Sideways News

James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic could reflect a shift to nature-based religion

James Cameron's smash hit movie Avatar has been chastised by the Catholic Church's Vatican Radio for depicting nature as "a divinity to worship".

However, the film could be reflecting a real-world shift to nature-based religions, as Adriana Barton for the Globe and Mail reports.

Ms Barton points to a new book, Dark Green Religion by Bron Taylor, which suggests nature-based spirituality is not only undergoing a renaissance, but giving religious institutions a run for their money.

The blue-skinned Na'vi people featured in Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic worship a biological force that unifies their planet and all its life forms.

Similarly, Dr Taylor, professor of religion at the University of Florida, has noted that western society is in a dramatic shift away from monotheism.

In many cases, Dr Taylor says, people in Europe and the US - including former believers - are turning to Mother Earth to fill a spiritual void.

While church attendance is undergoing a well-documented decline, an increasing number of spiritual seekers are forming congregations in nature's cathedrals - mountain valleys and forests.

Toni Pieroni, a clinical counsellor living in Vancouver, is one of many who claim that the spiritual themes of Avatar align with her own beliefs.

Ms Pieroni, an eco-spiritualist, encourages people to think of the Earth as a sentient being, she told the Globe and Mail, and to "contemplate that the Earth that they're walking on is also conscious of them".

"It was pretty amazing to see something like that in a Hollywood blockbuster," she said.

Avatar has this week been announced as the highest grossing film of all time after so far making a record $1.895 billion (£1.15 billion), knocking Titanic - also directed by Cameron - from the top spot.

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