Julianne Moore covers the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter, and the article is excellent. Julianne is a wonderful person (I believe that) but she’s not always the best interview. It’s not that she closed off or sullen with reporters or anything – I get the feeling that most interviewers don’t ask her the right questions. Or maybe Julianne really felt like talking for her big THR profile. This is obviously part of her Oscar campaign – incidentally, I can’t believe it’s taken this long for her to get a THR cover – and if you’re cynical, you can interpret some of her positions as part of an Oscar strategy too. Julianne talks about how she doesn’t believe in God anymore, which could have been a big controversy… except that she puts her atheism in the context of her mother’s death in 2009.
Going into therapy in her early 30s: “I discovered that [my private life] was as important as my professional life. I didn’t spend the time; I didn’t invest. One thing I used to tell my women friends was, ‘There’s an expectation that your personal life is going to happen to you, but you’re going to have to make your career happen. And that’s not true: You have to make your personal life happen as much as your career.’ ”
What she learned from Little Women: “The idea that you’re the center of your own narrative and that you can create your life is a great idea. I totally believe it. I’ve been really lucky, but I feel I’ve completely created my own life.”
Gun control/safety: “I get more reactions on Twitter about gun safety than anything else. I don’t understand how we’re threatening the Second Amendment because we’re talking about gun safety rules. That, to me, is really shocking.”
She stopped believing in God when her mom died: “I learned when my mother died five years ago that there is no ‘there’ there. Structure, it’s all imposed. We impose order and narrative on everything in order to understand it. Otherwise, there’s nothing but chaos.”
Childcare: “When my kids were babies, they traveled all over the world with me and came to work with me every day, and it was never frowned upon. I am very fortunate in that I can afford to have child care, and I always hired someone who was young and very flexible — so that was always my ‘entourage’: my kids and my babysitter.”
The gun control thing will probably go over pretty well with the Academy. The atheism will be fine, because it’s more about losing her mom. My one peeve: she’s referring to the young nannies she hired as “babysitters.” That still bugs me. If you’re hiring someone young and flexible to fly around the world with you and your kids while you film on location, that’s a nanny. Not a babysitter.
She also talks about her filmography and her interests outside of work (decorating, learning languages) and all of that. It is a good read.
Photos courtesy of Miller Mobley/THR.
These are great photos. Wait, is that her hair or is something else going on with that coat?
It looks like badger fringe to me.
She suffers from Robin Williams Arms.
Did you not know??
Ha, it took me a minute to get that.
She’s such a beautiful lady and a great actress too.
Too bad she’s going to Hell for not believing in Jesus…..
Good one!!! hahahahahahah
I like her. It seems like a lot of actresses that have help don’t want to admit it for some reason.
I think advocating for gun safety is a greater sin, actually. If Jesus had only had a gun…
I can’t wait for the upcoming Hollywood film “Apostle Avengers: This time the gun is locked and loaded”.
Stop giving Kirk Cameron ideas, Kiddo.
Since when does non-belief in God/a god specifically refer to a rejection of Christian teachings? Ay yi yi
Since always, pretty much. Being a Christian implies a belief in God. There can be people who believe in God, but don’t follow religion, but I have never heard of anyone who follows Christianity as a religion, but doesn’t believe in God. I’ts counter to the teaching. People can celebrate traditions that are considered Christian, like Christmas, but apply no religious meaning whatsoever. Is that what you mean?
Or maybe you are being snarky, and I’m dense. That’s probably it, der.
@ Kiddo I think Bae’s point is that rejecting God doesn’t necessarily refer to CHRISTIANITY’S God. It could refer to any religion.
Jay, Thanks, I hadn’t thought of that perspective.
@Kiddo – actually, one of my student workers calls himself a Christian atheist. He doesn’t believe in the divinity of Christ or in any God, but he says he respects and follows the historical Jesus as a moral teacher. Kind of like a secular Buddhist, maybe? He celebrates the holidays culturally, not religiously but very adamantly labels himself as Christian atheist though. I’m not Christian myself so I don’t know if this is just unique to him.
Michelle, well that’s interesting. I guess you could say that a lot of laws have basis in the bible and other such religious teachings. That’s a new one on me, but whatever floats your boat.
maybe not hell, just Oakland.
@Michelle I also believe in Christianity as a set of moral guidances but I don’t believe in the existence of a superior being who created the universe…. For me, God is not a superior being, but rather what is good and positive in Mankind, what we are capable of doing to help others, etc, the Devil is our bad side, when we do wrong, God and Devil are not beings outside ourselves, they are needs to justify Mankind’s ability for both goodness and evil, to explain our duplicity, if it makes sense to you…
God is also a creation to give us the belief on a life after this one, we are never content with anything and 80 years of life on Earth aren’t enough for our “selfish” side of wanting to be eternal.. Sometimes we should worry more about our life here and what we do with it and less about a probably non-existent after life… This is how I believe it…
@Michelle, I would say more spiritual than religious for your student worker.
The only reason I think think there might be something bigger out there is you look at all the cultures from ancient to modern times and they all believed in a higher being or beings. And basically all of these societies (Ancient Greece, Native Americans, Christian, etc.) separated by land mass and oceans taught we should be good to one another.
Who knows.
You have to make your personal life happen as much as your career
— YES
I agree with her that everything is imposed in this World. Some of us choose to want to believe or lean on something peaceful out “there” with all the “chaos” here. Nothing is wrong either way.
She should thank the nannies who helped her while she busy working! They are definitely part of her success even though they got paid for it. Be grateful.
Peacefulness is inside, not out “there”. The shamans (eventually turning into a priestly caste), were the ones to first ones to start explaining the world, connecting to man’s innate spirituality. I believe that as some have already mentioned, that living an honest and generous life is the greatest way to find peace. And nature is our refuge.
Personally, I believe that the randomness of life, and its chaos, is best interpreted along the lines of gratitude, for the years we are blessed with an awesome body, that takes us from here to there; and the gift of loving, and waking each day to sunshine. We are here to help each other evolve.
What a beautiful interpretation, I really like this.
I needed to hear something like this, a couple of hours ago my deeply beloved cat died and the sadness is so immense.
The way she said it irks me. Like her mom died and they went to drop her off at heaven’s gate only to learn there’s no such address. She decided it wasn’t there. Not that it really isn’t there.
My beliefs are mine. And as long as others don’t use theirs to impose on others I won’t tell them their beliefs are an opiat to the masses or not.
I think Moore is just phrasing her opinion in a not so good way, but it’s tough to argue against without tiptoeing around the death of her mother. Like How the people on Finding Bigfoot speak of “Squatches” love bacon or climb trees. You can’t know so stop acting like you you do. It’s your truth. Not THE truth.
I’m pulling away from her, but not over this. Just her overall for about a year now.
What because she doesn’t believe in god? You just sound ignorant. Why could she have to keep her mouth so some fool that believe in the boogeyman doesn’t cry
I think someone else is the boogeyman here Mark.
I agree, FLORC. I have utmost respect for her right to believe anything she wants, but just because she lost faith doesn’t mean that she has found the secret truth and those who still believe are fools. It was poorly worded. I also think it’s so odd when people stop believing in God because someone THEY loved died. Look around. Everybody dies. Did you think you and yours wouldn’t because you believe in God?
Also, Mark is rude.
She said nothing that intended to dictate or belittle others’ beliefs. Whether it was a truncated answer for brevity’s sake or not, maybe it was a longer path to move from religion, but she said that she stopped believing after her mother died, and that she felt ‘we’ collectively impose structure to make sense of the world. That is how SHE sees the world. How is that any different than people who believe we are all collectively made by God? Do people who believe in God think that people who don’t believe in God were borne from science only, and that the rest who are believers, were created by God? No. If she doesn’t believe, and she thinks her prior belief was based on imposing structure within chaos, then she considers this universally, as do people who have religious beliefs.
@Kiddo
I totally get what you’re saying, but I thought it was poorly worded. It’s not intended to belittle, exactly, but it would be similar to my saying that you don’t believe in God because you are fearful of a power greater than yourself. I don’t know why you don’t believe in God, if you don’t. I don’t believe that the reason I DO believe in God is that I’m trying to create some order in the chaos, and I don’t like to be told why I believe what I do by someone who doesn’t even know me. To me, she’s saying she changed her beliefs because she figured out the whole thing was a fraud. She’s entitled to believe that, but I think it’s disrespectful to say it. She could have just said she lost her belief, and found that, for her, it wasn’t real, but a way to make sense of things. I mean, it doesn’t make me not like her. It’s not that big of a deal to me, I just think she could have phrased it better.
