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News & ArtsFriday, February 26, 2010
Religion / Film Avatar...of Satan!
Posted by Eric Grandy on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 2:59 PM
- Demons, duh.
Mars Hill's head dipshit Mark Driscoll ("no homo," "shut up, ladies!" etc.) calls James Cameron's Avatar "the most demonic, satanic film I've ever seen." The PI reports:
"['Avatar'] is new age, satanic, demonic paganism, and people are just stunned by the visuals," he said. "Well, the visuals are amazing because Satan wants you to emotionally connect with a lie."
The whole idiotic sermon (and video!) after the jump.
The world tempts you to sin, to use people, to disobey God, to live for your own glory instead of his own, to be a consumer instead of generous, that's the world system.And if you don't believe me, go see Avatar, the most demonic, satanic film I've ever seen. That any Christian could watch that without seeing the overt demonism is beyond me. I logged on to christianitytoday.com and the review was reflective of Christianity today, very disappointing. See, in that movie, it is a completely false ideology, it's a sermon preached. It's the most popular movie ever made, and it tells you that the creation mandate, the cultural mandate is bad, that we shouldn't, we shouldn't develop culture, that's a bad thing.
Primitive is good and advanced is bad and that we're not sinners, we're just disconnected from the divine life force, just classic, classic, classic paganism, that human beings are to connect, literally, with trees and animals and beasts and birds and that there's this spiritual connection that we're all a part of, that we're all a part of the divine.
It presents a false mediator with a witch. It presents false worship of created things rather than Creator God in absolute antithesis to Romans 1:25, which gives that as the essence of paganism. It has a false incarnation where a man comes in to be among a people group and to assume their identity. It's a false Jesus. We have a false resurrection. We have a false savior. We have a false heaven. The whole thing is new age, satanic, demonic paganism, and people are just stunned by the visuals. Well, the visuals are amazing because Satan wants you to emotionally connect with a lie.
2
Well, a deal with the devil was certainly signed to get everyone to love such a beautiful film with a one-dimensional story to carry it.
3
I really didn't see what was so great about this movie but after hearing secretly gay Driscoll bash on it; hell I'm buying on DVD!!
8
Mark Driscoll is the snake oil peddler to disenfranchised hipster kids. Poor kids. Mark's getting rich off of them while bonking little boys in the back room. If Mark represents God, I'm a followin' Satan for sure. What a tool.
9
I don't even have to press the "play" button to propose that untucked designer shirts and acid-washed jeans also represent "false worship of created things."
10
"human beings are to connect, literally, with trees and animals and beasts and birds and that there's this spiritual connection that we're all a part of, that we're all a part of the divine."
the horror...
the horror...
11
Isn't he a bit late to the party on this one? The Catholic Church condemned Avatar over a month ago.
12
If the kids of the people in that congregation are anything like I was as a teenager, they're running out to watch Avatar again and again to find the secret pagan messages in it now.
The more you tell a teenaged boy that a certain movie or CD or video game is somehow imbued with seductive mystical power the more interested they will become in that thing.
The more you tell a teenaged boy that a certain movie or CD or video game is somehow imbued with seductive mystical power the more interested they will become in that thing.
13
@2 is on it. Truly, a deal was done with the devil to bring his fantasy to the movies.
Oh the pain.
Oh the pain.
14
And once again a prominent Christian conservative completely fails to understand that you can consume material, can entertain ideas, without necessarily converting to them.
I mean, don't get me wrong, that's only one of many things that are stupid about this rant, but it's a common and pernicious failing.
I am also continually boggled by the notion that an omnipotent god could be defied and confounded in his designs by his own creation. If Satan has any power, God made it that way, right? So... shouldn't it be okay to do what Satan wants? Because he's God's intended creation? I mean, I know there's all that crap about it being a "test" and about how we're supposed to resist temptation, but that doesn't hold any goddamn water. These people don't even seem to understand what their own dogma means.
Ugh. All these words and I still can't express how dumb I think this is. It's a jealous hissy-fit that people are paying too much attention to something besides church.
I mean, don't get me wrong, that's only one of many things that are stupid about this rant, but it's a common and pernicious failing.
I am also continually boggled by the notion that an omnipotent god could be defied and confounded in his designs by his own creation. If Satan has any power, God made it that way, right? So... shouldn't it be okay to do what Satan wants? Because he's God's intended creation? I mean, I know there's all that crap about it being a "test" and about how we're supposed to resist temptation, but that doesn't hold any goddamn water. These people don't even seem to understand what their own dogma means.
Ugh. All these words and I still can't express how dumb I think this is. It's a jealous hissy-fit that people are paying too much attention to something besides church.
17
@12 Nails it. How much you wanna bet a sizable portion of the Mars Hill youth set left that church and bee-lined to the movie theater to watch this forbidden film. Shoot, I can legitimately blame my middle school goth phase on being repeatedly told by church folks that Nine Inch Nails was the soundtrack of hell.
