Avatar: Dances With Wolves in Another World - Part 1

I saw the movie Avatar last weekend.
Where to begin?

• Avatar – the most expensive film ever made, with a budget in the neighborhood of $300 million.
• Avatar – the film with (perhaps) the most pre-release hype ever.
• Avatar – the film that reached $500 million in U.S. box office receipts faster than any other film.
• Avatar – with a world-wide box-office over $1.6 billion

There are LOTS of worldview issues to discuss – probably too many for a single blog post. But first, I want to start with some reviews and general comments about the film – especially for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

In the last couple of weeks, before I ever saw Avatar, I asked two people about it whose opinions about film I respect.

One conversation went something like this:
Friend 1: AMAZING effects. . . [long awkward pause]
Me: And that's about all?
Friend 1: Yea. Weak plot and characters. Too predictable.

The second conversation went something like this:
Friend 2: AMAZING technology. . . [long awkward pause]
Me: And that's about all?
Friend 2: Yea. Weak plot and characters. WAY too formulaic.

It seems that even some professional film reviewers agree. Of course, some were so awed by the special effects – to the point where their rational faculties were impaired – that they couldn't say anything bad about the film. A few others were able to see beyond the hype and the computer-generated world to actually write a balanced review:

• The narrative would be ho-hum without the spectacle. But what spectacle! Avatar is dizzying, enveloping. . .
  David Edelstein (New York Magazine)
  
• For all the grandeur and technical virtuosity of the mythical 3-D universe director Cameron labored for years to perfect, his characters are one-dimensional, rarely saying anything unexpected.
  Claudia Puig (USA Today)
  
• Along with the eye-popping visuals in writer-director James Cameron's sci-fi epic, there's also a lot of eye-rollingly silly stuff.
  Joe Neumaier (NY Daily News)
  
• If only Cameron, who also wrote the script, had spent as much time on the story as he did the effects he uses to tell it.
  Bill Goodykoontz (AZ Republic)
  
• The muscular, coming-atcha visuals trump the movie's camp dialogue and corny conception, but only up to a point.
  J. Hoberman (Village Voice)
  
• As visual spectacle, Avatar is indelible, but as a movie it all but evaporates as you watch it.
  Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly)
  [Above reviews excerpted from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avatar/ ]
  
• The film has "powerful" visual accomplishments but "flat dialogue" and "obvious characterization."
  Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times)
  

(If you've seen the film, feel free to skip past this next part. I want to provide a little context for anyone who hasn't yet seen the film.)

So what's it all about? Without giving too much away, here's a fairly short synopsis of a very long movie (162 minutes – that's 2 hours, 42 minutes!).

Warning! This synopsis may contain plot spoilers.

Synopsis: In the 22nd century, Earth is a dying planet due to the damages caused by (guess who?) humans. Six light-years away is a small moon of the planet Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri star system. The moon's name is Pandora.

People have traveled to Pandora and set up mining facilities and "to get their hands on a substance called (no kidding) Unobtanium" (Keneth Turan, LA Times). Unobtanium is believed to be the cure-all for Earth's ecological problems.

Seriously? Unobtainium? With a budget of $300 million, they couldn't hire writers with any more creativity than that?

The world of Pandora is populated with a race of primitive indigenous human-like creatures called Na'vi, and the natural world is a beautiful rainforest-like environment filled with exotic flora and fauna.

A paralyzed war veteran (Jake) volunteers to take part in the Avatar program on Pandora. At the heart of the Avatar program are two elements:

• genetically-engineered Avatars, which are hybrids of human and Na'vi DNA.
• a pod system (similar to the 1999 film The Matrix) where humans are hooked to machines and their minds/personalities/souls are united to the Avatars. The humans remotely control the Avatar hybrids; they are basically human minds in Na'vi bodies. Their human bodies are never in danger, but they are able to safely navigate the planet and interact with the Na'vi.