Point taken. Clumsy, but not vicious.
I also think people have different answers as to why they believe or don’t believe in God. I don’t think one answer suits everyone, even if each religion is organized in a certain way (or if atheists have a point of commonality of some things). So I do tend to agree that when someone claims to know why someone else believes in God, that can be irksome. Alternatively, I think it can be irksome when someone assumes that someone doesn’t believe in God for reason X.
Fair enough.
Also agree GNAT and FLORC. Good job explaining.
This woman doesn’t age at all! And I dont think she looks all plastic surgery either
I like her interview, I also dont believe in God. I respect others who do, unless they try to push their beliefs on others. I wouldn’t push my non believing on them
I feel for her. It must have been very hard to lose her mother. I completely respect her right to believe as she wishes. It just seems very hopeless to live a life that ends when we die.
Yeah. Having lost deeply loved family members it would be heart breaking to believe I will never be with them again.
Your family has given you the gift of themselves.
francesca, you are with them. they are around you. just like all the people who havent been born yet. we are all just atoms.
“The knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth – the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars- the high mass ones among them- went unstable in their later years- they collapsed and then exploded- scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy- guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become part of gas clouds that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems- stars with orbiting planets. And those planets now have the ingredients for life itself. So that when I look up at the night sky, and I know that yes we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up- many people feel small, cause their small and the universe is big. But I feel big because my atoms came from those stars.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
francesca; the love that my brother showed to me, during his life, has been like an angel, for all of mine. His love still lives. Praise to my dearest brother!
Pretty sure she’s living a better life believing this is all weve got. Personally, ive found people who hold that worldview to live life to the fullest and all that chessy stuff. To each his own but Ive been happier believing that as well.
Yo también. Gotta make every day count.
Spot on.
What is sad about living a life enriched with wonderful relationships and watching your children grow and evolve and having had wonderful parents and hopefully growing old with her husband. It’s the circle of life. Our bodies fail us at some point. Looking back and having had a rich life, rich in that it’s filled with so amazing memories of relationships and a life that was filled with love and milestones and events, how is that heartbreaking? I miss my parents so much, but I love my memories. I don’t live thinking if I don’t see them in 40 or 50 or 60 years when I die it’s heartbreaking. My heartbreak has been living my life with them not being able to share all of the events of my life and my siblings’ lives after they died. That’s my heartbreak, not seeing them in life, not after my death.
I agree. When I stopped believing in God, my whole outlook on life changed. I stopped being miserable and dreaming about eternity being better and assuming that my family problems would be fixed once we were all in heaven. I realized that I need to make changes to my situation and live the best life that I can and work out my differences with people as best I can in the here and now. I have become a more hopeful person, and also a more accepting person.
That’s the thing: why do people worry so much about what’s going to happen AFTER we die? Why not live the life we have now without worrying about something we have zero clue about and have no control over? I understand that death is scary, and I think a lot of people use the idea of heaven to mean that they’ll live forever, and it becomes less scary. Personally, I think once we die, we die. We don’t go on living. We are not immortal (as much as we want that to be true). And what’s so wrong with that? Why can’t we accept that we have only ONE life and that is it?
Although our physical lives may cease to exist, we still do go on – a friend once told me that to help cope with the loss of someone in her life, she would tell herself “energy is never created nor destroyed”, the old physics idea. We may die, but our energy goes on in some form in the world. That’s how I think of the people I have lost – they are still out there in some form in the world, becoming part of something else.
Personally, I’m looking forward to it.
I don’t get enough naps these days, you know?
Lol Kitten, the Big Sleep.
This is exactly how I feel about it littlestar. I do not believe in heaven or hell but I do think that our energy goes on in some form. In the meantime I’m going to live the best life I can NOW. Make it count.
Your new Gravatar is stunning, I Choose Me!
Do you mean energy in a literal sense or are you talking about it in some spiritual sense? Like, when my mom died, we had her cremated, so her “energy,” (if, as you cited, you’re going by the physics definition) turned into heat. Which then turned to something else in the atmosphere.
The physical sense, Bucky :).
I don’t get how believing that there is a God and an afterlife means you do not appreciate or value this life? I am living the same richly rewarding life you speak of. It is simply that my “circle of life” closes in the so-called afterlife and yours ends at death. Not sure it is necessary to position one belief as superior to the other….
I agree, Francesca, particularly as long as wars are not fought over religious ideas.
I know this sounds off putting (?), but make-believe is the crux of the afterlife. Different religions have differing concepts of “heaven”. Amusing actually, comparing them. I have studied comparative religion for 30 years, searching as a wanderer from afar, looking for the “truth” (I studied at a conservative theological seminary for several years as well). It seems a bit naive to me, that one religion (the Bible) is all that is presented to the world, that was conquered by Christendom. So many “concepts” around the world, have our hearts within them.
” Not sure it is necessary to position one belief as superior to the other…. ”
I didn’t read anything positioning or insinuating that at all.
actually its beautiful. we all are atoms, we come from a big explosion, we are from the same material the stars are made from, we are all stardust and we will go back there when we die. the atoms that make up your body were once something else and after you have passed they will be something else. you’ll live forever as part of our universe.
Even your beliefs we are all atoms that came from a big explosion, we are stardust, is based on things that science have said that may very well change in the future. You can’t physically show me an atom anymore than the next person can show you God. It’s all from human created belief systems, human definitions that we all chose ,to try to make sense to try to make order.
For me personally, the only way I can live this life with any measure of hope or joy is believing that it is moving forward to something better. I’s be depressed if I believed there is no God who promised to one day eradicate evil and make everything right. I guess I don’t have to understand why God does what he does to believe, and that is a major issue for some people.
I don’t disrespect anyone’s differing beliefs because people come to their varied beliefs thoughtfully and honestly. I have dear friends who do not see things as I do and we find many other areas of agreement and compatibility. For me, biblical theology best helped me to make sense of what I see with my eyes — such as the order and design of the natural world — and Jesus represents everything I want or need in a God (justice & mercy), I follow him and believe what he says about my future. I live better because of it.
Despite my belief that Jesus is everything he claimed to be (God in the flesh), I think that *when* I die and get to heaven, I’ll probably say “whew, it really was true after all…”. There’s always that little bit of doubt since the existence of God can’t be proved one way or another.
Chomping at the bit to see Still Alice when it comes here. The trailer and clips looks really good.
There’s actually some interesting research about the types of personalities that gravitate towards different religious beliefs. The research tends to show that people who lean towards atheism/agnosticism are more likely to feel depression more acutely, have higher rates of self-harm, higher levels of criminality, etc. There was also a very controversial study done in medical settings that claimed that atheists are less compassionate, less emphatic and generally perceived as colder and less personable even when people do not know anything about their beliefs.
Now is any of that true? I have no idea – research has great methodological limitations and I’ll leave that to the experts to sort out. However, I do find the idea fascinating – that your particular religious expression (or lack thereof) might be linked far less to actual theological beliefs and more to the type of personality you are or have. Obviously, this has really great implications for how humans are viewed and theological implications as well.
So let’s play devil’s advocate and consider this as true — then what about people who were raised religiously and then left the faith?
If they were very devout as younger adults, well-adjusted, extremely compassionate and giving people who realized that they didn’t believe the things they were forced to growing up, then what happened? They suddenly became depressed, self-harming criminals who lacked compassion? They just suddenly became cold people?
I’d be embarrassed to go around quoting such rubbish, “interesting research” or not.
I don’t find the idea that personality may inform or affect religious beliefs fascinating — I find that to be very obvious. Where I’m from, belief is IMPOSED on EVERYONE, regardless of your personality. Only people with certain personalities dare challenge that. That process alone can change your personality, not everyone comes out the same person at the end of that horrible ordeal… so I would say, correlation does not equal causation, making the conclusion of this research lazy at best and, at worst, purposeful misinformation. Repeating the idea that people who are not religious, or atheists, are somehow damaged or criminal belittles everything they may have been through in life to get to that point… and says a lot more about the person repeating such stereotypes, existence of ‘research’ notwithstanding.
like those studies showing the earth is 5,000 years old? 😀
those mock studies show you how atheists are still being discriminated. could you imagine a study showing that muslims or jews are more criminal?
why are about 98% of the american prison population people of faith? because atheists are more criminal?
how often do you hear on the news “atheists shelled the agnostic alliance?” how often have atheists burned people alived? how often have atheists thrown homosexuals from buildings? how often do you hear about atheists stoning people? how often do you hear atheists waging war to bring people their faith? how often do atheists blow themselves up in crowded malls?
by the way religious beliefs dont have anything to do with the person you are but almost exclusively to which faith your parents belong. you are being taught that world view. nothing to do with who you are nor is it a free choice.
