The Golden Compass and the Christian Whine
There is an email going around about the movie The Golden Compass. Like many typical Christian calls to action or warning, this one is steeped in fear. Several versions of the email exist, but all screech out for a mass boycott of a movie that no one has even seen yet.
The text from the most comprehensive version:
Please consider a boycott of this movie “The Golden Compass” and the books. Also, pass this information along to everyone you know (including church leaders). This will help to educate parents, so that they will know the agenda of the movie. I am sending this to those of you who have kids or friends with kids, grandkids or have influence with kids. So many things today are darkness concealed in what appears to be innocent FYI.
There will be a new children’s movie out in December called “The Golden Compass”. The movie has been described as “atheism for kids” and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled “His Dark Materials” that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the “Chronicles of Narnia”. His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.
Clearly, Pullman’s main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that “my books are about killing God.” He has even stated that he wants to “kill God in the minds of children”. It has been said of Pullman that he is “the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed.”
While “The Golden Compass” movie itself may seem mild and innocent, the books are a much different story. In the trilogy, a young streetwise girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle to ultimately defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God. Another character, an ex-nun, describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing mistake.” In the final book, characters representing Adam and Eve eventually kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH. Each book in the trilogy gets progressively worse regarding Pullman’s hatred of Jesus Christ.
“The Golden Compass” is set to premier on December 7, during the Christmas season (and staring Nicole Kidman), and will probably be heavily advertised. Promoters hope that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie, that they will enjoy the movie, and that the children will want the books for Christmas.
A wise man once said that one sign of intelligence is the ability think about two competing ideas at the same time without having your head explode (my paraphrase, of course). Unfortunately, this is a sign that many Christians have no interest in. We have become fearful of the mere thought of contrary ideas.
But I’m not really sure why. Is it a lack of faith in our own beliefs, that they will shatter at the slightest opposition? A lack of faith in the intelligence and faith of our youth? Or is it, most likely, raw, naked, irrational fear?
Perhaps we love the false sense of security we get while we site in our brick churches and have our beliefs validated over and over again without any challenge of thought.
Christianity isn’t meant to be safe. It isn’t meant to be cozy. What it means is being on the front lines of a very real battle. Paul didn’t use the armor metaphor for nothing. Very few of us have put on that armor, because we really haven’t felt the need, and so it sits idle, rusting in the closet.
For once, I would like Christians stop condemning the works of art of other people (especially movies they’ve never seen) and start creating their own. And if we aren’t willing do do that, then we need to shut up.
Instead of lamenting the fact that the writer of the books this movie is based on has criticized the Chronicles of Narnia and C.S. Lewis, why don’t you try and emulate Lewis himself and create a work of art that touches imaginations and is still read today, even by people who aren’t Christians?
Or maybe the screenplay for a movie? A song perhaps?
Quality Christian art and culture is desperately needed in this day and age. We have retreated from this venue, so it shouldn’t surprise us that the void is being filled with things we don’t particularly find appropriate. It’s time to start fighting back in a constructive way that builds up.
Isn’t that what love is supposed to do? Build up? Isn’t that what Christianity is all about?
It’s a much better alternative that simply covering your ears and screaming loudly like a petulant, spoiled child like the Pharisees collectively did after Stephen spoke to them in Acts chapter 7 when they didn’t like his ideas.
As for me, I will probably go see the Golden Compass. It looks interesting and different. And if you’re really worried about it, I would encourage you to do the same. I will take what artistic merit I can out of it, and sift through the ideas it presents to see if they are found lacking, praying to God for the wisdom I need to do so.
I’ve long recognized that if a movie creates this kind of vehement opposition, there’s probably something meritorious about it that I can extract. Remember the poison directed toward The Passion of the Christ leading up to its release?
And emails like the one above, I have learned, are hardly ever steeped in any actual research or thought. The analysis and summary of the books are probably too simplistic to do them any real justice, and I suspect the message is far more nuanced than what this obvious, overblown fear-tactic lets on.
I suspect it’s much like the typical Christian hatred and misunderstanding of Nietzsche. The “god is dead” quote certainly makes excellent fodder for the pulpit, but they usually have no idea what he was talking about, and what they think he was insinuating is really much more nuanced and complicated.
We complain when the people take parts of the Bible out of context, but we have no qualms about using the same tactic to try and discredit our supposed enemies.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Christians should build such discriminate defenses around themselves? Have you come across a movie that was condemned, but you found real value in?
