin

By the beard of Zeus you guys are elitist.

Brad Pitt simply, does not care about whether or not god exists because it is not relevant to his life. Whatever he wants to label that is his own choice.
ork

I would put off celebrating until one could find our whether or not BILD was being accurate. The thing I wouldn’t even call a newspaper doesn’t have the best reputation.
J.on

If Pitt were to explain what the term means to him and why he feels it fits him, that’d be more worthwhile.

Otherwise it’s just another celebrity with a viewpoint that he may not be genuinely committed to.
conpas

I always looked at an agnostic as someone who doesn’t believe but has no proof and an atheist as someone who knows for certain there isn’t.
Emotionally or without thinking about it, he is an atheist 20% of the time, but when using reason/logic he is an agnostic 80%, which means that he thinks logically most of the time.
But then, these are my definitions.
Steve Matz

It sounds like this conversation is becoming a Religion all its own! Reanalyzing and reinterpreting! …Holy Darwin, Batman!!! Sam Harris was right, organizing us IS like Herding Cats!
Autymn D. C.

whether or not = whether or not whether, ocsýmòròn

There are agnostic atheists and gnostic atheists; the former agnostics are atheists, the latter gnostics as well. There are gnostic theists [and antitheists], but no agnostic theists [or antitheists].
seathanaich

What do you mean, “kind of”?

For someone running an atheist web site, your knowledge of what atheism and agnosticism are needs some work.

If you don’t believe in any gods, you are an atheist, whether you are willing to self-identify as such or not (due to social pressure, ie bigotry from theists).

Agnosticism is not some “third option”. You believe, or you don’t.

Agnosticism (and gnosticism) are merely modifiers. There are gnostic and agnostic atheists, and there are gnostic and agnostic theist/deists. If you know no gods exist, you’re a gnostic atheist, usually called an “atheist”. If you don’t think any gods exist but accept that some might, your an agnostic atheist, which most people label “agnostic”. If you are a gnostic theist you are certain your god exists. If you are an agnostic theist/deist, you think your god exists, but accept that it might not, or that you have no evidence it exists.

Brad Pitt is as much an atheist as any other atheist. If someone lives in a society like the US where atheists are openly reviled, how can he be expected to say any more than this?
Nicholas Paul Petros

Welcome to the 21st century where our education lacks the developmental fervor of the ancients! Up to 5th century BC religions were Humanistic concepts using godly [theos-deos} theoretical concepts as how one may develop higher consciousness as examplified by Odysseus, ie. “Then among them, Zeus, the father of all the gods and men began to speak…Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves, through the blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained…”
Athena replies: “..That man assuredly lies in the death that is his due.”

This is why spiritual religions advise us to seek God in our hearts..as God ordained the human animal to become divine–developed–and bring peace on earth. This is the only resurrection from such a developmental “death.”

The question is not do I believe in God, but rather what is my definition of God?

I am in need of a publisher for such ideas.
Yasoo! O Nikos