The extraordinary life of Pi/Losing religion

(First aid kit - the Lion's roar)

Today I watched the film 'Life of Pi'. A very nice film indeed and of course I could reason about lots of parts of the film, but I will just stick to the main theme. The main theme is a man that visits someone that has a story that can make you believe in God. And in the end, the belief in God results in a simple question; 'Which (of the two stories I told you) do prefer?'

At this point in almost any film I prefer to predict, sometimes out load what the characters are going to say. And if the film is cliché my prediction is right, and in my eyes the film would right there and then lost some of its credits to originality. Now luckily I'm wrong at least half the times. Whether this is because I suck at it, or that I just watch good films (I check IMDB prior to watching). I don't know, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the lead character opted the question with the detail that neither answers could ever be proven. The fantastical one with animals, or the gruesome one with human misery.

And so when the question “Which do you prefer” was uttered in the film. I responded with: “Does it really matter?” And that wasn't what the character responded. The character responded: “The one with the tiger”. To which Pi replies: “And so does it work with God”.
And I realised right there and then my answer didn't make the film anything more or less cliché. It told me something about me. I just watched very attentively a story that would eventually explain to me how to believe in god. And I didn't just not pass, I was content with my answer too.

It is then when it hit me. That belief is just that. The choice to belief one thing over the other when the options can neither be proved. And I am not going to go in why my answer 'Does it matter?' Would be better or worse then the answer in the film, as that is just another debate between religion and non-religion. What I'd all like to tell you all is that you don't have to choose. Your world doesn't change if you choose one belief over the other. And you might say, but it makes the world more beautiful. Then my reply is simple. The world is already beautiful regardless of what you belief.

Instead of debating and fighting over choice, I'd suggest you just look closer to what already is.