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There is truthfully not much difference to Pullman’s writings and the Awake magazines the JW’s put on our doorstep. Our kids (yes I’m a mom) need to have deep roots to understand the counterfit, not be sheltered from the world. If you plan on sheltering you might as well lock them in their rooms. Amen brother, good post and I second your response even as a mom. My prayers and focus for my kids is they know Christ intimately and can share his love to our every hurting world!
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Thanks for the encouragement.
People talk about the conflict between engaging vs. rejecting culture—but I think you’re right–creation of culture is ultimately
the answer. I understand that the organization Brewing Culture is intent on doing that.
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I wasn’t aware of that organization. I’ll check them out. Thanks!
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I think it’s definitely true that we should not recoil in fear from challenges to our faith, and I also agree that we need to look for opportunities to share our faith in creative and beautiful ways.
That being said, I think it’s fair enough for a Christian to choose not to support certain things with their money and time, if that is their conviction.
Thanks for the challenge!
I’m growing up with this clash of culture and religon its’ happening alot lately. I have to say, a film is not going to kill god in the minds of children, lets be honest with ourselves.
Speaking as a non-beleiver as it were: I thought god was supposed to protect and allow christians to expand, thats certainly what jesus was banging on about. To act as the teacher not the censor. would slandering and condeming a childrens book and very soon movie really be what you should be doing to encourage good morals.
Its healthy to disagree imagine if we were all the same it wouldn’t be the big wide world, we all have a choice to be intelligent, tolerant and overall nice to each other.
A child sees you condemn something someone likes, is this what they should learn? My way is the only way sort of ethos?
We are taught in our schools to tolerate and talk out our problems not shut each other down with the archaic my opipion is much better than thou, Is that a good person?
By the way christians are slandering this film , many video games and books. I have to say, its made me think about the type of people who decide to accept jesus. i’m not saying all christians are like this lets get that clear, but we don’t know anything about our creation, no proof. beleif is all we have, so narrowing our minds to suit a religon is clearly unhealthy.
Thank you for putting this chain letter on the internet.
Xx
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Thanks for your thoughts.
We are told that love builds up. So why do we Christians spend most of our time trying to tear down other people’s accomplishments and works of art instead of trying to build our own? That’s one conviction I want readers of this blog to grasp.
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because as general rule, “christian” (by this I mean rightwing approved praise jesus and pass the collection plate) art sucks.
I give you:
Frank Peretti
Ron DiCanni
Any “contempory christian music artist”The only good christian movie I saw as Spitfire grill, put out by a bunch of Mississippi monks.
Quite frankly I find more spirituality and so called “christian values” in athestist productions such as the current Doctor Who-Ron Davies is a gay athetist, then I ever do in any so called “christian art”.
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True. Many of the “artists” inject the words God and Jesus into their songs simply because they’re the words God and Jesus. But those two words do not a good song make.
There are a few Christian artists that are excellent. Switchfoot would be my idea of how to put your faith into your art.
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Adele says:
>>>I have to say, a film is not going to kill god in the minds of children, lets be honest with ourselves.
While I would tend to agree with you generally–for instance Spiderman or Star Wars isnt probably going to destroy someones faith–its possible that a movie intentionally made to destroy people’s faith could have detrimental effects.
And, for instance, you probably wouldn’t take a 9 year old to a move with sex and extreme violence to redeem the film. Hence, the choices have to be contextual to the film, the issue, and ages involved.
Anna, don’t make me laugh. Oppressed? Let’s see - every single presidential candidate claims to be a member of you religion, as does the current president, and almost every member of Congress. For that matter, so too does almost every single elected official in the United States. Some of them of course aren’t really - but they know they have to pretend to be if they are going to get elected to anything (Reagan comes to mind - he never seemed all that sincere to me on religion, but I suppose I don’t actually know). How do you think this looks to non-Christians, hmm? I grew up in the Deep South (and still live there), and have always had to chuckle at people who thought they were oppressed because, well, they weren’t allowed to use the public schools to proselytize their religion. Or something - if they weren’t allowed to use every public space and every tool of government power to promote their religion, then they were “oppressed.” Meanwhile, most atheists I know don’t advertise that fact. Why? Try this link and guess why - http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/03/24/67686
You are not oppressed. A little bit of humility, a recognition that your religion is in fact socially and politically powerful, that it is oftentimes like a giant elephant taking up all the space and sucking up all the oxygen in the room, would be well received. Anyone worried about the “insult” this movie presents to your religion, ask yourself how insulting it might be to turn on the television every Sunday and find all these people declaring that you were on the road to damnation because you hadn’t joined their religion? Know what I do? Change the channel. That you think a movie, a movie of all things, threatens the utter dominance of Christianity in the American landscape, suggests that you have yet to learn to see the world through the eyes of others.