19
Remember, Jesus came to earth to preach that we must all emulate the moneylenders, maximize our personal wealth like the Pharisees, and ignore the homeless man beaten by the side of the road.
Oh, and it's easier for a rich man on a camel to get to the top of the Space Needle than it is for a pure and virtuous but not wealth woman, cause she's supposed to be two steps behind him and seen but not heard.
... did I get the Mars Hill creed right?
Oh, and it's easier for a rich man on a camel to get to the top of the Space Needle than it is for a pure and virtuous but not wealth woman, cause she's supposed to be two steps behind him and seen but not heard.
... did I get the Mars Hill creed right?
20
I take extra issue with Avatar being "the most popular movie ever made."
http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjuste…
Jaws should be #1
http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjuste…
Jaws should be #1
21
Those people live in an alternate reality. Facts have no meaning. Myths and superstitions are their reality. Where we see cartoons with story lines, they see devils. Fools.
22
I remain continually amused by dudes like this Driscoll fuck who keep seeing Satan in messianic fictional characters: Jake Sully, Harry Potter, Superman, Aslan the Lion for chrissake! The list goes on and the song remains the same: fiction is fiction. Lies are lies. Satan's not the Prince of Fiction.
23
What irritates me about dumbshits like this is that they believe we, the public, can't possibly enjoy a movie, music, or theater for just the entertainment. Why must they always believe there's some Jesus vs Satan crap in everything?
24
Wouldn't it be great if a bunch of people gussied themselves up with blue stripes and loincloths and went en masse to the lovely Mars Hill megachurch some sunny Sunday?
A girl can dream.......
A girl can dream.......
27
@22
It's true. They get awfully butthurt anytime someone borrows their Jesus without asking, even though they stole it from the neighbors in the first place.
It's true. They get awfully butthurt anytime someone borrows their Jesus without asking, even though they stole it from the neighbors in the first place.
28
"The world tempts you to sin, to use people, to disobey God, to live for your own glory instead of his own, to be a consumer instead of generous, that's the world system."
Says the man who mentions his two home theatres and three TiVos in a tirade against worldliness.
Says the man who mentions his two home theatres and three TiVos in a tirade against worldliness.
29
"If there really were an omnipotent, all-powerful God, then why would He care if we worshipped Him or not? Is He as insecure as Barbara Streisand?"
-Homer Simpson
-Homer Simpson
31
It's pretty obvious that Marc Driscoll identifies w/ the military earthlings in Avatar, and is just bitter that they lost. He probably dreams of flying around in a huge chopper, killing all the non-believers, pagans and teh gays. Gets a big ol' woody just thinkin about it.
33
How could Avatar be "the most demonic, satanic film" he's ever seen (????)
...has he not ever heard of The Excorcist ?
...has he not ever heard of The Excorcist ?
36
What I find interesting is how many vastly different groups of people this movie has managed to piss off. The Chinese think it's about booting people off their land to build a factory in CHINA, and some think it's about dissing the military, or co-opting native american culture, or it's promoting heteronormitive paradigms or according to Mr. Driscoll, it' a great big love note to Satan. It's a fucking movie about fucking blue cat people. MADE UP fucking BLUE cat people. That is all it is. Mark Driscoll and the government of China, to name just two on the list of People Who Can't Tell A Pretty Blockbuster From Reality, need to go rent Little Mermaid and watch that until they calm the fuck down.
37
I have seen the movie yet, but "unobtainium" wasn't enough of a hint that this the realm of fantasy?
I bet he boils puppies because the cuteness is a sign of satan's perversion.
I bet he boils puppies because the cuteness is a sign of satan's perversion.
38
#36...the little mermaid is totally sexist and hetero-normative. Why would that calm anyone down?
BTW, racism and cultural appropriation and mis-representation in main-stream media of indigenous struggles that are still going on in the REAL world right here *IS* reality. How those films normalize racism and appropriation and mis-inform *IS* real. Maybe you find it easy to live off the benefits of genocide and then mock those whose blood you benefit from, and allow others to get filthy rich off that mockery...but don't belittle those of us who use those critical thinking skills and find the situation to be a little disturbing.
Yes, it's a movie. So were all those films Hitler made.
While I don't think Avatar was meant to be propaganda, it has some issues when it comes to racism and indigenous struggles. So, while you may disagree with the complaints of those who look at the film thru the lens of critical race theory, please don't lump that in with illogical rants of sociopathic fundamentalists.
BTW, racism and cultural appropriation and mis-representation in main-stream media of indigenous struggles that are still going on in the REAL world right here *IS* reality. How those films normalize racism and appropriation and mis-inform *IS* real. Maybe you find it easy to live off the benefits of genocide and then mock those whose blood you benefit from, and allow others to get filthy rich off that mockery...but don't belittle those of us who use those critical thinking skills and find the situation to be a little disturbing.
