The Golden Compass

I haven’t seen the movie and I didn’t read the books. As a matter of fact I had never heard of the books until the Christian fruitcakes started howling about an atheist conspiracy.

Given the flap and baggage surrounding this movie it’s hard to put much credence in the reviews around the internet, including the reviews by the professionals. Hey, my faith in the media is way down so why should I believe even the lowly movie critics are being honest with me?

As far as I can tell though, the movie sounds like a bit of a dud. Too much of it appears to have been left on the cutting room floor and, supposedly, it’s hard to follow and feels rushed. At least that’s the impression I’m getting from reviews that strike me as uninfluenced by the religious squabbling.

What I find funny is the number of Christians posting venomous attacks on the movie simply because they’ve been led to believe its anti-Christian and anti-God. Some of the faithful have even called for a boycott. This simply causes me to ask again why Christians are afraid to place their “truths” in direct competition with other “truths” that contradict their beliefs. Always their initial reaction is to try and silence anyone that has a different slant on reality. What are they afraid of? Are they afraid that Christianity might be shown up for the nonsense that it is?

As far as Phillip Pullman and his books are concerned, based upon what I’ve learned, the man is a definite atheist and an outspoken critic of C.S. Lewis and his Narnia books. The “His Dark Materials” trilogy, of which “The Golden Compass” is the first book, appears to be a sort of anti-Paradise Lost where those fighting on the side of Hell are the good guys. The church and religion are portrayed as an evil dictatorial duo that would fit right into Orwell’s 1984.

Now there seems to be universal agreement that the more controversial points from the books are very much downplayed in the movie. But, according to the fruitcake crowd, that’s where the conspiracy comes in. The downplaying in the movie is a trick to lure young, innocent, and unsuspecting minds into reading the books which will shatter both their belief in Christianity and their faith in God.

Gee, all of a sudden Christians are worried about warping young minds. The same minds that they wash repeatedly with Christian dogma as soon as the poor things learn language. If I remember correctly, weren’t churches hiring busses to take the kiddies to see “The Chronicles of Narnia” and weren’t even some renting the movie and giving shows in the church? Weren’t too worried about warping young minds then were you?

Ok, enough anti-religious venting. I can’t really judge Pullman’s books without reading them but I suspect that his atheistic world view shows through loud and clear. I wouldn’t expose pre-teens to these kinds of ideas because they’re just not intellectually ready for them. As for teenagers, it would depend upon the maturity and intelligence of the teen. When they’re ready, they should be exposed to these ideas and left to decide for themselves where the truth lies. Didn’t a Jewish philosopher one time say something to the effect that if it is of God, you won’t be able to prevent it from winning and if it’s not of God, you won’t be able to prevent it from losing?

So Christians, why are you so afraid of ideas that might not line up with your theology?