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Is praying in public prosyletizing the people around me? If I were to pray at lunch to myself, quietly, in public school, would that be forcing my religion on all those kids around me? I would say that, yes, Christians are opposed/oppressed in some public places. I have been escorted off the campus of a public high school for praying to myself in the cafeteria. I had no intention of forcing my religion on those around, I was just talking to my God. And yet, I was still removed from the premises. If it is the fact that I am condoning my own religion in public that caused my removal, why is it only enforced with Christians? If a Muslim boy came to school and ate his lunch with only his right hand (a tradition and aspect of Islamic religious etiquette), would he be removed from school? He was demonstrating a form of “worship” in puclib school, yet I highly doubt that he would be removed from school.
As to all government members and cantidates, I highly doubt that nearly all of them say they are Christians. You have to understansd that Christian could mean Catholic, Mormon, Protestant, etc. Heck, I have seen someone use the term “Christian” to describe Hinduism. And many people consider themselves Christians just by being a good person. My own parents believe that. I would have to disagree with these people, because being a Christian, “by the Book”, is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, so to say. Then, there are many different interpretations to the Bible, so that can be said in multiple different ways.
I do not believe that any Christian looks at this movie as dominating the Christian landscape of America. America was founded on Christian principles. And according to our standards today, we should through out the entire U.S. law book, since nearly all of those laws came from some part of the Bible (check out Leviticus, it’s got most of them). I don’t think that we should shelter our kids from everything in the world, it makes for a lot of problems when they grow up (I am 16, and I was raised in a sheltered home, trust me, it’s not the best thing for us). But that doesn’t mean we should put our children in front of the TV to watch “Religious Views for Kids”. If you yourself aren’t a Christian, I would say you should just avoid all entertainment with some underlying meaning, INCLUDING atheistic views AND Christian views. Let your kids grow up and figure out what THEY believe, not what you want them to believe. As for Christian parents, raise your kids in a Godly manner, but again, please try not to shove Christianity down our throats, it pushes us away. It’s what kept me from becoming a Christian for a few years. Teach us Christians values take us to church, tell us about God, and let us figure out what we believe.
Opposed. Not oppressed.
In a blog post a while ago, Teresa Nielsen-Hayden showed the problem with people claiming that Harry Potter would lead kids into wickedness. When I read it, I knew in my heart that she had put her finger squarely on the answer.
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005904.html
“He’s no better than those people who pretend they’re hardcore Christians when they’re really preaching Satan Triumphant. I mean the ones who think that after years and years of weekly church services, with hymn-singing and Bible-reading, the least little exposure to some kind of encoded Satanic reference—seeing pictures of rainbows or Ganesha, or taking in the afternoon matinee of the latest Harry Potter movie, or hearing a rock song with muddled lyrics they can’t make out anyway—is tantamount to throwing open the door to Satan.
“What they’re saying is that Satan is much more powerful than God, and that nobody who was even glancingly acquainted with Satanism would ever want to stick with Christianity. They might as well don the robes and start sacrificing goats, because they believe in the mighty power of Satan as much as any declared Satanist out there.”
Hahahahaha! Oh my — well, I’m so used to hearing the “Christians are under threat” silliness (which, Anna, you are expressing in a different way) that I read what I read. But points to you, demerits to me. Enjoy!
Theron, Thats ok. There is no point in focusing on oppression because, if you have a belief, no matter what it is, you are going to be oppressed at one time or another. It’s just human nature when you don’t understand or agree with something. Any organization that has strong beliefs about something experiences this.
I’m a 14 year old girl, and I read these books a couple of years ago. Although the books are very against most every religions I can’t really say that my faith as a Catholic was changed at all by the books. The books series is amazing, easily one of my favorites, because they’re well written and they’re like nothing I’ve ever read before (and I read quite a bit). What’s changed my faith as a Catholic more is the fact that the Church is telling us not to go see certain movies or read certain books because they think that our faith is so weak that it will buckle after seeing one movie. I think sometimes Christians have a problem looking at the other side of an arguement. I also give some credit to Phillip Pullman; he must have known that he would get all this negative press with the release of his books and the movie, but he wasn’t afraid to express his ideas to the world, which can be a hard thing to do.
” Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the “Chronicles of Narnia”. ”
And C.S. Lewis wasn’t a humanist? The ignorance surrounding this man in the Christian community is sad indeed.
I agree with the original story, Christians should be able to evaluate two competing ideas.
This page suggests just that http://pullmanwatch.com/Articles/How%20should%20Christians%20respond%20to%20Phillip%20Pullman%20and%20other%20people%20who%20disagree%20our%20faith.htm
It’s from a website called www.pullmanwatch.com
Ok, I don’t know if it has hit anybody, but after Adam and Eve sinned and became separated from God, mankind became enslaved to desires of the flesh that lead to sin. We all have a natural selfish tendency to please ourselves and that’s where if it’s sin we get into trouble. Now fleshly desires were not created originally to be bad. Eating, drinking(water),comfort,sex….you name it - it was created to benefit us. The catch is that Adam and Eve before the fall had full access to God so therefore they didn’t go overboard - becoming gluttens and indulging in the flesh if you get my meaning. Separation from God gave mankind two choices to fulfill that void left by our separation: seek God and try to find a way back to Him, or try to find it in the world around us. You wanna know why sex and drugs are such powerful weapons that Satans easily uses to enslave people? Because they are a sort of replacement to fill that void left by our separation because of sin. Both have good aspects because sex strengthens marrital relationships and some drugs are beneficial to help heal the body, but when used outside those lines and we start abusing it we end up having to keep coming back to fullfil that need but we go away never satisfied. We’ve got to have more and more and it becomes another ‘god’. I think the above explains that mankind is in rebellion against God. Sin is obviously the easy way out and it’s always at ready disposal to temporarily(but not fulfillingly like God)pacify us. If any of you have read the book of Job, it clearly shows that there is a war going on for the hearts of men. Because we are born into sin, Satan has easier access to us. He’s been attacking people for over 6000 years, so he’s no amateur at decieving people. Why do you think there are so many denominations within the BODY of Christ(the Church)? Even people who are strong Christians are still susceptible to his assaults, and yes sometimes God will allow so much of it to happen and then intervene on our behalf when we are on the brink of collapse. This is not a clever, crule mockery, this is to discipline us and show us just how much we need Him. We can appreciate the Lord so much more when we get throught all the trials that are thrown at us. Anyways, I am writing this mainly in response to the accusations about saying people are acknowledging that Satan is more powerful than God. Satan is NOT more powerful than God, but he was the greatest creation in all Heaven before his pride finally got the best of him and he thought he could be better than God. He is the Enemy of all mankind, and we have to treat him that way, but we can’t just oplenly challenge him and be arrogant about it. The analogy I have is that we respect his power and ferocity in the same way that World War II veterans respected the fighting ability of German and Japanese soldiers. They despised the enemy and their brutality, but they still respected them and didn’t just throw themselves at them with no authority. This reminds me of the reason why a very famous US Army general with the last name of Custer was annihilated. He had no respect for the fighting ability of the plains Indians(this being Lakota and Cheyenne), and he went against the advice of his superiors to wait for reinforcements and blindly attacked the largest indian village ever assembled in recorded history. I’m going to save who was in the right in that conflict for another time, but I think my point was made that we can’t allow Satan ANY avenue into our mind. Harry Potter deals with witchcraft and the dark arts, and the Bible clearly says not to associate with that. Everything the Bible says has a reason behind it - it’s not ‘just because God says so’. We can’t be perfect and we can’t always control what others around us carelessly expose us to, but we half to control what we can ourselves. One analogy I have on this is that if you put a female stripper in front of a married man and tied him to chair and taped his eyelides open so he couldn’t look away, it doesn’t matter how faithful he is and how much he loves his wife, he’s going to lust over the scantily-clad woman before him. What we expose ourself to does effect our minds and even more when we think it doesn’t because then we just have a false sense of security which leaves the perfect opportunity for another assault from Satan.
So in conclusion I am totally against endorsing such a movie that speaks of killing God, especially since it is so attractive towards children! We have to draw the line somewhere and not just allow our interest to leave our flanks exposed.
