Its the highlight of the movie callander for '09 and people cant seem to get enough of it. So in light of what I heard today, I decided to make a couple of comments about the new 3D experience, Avatar.
In todays news, the Vatican have publicly critisiced the film Avatar, stating that it promotes the worship of nature.
This stance that the Catholic Church have taken is hilariously ludicrous and those guys in the Vatican, should 'get with the times'. Avatar is a harmless, well executed, extremely advanced film experience.
This was the view shared by most, if not all of my colleagues, and it disturbed me greatly.
It is true that the film offers a whole new experience in what is to become an advanced improvement in 3D technology, and these are indeed, positive steps forward in changing cinema for the future, however it is NOT harmless!!
As I pondered over the words of my work colleagues, and the statement from the Vatican, I thought about how liberal our society has become. If that same statement from the Catholic church in relation to a film promoting earthly worship was made 15 years ago, it would have been greeted with the utmost sincerity and concern. People would have listened and would not have scoffed. I was reminded of the constant struggles that the Israelites experienced with their worship of false Gods. Along with dedicating worship to Yaweh, they also worshiped fertility Gods such as Baal. Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites had to be reminded that they served a jealous God, and by Him, all things were made. Deuteronomy 6:4 says "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." This is the Jewish confession of faith and it is a statement of exclusitivity. The Lord our God is the only God and he is worthy of ALL our praises.
In the film Avatar, Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington gets introduced to this mystical world and gets drawn in by its attractions. What James Camron successfully achieves is a picture of a beautiful fantasy world, which is far greater than the real world, where creatures can come in unity to the 'Tree of Souls', offer prayers to 'Mo'at' (the earthly God) and she would answer them or keep them protected. In one particular scene, the tribe are under attack from the humans and our heroin Jake offers a prayer of help to the Tree God, and she answers his prayer by coming to their rescue, through the form of other wild creatures.
It is certainly very emotionally moving and gripping for an audience and this leads me to the conclusion that it is dangerous viewing. Our society today has come to except new age viewpoints and not just accept them, but rather embrace them. We as a church of believers in the One, true God and his son Jesus Christ need to stand with the Vatican and say that we do not find it acceptable to promote the disguised worship of false Gods, through the medium of Film and that as Christians, we will not be excited by the hype of James Camrons, Avatar.
Really? How can we not find it acceptable to promote the worship of a god, false or not? What you're in essence arguing for is Christian imperialism where we control what people can and can't do. We tried that before and it didn't go so well!
ReplyDeleteAs for where society is at as a whole right now, I think Avatar summed it up nicely when the ridiculously caricatured general mentioned the Na'vi's deity and all the humans scoffed at the mere thought of a god.
Of course Avatar may not point to the Judeo-Christian god, but I think it does a good job of highlighting and criticising modern suppression of all things spiritual, and opening up the possibility that there might just be something more important in the world than the ego.
Hmm, I think you may be reading my post incorrectly. Im pretty sure that no part of the post argued for Christian imperialism, but rather highlighted the dangers of the mystical world that are found in the movie. Dangers which the Vatican were astute enough to discover and courageous enough to speak out against.
ReplyDeleteAS CHRISTIANS.... we should most definately not find it acceptable to promote the worship of false Gods. I am puzzled at how you could try and argue that point?? I think you may have misinterpreted the statement.
I agree that opening up the possibility that there might be something more important than the ego is a good thing. However I would ask you, if that possibility of something more important doesn't point to Christ, is that a good thing? Not only does it not point to Christ, it points to a spiritual world where Nature rules and God can be found in tree worship. Im sorry Dec, but I see more danger in this subtle draw towards mystical worship, than to the egotistical society that surrounds.
Of course Christians shouldn't promote the worship of false gods. I think we can take that as a given. My point is that it's perfectly acceptable for James Cameron (or anyone else) to promote their religious views, even though we might disagree with them. If you disagree with that then we disagree, but if you don't then I merely misunderstood your post.
ReplyDeleteAs for the whole opening up possibilities thing, I take your point, but in fairness it's not like anyone is going to watch the film and convert to the worship of Eywa. But people will perhaps be more open to talk of deity and the mysterious wonder of creation, which is where Acts 17 is quite instructive. Paul tells the folks in Athens that the unknown god they worship has made himself known in Jesus.
I don't think Christians need to be afraid of the possible dangers posed by films that don't advocate faith in Jesus. A film like Avatar (perhaps) opens up opportunities for meaningful dialogue. Isn't that to be embraced?
After all, how would we feel if people started labeling "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" as dangerous? Or worse, that it promoted the worship of lions?
These are stories designed to impact on our world. I suppose in a way they are all dangerous, the Christian one included. Therefore I don't think there should be a ban on such stories, as there was on The Life of Brian when it first came out (thanks in no small part to the Church). Rather we should be confident in the reality of god's story, be thankful that we can freely express it to others who hold to a different story, and trust in the power of the spirit to lead people into truth as we dialogue and debate about various issues.
Once again Dec, you have read between the lines of my post and have suggested that I am arguing points which are not found anywhere in the original draft.
ReplyDeleteThe post is just suggesting that Christians should not get involved in the hype and not be promoting the movie. Christians should be against the content of the movie and the elevation of pagan worship. Of course the spirit of God can lead people to the truth, even through false preaching and dangerous films such as Avatar. Also it can help people to be more open minded to the spiritual realm and can provide good oppertunity for open dialogue, yet surely when these rare opportune moments arise, we Christians have to be strong in our convictions and strongly opposed to the films content??
The post is a challenge to fellow Christians to stand against it and not to unbelievers!! I think the way the Catholic church spoke out against it was most commendable and I wanted to write to say I was 100% behind their stance.
You seem to be equating "promoting the movie" with "promoting pagan worship". Just as I can recommend The Godfather to someone and not be recommending mafia-related violence, so I feel I can recommend Avatar to someone without attaching an endorsement for the religion of the Na'vi.
ReplyDeleteWhat you seem to be arguing for is for Christians to stand against all things opposed to YHWH, but why pick on Avatar? Hundreds of films are released every year that don't contain Christian content, and are against God either actively or by omitting him from the picture altogether. These films all have stories to sell, and 99% of them are either actively or passively opposed to god. If you (and the Catholic Church) are correct in your assessment about what needs to be done, then surely we should be standing against all these films too. And yet we're both reasonable enough to admit that that's unreasonable.
I would take a Pauline stance on meat to such things. If the film causes you to stumble into tree worship, then don't watch it. But if you can watch it with a good conscience, then go ahead.
After all, if the apostle Paul can be well versed in ancient Greek poetry and all of its pertaining to other gods, how harmful is it for us to be versed in other religions?
I can now see your just being argumentative for the sake of being argumentatative, so this ridiculous debate ends here!
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am, but I disagree all the same. As silly as this sounds, by calling Christians to stand against Avatar, you are calling Christians to stand against Pocahontas. Both seek to promote a similar worldview, so I see little difference between the two films.
ReplyDeleteAre you really prepared to stand against Pocahantas and decry it as harmful? Think of the children!
I rest my case.