Rosetta: but doesn’t that speak to the belief that personality may ultimately dictate religious choices? Your personality is influenced by your parents, but ultimately it is deeply individualized.
And if you have issues with the research, then why brush it aside as “rubbish?” Why not actually attempt to look at those who have tried to refute it? And yes, people have tried to refute it. And it goes back and forth. I am simply pointing out that the research is out there and it does provide a fascinating theory. And yes, there is research that seems to suggest that atheism might be linked to certain traits in people, just as religiosity is linked to certain traits. For example, religious people have higher rates of anxiety comparable to atheists, but atheists have higher rates of depression. That doesn’t suggest one is right and the other is wrong.
Maria – if you take issue with actual research, then I’d suggest putting on your big girl pants and doing a little of your own to refute it. Isn’t that how that darned science is supposed to work?
And the research into the criminality argument looked at odds of incarceration over a lifetime, not any given prison population in any given time (but if you had sought it out, you’d already know that). It claimed to demonstrate that atheists, overall as a group, sent more members to prison than different religious groups.
Oh, and Maria – as to your points about violence:
-An atheist regime in the USSR was responsible for over 20 million deaths in the 20th century
-An officially atheist government in China imprisons thousands of non-violent members of Falun Gong every year and forces them into labor camps and forced organ donations
-That same atheistic government imposes strict reproductive rights standards on their women that creates demographic chaos and human rights violations
-The atheist Kim family starves millions of its own people in Korea
Do I do this to try to suggest all atheists are this way? Not at all – most think this stuff is terrible. You can’t pin this stuff on atheism overall. Same way you can’t pin the stuff you cite on religious people overall. See how that works both ways?
Sam I find the research a bit suspect and not sure the point of it. I don’t know how you could statistically get a causal effect on your religious belief system and incidence of violence, depression, and anxiety. I would think that eliminating other factors would be next to impossible, and the methodology used would be a bit suspect. In addition, I think the sample size would be very hard to accurately get any real analysis, just too many extraneous factors. Seems more likely the research may be used just to prove an already held point of view by the researcher.
However, your last part on atheist and violence really made me think. I have always felt that some people have used whatever their religion is as a justification for evil or war. Giving others the right to claim this religion is evil. I always felt no research involved that even if we didn’t have religion to blame evil and war on people would find another excuse to be violent or for war. The fact that non-believers atheist who obviously don’t practice in a group with a doctrine would still conduct mass violence seems that I might be right. As a people it would seem we need to stop blaming religions for our own doing.
Sam, you dont understand. they dont kill in the name of atheism! thats not even possible, as atheism only means that you do not believe in god. there are no other rules. Religions though have rules and you will find the bible and Qur’an full of quotes that directly call for murder. be it infidels or homosexuals. there are parts in the bible that allow a father to sell his daughter into slavery.
moreover the Sovient Union was quasi religious. they only replaced other religions by a state as the religion, a civil religion as its called. The party was god and Stalin was the pope.
if you say they were atheist regimes you would have to say that Germany in the 30s and 40s was christian and the US wars right now are also christian. But they werent motivated by that. so they are not religious wars, same goes for the Soviet Union. the holocaust though has a lot to do with history anitsemitism in christian countries.
so it certainly doesnt work both ways.
again: how often do you hear of militant atheist in the news? i dont hear “FOR SCIENCE” before a suicide bomber goes off. Christianity has by the way a long history of mudering scientists. because saying the earth isnt flat and the earth rotates around the sun is blasphemy.
Actually, there was just a study done on non-religious families. It’s quite the opposite of the study you quoted (and also, rings true for me based on my life observations). http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0115-zuckerman-secular-parenting-20150115-story.html
I give you – you give me – Freedom!
@Irene, thank you for posting that study.. I always teach my students (and I’m atheist), don’t do to others what you don’t like others do to you… I’m reading the education my parents gave me… and that I pass on to my students, since I don’t have kids..
A few years ago, I worked at a Catholic school and the nuns kept trying to convince me to go to Church.. my answer was: I don’t believe in God, if I go to mass I’d be an hypocrite and I’m sorry sister, but I’m not going to pretend, I’m not going to lie…
I think the problem with our society lies with the belief that religion is synonymn of morality, and that is just so false..
I agree with her.
Me too. Love her.
I like Julianne Moore, but unlike her, I Believe in God very much!
There is so much love and Beauty and fantastic things in nature
proving his existence. I´m sorry she lost her faith when her mother
died.
There is fascination and wonder in nature without a god too.
What does it matter to you and your life if someone you don’t know believes in god or not?
I believe that we all want to share what uplifts us.
wolfpup, that statement didn’t read as uplifting at all, to me. It was like, “oh, pity”.
What do you mean Kiddo? Like pity, that we all want to share?
The OP said she’s sorry she lost her faith. But who knows whether Juliane considers that as the best thing or a very good thing that ever happened to her?
It implies pity that Juliane because does not partake. Maybe Juliane felt like it was losing a bad boyfriend? Maybe she was relieved.
“People sometimes say to me, ‘Why don’t you admit that the humming bird, the butterfly, the Bird of Paradise are proof of the wonderful things produced by Creation?’ And I always say, well, when you say that, you’ve also got to think of a little boy sitting on a river bank, like here, in West Africa, that’s got a little worm, a living organism, in his eye and boring through the eyeball and is slowly turning him blind. The Creator God that you believe in, presumably, also made that little worm. Now I personally find that difficult to accommodate…”
― David Attenborough
And a helluva lot of evil, horrible crap too. I’d be a much better god than the one supposedly in charge now.
Its harder for the Universe to create its existence versus God. Seriously if there is an all powerful God thats able to create everything in a very short time, creating is ‘easy’ for him. However it took the Universe a long time, slow but very powerful. Earth alone could testify to the power of elements & “star dust”. Wouldn’t that be just as majestic if more so? God is a comfort for some & its OK & needed for some people. However, the creation from the Universe is just as beautiful for others.
It makes the earth so precious, and life, a gift of numinosity. Jackson Browne wrote that “If you saw it (our planet), from a satellite, with its green and its blue and white, the beauty of the curve of the earth, and its oceans below, you might think it was a paradise, if you didn’t know”. Where this planet is concerned, are we going to find our place in the future? Home, sweet home, that’s what I say.
*standing ovation*
She’s been really open about being an atheist—she went on Inside The Actor’s Studio in 2002 (I just googled, lol), and when asked the “If God exists…” question, she said “Well you’re wrong, I do exist” and gave a weird smile…….
Yeah, she didn’t believe before her mother died.
“I do exist”, conveys the idea that we all determine what is “god” to us.
I think she was being snarky in that she was ‘God’, I took it as a joke and deflection of answering the question.
I thought it was pretty obvious that she was saying that she didn’t believe in God. She was making a joke, as I think a lot of the actors/directors that go up there are either agnostic or just don’t believe at all, and they always say something funny or typical like “Come right in”…(I think Ralph Fiennes said that one).
I love Julianne – and I REALLY wish she was winning for Boogie Nights and/or Far From Heaven. My girl deserves more than a career prize – she knocks out performance after performance and the 2 I mentioned are not only her greatest but would go down as some of the best Oscar wins in history. I’m being a total fangirl when I say, it bums me out she is going to win for Still Alice when that role and performance will most definitely be forgotten in years to come. Her win should be more distinct – like Marion in La Vie En Rose or Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine.
I feel the same about Russell Crowe winning for Gladiator– he was good, but he deserved it more for The Insider, A Beautiful Mind or even Master and Commander.
Wow – you’re correct because I DID think he won for A Beautiful Mind! Yeah, that’s one win I will surely not remember in a few years again haha. I don’t want Julianne to be part of that club. People talk about her perf in Boogie Nights or even The Kids Are All Right (which she was not nominated for) to this day but Still Alice is such a forgettable film with a good Moore perf but not one that stands out in her filmography. Bummed. Just bummed.
I thought she deserved it over Nicole Kidman, as hers was the best performance in The Hours, even better than Meryl Streep in the movie. Julianne stood out the most for me. If anyone was going to win for that movie, my fav was Julianne.
Yes! Julianne in The Hours made me feel all the feelings. Hers is the performance I remember after all this time.
I have loved her work for so long, she is so talented in so many things. Honestly, I am just happy if she gets one at all. No doubt the Still Alice performance is one of her best, even if it isn’t “THE” best to some tastes.
She’s brave to discuss this, because atheists get a lot of abuse.
in america its probably the biggest taboo. its not the F word feminist, its the A word.
