"The Compass" Kerfluffle
Disclaimer: I have not read The Golden Compass. Yet. (I'm a stickler for seeing the movie first).
With a few weeks to go until the movie premiere of The Golden Compass, already the Conservative Christian fanatics have launched a fear campaign against it, using excerpts of the book (which you know they have not read) and excerpts from interviews with the author.
The basis for their alarm-filled emails is an article on Snopes.com.
Do I plan to go see it? Yep! And I'm taking Drama Queen with me (who has the book on her "to read" list). Oh but I guess I risk having my Christian membership card taken away ::sarcasm::
My complaints against this campaign are many, just as in the hatred against the Harry Potter series. Yes, the author is an Atheist. I don't pretend that I understand it, just like I don't fully understand other belief systems. But those who would preach against him (um, did they forget the whole thing about not bearing false witness?) are hypocrites. Because they are the first ones to wave the American flag and talk about how our soldiers are fighting for our freedom.
How many atheists do you think are out there fighting for *everyone's* freedom? Not just the ones that CC's approve of. ALL Americans deserve freedom (and well, all people for that matter.)
Second, the idea that The Atheists are using the movie to lure dumb parents into buying the book so the kids will be indoctrinated.......is just laughable. Reading a book will no more make you an atheist, any more than reading The Bible will make you a Christian. And you know what? Kids are smarter than most people give them credit for. My daughter knows the different between fact and fiction. She's got a good enough brain to decide what she will accept and what she will reject for her beliefs. People who like to ban books scare me.
The book talks about overthrowing a senile God. Do I take that personally? Nope. How often do CCs villify the belief system of other religions, claiming someone really worships Satan, or that they are a member of a cult? Why do they demand rights that they do not give to others? I think it is absolutely insulting to tell other thinking adults that we own the market on Salvation. As though other people are just too dumb to be privy to "our special knowledge".
I don't know any atheists personally. But I have friends who are Wiccans, Pagans, Christians (Conservatives, Liberal, Progressive), Jewish, Catholic, and those who just don't identify with any religion. I have my own belief system (I think of myself as a Liberal Progressive Christian), and respect theirs. But the Spiritual Tar & Feather crowd give my faith a bad name.
I've discussed the issues with DQ, and told her she might get hassled for reading the book at school. But I don't tell her what she can and can't read (that's the fastest way to get a kid to read a book, btw LOL). I told her she might want to read it at home (if I don't get to it first).
I may not like the movie, and I may not like the books (so far there are 3, with a 4th planned). But I'm using my brain--not fear and warnings--to make the decision for myself. I encourage my readers to do the same.
With a few weeks to go until the movie premiere of The Golden Compass, already the Conservative Christian fanatics have launched a fear campaign against it, using excerpts of the book (which you know they have not read) and excerpts from interviews with the author.
The basis for their alarm-filled emails is an article on Snopes.com.
Do I plan to go see it? Yep! And I'm taking Drama Queen with me (who has the book on her "to read" list). Oh but I guess I risk having my Christian membership card taken away ::sarcasm::
My complaints against this campaign are many, just as in the hatred against the Harry Potter series. Yes, the author is an Atheist. I don't pretend that I understand it, just like I don't fully understand other belief systems. But those who would preach against him (um, did they forget the whole thing about not bearing false witness?) are hypocrites. Because they are the first ones to wave the American flag and talk about how our soldiers are fighting for our freedom.
How many atheists do you think are out there fighting for *everyone's* freedom? Not just the ones that CC's approve of. ALL Americans deserve freedom (and well, all people for that matter.)
Second, the idea that The Atheists are using the movie to lure dumb parents into buying the book so the kids will be indoctrinated.......is just laughable. Reading a book will no more make you an atheist, any more than reading The Bible will make you a Christian. And you know what? Kids are smarter than most people give them credit for. My daughter knows the different between fact and fiction. She's got a good enough brain to decide what she will accept and what she will reject for her beliefs. People who like to ban books scare me.
The book talks about overthrowing a senile God. Do I take that personally? Nope. How often do CCs villify the belief system of other religions, claiming someone really worships Satan, or that they are a member of a cult? Why do they demand rights that they do not give to others? I think it is absolutely insulting to tell other thinking adults that we own the market on Salvation. As though other people are just too dumb to be privy to "our special knowledge".
I don't know any atheists personally. But I have friends who are Wiccans, Pagans, Christians (Conservatives, Liberal, Progressive), Jewish, Catholic, and those who just don't identify with any religion. I have my own belief system (I think of myself as a Liberal Progressive Christian), and respect theirs. But the Spiritual Tar & Feather crowd give my faith a bad name.
I've discussed the issues with DQ, and told her she might get hassled for reading the book at school. But I don't tell her what she can and can't read (that's the fastest way to get a kid to read a book, btw LOL). I told her she might want to read it at home (if I don't get to it first).
I may not like the movie, and I may not like the books (so far there are 3, with a 4th planned). But I'm using my brain--not fear and warnings--to make the decision for myself. I encourage my readers to do the same.
Labels: Religion, The Golden Compass
posted by The Headache Slayer & Co. @ 7:00 PM
2 Comments:
At 10:54 PM,
Pixie LaRouge said…
I have read several other books by Pullman, and I have found him to be an excellent author. Ya know, I have read a series of books about "other gods" by someone else, and I never started worshiping their made up deities (although one of them is one of my favorite characters). Fiction is fiction. Fact is fact. Belief is belief. And what the heck do any of them have to do with the other?!
As far as knowing Athiests goes, my husband is somewhere between an agnostic and an athiest. He leaves my beliefs alone; I leave his alone. Except for the lively discussions, of course. He's a through and through humanist, though, so I don't see how the creed is all that different, as we both believe in being nice to people and respecting people. I just believe God told me to, is all ;)
As for the movie and book, yeah, don't tell my mother I'm planning on seeing it and reading it. I, of course, plan on reading the book first, since I'm such a goober about BOOK MUST COME FIRST! LOL!
At 10:09 AM,
Psipsina said…
I have read the entire trilogy twice, and while it is true that Pullman is an atheist, I think that the books show a remarkable respect for true religion. He does, however, come down on established, hidebound religious institutions that care more about power than truth. I don't think the books promote an atheist agenda. What they do promote is for people to question what they are told instead of believing it because an authority figure says so, and coming to one's own conclusions about God. I'm sure some religious people find that dangerous, but those who believe in a personal relationship with God shouldn't really find anything shocking about the concept. Wasn't that what the entire Protestant Reformation was about, questioning the Church and finding God for oneself? It was shocking then, but several hundred years later it should be old hat.
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