Golden Compass – points our children towards aetheism and hate
I have debated a little bit over posting about this shameful Golden Compass trilogy but have decided for the love of my Church and my dear Lord it is the right thing to do.
My first unnerving came this week when 7 year-old daughter came home with her monthly Scholastic Book order form. Smack dab on the front page was advertised a new picture book for the movie. To her credit, bless her soul, this little 2nd grader was already empowered and cautioned as to the book and movie’s harmful matter and so raised her hand to tell the teacher that “this book should not be for sale to children”. Many of the class then questioned her saying they could not wait to see the movie. When she told them the movie was about “children trying to KILL God” she got a quite proper reaction – fear! Indeed her classmates had no idea and were shocked by her words. I think the teacher did not want to go into discussion so further questions were put privately to my daughter at recess.
The second shocker came yesterday when my 11 year-old son said he was having to do another “Catholic apologetics and philosophical debate” with person(s) in his class. Bless this little soul too for he really fears for the harm it will do to his friends to be apathetic about the real deception and subterfuge of such militant atheist propaganda. (Mind you this sweet boy spent 1 month of recesses convincing his best friend that the material in the DaVinci code was all bunk! He gave him evidence after evidence refuting each outrageous claim of Mr. Brown.) Nevertheless, many in his class to were eager to see the movie and one boy told of his 4th grade sister reading the book right now.
The shameful and most outrageous thing about this Golden Compass Trilogy is that it is designed to sell such un-God(ly) beliefs to unknowing and innocent little souls and to mislead good and trusting parents into believing the story is actually harmless! The fact is that the author is trying to indoctrinate young minds into skepticism, disbelief and hate of organized religion. He is a man with a clear, clever and I dare say, evil agenda!
I might hope that parents will look further into this subject. As educators of our children it is a certain Christian duty to keep our children as far away from the harms which come at them under many disguises in all subject matters. This film and books series are parading about as innocent and harmless entertainment (and make no mistake, the previews for the movie are FANTASTIC!) But the truth is (and you will discover if you read further below to the list of quotations I have included) that this is another diabolical trap launched on our culture , this time aimed at innocent children.
To combat this most recent assault on the children, our young little souls must be educated in the truths of their faith so they may defend themselves and help to bring about positive change in the world they are to lead. We should not step away from this opportunity to help their intelligence in Catholic philosophies to grow and mature. We must help them to develop wisdom and right judgment! There does exist an ultimate right and wrong – an objective truth which is not to be distorted.
I encourage all you good parents to tell your pastors and parish school principals and librarians about these books. Feel free to write an email or a letter. Cut and paste from this post, download a PDF booklet from the Catholic League (God bless their efforts to get the word out about Catholic bigotry!) or just tell a few of your friends and family members. I wrote a note to my school and they were so very good and appreciative. They are going to send out a notice to all the families and even had the courage to call Scholastic Books! AMEN!
But really, this is a no-brainer. The author himself has said that the books are about “KILLING GOD” so I don’t think we need to be some radical deconstuctionist pseudo philosophers and read the book ourselves to find out if he is actually right. He’s telling us, there is no guess work to be done!
Read below some quotations and factoids you can find available easily by doing a little “googling” around. Protect the little souls entrusted to you!
Quotations from Philip Pullman, author of the Golden Compass series:
“I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God,” he explained. (Terry Mattingly/Scripps Howard News Service
Saturday, November 17, 2007)
“I’m an atheist. There’s no God here. There never was.” (Pullman vs. the Magisterium by Terry Mattingly)
· Pullman, along with Michael Rosen, has created a DVD for 11-year-olds called “Why Atheism?” In the video, students talk frankly about their atheism and why they left their religion. Pullman wants atheism to be taught in the schools, which is why he made the DVD. (from “Why Philip Pullman Wants to Teach Children about Atheism,” The Independent, July 10, 2007.)
· When a children’s book was released that portrayed a teenage girl who morphs into a fornicating dog, Pullman objected to the book’s critics—not the book. (Catholic League Booklet : THE GOLDEN COMPASS: AGENDA UNMASKED)
· Of the Narnia books, Pullman says, “I hate them with a deep and bitter passion, with their view of childhood as a golden age from which sexuality and adulthood are a falling away.” In fact, Pullman considers the Narnia series “one of the most ugly and poisonous things I’ve ever read.” (Catholic League Booklet : THE GOLDEN COMPASS: AGENDA UNMASKED)
· Pullman wants to turn the story of Adam and Eve on its head. He beckons kids to learn that “the temptation in the Garden of Eden was that of enlightenment rather than an invitation to evil disobedience.” Indeed, two of his central characters, Will and Lyra, “are a sort of Adam and Eve,” notes Deborah Ross, but “instead of reaffirming the Creation story, CS Lewis-style, they subvert it.” According to Ross, Pullman is “all for Eve listening to the serpent and trying the fruit.” Pullman himself admits that “I see it as a positive act.” When asked if Eve’s defiance shows curiosity and a willingness to embrace life, he answered, “Yes. Absolutely.” (Catholic League Booklet : THE GOLDEN COMPASS: AGENDA UNMASKED)
About the book:
The book tells of Lyra’s quest to rescue a kidnapped friend and then charts her efforts to save the fantastical world she inhabits. She has to fight the forces of the dominant religious authority, the evil Magisterium, which condones the abduction of children for experimentation by cutting. The three-part series culminates in an epic battle in which God dies – at the hand of a child.