Well I am f*cked! I fit both of those words-which-shall-not-be-named.
They give a lot, as well. Check out any HuffPo comment section on an article about religion.
Eh, I’ve always been of the opinion that some of them are probably deserving. I don’t think Julianne probably does, but atheists of the Objectivist/Ayn Rand mold are personally wretched humans who deserve a good verbal lashing.
Ayn Rand is f*cking crazy but replace “Christians” (or any religious group for that matter) in this sentence:
“atheists of the Objectivist/Ayn Rand mold are personally wretched humans who deserve a good verbal lashing”
..and see how well that would go over.
Much like many Christians don’t want to be associated with the extremist portion of their religion, the vast majority of atheists don’t identify with the Ayn Rand supporters, who are largely right-wing Libertarians.
Kitten: I have no objection to that replacement. You haven’t actually critiqued anything I said. Some atheists are pretty awful and giving them the business isn’t “abusing” them for their beliefs – it’s calling them on their crap. And sadly, they seem to make up a substantial portion of the non-believing base. At least in the organized movement.
“And sadly, they seem to make up a substantial portion of the non-believing base. At least in the organized movement. ”
^I’m critiquing this and any generalization you make about atheists, Sam.
So “some” atheists (is it “some” or is it a “substantial portion”?) are terrible human beings and so are some religious people. Newsflash: some people just suck and it has absolutely nothing to do with their religion.
It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when people make huge sweeping generalizations about a group of people (I can’t call atheism a religion, because it isn’t) without acknowledging the idea that just because a sh*tbag happens to be an atheist, doesn’t mean that atheism is what made him that way.
Much like Rush Limbaugh isn’t an asshole because he’s a Methodist, he’s an asshole because well, he’s an asshole.
What people don’t seem to grasp is that atheism is not a religion. Lumping me in with other non-believers as if non-belief is a religion in and of itself is incredibly unfair.
At least with religion, there’s a shared set of beliefs and ideals. Atheism is an absence of that so you can imagine the different viewpoints and variables involved. So yeah, just because someone who isn’t religious agrees with Ayn Rand, doesn’t mean that we share even one similar outlook on life, simply because we both self-identify as atheists.
Kitten, I don’t think I’m generalizing. I cannot speak for every atheist on the planet. However, there ARE organized atheist groups, conferences and the like. There are also very prominent atheists who hold themselves out as “leaders” of the movement. And frankly, most of them are dicks, and atheists who disagree with them should be embarrassed that people like them are publicly associated with the movement.
As a Christian, I’m embarrassed that Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc. are “public faces” of Christianity. I am. Are you embarrassed that people like Richard Dawkins (rape apologist, sexist), Sam Harris (Islamaphobe, sexist, probable Anti-Semite), Michael Shermer (actual rapist), etc. are seen as the public faces of atheism?
As a Christian, I further see it as my duty to counter, vocally and often, the voices of people like Robertson, Falwell and the like. That’s my job, because a belief system I love is at stake. However, I don’t see that from atheists. I see most of them concerned primarily with the abuse they claim from religious people and the people I’ve mentioned above are largely permitted to carry on without challenge. Granted, have I see some atheists critique them? Yes – but they are few and nowhere near those others in standing. Did you catch the Buzzfeed article from a few months ago that talked about how organized atheism basically circled the wagons around Shermer when he was accused of multiple sexual assaults? (And might I add, how very Catholic of them).
That’s my beef. I see many atheists deeply concerned with what they perceive as abuse coming from outside, but far fewer willing to clean their own house. And I am not saying this does not happen in all other faiths – it does. But that is why I think organized atheism has the problems it does. It tends to look away from its own problems because it perceives the outside ones as worse. And it’s not just me saying this. You might want to read PZ Meyers’ work sometime – he’s an atheist who is pretty aggressive about calling out the crap in the movement. Sadly, he’s not very popular with them right now because of this.
Sam, do you mean those awful atheists who were responsible for the Inquisition? wait, no that was christians. do you mean those awful atheists who were responsible for stoning women and hanging gay men? oh wait…
really what you see is atheists being dicks on the internet. thats NOTHING compared to things religious people do on a daily basis even in the year 2015. atheists are still a persecuted minority, burned and tortured, now they dare to SPEAK and people get offended, really?????
“Are you embarrassed that people like Richard Dawkins (rape apologist, sexist), Sam Harris (Islamaphobe, sexist, probable Anti-Semite), Michael Shermer (actual rapist), etc. are seen as the public faces of atheism?”
No, I’m not embarrassed at all because again, absence of belief is NOT a religion.
I don’t know how else to make you understand this.
One atheist’s belief is not the same as another’s because atheism is LACK of belief. The only possible comparison I could make is asking you if you’re offended by Abubakar Shekau’s representation of the Muslim religion because you believe in a higher power, just like he does.
By comparing atheism to other religions as if it is a religion itself, you reveal that you don’t know that much about atheism at all, Sam.
There is no Pope in atheism, there is no unified belief system, and there is no bible. It is simply a lack of belief in God, period. So what other public figures who self-identify as atheists say about their lack of belief in God has absolutely no reflection on me and my lack of belief in God. We are not somehow united simply because we don’t believe.
Look, it’s natural for Christians to attempt to understand atheism by relating it to their religion but the truth is that religion and atheism are not homogenous concepts, they are opposing concepts.
Atheist is the antonym of believer, so the comparisons you’re making simply don’t make sense, Sam.
Again, because atheism is not a belief system, it’s impossible for one person or even several people to “represent” it.
There is no “public face” for a non-belief system, because there is no “system” there-it doesn’t exist.
I feel like I just repeated myself a million times but I don’t know how else to articulate it.
Kitten, you keep going back to “it’s not a belief.” But that isn’t my point. The point is that there IS a unified movement based upon this lack of non-belief. If there is no belief, then by your logic, no organized movement or organizations could exist around it. Then do you believe that all the groups that have cropped up around atheism to be illegitimate?
And while you may not ascribe to the movement, a great deal of your fellow non-believers do. And whether you like it or not, some very nasty people are holding themselves out as representing you. You can jump up and down and protest all you want, but protesting does not make it so. People like Dawkins hold themselves out as the “leaders” of you and those like you. (Hell, Dawkins is described by atheists like Myers and Myshaw as being “the atheist Pope.” Seems kinda odd for a movement defined by non-belief, eh?)
Again, just because you say something does not make it so. If you reject the idea that atheism can be adequately represented by one or a few individuals, then your argument is not with me, Kitten – but with your fellow atheists who basically allow those few people to serve as faces of the movement. But that would require you to be critical of other atheists, and that’s something you haven’t exactly shown yourself as willing to do.
Kitten, That was excellent O’Kitt but you have dashed my hopes of being Pope Atheist and getting a special mobile. Obvious joke.
*psst, see you at the secret meeting*
“The point is that there IS a unified movement based upon this lack of non-belief. ”
We’re going to be talking in circles here, but you’re still not understanding it.
There’s also a unified movement of women who are anti-feminist. Guess what? They don’t represent me simply because we all have vaginas. Comparing the physical anatomy that we are born with makes more sense as a comparison to atheism because it is ONE facet of a person’s make-up, not the defining factor, not even a dictating factor.
…And that insistence on comparing is the crux of your argument, Sam. You can’t compare apples and oranges, and that’s why your entire argument falls flat.
“Then do you believe that all the groups that have cropped up around atheism to be illegitimate?”
I don’t know what you mean by “illegitimate” but I do know that groups of people who don’t believe in a deity have nothing to do with me and don’t represent me in any way.
I also don’t believe in Santa Claus, and I don’t think that other people who don’t believe in Santa Claus represent my political and social opinions, my personal philosophies, or my feeling about other religions. And using Santa as an example is not to diminish a belief in God, but just to point out that not believing in something does not automatically form the foundation for an entire way of thinking, but believing and subscribing to an organized religion does.
Again: Atheism is the absence of one particular belief while religion is a complex web of traditions and beliefs that generally permeates into every aspect of a religious person’s life. How are these two things even remotely comparable?
Characteristics of Religion:
*Belief in Supernatural Beings
*Ritual Acts Focused on Sacred Objects, Places, Times
*Moral Code With Supernatural Origins
*Characteristically Religious Feelings
*Prayer and Other Forms of Communication
*A Worldview & Organization of One’s Life Based on the Worldview
And most importantly:
*A Social Group Bound Together by the Above
Atheism holds NONE of the aforementioned characteristics. I don’t share the same thoughts as every other non-believer beyond the fact that neither of us believe in a deity, much like I don’t automatically share the same political/social thoughts and “beliefs” as someone who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus simply because we don’t believe in Santa.
