Comments on OSV Daily Take Blog: Does Avatar pander to pantheists?

It is interesting how many people throw the word p...

2009-12-24T00:28:14.667-05:00

It is interesting how many people throw the word pantheism around, Douthat included, without discussing the man who created the term: John Toland. He was a 17th century English Dissenter and philosopher who may have been a friend of John Locke and was a follower of Locke, Spinoza and Bruno. Bruno was put to death by the Inquisition. There materialist religious views were connected to their political views. Catholics often supported a monarchy, Anglicans a constitutional monarchy and materialists or pantheists a republic. One god equals one-man rule whereas god in everything was supported by those who supported popular rule or republicanism.
I have seen Avatar and all I could think when I saw the Na'vi and thier interconnectedness with their planet was Pantheism and John Toland! The movie and Toland are both worth taking a look at. Margaret Jacob's The Radical Enlightenment is a good start for Toland.
It is encouraging if Douthat is right and Cameron is successful in popularizing some of Toland's and Bruno's ideas as they helped move Europe beyond much of the religious superstition and fanaticism and political authoritarianism of the seventeenth century and Eywa knows our planet could deal with a decline in the 21rst century versions of them!

I saw the movie and I was not previously a fan of ...

2009-12-23T12:12:22.036-05:00

I saw the movie and I was not previously a fan of Cameron's work. But I think Douthat (who happens to be one of my favorite columnists) reads too much into it. The movie does not promote pantheism, but in fact the belief in a supreme being, one whose presence cannot be fully participated in without effort on the part of the "creature."

If anything, I would argue that the public response to movies like Avatar, and even the pantheism that Douthat mentions, reveals a natural human desire to believe in something bigger than the self. There are many starting points in pagan beliefs, pantheism, etc., that could in fact be used to reach many people. We miss these opportunities all too often by condemning something we don't fully understand before realizing that there may be some truth to the situation, some truth which has the potential to lead to the fullness of truth. It's called conversion and it has to start somewhere. Our job as Christians is to facilitate that process.

I have not seen "Avatar." I do not see a problem ...

2009-12-22T14:21:45.861-05:00

I have not seen "Avatar." I do not see a problem with the other films Mr. Douthat mentions. May the force be with him!

It strikes me as a science fiction takeoff on "Dan...

2009-12-22T11:00:52.227-05:00

It strikes me as a science fiction takeoff on "Dances With Wolves." Derivative. Not terribly original. Maybe not a bad thing, but also not fodder for widespread acclaim or attack. "Avatar" looks like a very expensive Hollywood movie that played it safe.

I saw Mr Douthat's op-ed, and I think he's reading too deeply into the film. But then again, I haven't watched "Avatar," so I may be all wet on this.