The Golden Compass rumpus
Golden Compass Angers Church Groups
Posted on November 27, 2007 by Writers Report
It appears that conservative Catholic groups are going to make the The Golden Compass another controversial bestseller. They are up in arms over the ‘His Dark Materials’ series, by author Philip Pullman, a proclaimed atheist. The Church groups claim that this children’s fantasy series promotes an anti-Catholic, atheist agenda.
The Baptist Press claims:
“…He (Pullman) said in a 2001 interview, “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief,” and two years later told another newspaper, “My books are about killing God…”
The books seem more focused on the overbearing authoritarianism of the Church than being anti-doctrinal (a reference to Jesus is not mentioned in any of the books).
Bill Donohue, CEO of the Catholic League, claims that the movie ‘The Golden Compass’ is being used to sell atheism to kids. That it’s a dumbed-down version of the book which is ultimately being used to lure kids into buying the books – where the real message lies.
“The Catholic League wants Christians to boycott this movie precisely because it knows that the film is bait for the books: unsuspecting parents who take their children to see the movie may be impelled to buy the three books as a Christmas present. And no parent who wants to bring their children up in the faith will want any part of these books.”
It’s a good thing for Pullman that the Christian religion is mature enough with people confident enough in their faith, where they either just dismiss his work or take steps to have people boycott the movie and the books, instead of going out to kill the author.
With publicity like this, the series will be an even bigger hit than it already is. It sure worked in J.K. Rowling’s and Dan Brown’s favor
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Hi! We’re Ken and Val Baker, the pastors of Northolt Grange Baptist Church. Here’s the link to the Multimap direction thingie. So now you can visit, ok?
Although we meet to worship in a building, we believe that we, the people are the real church. We believe that the church is the only institution that exists for those who are not yet a part of it, and we welcome all who visit us in an attempt to explore their own faith. As Christians we have the assurance of eternal life through believing and trusting in Jesus Christ the Son of God. He came into the world, and died on a cross to enable every man, woman and child to know forgiveness of sins and peace with God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
The style of our Sunday worship service is designed to be fairly lively but also with quiet prayerful times to encourage open participation and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Through this and other meetings we are prayerfully seeking to serve the spiritual needs of people across the generations. As a local Baptist church we are connected to the ‘London Baptist Association’ and the ‘Baptist Union of Great Britain.’ We are also in fellowship with a number of other churches of different denominations in the locality under the title of ‘SING (Soul in Northolt and Greenford).’ We meet together to worship and pray for the needs of our communities and are seeking to promote the Christian gospel through our corporate life and witness.
We freely acknowledge that we really do need each other. Tell me this: who is the most important person in the pyramid?
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The real danger is in the books. Not necessarily the first book in the trilogy, but definitely in the second and third. While reading the second book in the series, “The Subtle Knife”, I had wondered how a book which is so violent and defiant in nature could translate into a movie. There would have to be a lot of modifying.
Some defiant messages it sends–”it’s okay if you do something bad (like beat people up if you think they deserve it) as long as you don’t get caught”, or “you can pretend to be sorry and still plan on doing something violent, again”–are awful teachings. In these books, good is evil, and evil is good.
I was totally shocked and disgusted with this book’s content which also speaks of castrating boys and girls; Lyra calling a murderer a “worthy companion”; a witch implying “if you were older, you’d understand and accept why I killed my lover and am killing myself”; etc.
These books are geared toward children, and are found in many elementary schools which, as the parent of young children, believe should not be.
On my blog, I have parts of this book quoted for anyone interested: http://naturemom.blogspot.com/
As for who The Authority is in the books, also allegedly referred to as Yahweh (YHWH–a sacred name for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in the third book, it’s quite clear. And with Pullman’s own admission that his books are about killing God, there is no question. Anyone can have their own opinion, but if the author says he’s killing God, in reality, that’s what he’s doing.
So Nicole Kidman, and others, are wrong in saying they don’t believe this movie is anti-catholic, Chrisian, and even Jewish, but maybe because they haven’t *read* these books. The movie is watered down.
While it is fair to say that churches who come out and say bouycot a certain film give it more publicity then it could generate itself, it is also important for Christians to be making more defined choices as to what they see as far as movies go. The Golden Compass is part of a trilogy and while I am not Catholic nor do I prescibe to their doctrine I am a Christian and the idea of a person setting out to write a book in which God is killed then I am afraid I will not give that person the satisfaction of seeing his movie. Pullman has not been obtuse or short winded regarding his intentions and as Christians we need to make sure he knows that its not ok.