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Barack Obama Sends Fan Mail to Yann Martel

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DavidDvorkin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 03:01 PM
Original message
Barack Obama Sends Fan Mail to Yann Martel
Praising Life of Pi.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/authors/barack_obama_sends_fan_mail_to_yann_martel_153526.asp?c=rss

Apparently, he called it "an elegant proof of God". Sigh. Proofs of God only work for those who believe in advance, and even then only if they don't use their critical faculties when evaluating such proofs.
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trotsky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 07:25 PM
Response to Original message
1. This is the first I've heard of Yann Martel or
Life of Pi. Is there anything to it, or just more C.S. Lewis-esque preaching to the choir?
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charlie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 07:36 PM
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2. Me too
Wikipedia has a plot summary. Geesh. Wait until you get to the big "teaching moment" in the finale. It's a contrived, ungainly bag of horseshit.

And it has fuck-all to do with "proof" of God's existence. The lesson is that it's better to believe in God because... well, it's better. Your world would suck without Him, whether He's real or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi
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trotsky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 09:09 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. Damn. Lots of cannibalism in that feel-good-about-god story!
Creepy to say the least. And it wouldn't be a good Christian story without the author having a little plagiarism story, huh? :)
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and-justice-for-all Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-06-10 06:53 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. I find it quite unhealthy to be an adult with invisible friends..
and to just take things on 'faith'.
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DavidDvorkin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 08:01 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. It was an immense bestseller
I think it was made into a movie, too, but I'm not sure of that.

Nonsense for believers.
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