I bought some local papers to keep up with the local news slant on the 177th Semi-annual LDS General Conference. And I couldn’t help read Dotson Rader’s article in PARADE (October 7, 2007) on Brad Pitt. Listen to this excerpt:
Pitt grew up in Springfield, Mo., the oldest of three children in a conservative, Southern Baptist family. His mother was a school counselor; his father ran a trucking company.
“My dad made sure our needs were met,” he says. “I had a very loving family.” When he speaks of his childhood, his voice softens with the accent of his youth.
“I always had a lot of questions about the world, even in kindergarten. A big question to me was fairness. If I’d grown up in some other religion, would I get the same shot at Heaven as a Christian has? My mom would come into my room and talk to me. I was very fortunate to have that dialogue with her, but in high school I started to realize that I felt differently from others.”
Brad went to Springfield’s Kickapoo High, excelling at school debates and sports. As he got older, his religious doubts increased.
“I had crises of faith,” he says. “I thought you had to experience things if you want to know right from wrong. I’d go to Christian revivals and be moved by the Holy Spirit, and I’d go to rock concerts and feel the same fervor. Then I’d be told, ‘That’s the Devil’s music! Don’t partake in that!’ I wanted to experience things religions said not to experience.”
By the time he entered college, Pitt had scuttled his fundamentalist beliefs. “When I got untethered from the comfort of religion, it wasn’t a loss of faith for me, it was a discovery of self,” he says, “I had faith that I’m capable enough to handle any situation. There’s peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I’m responsible. . . .”
“What’s important to me is that I’ve defined by beliefs and lived according to them and not betrayed them,” he says. “One of those is my belief in family. I still have faith in that.”
Several things . . .
- He rejects fundamental teachings of the Bible.
- He has to experience good and evil. Maybe he believes that Adam and Eve should have eaten the fruit . . . that is a good thing.
- He thrives off of the discovery of self.
- Family is one of the objects of his faith.
If the Mormon missionaries were sent to Brad Pitt, do you think he might listen?
Jesus in Idaho Falls 
If you went to his door, do you think he might listen?
Tate, I am laughing. I don’t think I would make it through the front gate of any mansion. If I made it over a security fence, I would be mauled by an attack dog who loves eating Baptist preachers for lunch.
For all I know, Angelina might place conservative, fundamentalist Christians on the same par with all the rotten and rude paparazzi that hunt them down every second of the day.
Brad might listen to the Mormon missionaries if they didn’t flaunt the Word of Wisdom, Church attendance, and the importance of a marriage license. 🙂
But I don’t think Brad really would give me a chance if he has already rejected those passages in the Bible that make inclusivism suspect in all the ways to reach God.
But where people don’t open up there front door to me, it doesn’t mean I can’t pray . . . especially for this all-American celebrity.
I would like to meet his parents.
Does a Mormon make a good Mormon is my question. The more I read on these blogs the more I see how many of these so called good Mormons that I a stuggling Chritian would NEVER be involed in. The things I don’t do is because of my relationship with the Lord not because of what my church says in not permited or is permited. I try to go with the Word of God. You folks lead me to more prayer. Matter of fact years ago I started praying for this guy who is a Stake President even when I did not know what that word meat. Maybe he is saved now and not a Mormon, I do not know, but I will keep praying:)
I am not trying to be mean or anything just stating some things I have seen, rather read of late.
CJ
Define “you people” please.
I no longer, and rarely ever before, identify with the label “mormon.” And I’m pretty sure [i]Pastor[/i] Todd doesn’t either.
CJ,
Realize that the blogging format attracts people with gripes and controversies. They don’t feel like the normal avenues are cutting it for them and they find a haven of sorts in the blogging community.
That’s why if all you did was read Mormon blogs (“the bloggernacle”) you’d get a rather dim view of normal Mormons.
But it’s not the whole story. Just because most bloggers tend to be glass-is-half-empty type of people doesn’t mean that Mormons in general are unpleasant people.
For the record, with a few nice exceptions like Todd here, and a couple others, most of my encounters with evangelical bloggers has given me a rather negative view of that religion as well. So it cuts both ways.
The internet is only one sort of reality. Not the only reality.
Okay, it’s been a week, and it’s still bothering me.
What difference does it make if Brad Pitt would make a good Mormon? or Evangelical, or Catholic, or whatever. In the grand scheme of things, how does that matter? As an Evangelical, and a pastor at that, should you not be more concerned with his unique ‘heart issues’ and what is preventing him from becoming a good “Christian”??
Let go of the labels already. Don’t you see how they restrict and hurt?
Labels can be superficial. Look at all the stripes of Baptists. The label is not nearly as important to me as what the heart clings to for truth. Creeds and articles of faith don’t carry the paper they are written on if there is no heart conviction. Labels and creeds in mostly my experience are signposts to human beliefs that invite future exploration to uncover nuanced flavors. Can society be label free?
And should we be afraid of labels, friend? I use to be.
I use to wince when someone called me something derogatory. But I now realize there are truth claims much bigger than me and my perceived hurts.
I shouldn’t be upset when friends define me with with “anti” over something or as a “fundamentalist” over something else, especially when it highlights the very truth claim that set me free.
And when I play with or throw out a label to others, they are welcome to think about, embrace it, or challenge it.
And Tate, there can be all kinds of motivations behind why people use labels.
OK. You addressed the labels. What about Brad.
The main heart issue . . . he needs to bow his knee in trust to the Christ of the Bible . . . and that is going to involve a broken death to self and what Brad thinks he can accomplish apart from Jesus.
Don’t listen to the rumors saying Angelina gave Brad Pitt an ultimatum to be married by June. They are a loving pair and everybody can observe that.