Stage In The Sky

On April 12, 2025, my new wife and I took to the Sphere in Las Vegas to check out Darren Aronofsky’s film, “Postcard from Earth.” My friends…this film was so BAD that I had no problems throwing away the $200 bucks I already paid for the tickets and just walked out.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Hang on, Rock. You left early. So, how can you say the film is terrible?”

Thing is, we weren’t the only ones. Lol, almost true the Scriptures about the “faithful remnant,” there were a few people leaving too. One couple, an older white pair, saw that we had the same facial expression and the husband said, “I saw all I needed to see.”

1. What is the Las Vegas Sphere?
2. The Splendor of God’s Creations
3. April 12, 2025 was Christ’s Memorial Day
4. “Postcard from Earth” Made the Earth out to be a Deity:
5. Religious Diversity and Inclusion is Wicked:
6. All Christians Aren’t The Same or Equal

That disgruntled look that we all had on our faces conveyed the same singular thought. “This film is disrespectful to God.”

Why? Long story short, the narration describes the Earth as god itself. Allow me to explain.

What is the Las Vegas Sphere?

For those who don’t know, the Sphere in Las Vegas is an amazing dome venue built for concerts, as a theater, and even for films. It really is amazing and breathtaking. I’m sure you’ve all seen the gifs and memes. To see it from the inside, it was incredible.

Before I even bought tickets to see the 12:30pm screening of Darren Aronofsky’s film, “Postcards from Earth,” I had already seen reviews about its preachy Climate Change message.

The plot is about two astronauts who land on a distant planet with narration teaching them the history of life on earth. Basically, to encourage them not to make the same mistakes of humankind to destroy the environment.

I knew all of this before I even bought the tickets, but I bought them anyway. Why? Because it’s the Sphere! I’m not bothered by Climate Change enthusiasts and activists talking about how we’re abusing the planet. Those are just opinions, and you know what…they might be right.

The Splendor of God’s Creations

More than anything, I was looking forward to the beauty of seeing the earth in all its 4D wonders. The Sphere’s sound system is off the charts! The thundering bass was so heavy that it shook the seats! Nearly 80% of the interior screen surrounding the seats revealed breathtaking scenes of animals, the sky, and some of the world’s greatest landscapes.

And do you want to know why I like looking at things like this? Do you know why I thought it’d be cool to spend over $200 bucks for two tickets to see this film about the Earth? Because of He who created the Earth.

That’s right. I like watching nature films and studying science and astronomy because it gives me a greater appreciation for the Grand Creator who designed each and every organism, star, cell, sense, habit, and color imaginable. Seriously, in my mind, I even define “Science” as the study of God’s creations.

Some people call Him, Yahweh. I call him by his English name of Jehovah, the one and only god, our Heavenly Father who gave us Jesus Christ who died for our sins.

When I see the splendor of the universe’s natural wonders, I can’t help but feel awe and reverence towards Jehovah. Even when we went to the Grand Canyon the day before, my wife and I couldn’t help but acknowledge how magnificent the canyon was compared to the extravagance of the Vegas Strip, because humans cannot recreate the Grand Canyon.

Seriously, in Vegas, we saw recreations of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. There’s no way we as humans can find some new part of the earth and start drilling and carving to recreate the Grand Canyon.

That’s God’s work. We are but grains of sand, a breath from his nostrils. That is the god-fearing love I have for Jehovah.

April 12, 2025 was Christ’s Memorial Day

More than that…the date was April 12, 2025. According to the Jewish Calendar, this is Nisan 14, the day of the Jewish Passover where Jesus Christ established the Memorial with the Lord’s Evening Meal.

I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness…but I was raised as one. And one tradition that I believe in honoring is Christ’s Memorial, where for one night a year, millions of people around the world gather to celebrate the New Covenant, obeying Christ’s command of “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

This year’s Memorial Day fell on the Saturday Night that my wife and I were celebrating our honeymoon in Vegas. Thus, we couldn’t go to a Kingdom Hall to celebrate with a group. Instead, we bought unleavened bread and wine to observe it in our hotel room that night, all while watching the recorded service of Christ Memorial that I saved from during Covid (actual set up from our hotel room).

The fact that I wasn’t attending a Kingdom Hall in-person was already weighing on me that day. Being a Christian isn’t a thing that I just turn into on Sundays or during religious meetings. It’s all day every day.