Saying Dawkins is my leader is like me telling you that Osama Bin Laden is your leader because you both believe in a deity. Yes, it is THAT ridiculous.
But mostly, I don’t need a Christian to define atheism for me, much like I would never see it as my place to school you on the fundamentals of Christianity. I’ve found a pattern with certain religious types who need to draw parallels between atheism and their religion in order to point out a perceived hypocrisy.
But the comparison simply does not wash on any level and anyone who understands the basic definition of atheism would attest to that.
Ultimately, neither you nor anyone else gets to tell me who represents me, because atheism isn’t a religion and doesn’t define me. Labeling myself as an atheist is just a way of telling people that I don’t believe in a higher power-it’s not a way of life or a foundation to form all of my opinions on.
Ayn Rand is an asshole and as a life-long atheist, it never occurred to me that she in any way represented atheism (not that it needs representing, as it’s not … anything to represent, just a lack of a belief system).
Sam, there are people who talk about atheism, it doesn’t make them leaders. There is no meeting place, no congregation, no dues, no newsletters. If there is an atheist organization, I haven’t heard of one and don’t belong to one. I pretty much don’t go to church. that about sums it up. But I don’t like religion brought into legislature, because we have a separation of church and state written into the constitution. Some people who are religious even speak against the two conjoining, because then we might have a specific religious state sanctioned by the government, and that makes religious freedom and freedom from religion impossible.
“because a belief system I love is at stake. However, I don’t see that from atheists.”
As Kitten said, being atheist is the absence of a belief system. I believe in the constitution and will comment when there are threats to given rights, but do you think atheists go around with a LOVE for atheism? It’s a strange concept and I think you really don’t get that the absence of something is not the equal of faith/love to/for a religion.
atheism is a dumb word anyway. if people did not make up fairy tales we wouldnt need a word to say you dont believe in them.
and actually comparing Dawkins being a dick on the internet to actual mass muder in the name of religions is very shocking.
Dawkins doesnt torture people or kill them.
in a world still full of religions who strive for power not for equality of all people Dawkins being a dick to people is one of our smallest problems.
what a rape of someone would have to do with atheism is not very clear, it seems like you are grasping for straws. thats like saying a librarian raped someone, why are you a librarian?
if you read your own replies Sam you should realize you are acutally making very weak points. you have pointed out a few people who are verbally mean to others. if thats the worst about atheism: good.
NO ONE has killed for atheism, but millions have been killed by the religious and millions have been killed for being atheist.
Because Ayn Rand is just a person who happens to not believe in God. Her atheism doesn’t dictate all her other crazy-ass beliefs because atheism is not a religion, not a unified belief system. Much like how Dawkins undertstands the world in terms of his lack of belief in a deity is completely on him and him only. Again, a group of people have happen to be atheists, or one atheist alone cannot define something that is not there. Lack of belief is not a belief.
I love it when strangers on the internet tell other strangers who they are and what organizations they supposedly belong to by default.
Oh wait…I actually really detest that.
@sam if you know anything about modern conservative politics, you should realize a lot of Ayn Rand worshipers aren’t atheist in modern times they’re conservative Christians. Most people that I know, that love Rand are on the Christian right & not atheists.
Atheists abuse those who believe in God just as much.
yes VERBALLY. atheists are being killed and tortured by people of faith. so please.
Almost everyone I know is an atheist or at best an agnostic. Not many true believers in Britain. I almost fainted when I read on here that American opinion polls put atheists on a par with rapists.
Yup.
Atheists are the least-trusted people in this country.
That’s why I just can’t with religious people who complain about being “persecuted” for their beliefs.
@Kitten
I guess I’m the weirdo, because while I identify as Christian somewhat (lol, I’m a total heathen now, I don’t like any of the homophobic churches around here, so I don’t go), and I have my doubts (like I think everything is faith based i.e. you won’t really know until you die), I don’t really care if someone is an atheist, budhist, etc. I’ve learned that doesn’t tell you who they are as a person, except about how self righteous they might be.
Examples: My mom is an agnostic, who believes that some part of hell is here on earth with you (or something along those lines, basically I think it stems from her shitty childhood with “christians” who abused their kids, beat their wives, cheated, etc…funnily enough, she loves going to Southern Bapist churches because of the music).
My dad is Christian, and while he doesn’t believe being gay is right, or sex outside of marriage (or any other “Don’t” you can think of) is right, he was absolutely horrified when a pastor at the church we went to started getting REAL homophobic. Like inserting it into every sermon he could for months. Then said pastor got pissed off when my dad told him that he wasn’t a real Christian, because he didn’t love anyone but himself and his family. And people who were just like him–very Duggar-like.
I knew this guy in HS who is Budhist, and he’s a massive a-hole who thinks he’s HOT. Ugh. I can’t stand him. And he is cute at best and looks 12 in the face (lol, I’m so mean).
Lastly, a girl I had a college writing class with was an atheist, feminist, and was very open about the fact that she didn’t want kids, but she wanted to get married. I actually learned most of my feminism from her–well, before I knew what feminism was, I just tried to emulate my mom, who is a true feminist without using the word. I liked her–we had some interesting conversations, but we weren’t besties, and she came off as a little too hipster and sort of cliqueish- but-alternative for my tastes, but I really liked her.
And yes–I couldn’t stand it when this pastor, that I talked about earlier, would go on and on about how “we” were under attack. Some examples I found a little ridiculous–like a group of atheists wanted a cross removed from some wildlife park (or something) that had been there for like a hundred years (but even then, if it had been a budhist or atheism symbol, he’d be railing about how our children didn’t need to see that in public).
But other stuff–so dumb. Pastors in Chicago (or wherever) getting arrested because they’re putting flyers in people’s mailboxes (when it’s against the law to put stuff in people’s mailboxes). Or about how we weren’t taught Christianity in school/science (which, in my school we all learned about the big six religions in History class–had to give a presentation on them)…and just petty stuff. When Christians (and/or other non sanctioned relations or non religions) are getting killed in other countries because of their faith (or lack of). Put it in perspective dude. We’re in America.
@kitten
“That’s why I just can’t with religious people who complain about being “persecuted” for their beliefs.”
That’s horrible. People do get persecuted for their religions all the time.
People do get attacked a lot for showing their religion eg wearing a hijab and I’m sure at least some of those were done by atheists, tbh. You can’t just dismiss persecution just because what you believe in may be persecuted sometimes. It’s ALL bad, period.
Ok, you’re right Hannah, absolutely, but you extrapolated a LOT from what was a simple comment on my part.
To expand upon my original comment:
Of course, religious discrimination is awful and should not be accepted (and I never said otherwise), but non-believers aren’t the people who are imposing their non-beliefs on others and yet, non-believers face the most prejudice and judgment by society simply because of a lack of belief. For the most part, it’s religious people fighting with other religious people, and the only thing that unifies them is a general distaste for the non-religious.
But I certainly didn’t mean to come across as dismissive of the persecution that others face.
@V/C-Yeah the whole war on public religious statues or whatever is kind of ridiculous to me. If some non-believer wants a cross in a park to go away because they feel threatened by it, then that person really needs to research the origin of the cross.
@Kitten
That’s just my point–either way it was ridiculous. My feeling was that if it was a landmark (and at that point it was), then it should stay, regardless of religious or non religious feelings. But a lot of Christians where I live are SO judgy and want things done their way and GOD FORBID (pun intended, lol) that there be some non religious landmark/artifact in a public place, because then they’d be complaining that it’s threatening America’s values *snort*. You cannot believe how many times I’ve eye rolled when this same person went on and on about how gay marriage was a threat to America’s family, yet never said ONE WORD about how heterosexuals were perverting marriage by getting married and divorced as many times as they wanted, and having kids that (sometimes) abandoned and/or couldn’t afford to take care of them. But oh noes, let’s deny the queerosexuals the right to get married and raise their kids AS A FAMILY.
OMFG. It is so tiring. I guess it’s because of my mom’s influence, but I’ve NEVER believed that being gay was wrong or crap like that. I tried my best, when I was younger to believe it, but the most I could work up was feelings of apathy. Don’t care.
I didn’t realize how serious it was until about 7th grade, when one of my “friends” (well, we were friends because we hung out in woodshop class and sat next to each other during school assemblies) asked me if I would care if he was gay, and I said no, and he looked like he was gonna cry. He came out soon after that, and I don’t know why I didn’t know before, because he was FLAMING, lol.
I just don’t understand why some people are threatened by other people’s beliefs or non-beliefs.
