by the Left Coast Rebel

And apparently it is because of it’s environmentalist overtones. According to this AP report, the Vatican actually confirms our suspicions – that environmentalism is a faith that replaces traditional religious belief. Don’t take my word for it:

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film “Avatar” simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship of nature as a substitute for religion.

L’Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron‘s big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were lukewarm, calling the movie superficial in its eco-message, despite groundbreaking visual effects.

L’Osservatore said the film “gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature.” Similarly, Vatican Radio said it “cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium.”

“Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship,” the radio said.

Well, duh. Now the funny thing to me is that this smacks of massive hypocrisy. My Mama didn’t raise no fool.

Explain that one…..

UPDATE: CNN has, (thread at Memeorandum), a story up today as well that explains fans of Avatar are experiencing ‘Avatar blues’ or some such thing after seeing the flick. Now get this, the report specifically states that people are feeling suicidal because of the beauty of the alien world Pandora in the movie.

Huh?

I mean, I have sure thought my life sucked at certain points, but really? CNN:

James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

On the fan forum site “Avatar Forums,” a topic thread entitled “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,” has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.