When Christ said the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” (Matt 22: 36-40) I literally strive to do this by considering how Jehovah feels about everything I do, my decisions, and what’s going on in the world around me.

So…as I watched “Postcard from Earth”…little by little, my heart burned with rage. Someone uploaded the full version on Youtube below. But if you watch just the first 10 minutes, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

“Postcard from Earth” Made the Earth out to be a Deity:

“Postcard from Earth” wasn’t just a climate change environmentalist film. Others have described the film as a Religious Experience, and they were right. Because ultimately, Darron Aronofsky makes the earth out to be god itself.

In the film, narration explains that the earth nourished humans and did this that and the other for us. As if it was the earth’s will, the earth’s cognitive and sentient purpose to create and sustain life. As if the earth “chose” to do this for humans and all living life forms.

It even went so far as to say that humans created monuments and art to reflect their love and reverence for the earth, all while showing images, art, and places created during the Renaissance Movement, which I believe was actually inspired by Christianity.

And yes…they do make sure to include other kinds of religions like Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism…almost as if to make sure they aren’t explicitly picking on Christianity, but we know.

Religious Diversity and Inclusion is Wicked:

Contrary to this current cultural push to promote diversity and inclusion, if you call yourself a true believer of Christ then you know there’s only one God. The only one way get to God is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

I know it’s all warm and fuzzy and embodies the spirit of humanitarian unity to treat religion as if they’re all the same. But it’s not. Being a committed Christian requires taking a stand in your faith and acknowledging there’s only one. The fact that so many Christians are quiet about this point, is a huge reason why non-believers don’t respect us.

I accept and tolerate religious freedom to the extent that I would never force someone to believe what I believe or persecute them for believing in something else. That doesn’t mean I have to respect, celebrate, condone, appreciate, or go out of my way to make them feel good about making the wrong decision. And yes…we are allowed to opine whether or not people are making good or bad decisions.

Seriously, if I know the Titanic is going down and the only way to get on the lifeboat is to accept Christ and repent…am I supposed to feel good about a person’s decision to not believe and keep dancing on the ship, instead of choosing life and being saved?

Do you believe in one God or not? Do you believe that the Bible is the word of God or not? And if you do believe, how do you think Jehovah feels that so many are worshiping false gods and indulging in these man-made traditions of worship? How do you think he’d feel about you if you cared more about making humans feel good, than doing what’s good in God’s eyes?

All of these questions can be answered by going directly to the Scriptures. In Genesis, it is written that there was nothing before God spoke creation into existence. Because a rebellious angel whispered lies to humans, human sinned and thus…we’ve always ran into the reoccurring offense of creating new/fake gods and worshiping something or someone other than Jehovah.

God makes it clear that he feels the emotion of jealousy. Throughout the Old Testament, like Hosea for example, God uses the analogy of comparing the people of Israel to being his bride. He calls them adulterous and consistently accuses them of prostituting themselves out to other nations by worshiping false gods and being led astray, instead of being faithful to him.

And when the people do betray him, God punishes them with the very reasonable wrath any spouse would feel when their bride/groom broke their loving covenant. Like with the plague of locusts in the book of Joel.

And here’s what society constantly overlook…God constantly forgives us. The fact that we all still exist in the year 2025 is a testament to Jehovah’s love, patience, and undeserved kindness when he’s seen continue to spiral down unfathomable holes of immorality.

Scriptures suggests that the reason why Christ hasn’t returned to destroy all wickedness, which includes those who have rejected him, is because he’s patiently waiting for people to repent and come back home to him. So, as much as people like to criticize Jehovah for being all wrathful and violent…let’s see how many times you’d take your lying, cheating spouse back into your home with a blank slate.

So yeah…my new wife and I watched about 25 minutes of this film where I’m trying to block out the blatant disrespect and insults (because people are always insulting God no matter where you turn in the real world)…but we finally had enough.

As we walked through the Venetian Hotel on the way to the food court, I couldn’t shake this grimace on my face. I literally looked like Goofy in this image.

My wife was talking up a storm about how terrible it was, but I was quiet for a good 15 minutes since our departure. I had to collect my thoughts before I say them. The disrespect was so egregious…but I couldn’t just say, “it was awful!” I had to analyze it and come to the root of why this film bothered me so much.

