Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnibenevolent Imaginary Friend

Life of Pi highlights the compatible components of the world’s major religions, rather than the discrepancies that are most commonly emphasized. Pi, whose lessons are as extensive as the numerical digits of pi are long, tells a substance hungry novelist the story of how he lost everything and survived the ordeal through his religiously diverse relationship with God. Pi was a practicing Hindu, Muslim, and Christian.

Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity are very different religions and to say they all believe the same things would be fundamentally incorrect. Although this is true, Pi found ways for them to work together in harmony, rather than looking for the differences that distinguished one from another. This religious acrobatics gave Pi the flexibility to navigate through his life and struggles with the agility necessary to keep his faith in the face of severe loss. In a matter of days, Pi lost his home, immediate family, stability, and sense of security. He was lost, stranded, alone, floating through the Pacific Ocean with his probability of surviving steadily diminishing.

The story told in Life of Pi is unique, because it glorifies the power of a relationship with God, rather than focusing on the power of a particular religion. By diluting religion’s influence with Pi’s practice of three religions, the story redirects the focus of the miraculous on Pi’s belief and trust in God. Whether than asking the question of which religion to follow, this film asked the question of why have faith in God? Pi’s story depicts a scenario that supports faith in God over atheism.

Atheism is convenient in times of comfort and security. Although every life is full of it’s own struggles, there is a stark difference between being stressed about paying your car note on time and wondering how long you will starve before you find your next meal. Pi found himself in a situation where he had no family, no food, and few reasons to hope. Whether God is real or an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent imaginary friend, there is no doubting the power and relief found by believers in times of great distress. Even as merely a psychological tool, faith in God is significantly beneficial when your world seems to be falling apart. From a logical perspective, the best case scenario for atheist in death is for God to be a myth and to cease to exist. On the other side of the coin, the worse case scenario for a believer is for God to be a myth and to cease to exist. The difference between the two being that the believer paid for their faith in God with the time they spent communicating with him, and the atheist chose their time over the asset of a relationship with God. If atheist are correct, and we all cease to exist in the death, neither the believer nor the atheist will have the consciousness to know the atheist was correct. Being an atheist is held together by the twine of confidence that God is a myth. Atheist trade an eternally loving friend, support system, and powerful psychological tool for the worst case scenario of a believer and the ability to keep a relatively small portion of their time and large portion of their pride. 
A relationship with God is meant to improve the quality of life for a person more than it is to prove God's existence.