Matt, did you do any research on this movie or these books before writing your article? The very thing that you accuse Christians who dissimate the email appears to be the same thing you have done. Not research the movie or the books. I say this because I did in fact research both after receiving this email and what I found was even more sickening and startling than I was prepared for. The charactars of the movie are accompanied by an animal “daemon” (pronounced demon). Each individual has their own daemon, and if you visit the movie’s website, there is a section encouraging you to find out what your own “daemon” is.
Further, here is a direct quote from the 3rd book in this series, The Amber Spyglass which culminates with the heroine killing God:
““The Authority, God, the Creator, Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty; those were all names He gave Himself. He was never the Creator. He was an angel like ourselves. The First Angel, true; the most powerful. But He was formed as Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself.”
This author’s well documented hatred for Christianity is the major theme of his books. And there’s no question in my mind that he is attacking God, my father, Yahweh, the Creator, my Lord. The film, the Golden Compass, has been widely edited from the version you will find in the book it is “based” on called Northern Lights. So don’t expect to see things quite as overtly as you will find them in the book. Those are some hard facts about the author and the books this movie is based on.
Okay, I can understand why many people want to boycott or oppose the viewing of this film and the books. Yes, the author IS an Atheist. Yes, he has openly admitted that his book series ‘His Dark Materials’ IS a sort of anti-Narnia. But does that mean that we shouldn’t have anything to do with these books and movies? I agree with you that most Christians are afraid of what will this means, they’re afraid of their own lack of faith. If you teach your children about God and take them to church, but you wont allow them to see this movie or read this series because of the lifestyle that the author chooses to follow, that is only degrading of you and your children. Are you so afraid that you haven’t taught them enough? Are you so lacking in your own teaching that you may have left a gap for infiltration from a movie that doesn’t come out and say that God is not what you say he is?
Im a Christian teen. Im 17 and I have always loved to read. I first picked up a copy of The Golden Compass when I was in 6th grade. Not ONCE did the thought of defying God or downcasting him cross my mind. Come to think of it…it never even MENTIONED our Christian God. Ive not exactly lived a sheltered life, but my mother and grandmother were the ones that taught me about God and how we should live for him. But not once did they hold me back from branching out and reading and discovering things on my own. They trusted me and the things that they had taught me. The first and only time my grandmother was upset with me was when I let slip that I had just finished reading the first Harry Potter book. But I explained to her that just because these things happen, and it says these things, it doesn’t turn out the way she thought it was. It’s not devil worship, it’s not blashpemy. How many children have pretended they’ve had a wand and could make things move or disappear? We dont oppose that and think it’s horrible.
People should be more comfortable in their faith and their children’s faith. I have yet to see the movie, but I can vouch for the book - it is not what everyone seems to think it is. If there is some underlying story, as a 4.0 senior in highschool who has read the series at least 7 times since that first time in 6th grade I have yet to find it.
I see no real problem in Christians seeing this movie or allowing their children to see it. The Harry Potter series is actually very popular among many of my Christian friends now. None of them would actually practice witchcraft, but there is no harm in reading a work of fiction about it. Even the youngest of children can be taught the line between what is real and what is not. We see movies and read books about things we would never really do or things we disagree with doing on a daily basis. I’m sure many Christians, even ones posting here, are big fans of action movies or scary movies. These movies typically get their entertainment value from the images of violence and suffering of others. Do I love a good fight scene in a Jackie Chan movie? Yes. Do I find the way my heart pounds when a serial killer in a while masks stalks someone in the woods exciting? Yes. Do I condone violence? No. Can I tell the difference between reality and fantasy? Yes. Just because a work of art does not hold the same ideals or beliefs you have doesn’t make it automatically bad. As a Christian I would never refuse to see a movie based on ideals different than my own. Would I refuse to see a movie about Jewish, Muslim, or any other religious belief? Of course not. Why should I refuse to see a work of fiction written by someone who has expressed himself to be anti-religion? It’s just silly.
Thank you.
You are extremely educated person and have posted an educated opinion. I see so many fanatical responses to this movie, and it makes me disgusted in Catholicism. Which is a shame since I was raised a Catholic, Catholic school and all. I have been driven away from the Church, not christianity don’t get me wrong, because of their inability to address any oppositional ideas except through hatred and violence.
The Catholic Church unfortunately chooses to flame and send out vehemence towards contesting ideas instead of presenting their own ideals in a positive fashion. If they did as you suggested, and present their own ideals in a positive fashion, people would be more likely to accept and understand the love of God from the viewpoint of the Catholic Church. Instead, I find sermons filled with doom, death, destruction, brimstone, and hatred towards others. It is this way in many Churches I have visited all over the nation. Perhaps they will someday figure out how to “fill the void” and bring us positive Christianity again.