In East Boston, there’s a giant Madonna shrine perched on the top of a hill in an area called Orient Heights:
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/99/a4/d5/99a4d587e5cb4dd993c196a027dffc70.jpg
It’s an amazing view up there and the statue is incredibly moving to behold–and yes, even though I’m an atheist I can be moved by a religious statue or a breath-takingly beautiful church.
It has no bearing on what I believe, it’s simply a visually beautiful structure or landmark.
ITA that it’s tiring. People need to calm the f*ck down and live and let live, you know?
@O’Kitten
Very beautiful. I love the thing she’s standing on (the earth?)–it looks like copper, and where I live, copper features a lot in our architecture (or lackthereof), and it’s so beautiful.
@VC-I have a copper OBSESSION going on right now.
I’m trying to switch all my pans over to copper pans. It’s super-expensive but I’m hoping I can do it one piece at a time.
I think it’s so gorgeous and I love that patina color.
I love old churches, church architecture and old graveyards.Plus, you can’t beat historic church record keeping for genealogical explorations.
I’m surprised the copper is still standing. Copper is the metal theft of choice these days.
I find the statue interesting because the Madonna is larger than the Christos. The need for a goddess is present. It looks like an amazing place to experience.
In Denmark were I live people are more surprised and a little freak out if you talk about believing in God.
Yeah, I’m surprised this is being treated like a big deal. I guess it is in the US. Religion seems to be more politicised there. I’m an atheist, most people I know are atheists or agnostics. It’s no big deal, it’s just the way it is. People don’t talk about it much either way, publicly, as it’s considered a private thing.
It’s not one way, atheists do a lot of the abusing as well. You can see it on the comments here and other sites and especially YouTube, people calling people stupid for believing in the tooth fairy, boogeyman etc. I’m sorry but it’s just as rude and pathetic.
Hannah-Youtube comments are NOT representative of the average person. In fact, the Youtube comments section is a notorious bastion of idiocy.
Yeah, I’d say youtue comments are the lowest lows of all. I have them blocked.
not really. most of hollywood is very comfortable with the no god thing.not cutting edge at all.now saying your a christian that is brave. recently an actor had to cancel speaking at a religious group for fear of the consequences.
Good interview and I agree with her.
I love Julianne, she’s one smart cookie and a wonderful actress. But I’m going to disagree with her here. But I do understand how one can be bitter when losing someone close to you. I lost my grandmother at 7 years old in a very tragic and unexpected death. I’ve never gotten over it. But I know for a FACT that she still watches over me and guides me in this life. I’m not going to get into the details of it. But I really have nothing against atheists. I have atheist, Wiccan, Christian, Catholic, agnostic, etc. etc. friends. I’m Buddhist. I keep a very open mind. There’s love and room for everyone.
Why are you disagreeing with her?, You believe something, she doesn’t. Where’s the disagreement?
I guess she disagrees with the manner of *why* she believes or doesn’t believe. You could make the argument that if you abandoned your faith (or even the slightest niggle) in God, because someone close to you died, then were you a really strong believer to begin with?
I don’t know–I don’t think one belongs with the other. Either you believe or you don’t. And while I understand the reasoning behind it (it’s an emotional betrayal, especially if the person died horrible and/or was murdered or something), they’re not the first or the last person who’s going to die. Like say your husband is murdered, and you stop believing in God because of it. Well what about the other people who have been murdered before your husband? The people that you read about in the newspapers….. Did their deaths mean nothing to your faith in God?
I think in that kind of a situation, people use their faith (in God, for this instance) as a “nothing’s ever going to happen to me or those that I love”, and the way that *I* believe, I just don’t see how that’s true.
But again, I understand the emotional betrayal. Whatever religion you are in, you believe (at least from what I’ve read/heard about religions) that your God/Budha/Allah/gods i.e. Hinduism, love you, and want the best for you (as long as you do what they say, lol). And when you feel like you’ve done everything you can to be obedient to your god, and something like that happens, it’s hard not to lash out.
That’s one reason why I struggle with religion. While I see that it can bring out the best in people, I see how it’s an emotional tool for some people (like those megachurches that scam people out of their money). In Christianity, based on what I was taught, we will never see fully eye to eye with God, and so that’s why we have to have faith that certain things are good, certain things are bad. That’s why I think a lot of people are against gay people getting married. Not because *they* think that being gay is bad, but because that’s what they’ve been taught to think. That’s how I think of my dad. He would never, ever treat anyone differently, never call someone a slur, yet he thinks that being gay is wrong. Because he’s a type A personality that LOVES rules and regulations, and he wants to know what’s right, and what’s wrong…….
She is so right about making the personal life happen and I say that as a woman who has focused on career and now in my 30s realized I have to be more active in my personal life building. It’s not just going to work out!
Also I don’t get why her belief in God or lack there of would bother anyone. Faith and what you believe in is personal and no one has the right to judge. Also why does what someone else believe affect anyone else? So stupid.
She really touched some topics here lol.
Good for her
So damn hot. Do your thing JM.
To each his own; she has the right to express her opinion; however, I see it as pulling out all the stops to garner a win at the Academy.
i dont understand her. did it really take her decades to understand things dont happen by themselves? why wouldnt you have to put in work in your personal life? “im going to spent all my time at work and then magically i will have a fine personal life without ever having done anything for it.”
its like those people who think they can work 150 hours each week, travel for months straight and have a healthy family and happy marriage. takes a three year old to point out it probably wont work out.
if you only focus on one thing, you dont get to complain that the other is lacking.
Meh, there are plenty of people who fly by the seat of their pants and let the chips fall where they may, thinking they’ll fall in the right place. Maybe that’s how she rolled and then realized it wasn’t working in all aspects of her life. I give her credit for self-reflection and awareness.
I liked that part of the interview. Right now, I have no time for men, don’t want to date or anything, and am focusing on my writing. If I ever want to start dating, then I’ll put myself out there. I see the point in being too wrapped up in your work–but I see her case as her being wrapped up in her work, but then wanting to be with someone…….I don’t have that urge yet, thank God.
Yep. Sometimes I think you can have so much passion in what you are doing in work, that you forget there is anything else.
..and thats fine, Kiddo. but then you shouldnt wonder why its not working, thats my point. same if you only focus on friendships and family you career wont skyrocket. both things take a lot of time and one thing will always suffer and be less developed than the other.
I’d love to see people on both sides of the religious fence preface every discussion on religion with “in my opinion”. I hate declarative sentences about something which can’t be known.
It always bugs me when people take individual opinions and frame them in a way which make it seem like it’s unreasonable and illogical to hold a different one.
Interesting photos, it’s ridiculous how good she looks. I’ve seen so many of her smaller films over the years, it’s great to see her finally get the big award.
As for beliefs, I say to each their own, whatever works for you, so long as you respect others beliefs or non-beliefs as well.
I’ve always believed in some kind of spiritual afterlife, that we evolve into another dimension, another form of energy, whatever. And that’s where my knowledge ends. None of us, NONE OF US knows exactly what’s on the other side despite the claims of many religions to knowing the truth. To say there is nothing and you just go into the ground in a box is as naïve as saying there is a God and he has a long white beard and sits up in heaven like a big benevolent Father Christmas doling out love and suffering in equal measure. So I admire her viewpoint and respect it. As many other posters have said, it’s how you live your life, how you share your caring and compassion, the great and varied things you bring to the table of life that matters.
We are the universe experiencing itself in human form. Consciousness is a beautiful gift and we shouldn’t spend our days living out worried about what may happen to us when we die. Live in the consciousness of now!
Julianne Moore is absolutely fantastic. Enough said.
I need to believe there is an after life and a higher power because if I don’t I would go crazy, All the sh*t that happens in the world all the injustice and the horror go many times unpunished here and if there is nothing after those horrible people die than I don’t know what’s the point. Sitll, Julianne is lovely and has very interesting thoughts.
I feel the same way, Diana. For me, I need to feel that there is a world beyond this, that higher powers exist, and that some part of everything that lives is eternal – that there is some sort of order to this chaos (even if we can’t see it). This helps me appreciate the now, but also deal with the troubles and stress and loss in this life. It gives me peace. But that is just me. Personally, I am Hindu, particularly devoted to Krishna.
I too find Julianne lovely and interesting. It doesn’t matter to me what she believes or does not believe, of course (or anyone for that matter), but I hope she has found peace. I know that it hurts to lose people and she sounds so sad about her mother.
Anyway, yeah, I agree with what you say, Diana.
The concept of heaven and hell is all about justice (human), don’t you agree?