Jake is (grudgingly) received by the Na'vi leaders. The clan's chief assigns his daughter, Neytiri, the task of training Jake to become one of them. Before very long (Jake's time on Pandora only lasts a little over three months) the two have fallen for each other, even though Neytiri is already spoken for.

"As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people" © 20th Century Fox.

(Now maybe the title of this post makes sense - assuming you saw Dances With Wolves).

"In their race to mine for Pandora's resources, the humans clash with the Na'vi, leading to casualties on both sides"
(http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html).

Long story short: The humans choose to attack in order to obtain the Unobtainium. Jake, Neytiri, and the rest of the Na'vi fight to save their homeland, their culture, and their traditional way of life. And in the end, the good guys win.

OK - enough for now. . . Next post, I'll try to cover the plethora of competing worldview issues.
(I hope I haven't opened a Pandora's box!)

Biblical Illiteracy

(Hebrews 4:12 NIV) For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.


Michael J Vlach, identifies nine issues facing the evangelical church.

http://www.theologicalstudies.org/page/page/1572472.htmThe 9 Most Important Issues Facing the Evangelical Church

Each one of these issues certainly has its importance, but on a teaching practitioner level and identifying specifically with Biblical worldview issues, I gravitate to the issue of “Biblical Illiteracy”.

M. J. Vlach points out,

“Other disturbing findings that document an overall lack of knowledge among churchgoing Christians include the following:
-- The most widely known Bible verse among adult and teen believers is "God helps those who help themselves"-which is not actually in the Bible and actually conflicts with the basic message of Scripture.
-- Less than one out of every ten believers possesses a biblical worldview as the basis for his or her decision-making or behavior.
-- When given thirteen basic teachings from the Bible, only 1% of adult believers firmly embraced all thirteen as being biblical perspectives.
The evangelical movement has traditionally been based on a strong commitment to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, but how can it remain strong when biblical illiteracy is becoming the norm?”

Some contributing factors to Biblical illiteracy are:

Replacement literature.

Neglect of sound teacher study.

Lack of teacher orientation.

An overall neglect of a consistent curriculum building concerning: a connection to what has been taught Biblically and what should be taught Biblically and a yearly assessment of progress.
Churches neglecting Bible study.

Biblical literacy should be fostered in our churches from “the cradle to the grave”. We must have a certain systematic order of teaching and training in the Scriptures. No one should be exempt. Each believer should hold their leaders responsible and hold ourselves responsible in making sure we and our posterity is never illiterate.

“In the Bible more than any other book are reviews needful and valuable, Not only does the Bible most require and most repay repeated study, but most of all ought Bible knowledge to be familiar to us. Its words and precepts should rest clear and precise in the thought as the dictates of duty.” John Milton Gregory, The Seven Laws of Teaching

Eutychus

Liberal Arts

I read the Newsweek article by Jon Meacham, In Defense of the Liberal Arts, which caused me to remember and to be thankful and reflect on my education.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/229955
Meachem made several points that I believe important.
1. “Belief in liberal-arts colleges like Sewanee (or other small liberal arts colleges, what ever economic level), however, is about more than sentiment.” Italics mine.
2. “It is just possible, though, that the traditional understanding of the liberal arts may help us in our search for new innovation and new competitiveness. The next chapter of the nation's economic life could well be written not only by engineers but by entrepreneurs who, as products of an apparently disparate education, have formed a habit of mind that enables them to connect ideas that might otherwise have gone unconnected. As Alan Brinkley, the historian and former provost of Columbia, has argued in our pages, liberal education is a crucial element in the creation of wealth, jobs, and, one hopes, a fairer and more just nation.”
3. “We need to make sure that the liberal arts prepare people for a good life, not just the good life.”
The ideas presented by Jon Meacham are good, but remain incomplete to me. I believe in a Christian Liberal Arts education and in my belief I observe, hear and feel the incompleteness of Meachem view. (I am not discounting Jon Meachem points, I believe they are important, but I do believe that they need to be amplified in light of Christian values.) Italics mine. The first and foremost task is to establish and build a Christian Worldview: A systematic philosophy of or insight into the movement and plan of the entire universe. “It's an understanding that Christianity and its values provide a springboard to explore truth in all its dimensions.” This is “the crucial element”. The following are also important: elements.
The historic, evangelical, biblical faith;
Education, not theological indoctrination;
Scholarship which is integrally Christian;
Institutional and individual lifestyles guided by the teaching of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit
Offering a wide range of study and service opportunities;
Reflecting, both in programs and people, the rich mosaic of the body of Christ;
Maturing its students in all dimensions of human development: physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual
Applying biblical principles to society and culture.
http://www.gordon.edu/page.cfm?iPageID=385&iCategoryID=31&About&Mission_Statement
There is enough to think about in the above.