Yes, it's a movie. So were all those films Hitler made.
While I don't think Avatar was meant to be propaganda, it has some issues when it comes to racism and indigenous struggles. So, while you may disagree with the complaints of those who look at the film thru the lens of critical race theory, please don't lump that in with illogical rants of sociopathic fundamentalists.
39
It's been stated before, but this guy is a con man. He uses his power and influence over kids to bring them into his cult (his own version of Christianity) and then suck them dry. I met a guy about 5 or 6 years ago that was gay, 21 and struggling with his homosexuality. We talked about getting coffee, or grabbing a beer but he would continually try to get me to come to Mars Hill events. Eventually I realized that either Driscoll used attractive guys posing as confused gay men as a recruiting mechanism for the Mars Hill church or that he was successfully brainwashing young gays into believing they won't live a happy life unless they reject homosexuality. Either way, that "church" is fucked. I miss the old Paradox, when Jeff Suffering put on good shows.
40
Ding ding ding! Thanks for playing Lydia! Very nice routine. You nailed the compulsories, ( the condescending 'splaining of the state of the "REAL" world, with the added BTW flourish, the veiled accusations of moral turpitude on my part with a graceful butthurt finish) But what really impressed the judges was how well you avoided humor while giving a stunning example of Godwin's Law. 10s across the board! Enjoy your medal!
43
Lissa...thank you thank you!
BTW...my accusations weren't veiled. I was saying that those who are consciously okay with the situation are racists, while reserving the possibility that complete blind stupidity may be make one's ignorance partially excusable.
I do apologize for my lack of a sense of humor about racism and the on-going genocide against native people in the world today. I'll try to work on being soulless and ignorant so I may one day be as "funny" as you.
BTW...my accusations weren't veiled. I was saying that those who are consciously okay with the situation are racists, while reserving the possibility that complete blind stupidity may be make one's ignorance partially excusable.
I do apologize for my lack of a sense of humor about racism and the on-going genocide against native people in the world today. I'll try to work on being soulless and ignorant so I may one day be as "funny" as you.
46
actually avatar has alot of really good points. its great to live in concert with the will of nature. this guy is so full of shit. religion is poison. hes closer to Satan than anything in avatar. except maybe the humans who actually are killing everything. which is closer to what christians do. so i can see why he seems to be ok with that part. also there weren't any missionaries trying to convert the na'vi. guess that pisses him off too.
48
I totally expected this movie to be really preachy preachy about being one with nature and shit after reading Driscoll's review of it. While that was clearly the point, it certainly wasn't all they talked about. In fact, I don't recall hearing anything about "worshipping" anything. While they may have had a deity who wasn't "GOD" (and why would another culture use the same name as we do, or even envision their supreme being exactly as humans do???) and who was *GASP* female - I don't recall them talking about worshipping her so much. In fact, a lot of their death lore seemed to really align with the whole idea of Heaven if you ask me.
I'm sure he was just really offended by all the near nudity and the fact the the main female character was a powerful warrior and teacher who clearly wasn't about to shut up and listen to her man and squeeze out some babies in between preparing his meals.
I'm sure he was just really offended by all the near nudity and the fact the the main female character was a powerful warrior and teacher who clearly wasn't about to shut up and listen to her man and squeeze out some babies in between preparing his meals.
49
@43: It's true, made-up stories that sort of resemble some real life situation where real bad things happened to real people are responsible, retroactively, for the very problems they can be interpreted as portraying.
Thanks for "unpacking" that for us. The cost of your Evergreen education was money well spent.
Thanks for "unpacking" that for us. The cost of your Evergreen education was money well spent.
50
@ Sargon Bighorn, #1:
" What's the lie? It's a fantasy, not reality. "
Which, Avatar or the Bible?
" What's the lie? It's a fantasy, not reality. "
Which, Avatar or the Bible?
52
@ 49 Why thank you! I didn't want to engage Lydia further since I was raised not to mock the afflicted, but I do appreciate that I am not alone in finding her both smug and obtuse.
53
"that human beings are to connect, literally, with trees and animals and beasts and birds and that there's this spiritual connection that we're all a part of, that we're all a part of the divine."
Sounds like Christianity as I was taught it... What a dickwad.
Sounds like Christianity as I was taught it... What a dickwad.
54
I just want to say that, other than the oh-so insufferable Lydia, I love you all. You have multi-handedly renewed my faith in humanity. Mwah!!
55
Boy talk about hate. It was a sermon meant for well being. That doesn't mean he wants all gays to die. it doesn't mean all Mars Hill people are whack jobs. This is america where everyone has a right to believe what they would. It's ok to disagree but to go bashing what other people believe what is this nazi germany. Get the hate out of your heart people.
56
@55-- Driscoll is a whackadoodle. The only thing I hate about him is how he gives Christianity a bad name.
But I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that he doesn't want us gays to die.
But I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that he doesn't want us gays to die.
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