Wow, what an awesome analysis of the movie...and the Gospel...really nice!!  I especially appreciate your exploration of the philosophical separation of mind, body, spirit...and very much like your conclusion!  God's hope for us as fully integrated beings!

I could also see some other cool story concepts that explore our humanity and life as spiritual beings.  I liked how the movie explored the concept of initiation through a leader guided process and ceremonial presentation of status in the community.  I also liked how it showed the story concept of 'small world / big world' (the salvation / gospel story...you know where one is going along ok in a familiar life, but than discovers a bigger world that is actually at war, with unfamiliar rules, and there's a critical part for us to play).  I also liked how the movie explored male/female roles and relationship.  I'm so aware of how women have more status in society than in any other time in history, but its very new...so it feels like we (both men and women) are trying to find the joy, peace, and place in that...and its all very hopeful to me, but very worthy of exploration!

As you discussed I also was intrigued by the movies exploration of a God and relationship with her people.

Again...a really awesome discussion with thoughtful and hopeful points that you raised...thanks!

This is a very interesting and thought provoking post.  I can't elaborate more at the moment, but I do hope to return and add more.

I already wrote about this as well.  We're supposed to see their god as real and our god as nothing more than ideology.  Completely moronic.  I have a complete review up and it's written from someone who isn't a conformist liberal.

my immediate thought was: "wow, this is the way God intended for it to be all along." what i mean is, God intended for mankind to be in perfect harmony with nature, and when He restores the earth to what it was supposed to be, the Bible says we will be able to sit in the fields with LIONS and be at peace with them. i could imagine that on that new earth, the we will be even at peace with the dinosaurs, and even ride them in the sky like they did. the possibilities are endless and i believe it will be even more beautiful in God's design for our future.

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 

@BiblicalTruth2@xanga - Yes, it is important for all of us to remember that while God created these things, we should not hold them up as gods themselves. It would be worshiping false idols. We need to always remember and worship God Himself, not just simply give the things He has given us the title of a god and worship them in His stead.

At least, that's what I get from this Scripture.

@BiblicalTruth2@xanga - I was worried it would sound weird to people reading it, but that really is how I feel about the subject. To me, this makes sense. And its why it kind of makes me sad when people, especially Christians, sometimes say that we shouldn't try to protect nature. Why shouldn't we? Get rid of the politics behind things like global warming and whether its occurring or is a problem or not. Just get down to basics with it, God gave us these things and whether or not one thinks that these things are in danger at this moment, shouldn't we protect it from ever being in danger?

I sometimes think that politics, for some Christians, becomes an excuse to forget God and what He gave us and the teachings of the Bible. :/ Which is extremely far removed from the way a Christian should act...

But, sometimes I'm afraid to mention that, because it often might cause bad ripple-effects in discussions and whatnot, and when arguments start a lot of times nothing really gets accomplished through them except negative emotions that we should really be trying to distance ourselves from. :/

@tracezilla@lovelyish - I think a lot of what you've said comes from Genesis 1:28, and the history of Christians trying to conquer the earth in their name. [not that there aren't cultures who haven't done this also]

Though the storyline is very overdone (Pocahontas meets Dances with Wolves, meets Neo of the Matrix), I still found it a good movie to place yourself into and experience the new experiences of Pandora (not just because it was in 3-D).

I can see some of the people's comments about Jesus coming to earth as an Avatar, but nowhere did I recognize James Cameron trying to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If anything, what I totally recognized was the animalism/spirituality of the Native
American (speaking and giving honor to the beast as you kill
it for food, the plants have souls, deity in the form of the created
beings and plants, ancestor-worship and communication, etc.), mixed in
with some hints of New Age.

I think the danger of trying to see the Gospel in it is that once you think you find it, your next action is to compare your faith and relationship with the Lord, to theirs in Eywa, then respond by questioning your faith and salvation by wondering if you're good enough, working hard enough, or should behave more as they did (Satan's good at confusing us like that).

In terms of nature, as Christians and people of God, we were created to tend the land, care
for it, live off it, and subdue it, not destroy it with drilling, garbage mounds, polluting, smog, global warming, or dumping nuclear waste into our water supply.  We were also created to rule over
the beasts,
care for and watch over them, and yes, even live off of them, not to hunt them for game or abuse them in illegal fights, pump them full of drugs so they can run faster in races, or turn them into kill-shelters when the nice apartment we want to move into doesn't take pets.