In the meantime, I choose to keep my head out of the sand, research for myself, and work to find truth in all subjects by recognizing and studying all viewpoints considering a subject without bias. Thanks again for your positive and brilliant post.
Greetings to you all,
I’m an Italian-Dutch pagan living in Rome and I’ve been writing against the Vatican for many years. I used to be a Catholic myself before realizing I wanted to be closer and having the freedom to praise God and Mother Earth in the natural setting and not within human churches.
I’m writing an article about this controversy for an English magazine published in Rome (for the international community in the Italian capital).
I’ve read the books (Northern Lights two years ago and the other two this past summer) and very much enjoyed them. I’ve been struggling against religious fanaticism and human organizations whose aims are to control the minds and establish what we have to believe.
As a Pagan I respect all religions and choose to learn about them (I own the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Uddhava Gita, the Upanishads, the Kuran and some Buddhist books, just to give you an idea). But when it comes to the monotheist religions of Semitic origin (especially Christianity and Islam) I realize that religious fanaticism seems to be the driving force of these faiths.
Both creeds are very admirable if you stick to the principles but as communism the ideals they express are a utopia and cannot be grasped fully. The idea of having a Church and a structural organization that dictates the dogmas is not far from a tyranny or a 1984-government on paper. But they are surrounded by the aura of the “sacred”. If any of you have read Mircea Eliade you’ll know what I mean: man fears to cross the unknown and challenge the sacred; the religious connotation they bear is enough for them to be hard to challenge.
In this world Christianity and Islam had to raise fronts against the growing atheism, paganism and new age philosophies. These religions seem to be bound to their old practices and the ideals of the days of old. They cannot accept that a change within them would be the only option for their long-term survival. I chose to become a Pagan because with global warming, extinction and deforestation (being an active environmentalist) I could have no faith in a religion that told me (the Pope said this a couple months ago) “that man can have no impact on the Earth and that man was given the power to control all of Creation”. Forgive the term, but to me this is bullshit. To us environmentalists, it is utter blasphemy to say that an animal was “God’s gift to man”. These anthropocentic views will never save the Earth, they will only worsen the situation.
But going back to what I was saying before, the arrogance and aggressiveness of Christianity and Islam have grown exponentially and anything that seems to attack them directly must be censored or boycotted (take the case of the Danish cartoons).
I don’t know about you people but I believe in freedom of speech and thought; boycotting a movie just shows how narrow-minded a vast majority of the world’s populace is. The fact that New Line Cinema had to remove the religious allusions is a defeat for democracy: an utter defeat. If Christianity (and I’m talking about Europe) can be preached, if the Pope can show his Angelus on tv (I’m talking about Italian RAI) then why should an anti-Christian book (which I don’t think it is, but I’ll stick to this superficial description) be such a scandal?
Christianity and Islam are religions of conversion, forced conversion and destruction of minor beliefs. As a Pagan I cannot accept that the Popes never made a Mea Culpa for the persecutions of witches (white magic is NOT Satanism), for the destruction of Pagan temples and trees, for the humiliation and the lies they spread about Pagan cults (for example Satan is Pan, the God of Wild Nature in Ancient Greece, or the Horned One, the sacred Male - there is no Satanism WHATSOEVER in these ancient cults). As a Pagan I should be protesting and asking the Church to apologize for what they did to Nature-worshippers like me, I should start expressing my anger when Priests say that Halloween is a celebration of withcraft and satanism and most of all I should start fighting back.
If you seek conversion and destruction of other beliefs you must face the consequences, you must face the fact that Christianity can ALSO be criticized; no one ever said it was a dogma, hidden by a sacred immunity.
Thus I shall support this movie because for all of the evil and bloodshed the Catholic Church (and not necessarily all Catholics) has done these past centuries they SHOULD be criticized and anyone wanting to do so should have the right WITHOUT any boycotting or censorship!
I felt insulted when the upsurge against Harry Potter began: even if it were impregnated with Wicca (and it’s not), what’s wrong with Wicca? I actually admire this belief and think that all Wiccans across the planet should feel insulted.
Finally, the evidence for tyranny and the will to control the minds is in the lies and falsehood in emails like the one you published above. Most of what it contains can be challenged; the author clearly never read the series and never saw the movie.