Forgiveness is a theological concept. that I do not agree with. I believe that acceptance is larger, more inclusive, and has greater tenderness, in acknowledging our humanity. Also, we are all pushing upward as we evolve; that seems to be the way of the earth. We are here for each other.
Have you ever thought, how we who are presently on earth, are here as a team? I like the idea of evolution.
@Wolfpup, I think that’s really interesting. I do agree up to a point we are all a team but there is always so much evil, so much wrong that the way I deal with it is by believing that there is something beyond life that will give to everyone what they deserve.
@michelle, I don’t have a religion but I do believe in a higher being. I’ve been in all kinds of chirstian religious movements and none have convinced me to stay but I do have a relationship with what I call a god and that gives me peace. I hope everyone no matter what they believe can find comfort in those believes.
I find it really hard to reconcile how nice Julianne comes across in interviews with what Nina Hartley revealed about her when she talked about being a cast member in Boogie Nights. Apparently she treated her really poorly. That makes me always kind of side-eye her.
I feel the same way. It makes me wonder if Julianne is a Julia Roberts type person; nice when it suits her.
Do you have a quote? All I could find was that she said “Julianne never said a word to me.” Which sounds about right. I probably would feel strange around a real-life porn star. Not judgmental/hateful. Just maybe shy and awkward, not knowing is I should or shouldn’t say something, not saying anything just to be on the safe side. That’s just me so I can see how someone, Moore for example, could have felt similar.
Did she believe in God before her mother died? Not that it matters to me, but I was just wondering since she seems to have lost her mother at a much later age than someone like Jon Hamm.
No, on the Actor’s Studio when the guy ask what will you like God to say to you at the pearly gates and she said “I guess you were wrong, I do exist.” You can see it at the link below.
http://youtu.be/ugaSAUTVZ8M?t=32m10s
And this was in 2002 and her mother was still alive.
Thanks for the link. I was just wondering why she was connecting the two, if she was always an atheist. Or did the journalist put two different things together, and force a connection between the two.
Because she had her mother with her for a much longer time than other people get the luxury of having (she’s 54, right? and the mom died only 5 years ago), I suppose I was a little baffled as to that causing her not to believe in God. But if she never believed in God that makes much more sense to me.
I suppose I thought Jon Hamm’s answer was more poignant since he lost his parents so young, and I could see how the devastation of losing them before he had fully entered adulthood would be much more likely to shake up one’s belief system. I guess it’s unfair for me to compare the two, but a lot of people would be grateful to have their parents for as long as Julianne did so I was finding it harder to understand the connection between her mother’s death and her atheism. Although, to be fair, the way her answer was pieced together with the bold caption didn’t really make much sense to me, but perhaps her answer had context to it that the journalist left out in the excerpt.
I don’t think it was probably one thing. For me, it was gradual. I have lost people close to me, but didn’t wake with that epiphany upon their loss. Maybe that experience only solidified it for her.
That’s kind of what I was thinking. I assumed her realization came more gradually, and then something solidified it as final.
I’ve had a NDE and I’ve got nothing useful to say about what happens after death. I do know that death isn’t scary when you get there. It’s very peaceful and everything of your life makes sense. Everything is okay. Dying had no impact on me being an Atheist.
Everything is okay…
Religion is just another form of control. People need to feel there’s something bigger than themselves. Is there any religion that doesn’t suppress women in some way? In light of what’s going on in the world right now in the name of religion I’m even less inclined to be believe.
Uh, yes. Plenty. I grew up around the Quakers, which was founded as an equal rights Christian denomination.
And, uh, I must ask – haven’t you heard of Wicca and neopaganism? Most modern pagan religions are based around either worship of a Goddess or a dual God/Goddess model. They’re deeply woman-centered and unabashedly feminist, for the most part.
I like paganism -it seems to have a joy of existence that I love; a free for all in nature, and joy of life in the universe. Paganism can be seen without gods/goddesses, as meaning nothing more than the naming of energies – there’s a lot of room for almost everyone.
Exactly.Mostly to control women’s sexuality.In my country,catholic priests,bishops make statements only about an abortion,the pill”after”,in vitro,gay relationships and of cource MONEY they should get from the government.Any disscussion meens ”attacking the church”.
Why are celebs talking about or being asked about god or their spiritual/religious beliefs? I find it annoying, similar to whent hey are telling us how to vote or about their take on the latest social issue. It’s an interview for a movie promotion/oscar nomination-it’s work related. I wish these interviews would stick to that. Otherwise, these sound bytes inevitably sound either pretentious or disingenous, IMO. Still, Julianne is lovely.
That was my thought too..there’s a line in a woody Allen movie that questions why people attribute some sort of wisdom to celebrities, when it isn’t deserved. I could care less who your God is, if you sleep with men or women, vote left or right, or what you eat for lunch. Perhaps her life is so insular and protected that pain is a foreign concept, as I do think her reason for losing her faith is rather childlike..mom died, so no God? Everyone dies..including my mom, dad and brother. I’m still ambivalent on God, but I do know there have been moments in my life that defy rational explanation, so who knows?
It seems like she’s had great good fortune in her life. She’s been blessed with talent, beauty, intelligence, a lovely family and a fabulous career- all due to her own making in her opinion. And yet, the one thing she can’t control, the one great challenge, a significant death, she cannot meet. She sounds unbelievably spoiled to me, has suffered little, and here we are. And as an actress I love her. SMH I wonder what she would believe if she were poor, ugly or homeless- that it was all her creation too?
But Julianne didn’t believe before her mother died. She revealed that when she was on the Actor’s Studio back in 2002, so losing her mother wasn’t the reason she stopped believing.
I think she’s smart enough to get that if she couched it in terms of losing her mom, people would “get” it more. Its easy to understand a lose of faith in the face of tragedy or loss. It’s harder when you simply don’t believe. I think she is smart enough to get that to stay in the public graces, she needs to couch it in terms of loss. She doesn’t seem to be a fool in that regard.
Does her movie have to do with God or faith or something to that effect? I generally think of faith (or lack of it) as a private matter, so I guess I don’t see why she’d care whether the public gets her position or not. I don’t find her answering the question weird in and of itself (although I assume the questions are vetted so she can just not have the interviewer put the question forward at all), but if she thinks the public would like her better if she couched her answer a certain way, I find that kind of odd. I guess I don’t see why she’d answer the question at all, if it matters what people think of her on this particular issue. To be honest, I thought her simply not believing made more sense than her mother’s death making her come to a certain realization about God, probably because she didn’t lose her mother at such a young age. I don’t have an issue with her not believing in God, however. It’s more how she was trying to connect the dots for us and that she came to a certain realization at 49 that I found a bit confusing. Usually people think a certain way about something (whether they believe in God or not, and if they believe, how they believe) at a much younger age.
People come to realizations at any time of life. I think questioning the age of her decision is silly. It would seem that she was being asked questions that might elicit some depth in answers. Most people don’t say, “Hi, I’m atheist, or I’m deeply religious” without some prompting.
Although I referenced it, It wasn’t so much her age , but the way she explained her realization that I found articulated sort of ..blandly? (I’m not saying her actual thinking on the matter is bland, just that the way she articulated her words sounded kind .of ….celebrity-like rather than human. She also used the words “we” rather than “I” and that’s when one becomes more curious about a celebrity’s answer. But, again, that could be the way the journalist excerpted her answer. I guess when actors get into philosophical explanations for why they think a certain way, I become more curious. This is the type of discussion that would elicit more curiosity than, say, Gwyneth’s V-Steam clean (although that is arguably a far more private thing to discuss!). Her answer probably had more explanation attached to it that the journalist left out, though. I do think the journalist asked questions for a reason, but I was curious as to why he or she was even asking – does it have something to do with her movie? Otherwise, I find it odd that the journalist would bring up it for discussion too. I suppose the discussion in and of itself seems pretty random to me since it’s not a topic that people just suddenly talk about out of the blue, unless the discussion has to do with something related to her movie.
hmmm – you are so right about the narcissism.
I read the full article, and I did come away thinking she that she sounded a bit like Gwyneth Paltrow when she said that she has created everything in her life. The opinion I’m expressing about her quote in that part of the article is separate from the God/belief issue. I guess she meant that she’s self made? but the way she worded her statement sounded kind of Gwyneth-like in tone. Not sure if that’s because of the way the journalist phrased the paragraphs in between the words, however. The photographs of her are nice though.
@hmm, It didn’t sound like she was looking for sympathy, or that she couldn’t handle her mother’s death. It sounded as though the manner of her mother’s death was shocking because it was sudden. She moved on and has a career, how did she not meet the challenge of her mother’s death? She isn’t sitting in a dark room, rocking in a corner.
