Playing Avatar

If you don't know, I can't tell you.
Is that a cop-out?

What is the difference between a belief one is willing to kill for versus a belief one is willing to die for?
When I see extreme Islamists, I see people who are willing to kill for their beliefs.
When I see extreme Christians, I see people who are willing to die for their beliefs.

So which is better?
Or have a belief that is so neutral and so ineffectively nonpartial that nobody cares? (Like the U.N.)
Is it better not to care? Not invest emotionally in anything that might be worth risking life on any level?
During my time with Avatar I kept coming back to the belief: if I don't risk anything, then I cannot lose anything.

The thing is, I could make an argument for or against Avatar. So it is my choice of what to believe, and what I believe does have a consequence in my life and in the life of others. In order to be responsible, is it not better to choose beliefs I am willing to invest myself in rather than beliefs that are disposable? Harry talks about as a Wizard you can come in and go out of any viewpoint without being stuck or feeling partiality. Some might describe God that way, because he is all knowing.
Seems like I remember this story before.
Something about a snake saying, "You can be like God."
Huh. Weird.

In Avatar they talk a lot about projection and identification. That's where it gets messy. I learned about this in school too. In school, we had a special format to phrase things in such a way as to take the most responsibility for what we were experiencing. For instance, instead of saying "we" in that last statement, it should "I." Everything became very personal and not personal at all. My teachers said it was a closed system, but they admitted that it was limited, not all encompassing of the events that occur in life.

In school we had this thing called "Feedback" that students were given a specific format within which another student could give the performer "feedback" on what they did. Direction, not to be confused with feedback, which I learned in the last performance, comes from the director.
Direction points to a thing that someone outside yourself is asking for; it is calling for a specificity in a particular area. Good directors give indicators, not demands. So in a show, everyone is subject to the directors viewpoint. simultaneously giving the director the most responsibility for the end result (on-camera it would be the producer who has more invested in the finished product). There is a certain amount of submission involved in being a play.

In Avatar there were "directors," people who took more responsibility (or claimed to) and the other masters were subject to them.
I have no problem following a leader, but I will not submit to someone who is not worthy of submission; and I am the one who determines that, for myself. Lots of factors goes into making a decision about who to listen to, but the point of Avatar (nominally) is to make each person more autonomous. What I was experiencing though was a greater dependence on those "directing" and less autonomous-ness. It's fail-safe though. Harry talks all about a Cult-like belief system almost right away. But my impression is that the closer you get the truth, the less you have to lie about it. His presentation reminds me of the crooks who volunteered to dress the Emperor in the story "The Emperor's New Clothes." Find a need, find people who are willing to pay for the solution you present and voila, you're in business.

Finally, what does it mean to have an open mind? I notice I feel very unwilling to try to present my viewpoint to someone I feel already has a closed mind about something, but at the same time I feel it is my responsibility to have a viewpoint that I can believe in. So I guess I feel like my beliefs are true until proven false, but the proof must be of the valid variety not some nonsensical hogwash. Who determines what is true and what is false? Does not each one need must do that for themselves? Parents for children until the children are responsible for themselves?

I'll leave off with this scripture. The Bible is the most reliable source material that I am aware of, so I will continue to reference it until something better comes along. I may not always agree with the usage of other persons, but I appreciate the intention of what has become known as "The Word of God."
Cheers!

Deuteronomy 30:19

New King James Version (NKJV)

19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;