Ross Douthat, an Op-ed columnist for the New York Times and film reviewer for National Review, saw Avatar, James Cameron’s latest movie epic and sees in it more of interest than the latest cinematic technical advances.

It’s fitting that James Cameron’s “Avatar” arrived in theaters at Christmastime. Like the holiday season itself, the science fiction epic is a crass embodiment of capitalistic excess wrapped around a deeply felt religious message. It’s at once the blockbuster to end all blockbusters, and the Gospel According to James.

But not the Christian Gospel. Instead, “Avatar” is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world.

You can read Douthat’s thoughtful piece, “Heaven and Nature,” here.