Avatar Is The Work Of The Devil, Says Mark Driscoll

[stonester1]

And, btw, this guy is a calculating douche. He may or may not believe this, but his harping on it is not driven by his beliefs, but the same thing that happens when some loud mouthed evangelist decides to put himself in the spotlight by jumping on someone popular. His flock will eat it up, others will see it and his flock will get bigger. And others will ridicule him (and go so far as to use his statements to reveal their bigotry by coloring the entire faith in the same idiocy), so he will make further bones by an appearance of persecution.

See how all that works?

 

[Michael Chris]

And, btw, this guy is a calculating douche. He may or may not believe this, but his harping on it is not driven by his beliefs, but the same thing that happens when some loud mouthed evangelist decides to put himself in the spotlight by jumping on someone popular. His flock will eat it up, others will see it and his flock will get bigger. And others will ridicule him (and go so far as to use his statements to reveal their bigotry by coloring the entire faith in the same idiocy), so he will make further bones by an appearance of persecution.

See how all that works?

You mean your statement being wrong? Yeah.

 

[scnj]

Don't insult Christians by lumping them in with this guy. He's an extremist.

Given the impossible core beliefs of Christians coupled with a total lack of proof to justify them, you're all extremists.

Whoa, whoa. Don't go lumping me in with Christians either. I'm an atheist and happy about it.

 

[OmahaStar]

Avatar has a video game. Where's Jack Thompson's tirade at?

You're joking, yes? All "christians" are extremists by nature.

Well, sad to see that bigotry is alive and well among science fiction fandom.

I'm pretty sure he had a signature a while back touting his bigotry, but I can't remember what it said exactly.

Are you talking about me? If so, you'd better have a link to back it up, since it never happened.

 

[stonester1]

And, btw, this guy is a calculating douche. He may or may not believe this, but his harping on it is not driven by his beliefs, but the same thing that happens when some loud mouthed evangelist decides to put himself in the spotlight by jumping on someone popular. His flock will eat it up, others will see it and his flock will get bigger. And others will ridicule him (and go so far as to use his statements to reveal their bigotry by coloring the entire faith in the same idiocy), so he will make further bones by an appearance of persecution.

See how all that works?

You mean your statement being wrong? Yeah.

I'm a Christian, and he embarasses me. And I'm not wrong. I've seen it time and again. This play is so common and obvious, at this point it's fekking embarrassing. Yet the gullible from all camps fall for it every time.

Why do you think it keeps recurring?

You and your guy wanna go on about Avatar being "satanic", you go right ahead. It just gives the more level headed believers a chance to say, "Hey, we aren't all nuts."

 

[StarshipDefiant]

It's just a movie, sheesh. The guy made it to make a buck, I can't see it being any more, or any less then that.

 

[issreliant]

I doubt this guy would be making such a fuss if avatar was a sci-fi network original movie, but since its a huge money maker there's money and publicity to be made. also i havent seen anyone leave the theater and renounce god or the christian chruch. its just a movie!!!! didnt harry potter get the same treatment, oh wait that was popular too, i havent heard anything from religious groups about Jesus Christ: Vampire hunter. but than again its a cheap, not as well known movie.

 

[Greg Cox]

This reminds me of the idiot who used to send Tor hate mail complaining that a novel about prehistoric hunter-gatherers was promoting paganism. Like there were a lot of born-again Christians in the Neolithic Era!

He once sent us twenty-three letters in one day!

 

[stonester1]

I doubt this guy would be making such a fuss if avatar was a sci-fi network original movie, but since its a huge money maker there's money and publicity to be made. also i havent seen anyone leave the theater and renounce god or the christian chruch. its just a movie!!!! didnt harry potter get the same treatment, oh wait that was popular too, i havent heard anything from religious groups about Jesus Christ: Vampire hunter. but than again its a cheap, not as well known movie.

I doubt you will hear much from him about the inevitable rip off production from Asylum, either. And it will probably have more nudity in it.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Burn that movie! BURN IT!

 

[JiNX-01]

Pfffttt... Who the hell is Mark Driscoll?

ETA:

Don't insult Christians by lumping them in with this guy. He's an extremist.

You're joking, yes? All "christians" are extremists by nature.

I'm a Christian and I'm not an extremist.

ETA:

Wow, this is getting pretty close to being TNZ-worthy. Go preach someplace else, Michael.

Uh, I thought was kidding?

 

[Greg Cox]

Exactly. The good news is: this will have no impact. People denounced Harry Potter, too, but the books and movies continue to thrive. Heck, there's a Harry Potter theme park opening this month . . . .

 

[David cgc]

First the Communists had their say about Avatar, now the Christians are having theirs:

No, that guy is having his say, not Christians.

But 'the Communists' all speak with one voice, right?

Well, that is the theory...

 

[FordSVT]

Pfffttt... Who the hell is Mark Driscoll?

ETA:

Don't insult Christians by lumping them in with this guy. He's an extremist.

You're joking, yes? All "christians" are extremists by nature.

I'm a Christian and I'm not an extremist.

ETA:

Wow, this is getting pretty close to being TNZ-worthy. Go preach someplace else, Michael.

Uh, I thought was kidding?

Nope, he's one of TNZ's resident Fundamentalist Christians, he's not joking at all.

 

[Michael Chris]

I'm a Christian, and he embarasses me. And I'm not wrong. I've seen it time and again. This play is so common and obvious, at this point it's fekking embarrassing. Yet the gullible from all camps fall for it every time.

Why do you think it keeps recurring?

You and your guy wanna go on about Avatar being "satanic", you go right ahead. It just gives the more level headed believers a chance to say, "Hey, we aren't all nuts."

You give him dishonest motives. I don't see any reason for that. I know many pastors very personally, and many with very similar views to Driscoll (disclaimer: I haven't talked Avatar with any of them, and they are not reformed as Driscoll is) and they are all completely genuine people. This sermon (which the Avatar portion was only a small part) was preached awhile back, and I haven't seen anyone make a big deal out of it until here.

 

[Borgminister]

There was an atheist (extremist) on the Daily Show who wanted to keep Mother Theresa off a stamp.

 

[Immolatus]

I guess he doesn't like the movie

 

[O'Dib]

There was an atheist (extremist) on the Daily Show who wanted to keep Mother Theresa off a stamp.

I don't remember him being identified as an atheist. He sounded like a raging anti-catholic, though. And it's usually the evangelicals who hold most angst against Catholicism. The separation of church and state argument seemed like a lame attempt to hide his true motives. The guy was a conspiracy theory nut, really.

 

[Neroon]

The only reason this thread is still open is because for the moment discussion has returned to the actual topic of the thread instead of personal sniping and off topic screeds. Please do not return to that pettiness.

So that everyone has a chance to see this comment, I will temporarily close the thread. After a time it will be re-opened and hopefully discussion will continue.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

This is fairly true, though I think the film likes spiritualism about nature, as part and parcel of a secular veneration of the earth, than it necessarily believes it as an article of faith. Anyone interested in new agey spirituality and the science behind climate change might just be tickled pink about some way to link the two, which is exactly what the film fantasises about doing.

What always gets lost in this discussion is that there's nothing spiritual about the Na'vi connection to their world, it is presented as a verifiable physical effect of a planet-wide neural network. Their connection to Eywa isn't an article of faith, but a real linkage between physical systems in their bodies and those in the rest of the ecology. This is where the analogy breaks down for me, since belief in Gaia is precisely that, a belief. The Na'vi don't need to believe in Eywa, since it's presence is as obvious as that of the big planet that Pandora orbits around.

QFT & Epic Pwanage!