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On Tuesday, the first in the series of book by Philip Pullman comes out on DVD.  The Golden Compass, is the first of the three books.  I have seen the movie and I have read the first book.  I plan on reading the series, as the movies are released.  The movie stirs up a lot of controversy, because of its relation to the anti-god theme.

So what is the fuss all about? Well, the film is based on the first volume of a trilogy of books written by British best-selling author Philip Pullman (who is a known atheist) and deals with a little girl called Lyra who lives in a world in which the Church is an all-powerful, evil and domineering force. Christian groups are boycotting and staging a campaign against “The Golden Compass” - but they seem to forget that the book (just like the movie) is pure fiction. I’m having some flashbacks to when “The Da Vinci Code” was first published - but I honestly thought some people would be a lot smarter than to take a children’s book for pure fact. I guess I was wrong… (Link)

While the anti-god theme does not appear until the third book, there is a little bit of anti-religion present in the first book/movie.  However, the quote above  describes the situation very clearly.  It is nothing but fiction.  While the author is a declared agnostic/atheist, he does not try to bestow his beliefs on anyone.  By seeing the movie you are not forced into believing everything that is being said.

First off, the book is pure fantasy — it involves people who have animals ’souls’ that exist outside of the human body.  It is also set in a time and land much different from our own.  In the end, if it a pure children’s book and nothing more.  Not allowing children to see the movie or read the book simply on the basis that it is anti-religion is preposterous.  Children should be allowed to keep open minds about religion — they should be able to draw their own opinions about religion.  And this book will not influence anyone thoughts on religion, because it is so far fetched.

Let children’s fantasy stories be what they are — a story.

The movie can be pre-ordered here.

Justin

Tags: church, god, philip pullman, Religion, the golden compass

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