“Those of you who share an affinity for small institutions know the power of sentiment at such moments—how the old rooftops remind us of when we were young, and all of that. Arguing the interests of Dartmouth before the Supreme Court, Daniel Webster captured this feeling well: "It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it."”

Eutychus, Gordon College, Class of ‘61

Is Scripture REALLY their authority?

In a telephone survey of 1,002 senior church leaders conducted in October 2008, LifeWay Research discovered some surprising - and conflicting - results. Here's one sample:

"Among pastors who strongly disagree that gay marriage should be legal, 98 percent strongly agree with the statement "Our church considers Scripture to be the authority for our church and our lives." In contrast, among pastors who do not strongly disagree that gay marriage should be legal, 71 percent strongly agree that Scripture is their authority.

Similar differences occur between pro-life and pro-choice pastors. Ninety-seven percent of pro-life pastors, compared to 65 percent of pro-choice pastors, strongly agree with the above statement regarding Scriptural authority. Also, 97 percent of pastors who speak to their church on the unborn several times a year or more strongly agree Scripture is their authority."
http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=169835

So if I understand correctly, some who claim "Scripture is their authority" are diametrically opposed to others who also claim "Scripture is their authority."

Of course, there is always an element of interpretation in the reading of Scripture. We have to consider the human author, the original audience, the historical setting, etc. This is all a part of doing proper exegesis.

But there is a limit. The historical context, for example, can't be used as an excuse for "these verses just don't apply to us today." Some verses have been superseded and don't apply (such as the ceremonial laws) - not because the historical context of the Old Testament is irrelevent to today's "enlightened" readers, but because of the death of Christ on the cross.

Perhaps these differing interpretations are due more to faulty worldviews and differing definitions about just what they mean by "Scripture is their authority." Far too many people (including pastors, it appears) define that phrase to mean "Scripture is my authority in all things related to 'spiritual' matters: prayer, devotions, church matters, etc." Instead of this very myopic understanding of the word "authority," we need to understand Colossians 1:15-20 where Paul teaches about the preeminence of Christ over all things:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Call me crazy, but I take the phrase "all things" to mean "all things." I realize that's a radical - even dangerous - interpretation!

Update on the Scandal

The Scandal of The Evangelical Mind--15 Years Later

On Friday, October 2, Gordon hosted a day-long conference on the theme “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: 15 Years Later.” The keynote speaker was Mark Noll, a leading historian of American Evangelicalism and longtime professor at Wheaton College; more recently he has taught at the University of Notre Dame. Speakers from the Boston area joined Noll in taking stock, 15 years on, of his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994), a carefully reasoned case for why intellectual endeavor is a necessary component of our service to God. The conference sessions amounted to a report card on how Evangelicals are doing in this area, with results both sobering and inspiring. The impression made on this observer was simple: Noll’s book is as important and relevant as ever. Highlights from the conference suggest why this is so.