In terms of messages in the movie, I saw:
1) Promotion of New Age and Native American spiritual religions (harmony and oneness in the universe...possibly some of Cameron's own messed up beliefs?)
2) A reminder of America's mistreatment to the Native Americans (Geronimo would be proud)
3) Big-time cries for Justice
4) Maybe even a political take against the world's behavior towards natural resources.
5) A paralyzed guy trying to figure out his purpose in life (turned prophet or savior-role)

Like I said, very Matrix / Dances with Wolves-storyline.

I think one of my biggest questions was, if the Na'vi knew Jake Sully and Grace were "lifeless bodies" (I think they mentioned something about demons in the description, too), then why is that each time they "plugged back in", the Na'vi always greeted them back as one among them, as if nothing ever happened?  Even the guy who was totally against Jake Sully.
I understand there's plans for a three-quel.  It'll be interesting to see where they go from here.

I am an English teacher here in South Korea...my student is a reporter for a newspaper, an entertainment reporter. She interviewed James Cameron about this movie. This movie has NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD...though I am so glad that we can take things from movies that make us THINK of God (like at the end of the movie "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage, which looks like Adam & Eve's story from Genesis). In fact, James Cameron sounded really cocky about his work on this movie...(when I listened to his voice to translate it for my student, I could hear the cockiness) But praise God that the Word of the Bible says that Jesus is "in everything, through everything & over everything." We can find Him in anything because He is that. :)

Well written.

I certainly noted the parallelism OR the contrast/contradiction between the "religion" of Avatar and that of Christ. But as @MDrabing83@xanga noted, there are things that we can still derive from what might otherwise be common, unsanctified, sources to still get our minds truly thinking about God.

CS Lewis, in paraphrase, saw other religions not so much as "false religions", but more like stepping stones towards the one, true Lord God.

Despite my love for Jack, I'm not sure I would fully agree, as I tend to lean towards a slight extreme view that if it's not TRUTH, it's a lie. Period. However, that's a very loose extreme stand I hold, as I also recognize that something can be closer to being true than others. (For instance, we can say the sky is blue (generally, red (totally incorrect) or a very specific shade of blue. The specific blue would be the truth. The red would be the lie. And the general blue wouldn't be the truth, but still very much close to it... There is one God, but other religions do share similar beliefs that resemble the true God, even though the whole of those beliefs do not match up to the whole truth.)

One other thing that comes to mind is the idea that a balance of "good" and "evil" was needed. How interesting a thought that we think of "evil" as the opposite of rather than the lack of good. I wonder how many people have truly understood that if we needed a balance for good and evil, why do we so often cry foul when evil occurs? Isn't it just setting things in proper balance? We should be happy then, right? But rather, the majority of us strive for what we percieve to be good (whther it's actually good or not is for another time). It's not a balance we are after but perfect. We're yearning for that time before evil became a factor...before goodness died in our hearts.

Eywa needs to "bond" with a Bible.

@Pastor_AndyG@xanga - I hear you on your questions and points there. Especially your last thought about "plugging in" and being seen as demons in Na'vi bodies. But I guess that just goes to show how a true man-created religion is going to fall through. Though, that's not to say that I think Cameron was trying too hard. Seems it was just a story he really wanted to make come alive. He did well on that effort.

hey guys, thanks for your input and response to this post. i read through all of them, but since i can't respond to all of what you said, i'll just make a few specific comments. @tracezilla@lovelyish - i feel the exact same way about nature! especially with no matter how brutal and cold winter is, it's always followed by spring. trees not only come back to life, but they remember how to live again. reminds me how a heart that's been cold or broken can come alive again. and i'm with you on protecting nature, and speaking up on these issues without turning them into arguments. @Pastor_AndyG@xanga - right, i hadn't actually intended to suggest that Cameron wanted to convey a Christian message, and i agree that it was much more of an animistic type beliefset that Pandora's folks had. the ending of the movie was a complete let-down, with the army leaving the planet (as if as soon as they leave, they won't be coming back with reinforcements.) if they do have a threequel, i hope they work on the script... @NaitoOfNarnia@xanga - right, i think the problem with pantheistic religions is in its notion of balance between good and evil, as though the ideal universe is one where there's just enough wars and rape and murder to outweigh peaceful efforts and love. @MDrabing83@xanga - whoa, did Cameron really say it had nothing to do with God? maybe it was just my imposing meanings on things that aren't really there, then. @god_stories@xanga - i'm glad you liked the post! and definitely, i wish that scientists and religious people could be in better harmony with each other. in the movie, it happened, but only at the expense of reducing the supernatural to the natural. the trick is in appreciating both sources of truth in ways that don't diminish one or the other.