Conservative Christians Bash Avatar, Suprised?
I finally found some time to see James Cameron’s Avatar this week—an amazing film! Go and see it in 3D while you have the chance. I disagree with most of the critics, the story is good too.
I later heard that political conservatives are criticizing the film for being anti-American, e.g. see “Avatar Arouses Conservative’s Ire” from the L.A. Times. Are you serious?
Also came across this op-ed piece on Religion Dispatches about conservative Christians bashing the film. Supposedly it’s a threat to Christian beliefs. However, I wonder if that’s really the issue? Seems to me whenever the American way of life is questioned—as Avatar seems to do at times, many Christian conservatives think its attacking their faith as well. That’s why the last paragraph in “Conservative Christians v. Avatar” gets to the heart of the issue for me:
The artistry of Avatar is not a threat to Christian belief, but it is a threat to arrogant assumptions about our own exclusive claims to truth, power, and wealth. Dig deeply enough and it becomes clear that it is in fact these desires which many people actually worship (after layering a veneer of Christianity over them). Unlike our fragile, human egos, the God of all creation is not threatened when we explore all of the possible permutations of that creation. Nor is God minimized when we seek to understand those who honor that creation in different ways.
Amen!
Themocracy
American Christianity has to a large degree been “Americanized”, the Cross converted into a symbol of American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny.
I’d agree with Glenn. Despite claims to the contrary in our nation’s (USA) early history, the separation of Church and State is a bit of a myth. And I’m talking less about structural separation here, than about separation in minds and hearts. Affronts against Christianity (whether abroad or at home) are seen as “Anti-American”, and affronts on America are frequently re-articulated as “Anti-Christian.”
This is just a note having little referece to the topic of discussion. The word used as the title of the movie, “Avatar” comes out of Hinduism. It refers to a descent of God into human form. Jesus is definitely an avatar. To Christians, he is the only avatar. In Hinduism one of the more recent avatars, besides Jesus, was Krishna. He is usually depicted in paintings as having a dark blue skin color.