The morning session examined American Evangelicals’ longstanding faith in popular authority figures as opposed to scholars trained in elite centers of learning. Speakers presented examples of self-proclaimed experts who command outsized influence in today’s evangelical churches on subjects ranging from American history to the earth and biological sciences. Unfortunately, through books, lectures, and Internet websites, these Christian pundits often point their audiences away from the best available scholarship. Although amusing at times, these presentations were ultimately disturbing. A related point was made by David Hempton, an historian of British Methodism who teaches and maintains an evangelical presence at Harvard Divinity School. A native of Northern Ireland, Hempton noted the historic tendency on the part of American Christians to be activists, to turn compassion into practical ministry—a tendency that has earned respect even from extreme liberals. Yet Hempton also noted a discrepancy: Evangelicals have thus far had little influence on the theoretical analysis of major social problems.

Are there role models that illustrate what a Christian intellectual should look like? Several conference speakers pointed to the 18th-century American pastor Jonathan Edwards. Not only was Edwards the premier theologian of the Great Awakening—the revival that swept the American colonies in the 1740s—but he also grappled with the most advanced scientific and philosophical ideas of his day. Surely Edwards would be dismayed to see how his spiritual descendents have largely failed to engage with and contribute to learning in our own time. On a more hopeful note, the Canadian scholar James C. Wallace of Boston University’s Institute of Culture, Religion and World Affairs, spoke on the topic “American Evangelicals: Smarter than People Realize? The Growth of an Evangelical Intelligentsia.”

Mark Noll challenged the Gordon community as a whole at Friday convocation. Intellectual endeavor is necessary, he argued, if Christians as a body are to glorify God. Talented young people should be encouraged to consider dedicating themselves to this high calling. Surely Gordon College should continue its own dedication to helping prepare a new cohort of Christians to become cutting-edge scientists, scholars and social thinkers in addition to training activist “doers” in all walks of life and ministry. Thus we fulfill a key part of our vocation as a Christian liberal arts institution.

Watch an interview with Mark Noll, and his Nov. 6 Convocation address, "Faith Seeking Understanding: The Evangelical Imperative for Evangelical Intellectual Life," both on Gordon's Youtube channel.

Stephen Alter, Ph. D., is associate professor of history at Gordon, where he has taught for nine years. His courses focus on modern America and Britain, including the history of science and scholarship. His latest book is William Dwight Whitney and the Science of Language (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).

http://www.gordon.edu/article.cfm?iArticleID=861
http://www.gordon.edu/stillpoint

Eutychus

Laboring Together, Life!! Life!! Life!!

Last night (December 20) the Whiteriver Clinic was broken into and set on fire. We don’t know much. It was the work of more than one guy. Before they set it on fire, they opened the Fatherhood Store and took most everything out.The area around the clinic was strewn with things from inside. They also took T.V.’s, VCR’s and other items and threw them about outside. They then set fire in the back of the building in the Mommy Store. The fire did not bring down the building (why I will never know as it is so old) but it gutted the inside of the back area and caused extreme smoke and heat damage to the rest of the rooms. A.T.F. is investigating and they were bringing up a specialist from the valley to gather evidence. This is a Federal offense. The agent very gingerly asked if we were involved in “anything controversial” in our ministry. You can imagine what they hear about Crisis Pregnancy Centers, abortion clinic bombings and the like. I assured him that even though we are a CPC, our work was mostly pre-natal and parenting and that the culture in Whiteriver is very Pro-Life. One amazing thing that happened was after they started the fire and took off running someone living behind the clinic ran after them, tackled one and held him down until the police came. He is now in jail. This is amazing…people just don’t take those personal risks down there. It was a bright spot for us.

When we think of everything we had in there it is a bit overwhelming. We had just gotten two new computers. We had a new ultrasound machine a large (very large) screen T.V. and of course our beautiful, huge Mommy Store. But these are things that can be replaced. One greater challenge will be where do we go from here?

