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PDF versionKoreans differ with Vatican over Avatar
Feb. 11, 2010
A poster of the film 'Avatar'
SEOUL — Korean theologians have differed with the Vatican over the blockbuster movie Avatar saying the film holds a message against greed.
Vatican publications denounced Avatar for pandering to “all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium.”
Father John Song Yong-min, theology professor of Incheon Catholic University, said that the message of the film was not so serious or dangerous as to shake or confuse the faithful.
“The Church teaches God’s revelation through Jesus which is quite different from the movie’s view on divinity.
“But as God is an unknowable mystery, and such a mystery can be differently expressed according to cultures, so there is room for us to understand Him through the Holy Spirit as ’spiritual energy’,” he said.
The film’s action takes place on Pandora, a utopian planet where an alien tribe has been living in harmony with nature until humans arrive to exploit resources there.
“It is true that the movie contrasts economic development with the preservation of nature. In that we can read a message,” Father Song says.
“The focus of the film is the religiosity of a native tribe on a planet whose life is closely connected with nature amid threats from modern people’s greed,” said Father Francis Cho Hyun-chul, theology professor of the Jesuit-run Sogang University.
He said it would be unfair if Christianity claimed other religions, like the fictional one in the movie, were wrong to use Christian language or concepts like an “absolute God” or pantheism.
Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano and the Vatican Radio criticized Avatar. Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi said such reviews reflected the Pope’s views on confusing nature and spirituality.
Protestant theologian Reverend Koo Mi-jung rejects the Vatican views out of hand.
She said that it went too far to say the movie incited people to nature-worship or animism.
“We don’t see the scene where the tribe in the movie communes with nature as animism. Rather, we see it as [depicting] God as the foundation of our being, which modern people used to Western dualism have lost,” she suggested.
Avatar, which has been packing cinemas worldwide since it opened in mid-December, has been seen by well over 10 million South Koreans.
[Article printed from UCA News: http://www.ucanews.com]
The Vatican and current pope
The Vatican and current pope are just so far removed from reality today.
As others have noted about Rome's outrageous statements, "Really, folks, you can't make this stuff up!"
I see no reason Rome should
I see no reason Rome should even care.
"Vatican publications denounced Avatar for pandering to “all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium.”"
Ecology, taking care of the earth aka God's Creation is already part of Catholic Theology. I think Rome is confusing care of the earth with historical old style paganism (since Rome really lives in the past right now).
My views about this movie are
My views about this movie are also closer to those Korean theologians than the Vatican and I am from the USA...
Perhaps too much concentration on self-flagellation by some has led to far-fetched ways of looking at the everyday world...
UNICUIQUE SUUM! Like the
UNICUIQUE SUUM!
Like the Osservatore Romano's motto says.
http://thesaurus.babylon.com/L%27Osservatore%20Romano
That would be
"Dare a ciascuno il suo" in Italian.
"Chacun a son gout" in French.
"A cada su propio" in Spanish.
"Jedem das seine" in German.
"각각 자기"스스로에게" in Korean.
TO EACH HIS OWN!
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=943169
I'm sure James Cameron (like Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard before him) is relishing the Vatican's panning...and laughing all the way to the bank.
I agree that Father Song
I agree that Father Song sings the truth here and Rome has got the wrong song. The movie decries corporate greed and greedy destruction of the resources of the world (or Pandora's world too), denounces callous destruction of other societies, culture, fauna and life. The great healing spiritual connection, the divine energy of life, is shown in the movie. God is the source of all energy and life. Seems like Rome has little faith.
Maybe because the Vatican acts just like a predatory abuser of life, especially the young and vulnerable, and Rome tries to colonize and use the resources of the world.
The Vatican sees India and Africa as a new source of converts, religious, clergy, yet deems the religious and the clergy who come from non-European countries as having "inferior quality" as Cardinal Rode of the Vatican has so clearly communicated to the world.
Avatar is a deeply
Avatar is a deeply incarnational movie. Its main protagonists become incarnate through their avatars in another world and culture. Short of entering Pandora through an avatar, other humans must put on clear, breathing masks to share the planet's environment. Cameron is a genius in having movie-goers share this immersive experience by also putting on 3-D glasses to more fully enter Pandora's world. Avatar is a movie which advocates full incarnation in coming to know the other. It is disappointing that the Vatican fails to embrace the profoundly incarnational themes of Avatar.
As the old saying in
As the old saying in Hollywood goes: "There's no such thing as bad publicity". Getting free publicity about catholics fighting over a sci-fi film, one with a weak story mind you, can only bolster 'Avatars' chances of topping 'The Hurt Locker' in the Oscar votes (i don;t think it will). If you ask me, 'District 9' was the better sci-fi flick than 'Avatar' which is more a visual spectacle than anything else.
Still would be tough to beat all that free press 'The Passion' received a few years back. Turned otu to be another Jesus movie
Various people in every
Various people in every country get the home loans in various banks, because it's easy and fast.
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