For the non-believers, Atheists, and Agnostics…allow me to help you understand. And I say this with kindness. I’m not trying to be condescending or look down on you. I’m legit trying to help because I know a lot of you understandably don’t get it.

Imagine if you were scheduled for execution for crimes you were simply born into. Your forefathers committed the crime, so everyone born from their lineage will all follow the same execution. It’s inevitable. It’s painful. It’s horrible.

But one day…a perfect man who never did anything wrong comes along. This man was blameless, self-sacrificing, and he spent his life helping others, healing others, and uplifting their spirit. This man scratches your name from the death warrant and willingly takes your place.

Forget about yourself. Think of the person you love, the one who means the most in this world. Your daughter. Your son. Your girlfriend. Your husband. Your mother.

Jesus Christ scratched their names off of the death warrant and offered to take their place. He submitted himself to a horrible nail-ripping flogging, nails driven through the palms of his hands, and was strung up on a cross (or an upright stake, if you’re a JW) all so you and your loved ones could live.

If you’ve imagined it right and God’s blessed you with an ounce of empathy, chances are you’d feel an enormous sense of gratitude to Jesus.

You’d also feel a deep sense of indignation when you see people making fun of the man who sacrificed himself in your place or murdered so your little daughter could live.

How about this. Imagine if a firefighter risked his life to burn your loved one out of a building and later succumbed to his injuries. If it wasn’t for him, your loved one would’ve been burned alive.

Now, how would you feel if at the funeral, you hear someone talking crap about how he was a slacker or worthless and nobody really liked him? You’re trying to tell me you wouldn’t feel your fists balling up even a little?

Notice, I said that watching “Postcards from Earth” made my heart burned with rage. That doesn’t mean I wished anyone harm. Doesn’t mean I wanted to hunt down the filmmakers. Jehovah doesn’t need me fighting his battles.

I simply took my wife by the hand, helped her down the steps, and we left.

All Christians Aren’t The Same or Equal

That sub-heading tends to ruffle some feathers among Christians, because there are Scriptures that imply that the first will be last and the last will be first. And all who endure to the end get the same reward, so that must mean we’re all the same…but I do believe we are different.

I believe God loves all of us, but in no way do I believe Jehovah loves us all equally or the same. Just looking at the New Testament teaches you about God’s Character. He loves all people, particularly the Israelites. But he has shown to have favorites (Noah, Mary, Moses). There’s no way I can say that God loves or favors me the same way he loved David or the Apostle Paul or John.

Why do I bring this up? Because of the obvious push-back on this essay where I can hear others say this: “Well, I’m a Christian too, Rock. And I didn’t see anything wrong with the film. I think you’re misinterpreting it’s message. Nowhere in it does the narrator say earth is god itself.”

So, I’ll end it with this…because that thought is another reason why I grimaced while walking the Vegas strip.

When we got back to the hotel room that afternoon, I pulled a chair by the window to see the Bellagio fountains and simply reflected as I watched all the humans walk down the popular sidewalks of the strip.

My wife came and joined me. I told her…“I don’t hate humans. But I just don’t feel like one of them.”

It’s true. It’s something I’ve been struggling with for a long time, and I only struggle with it when I see the masses indulging in something that I find absolutely deplorable.

“Hang on, Rock. Who are you to decide what is or isn’t deplorable? I just said that I’m Christian too and I saw nothing wrong with the movie! What gives you the right to decide that you’re right and I’m wrong?”

Freewill? If you can think, you can decide. Mind you, I don’t just walk up to random people and tell them they’re doing something that I THINK is deplorable. I just think it. I can’t help it.

I’m not saying that people who watched and enjoyed the film aren’t Christians. But clearly, I’m not like you. That’s all I’m saying.

“So, what? Are you saying that anytime someone doesn’t agree with how you think on a subject, you immediately think that you’re not one of them?”

…that’s correct. I’m not proud of it. I don’t think it’s cool. I don’t say it out loud. But yeah.

“So, what you’re really saying is you think you’re better. Let’s call a spade a spade.”

…so, what if I do? Are you going to use that to deflect from the main argument, and focus the counter-defense of your ego on shaming me for not being humble in my heart? How does that better you? How does that make you a better person?

Not to mention, shouldn’t you be more concerned with how god sees you, than what little ole’ me thinks of you?