Available buildings in Whiteriver are very, very scarce. You have to go through the tribe to rent anything. This building was perfect (with the exception of the terrible plumbing and the inability to adequately heat such a huge area) and our program down there grew because we had so much area to expand into. Our staff of six are amazing. They have 400 to 600 visits a month and both our men and women go into the jail to teach parenting classes. We were really making an impact. And the devil could not tolerate that. Our staff will continue doing classes from the Assembly of God church but without a mommy store which provides so much needed assistance to the moms and dads.

As our staff stood outside the building, clients would come and cry as they looked at the devastation. This ministry is so loved by so many there. We are looking at our options, one which is to lease a large lot and build or place a modular on it. Whatever we do, build, remodel or use a modular, we feel strongly that the people of Whiteriver are the ones who should do it. As I stood there a man and wife came by and he said, “I’m a carpenter, what can I do to help?” The one thing they can’t do is raise funds so the ministry will be doing this. But the work will be done by the Apache people.

Please join us as we seek God’s plan in this. His plan was so evident when Whiteriver got started that we know He has many blessings to come out of these ashes. In the busyness of CHRISTmas, please say a prayer for this situation when you think of it. When I first heard I cried hard, but I do believe all will be not just well, but much better. We’ll keep ya posted! God bless you all.

Dinah Monahan


Kimberley Hash
Executive Director
Living Hope Women's Centers
(928) 537-9032 Office
(928) 205-5202 Cell
1000 E. Huning
Show Low, AZ 85901