On Facebook I’m finding dozens of anti-Golden Compass groups and when you look at them closely you notice they don’t even know what they are talking about!
If people boycott a movie in utter ignorance of what it is about I’m starting to become frightened at these narrow-minded fundamentalists who seem to have such a sway over the human mind.
That’s all I have to say for now
1. Nature is not to be worshipped, it’s a Bible thing. Sorry. Plus the whole global warming is over-rated. Yeah, it’s getting hotter, but 30 years ago it was getting alot colder, and everyone was saying the next ice age would come. In 30 years we’ll be having another global freezing movement.
2. You shouldn’t support this movie because it punishes the Catholic Church for what it’s done in the past. I’ll admit, they have done some pretty bad stuff in the last 500 years, and, while they better now, they still do stupid things, but that doesn’t mean we should support something anti-Church to punish them. You should be supporting this movie, or not supporting it, based on what you believe about it’s underlying meaning, or lack thereof.
3. You can’t say that this movie and the books are “Christian” when the author has clearly stated his intent in writing them. Look up some of his interviews.
4. I ahve to agree with you on teh Facebook account. I have seen many, not to mention they have ravaged my school, but most do not know what they are talking about. I don’t support this movie, but I am glad that some people research this stuff before they start arguing about it. Kudos to you, and good luck on your writings.
1. Maybe for you Nature is not to be worshipped but you’re presenting your ideas as if they were a Dogma and are the only truth. To me it makes more sense to worship a tree than an imaginary God attested by a book written 2000 years ago. Trees have meant everything to human evolution (read a book called Myths of Trees by Jacques Brosse) in pre-Christian times Trees were everything to man, the world’s backbone was the cosmic tree.
Global Warming is true, the Earth is sick and anyone trying to refuse the existence of this is being irresponsible. As a Pagan I can feel the Earth’s sickness and I will keep on fighting for her even if I’m the only one to do so. It doesn’t matter if it will lead to droughts, floods or a drop in the temperature - it is not natural and I think we have evidence to prove it.
2. I support the movie for those reasons but I don’t see why a movie/book that attacks the Church for something it’s never apologized for should be criticised. The Church hasn’t been criticized enough and I can’t accept this boycotting thing.
3. I don’t get your point n.3
4. The Facebook groups show how gullible people can be, when someone says something they will follow the crowd. There is one support the golden compass group and there’s 5000 of us, there are dozens of anti-Golden Compass and one hosts 100,000 people.
Thanks but please do respect me as a Pagan, I respect you as a Christian and my criticisms go to the Church and the Christian institutions not to the Christian faith. I noticed that Christians are ready to mock Pagans yet avoid to do so when it comes to Muslims, Jews. Pagans in many ways are deeper, they seek knowledge from many sources and are open to all religions. They do not believe in dogmas and don’t have sacred scriptures telling them what to believe, their beliefs can change through time and this is a sign of wisdom.
Please, i am of Christian religion, and a kid myself. As a middle school kid, i can speak my mind. This movie will push a hatred towards god into children. THIS IS NOT A HARRY POTTER! THE MAN IS TRYING TO KILL GOD PHYSICLY AND MENTALY! Please this may not seem much, but THIS MOVIE IS CRAP.
Zach
Zach, calm down. What you’re saying is rubbish like what theologians have been saying for years.
Pullman is not killing God, he’s killing the perverse religious institutions that have made us slaves for centuries in the name of an all-loving god.
Rubbish. Plain rubbish.
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First, I must agree with so many others, it’s not so much the email that’s going around as the hidden agenda of the author. And, I suppose, that’s not exactly true, because he makes it plain in several interviews that is goal is to put God out of children’s minds.
Also, the “golden compass” is supposed to be about “truth finding” and as they promoted the video game, they mentioned that it was from the (and I quote) “block buster movie, the golden compass”. So what? So that was 27th of November and the movie didn’t come out in the theaters until December 7th.
Maybe they didn’t try the golden compass on that commercial, because it sure wouldn’t have pointed to the truth. This is just another example of lies and deceit from satanic believers and those claiming to be atheists.
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Amen! It points nowhere near the truth. I think what points to the truth best is your phrasing “those claiming to be an atheist”. THAT’s the truth! That one may say they are “without a god” and that our God doesn’t exist but He still does whether they like/accept it or not!