I think people just don’t like the fact that she stopped believing in God or her reasons for it.
Eh, I once was friends with a crazy nanny who hated that word and always described herself as a babysitter even though she was clearly a nanny so I give up trying to define it. The lines are blurry, I don’t really think you can define it honestly. Au pair, nanny, child minder, babysitter, they all kind of overlap in meaning and whatever is popular terminology at the time. When I was a baby sitter I was 13 and trying to earn some extra money before I could legally work but I guess people can interchange that word with nanny if they want.
I just don’t get the USA sometimes, particularly the crazy importance you put on semantics and someone’s religion. I can’t believe celebs have to “justify” their atheism on tragic events of their lives as if they were doing something wrong.
I don’t think anyone asked her to justify her atheism. I don’t think anyone even cared until she brought it up for discussion. Although outside of a gossip blog, which would reference it because she brought it up in an entertainment magazine, does anyone even care that she’s an atheist? Does the Academy? She’ll still probably win her award.
It’s just a trend I’ve seen in Hollywood. Jon Hamm did the same thing, he had to justify his atheism on losing both parents young. And from the comments the author and some users here have written, celebs can face backlash for simply not believing in God.
I’d be fine with that question never being asked, tbh. It’s something so personal I feel like it’s not even worth discussing.
I do agree that it’s a personal matter. I do wonder why journalists bother asking about something like this. I don’t think I’ve ever even bothered to ask my friends about it, although I think the discussion has come up from time to time, but I know I’m not the one usually asking the questions. I don’t think it really occurs to me to ask anyone about their belief in God, but that might be because I consider the issue private. Although at the same time I suppose the more private something is, the more curiosity I might have have about the issue when a celebrity brings it up in public (not that I’m entitled to know more than they want me to know, but the curiosity does increase).
I will say the same thing I say to all my atheist friends: if you believe in God and, when you die, it turns out there is no God – you’ll never know it. If you don’t believe in God and, when you die, it turns out there IS a God – you’ll never forget it.
I choose to believe in every religion on Earth. You know, just in case. You never know which one is the correct one. *sarcasm*
I did that! When I was studied the variations between Catholicism and Protestantism, I had my children baptized Lutheran, just in case! (Luther still owned that “holy” priesthood).
Pascal’s wager, old as the hills. God seems pretty shallow if he only wants you to worship him out of fear of retribution lol.
I don’t think there is any retribution and I don’t believe Hell (or Heaven) are physical destinations. Hell is simply as “separation from God”. It’s the story of the prodigal son. He loves us no matter what. He lets us do whatever we want (free will). And He hopes that someday we come home. If we do, we get eternal life (a mystery we don’t understand). If we don’t, we don’t and then it’s like Andy Warhol said (one of my favorite quotes ever): “I don’t fear death. When it happens, I won’t know it.”
My question is, why do we need a mediator between our soul and our god?
I don’t think all religions follow the same philosophy though. Neither do all individuals. I think each person has their own reasons for why they believe in God, but for some reason everybody assumes the reasons are the same. (I’m talking about sane normal people, not the extreme fundamentalist types that try to proselytize and impose their religion on people).
@wolfpup in Christian theology, we need a mediator to god because we purposely separated ourselves from him after the fall of man in Eden. We became big ole fat sinners. He’s holy we aren’t & can’t live with him because of it etc…. So god got hurt, angry, blah & left us on our own course. Jesus was sent as the mediator or representative from God. Jesus ended up being sympathetic towards humans & helped reconcile us to god. He went as far as too let those that opposed him, kill him, as proof too god about much he cared for humans. Such a weird story when I type it out but that its in a nutshell.
Wolfpup – I was baptized as a Lutheran too and grew up in the Lutheran church (being Danish). Only recently did I convert to Catholicism. It works for me – that’s all I can say. I find comfort and inner peace in it. But that’s me – and I’m not everyone else. Everyone has their own catharsis. Everyone has their own “thing” that makes them feel peace inside, which manifests itself in kindness and love toward others. An Evangelical, I am not. It’s just too personal.
Apprehended the awe of the numinosity of life, is where we have brain altering experiences; “manifesting as the highest wisdom and most radiant beauty”, quoting from Albert Einstein.
The largest problem that I have with the Christian tradition, is the apriori-assumptions one must initially make: 1) that the god of this universe would curse the hundreds of billions of people who would follow (from Adam and Eve), because of the mistakes of these *two*. I also find it very difficult to believe in a God that would call our beautiful planet cursed, or pronounce a curse upon on it. What a crappy way to live, going around believing life is already ruined. (Or that we are on a good god/naughty human, badass trip – with a grotesque and hideous hell, where humans are to wish for their enemies to burn forever!) Or that we are to”do good” to avoid that, which is kind of fearsome – or that we get a heaven cookie for believing, and have the ability to judge who’s going where. I mean pulease, can we lighten up this a bit, and be happy in the dance?!
In my mind, we are a miracle evolved from the earth – we are miracles, not fallens! All of the “gifts of the spirit”, are actually responses of man to his environment; because they are useful for our survival as a species. Evolution is scientific, and can be perceived as being very dry – but once one begins meditating on evolutionary psychology, answers with beauty and power arise from within (for me).
Major religions…I surround myself with Lao Tsu, and the I Ching, and Rumi. (I have spent way too much time with the Bible, for I have much of it nearly memorized. I find it pretty useless, except in understanding our institutionalized Western culture). I celebrate the festivals of the earth with the Wiccans. I call this *my personal name* religion.
I was actually surprised to learn she hasn’t won an Oscar yet. She just seemed like one of those actresses who have at least one already. But it only makes the narrative of her life that much more appealing to me personally it appears that everything just comes at the right (subjectively speaking) time for her. It’s like she did everything right. Had a family, worked on her career, kept herself in great shape, probably supports some good causes. And now – an Oscar. Honestly, so much healthier and better than getting an award coveted by so many actresses at 23 like JLaw (not throwing any shade at all, just an observation).
“How can someone not believe in God and still be good?”
Answer by José Saramago, Nobel Prize of Literature:
“HOW CAN SOMEONE BELIEVE IN GOD AND STILL BE SO EVIL? ”
This is taken from an interview he once gave…. goodness, kindness, morality are not synonymn of religion or non-religion, they are synonymn of Mankind.. The same with evil… How can this be so difficult to understand?
I really like that answer. It reminds me of my evil, very catholic sister-in-law.
Sorry Ms. Moore and all the narcissists/human “gods” out there (everyone worships something -themselves, material stuff, a higher power above all that?)…God is not a cosmic genie to fulfill all your desires and wishes-nor to keep you from death or life’s pain. Life on earth is not perfect nor is it always painful; after all, we’re not in heaven. Heaven is the perfect place. But in the meantime, earth is where we learn and grow – and learn more about how God can help us in our time of need and weakness. We learn more about compassion and care through helping those in need and pain. If no one ever experienced pain, we wouldn’t learn to share kindness or compassion either. We also experience His love and care the most often when we’re in that deep, dark place.
Perfect, true, and extremely well said Louise. I could not agree more. You speak for so many of us, thank you.
That deep, dark place, is where I have relented to the demands of my own soul. (Is that god..?) Truly, this is where I have learned to love myself.
Yes – that is God. You are supposed to love God and others as you love yourself. So yes – our conscience, that “inner voice” that talks to us is God. It doesn’t matter if we don’t believe in Him, per se. He believes in us. Don’t overanalyze it. Just follow your heart, listen to your “voice” and your own moral compass and it will lead you in the right direction. Don’t worry about the rest. Or labels. Or a religious identity. As Shakespeare famously said “to thine own self be true.” You can’t go wrong with that!
It was in this deepest, darkest place that I realized, if I was not there for myself, who would be? And who was to lend me mercy, if I did not unveil it to myself? Mercy has a human heart, and pity, a human face. (Wm Blake).
Wasn’t it Catherine of Aragon who famously said that if given the choice between sorrow and happiness, she would always choose sorrow; for when we are happy, we don’t think of God. But when we are in sorrow, He is always near.
I respect her understanding, but it’s not mine. Seems like she was looking for god ‘in all the wrong places’, outside of herself. That might ultimately lead to disappointment, and the concept of chaos. Finding god for me was finding the power inside of me, and it had nothing to do with any religion, or ‘imposed order’.
Team Atheists. There’s no proof Jesus did any of the things written in the bible. Religion was created to control people and claim territories. These days where we can freely question what we’ve been taught all churches are seeing their flocks greatly dwindle. And are panicking. God is a nice concept which gives millions comfort. Many people do horrible things in the name of religion and hide behind it.