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Is The Golden Compass an Atheist Movie for Kids?

The Golden CompassThere’s been much talk in the blogosphere about the upcoming release of The Golden Compass, a new film based on the children’s trilogy His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman–a known atheist. A chain email is rumored to have been passed around to thousands of parents encouraging them to not let their children see the movie’s supposed anti-religious themes. And the Catholic League will be conducting a two-month protest of the movie, claiming the book is “overt in its hatred of Catholicism.”

So what does Pullman have to say about his attempt to indoctrinate little children to the evilness that is atheism? Quite the opposite, actually. When asked if there was an underlying message promoting atheism in his books, Pullman stated:

As for the atheism, it doesn’t matter to me whether people believe in God or not, so I’m not promoting anything of that sort. What I do care about is whether people are cruel or whether they’re kind, whether they act for democracy or for tyranny, whether they believe in open-minded inquiry or in shutting the freedom of thought and expression. Good things have been done in the name of religion, and so have bad things; and both good things and bad things have been done with no religion at all. What I care about is the good, wherever it comes from.

Sure, Pullman has also stated in a 2003 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald that, “My books are about killing God.” While not the most ideal choice of words, there’s nothing wrong with what Pullman is doing. C.S. Lewis did the exact same thing in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe on behalf of Christianity (and you didn’t see atheists collectively protesting that movie when it came out two years ago).

What the Catholic League is attempting to do through its protest is equate atheism with immorality. (I find that funny, in light of the hundreds of Catholic clergy abuse cases going on in the world.) But I’m more offended that the Catholic League implies that atheism is dangerous to children. Pullman’s books, as the author has stated himself, promote intellectual curiosity. Let the kids decide for themselves.

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This entry was posted by Maggie on November 7, 2007 at 6:18 pm and is filed under Ethics and Morals, Media. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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  • Rethunk

    Who do you think created the notion of gods? Humans!

  • Rethunk

    Jesus (should that be pronounced as it is in Spanish?)

    I got an email about the movie that talked about the hidden message of athiesm…

    Wow. That’s almost half as good as actually reading one of the books yourself or having an independent opinion.

    Not.

    Secondhand ignorance is a terrible thing.

  • Rethunk

    Kids cannot make decisions for themselves, that

  • indigo

    2007-11-13 10:04:45
    I think Pullman is very ignorant. Kids cannot make decisions for themselves, that

  • Sam Norlander

    The books are amazing, and the writing is fanominal. I love the story I am starting the thrid. I am not a I quess adult I am 15 and I think I can make up my ow mind of whats right and whats wrong. Religion is wrong!!! The book dose not denie the presence of God, nor do I, but I must tell you that very much are the prencibles of goodness the same in both the bible and The Golden Compass. If I religion is so week that it can not withstad a fictional story that it is not worth my time. It is fantisy. AS IS THE BIBLE!!!

  • Bill Miller

    I agree. Even thought the person above needs to work on there spelling and Grammer. The bible and the golden compass are fantisy!!!

  • Sam Norlander

    The Bible is fake a story written by man to scare people into being nice. I am (or at lest I think I am) kind but I don’t belive in that nonsense. But I do belive in right and wrong. I enjoyed the Golden Compass.

  • Sam Norlander

    I do not have to ignor them I agree with them. Read my other comment later on this page for more info on my opinon.

  • Sam Norlander

    I loved the books I don’t car what you people think.

  • Sam Norlander

    Finally someone with a bran besides me is here. I agree with you completly

  • Sam Norlander

    I never was really good at that, but I still have all A’s. I would like to ask what all of these God loving nuts got as grades in school. I am quessing C’s,D’s, and F’s. Idiots. Not me I love science and math. READING TO OVEROUSLY.

  • Sam Norlander

    You are right. I loved the books. The ending to three is so sad.

  • http://adamanthenes.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/an-unparalleled-adventure-chris-weitz%e2%80%99-the-golden-compass/ W.E.B. Adamant

    Though I agree with you all about the books, the movie is a shark without teeth. It carries a message about authority, and questioning it, but the religious connotations fell to the consequences of appeasement.

    They say the next two movies will be faithful to the books. I hope so.

  • Mrs. Smith

    That just didn’t make any sense, you make less sense than anything read in the bible!! and atleast the bible can be understood if you ask for guidance. But sorry you just made NO SENSE!

  • Mrs. Smith

    No need to beg. Obviously you could tell from the begining of your post that you were an ignotant young child in need of guidance. Im assuming your parents let you make your own choices? let you sit infront of a computer and chat with whomever, let you watch whatever you choose, because you are such a smart “Kid” well for the sake of entertainment, pornos are also entertainment for those whom approve and a 14 year old may think its appropriate for him to watch while a parent may not. Now who to tell you otherwise… PARENTS. Even at 20 years old college students need guidance, at 30 years husbands and wives need guidance and so on an so forth. No you not very bright for 14. My daughter is 12 and i invited her to come along and see the movie with my guidance. My smart child said no thank you it did not interest her. The lord has guided me in raising her well. She just wasnt interested. There are worse movies than this that our children see, and we say nothing of it. We must let them see, learn, understand, the right from wrong and then….. help them make the right decision.

  • Francis

    ” … the bible can be understood if you ask for guidance. ”

    It’s my impression that the more you know about the Bible, the less likely you are to adopt the jejeune posture of fundamentalist hayseeds who assume that its words are to be taken at face value.

    And when you understand the history of Christianity, you may recognize the mistake made by Martin Luther in proposing *sola scritura* as if Jesus had proclaimed “… on this rock I will write my book.”

    Real Bible scholars, such as Gerald Larue, are often found to be freethinkers. Fundies do not really study the Bible; they treat it as a talisman, a magic-endued object to ward off the bad spirits around us.

    If more fundamentalists would actually read their Bibles, it might liberate them. Instead, they just use it the way I use my Oxford Dictionary of Quotations – useful for dipping into when you already have a pretty good idea of what you are loking for before you open it.

    Someday soon I will read Isaac Asimov’s big “Guide to the Bible.” It is said to be excellent and highly informative. I wonder how many fundies read it. Mu guess: Probably very few, because they do not really want to know the Bible, they just want to use it like a lucky rabbit’s foot to ward off evil. some of them, indeed, refer to it not as a sourcebook but as their “sword.”

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