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[…] saw my single most popular post about The Golden Compass. It generated 40 comments, from several different sides of the polygonal argument, and is still […]
As A christian you will spend your entire christian walk being opposed. You learn to cope with that. The controversy with this movie has nothing to do with people having a different oppinion than your own.. It has to do with them inentionally targeting impressionable children to unload these ideas on. I have the utmost faith in my children but they are CHILDREN. I was put on this earth to protect them. Until they are adults and have the maturaty to make sound decissions I will help them make the right choices. There are enough obstacles that Satan has put in the lives of our children. Why would I throw them into his path. Even further, put THIS movie aside. I would not spend money to go see any movie or support any person who openly says that they want to kill God in the minds of children. The bible says to raise your children up in the ways of the Lord and when they are old they will not depart from it, and that is what I intend to do. All I can do is try to eliminate as much as I can that will try to stand in the way of tha.
At least he’s honest about what his agenda supposedly is. There are probably so much more out there that we subject ourselves to unwittingly that is detrimental and more subtle.
And good for you. It’s completely your responsibility to raise your kids and it’s your prerogative to decide how, and I’m glad you take that charge seriously.
But don’t trust some internet email that is overly paranoid. I’ve heard from other Christians that the books are actually well written and refreshingly creative. It’s hardly some vast conspiracy to create pre-teen atheists. Judge for yourself before dismissing something.
Besides, its fantasy. It’s just another opportunity, in my mind, to help kids distinguish between reality and fantasy and help develop some more critical thinking skills. As long as your holding their hand while they watch a movie, or reading the book to them, you can always ask the right questions.
And again, this wouldn’t be such a big deal if Christians were creating their own quality art, but alas, we don’t take that charge very seriously.
so, let me get this straight, anyone who doesn’t agree with you, or as different ideas, agendas, and goals and is vocal about said ideas, agendas and goals is persecuting you??????!!!
Wow, I bet there are some early christians and some christians in china who would like to speak with you what perscution actually means….
Why would you go? Spending God’s money to support this endeavor seems like poor stewardship. THat $9 can feed a child in Africa for 22 days.
Whatsoever things are pure, lovely and just think on these…..
Dan,
How do you know this movie is not pure, lovely, etc. Have you seen it? Do you presume to make that judgment for everyone?
And if you start playing that money game, it gets ridiculous. Do you have cable. Your monthly fee could feed a child in Africa for half a year.
Do you eat 3 meals a day? Why don’t you sacrifice one meal and feed someone in Africa for a week?
And if there are so many mouths to feed in Africa, do you think it’s a good idea to still have kids, and send the money and time instead to Africa?
Sorry, I’m not playing that game, and I don’t think you are either.
It’s a blessing from God that we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors. We give back and helping others is our number one priority, but if we didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of our own labor, there wouldn’t near as much positive incentive to actually work.
So tell me, Matt…
If it is a blessing by God that we can go enjoy the fruits of our labors why do we have any right to go spend this blessing supporting a person who directly, openly defies Him?
This boycott is not out of fear of our beliefs and faith being conformed and poisoned nor because we’re under the idiotic delusion and hypocrisy that every cent we have is going to unlucky children (and any who use those reasons, I will subject to the same criticism you do).
I am not going to judge a movie nor its theme until after I’ve seen it but after a direct admission by the creator that it is indeed against our God how could going and seeing that be anything near an enjoyment of the fruits of our labor? I personally would consider such an activity torture.
I couldn’t have said it better. Very well put.
Fine. Then don’t support. I have no problem with that. Withholding your money and ignoring something is the best way to show your disapproval.
But why go out of your way to attack and destroy it? That’s the main problem I have. Do something creative with your time.
If Christians don’t like the movies coming out, we only have ourselves to blame. We have retreated from those venues of culture confrontation.
Plus, attacking and tearing down just draws more attention to the movie, which will make it more successful than it would have been otherwise. Gee, I wonder where Satan is at work?
The same phenomenon happened with the Passion of the Christ. Precisely because so many groups came out in opposition to it and didn’t want people to see it is why it went on to gross over 300 million dollars and get in front of people who never would have bothered to go see it.
Oh I do many creative things with my time. I’m not attacking the movie, hence “boycott” and not “protest”. That towards which I’m using my time is, instead, to try to answer the question of why Christians would waste it supporting and defending such an atrocity.
But I suppose you might best answer me that.
Oh, good grief, Dan. By that logic you could never spend nine dollars, ever.
Value is subjective.