Randy Pausch Dead… and Agnostic?
I have been wanting to post on Dr. Pausch’s death by pancreatic cancer and his religion, but really couldn’t find much to say beyond the other extensive reporting, and thought I was getting out of control with the obituaries (Snow and Carlin).
Richard J. Radcliffe on the Law Religion Culture Review has an excellent post on Pausch and his religion (or lack thereof). I will point out that Pausch comes very close to embracing atheism when he says:
I was raised Presbyterian and attended church regularly until I was about 17. I like the fact that [Unitarian Universalism] appeals to reason and thought more than dogma.
I think this was a man who had sworn off religion much the same way I have. If I found myself in his situation, I would conduct myself in the EXACT same way (well, I don’t teach, so it would be unlikely for me to give a last lecture). My children do not know that I am a non-believer. Many of the things I tell them have a universal non-religious wisdom just as the things Randy left for his children. It’s possible he folded in more religion privately, but the philosophy he shared publicly is what will endure and be repeated thus defining who Randy Pausch was. This will be what everyone, including his kids, will remember.
The best things I have seen come from him in his last few months of life are:
Never lose the child-like wonder. It’s just too important. It’s what drives us.
Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.
Do not tell people how to live their lives. Just tell them stories. And they will figure out how those stories apply to them.
We’re not going to talk about spirituality and religion. Although I will tell you that I have experienced a deathbed conversion. I just bought a Macintosh.
I’ve heard this said before and strongly subscribe to the notion:
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!
He was an impressive man and it gratifies me a great deal to see what an effect he has had on others.
Kudos, Randy, and thanks for speaking out publicly for your kids. It made us all better people.
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