Theos-Talk Archives (August 1997 Message tt00008)

James,

This is what I saw in the movie: When they chose the first
astronaut to use the stargate, their decision was based mainly on
his "belief in God". They needed somebody who believes in God to
represent humanity. When Jody Foster was asked whether she
believed in God she didn't say that she believed in a supreme
being, even though she really wanted to go. When she came
back from Vega nobody was willing to believe her experience. She
didn't have any proof that what she experienced in a fraction of
a second (earth time) was of profound importance. However, they
believed the first man who was chosen to go when he said that he
believed in God, because according to the movie, 95% of the
people on earth believe in a supreme being.

But again, just like in the movie: this is my own view, my own
perception of the story, my own conclusions. It is my own
experience of the movie. That is precisely what the movie is
about. That is why I didn't write about my own conclusions in my
first message. I wanted everybody to see for themselves, but if
you want to see just a good science fiction movie that is all
that you will see. To me there was more.

This is exactly what happens when we discuss theosophy, most of
the time we write about what somebody else wrote and we write
about our own interpretation of what somebody else wrote: what we
believe to be true, not what we experience. When we experience
something we don't need to make other people agree with us, we
only wish to share our own experiences, we don't need approval.

That is why the movie is important to theosophists. It makes us
think.