Eutychus

Let's Keep Christmas

Let's Keep Christmas
A Sermon by Peter Marshall
Changes are everywhere. Many institutions and customs that we once thought sacrosanct have gone by the board. Yet there are few that abide, defying time and revolution.
The old message: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" is still the heart of Christmas. It can be nothing else. And this message can neither be changed - nor quite forgotten although there are many things that tend to make us forget.
The idea of Santa Claus coming in a helicopter does not ring true. No interior decorator with a fondness for yellow or blue could ever persuade me to forsake the Christmas colors of red and green.
I must confess that modernistic Christmas cards leave me cold. I cannot appreciate the dogs and cats the galloping horses the ships in full sail . . . or any of the cute designs that leave out the traditional symbols of the star . . . the manger . . . the wise men on their camels.
Angels there must be - but not modernistic angels in evening dress with peroxide permanents.
There is no need to search for stories new and different. There is only one after all - and no modern author can improve it:
" And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they where sore afraid.
"And the angel of the Lord said unto them, Fear not, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
We all fee the pressure of approaching Christmas. The traffic is terrible. You can't find a parking space . . . The stores are crowded . . . Mob scenes make shopping a nightmare.
You are thinking about presents - wondering what in the world to get for so-and-so. You can think of friends and loved ones who are so hard to shop for. You can't think of anything they need (which is rather strange when you take time to think of it).
Maybe there is nothing in the store that they need. But what about some token of love- what about love itself . . . and friendship . . . and understanding . . . and consideration . . . and a smile . . . and a prayer? You can't but these things in any store, and these are the very things people need. We all need them . . . Blessed will they be who receive them this Christmas or at any time.
Let's not permit the crowds and the rush to crowd Christmas out of our hearts . . . for that is where it belongs. Christmas is not in the stores - but in the hearts of people.
Let's not give way to cynicism and mutter that "Christmas has become commercialized." It never will be - unless you let it be. Your Christmas is not commercialized, unless you have commercialized it.
Let's not succumb to the sophistication that complains: "Christmas belongs only to the children." That shows that you have never understood Christmas at all, for the older you get, the more it means, if you know what it means. Christmas, though forever young, grows old with us.
Have you ever been saying, "I just can’t seem to feel the Christmas spirit this year"? That's too bad. As a confession of lack of faith, it is rather significant.
You are saying that you feel no joy that Jesus came into the world . . . You are confessing that His Presence in the world is not a reality to you . . . Maybe you need all the more to read the Christmas story all over again, need to sit down with the Gospel of Luke and think about it.
I thank God for Christmas. Would that it lasted all year. For on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, all the world is a better place, and men and women are more lovable. Love itself seeps into every heart, and miracles happen.
When Christmas doesn’t make your heart swell up until it nearly bursts . . . and fill your eyes with tears . . . and make you all soft and warm inside . . . then you'll know that something inside of you is dead.
We hope that there will be snow for Christmas. Why? It is not really important, but it is so nice, and old-fashioned, and appropriate, we think.
Isn’t it wonderful to think that nothing can really harm the joy of Christmas . . . Although your Christmas tree decorations will include many new gadgets, such as lights with bubbles in them . . . it's the old tree decorations that means the most . . . the ones you save carefully from year to year . . . the crooked star that you've been so careful with.
And you'll bring out the tiny manger, and the shed, and the little figures of the Holy Family . . . and lovingly arrange them on the mantel or in the middle of the dining room table. And getting the tree will be a family event, with great excitement for the children . . . And there will be a closet into which you will forbid your husband to look, and he will be moving through the house mysteriously with bundles under his coat, and you'll pretend not to notice . . .
There will be a fragrance of cookies baking spices and fruitcake . . . and the warmth of the house shall be melodious with the lilting strains of "Silent Night, Holy Night." And you'll listen to the wonderful Christmas music on the radio, some of the songs will be modern - good enough music perhaps - but it will be the old carols, the lovely old Christmas hymns that will mean the most.
And forests of fir trees will march right into our living rooms . . . There will be bells on our doors and holly wreaths in our windows . . .
And we shall sweep the Noel skies for their brightest colors and festoon our homes with stars.
There will be a chubby stocking hung by the fireplace . . . and with finger to lip you will whisper and ask me to tip-toe, for a little tousled head is asleep and must not be awakened.
And finally Christmas morning will come. Don't worry - you'll be ready for it - You'll catch the spirit all right, or it will catch you which is even better.
And then you will remember what Christmas means - the beginning of Christianity . . . the Second Chance for the world . . . the hope for peace . . . and the only way. The promise that the angels sang is the most wonderful music the world has ever heard. "Peace on earth and good will toward men"
It was not a pronouncement upon the state of the world then nor is it a reading of the international barometer of present time . . . but it is a promise - God's promise - of what will come to pass.
The years that are gone are graveyards in which all the persuasions of men have crumbled into dust. If history has any voice, it is to say that all these ways of men lead nowhere. There remains only one way - The Way - untried, untested, unexplored fully. . . the way of Him Who was born a Babe in Bethlehem.
In a world that seems not only to be changing, but even to be dissolving, there are tens of millions of us who want Christmas to be the same . . . with the same old greeting "Merry Christmas" and no other.
We long for the abiding love among men of good will which the season brings . . . believing in this ancient miracle of Christmas with its softening, sweetening influence to tug at our heart strings once again.
We want to hold on to the old customs and traditions because they strengthen our family ties, bind us to our friends, make us one with all mankind for whom the Child was born, and bring us back again to the God Who gave His only begotten son, that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
So we will not "spend" Christmas . . .nor "observe" Christmas.We will "keep" Christmas - keep it as it is . . .in all loveliness of its ancient traditions.May we keep it in our hearts,that we may be kept in its hope.
http://www.labrier.com/LetsKeepChristmas.html
Merry Christmas!!
Eutychus

How contemptuous!!

Yes, Woods has fallen. Yes!! He has sinned.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2009/12/14/the-travail-of-tiger-woods-lessons-not-to-be-missed/

The travesty of the sin committed in the Woods peccadilloes has been enormous, as pointed out by Albert Mohler. But, take note of the Media and their action in orchestrating the stoning. These Pharisees of the present hide behind their social self righteousness, personal agendas and hate. I have not read one article or heard one tube commentator who offered a cup of kindness, reconciliation efforts or forgiveness paths. The media passed out the stones and cheered the killing. How contemptuous!!

Eutychus