Excerpts from the novel:
One fallen angel tells one of the novel’s young heroes, “The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty – those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves – the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself.”
When the hero finally finds this “god,” he is ultimately described as a “demented and powerless” creature that “could only weep and mumble in fear and pain and misery.” The boy then kills this “god” by breaking him out of his crystal cell, thereby evaporating him. The only “god” in this universe is matter.
In the book, the Church is depicted as an organization bent on power, control and the torture of children by cutting.
One heroine in the story who turns from the Church did so when she realized, “there wasn’t any God at all and…the Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.”
From the President of the National Secular Society is flaming mad that the movie’s producers tried to “water down” the aetheism in the book:
It was clear right from the start that the makers of this film intended to take out the anti-religious elements of Pullman’s book,’ said Terry Sanderson, president of the society. ‘In doing that they are taking the heart out of it, losing the point of it, castrating it. It seems that religion has now completely conquered America’s cultural life and it is much the poorer for it. What a shame that we have to endure such censorship here too.’ (Catholic League Booklet : THE GOLDEN COMPASS: AGENDA UNMASKED)
Reality versus fictional facts in the book:
The Roman Catholic Church’s Magisterium
The body consists of the bishops and the Pope. ‘The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church.’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. 1997, pt. 1, sect. 1, ch. 2, art. 2, III.)
Pullman’s Magisterium
In the parallel universe set up by Pullman in his series His Dark Materials, Magisterium becomes the name of a dark and malevolent religious organisation that perpetrates abuse, torture and murder.
Hollywood’s Magisterium
The Golden Compass, the new film version of Pullman’s Northern Lights, will represent the Magisterium as a catch-all didactic authority. It will now stand for the evils perpetrated by any non-democratic, powerful government.
Role of Scholastic Book Corporation:
“Equally dishonest is the role of Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Entertainment, the media arm of Scholastic Corporation. She has been associated with the film from the get-go, acting as producer for New Line Cinema.
Scholastic Corporation is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. In making the movie, the mega-corporation expressly violated the tenets of its own Credo, one part of which says, “To help build a society free of prejudice and hate, and dedicated to the highest quality of life in community and nation.” Astonishingly, Scholastic also professes a belief in “High moral and spiritual values,” and says its stands square against “discrimination of any kind on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, age, or national origin.” Except when it comes to Christians.
Just as with Pullman, the rank hypocrisy of Scholastic is made worse by its glaring deceitfulness. On its website, it features a short review of each of the three books that comprise His Dark Materials, a short biography of the author and a two- plus page interview with Pullman. Not surprisingly, there is not a single hint of Pullman’s in-your-face atheism.13 In short, it amounts to a sanitized cover-up.” (excerpt from Catholic League Booklet : THE GOLDEN COMPASS: AGENDA UNMASKED)
I found out today that the official website for the Golden Compass Movie has an area where children can meet their own daemon. It says: “To discover your very own Daemon, look into your heart, and answer the following twenty questions openly and honestly. Your true character and the form of your Daemon will be reveled…”
This is INCREDIBLE!!! How ferocious!
Religion gets plenty of opportunity to indoctrinate kids with fairy tales and nonsense about an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes. Heaven forbid there is one opportunity for kids to be presented with a different perspective.
Comment by DRT — December 5, 2007 @ 5:25 pm
DRT, I am astounded that you think it o.k. for children to be told by this author’s story that they wear their “souls” on the outside and that their soul is made up of many deamons. Children need to explore evil so that they can “unmask” their outer deamons and learn who they truly are (which is nothing but physical matter) or as he says, “DUST”.
This is a philosophy truly evil I say!
In the book, the Church is depicted as an organization bent on power, control and the torture of children by cutting. And, the role model in this movie is Lyra is commended for lying, stealing, cheating, and trying to kill her mother!
Hello? Are you sure this sounds like a good movie for anyone child or adult?! And I am only mentioning a few general things about this trilogy. I’m not even commenting on the subversive symbolism and direct bigotry and hatred directed specifically at the Catholic Church!
I will pray for a conversion of your heart DRT.
Comment by aeternus — December 5, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
Basically you teach kids that some book whose origin can never be proven and which we have just come to accept as truth. The negative effect of teaching such nonsense to children is far graver than anything in Golden Compass.
Comment by DRT — December 5, 2007 @ 7:36 pm
Just because you can not see something does not mean it is not there (for example the wind). But it does exist.
I pray that one day you will find this grace of faith. And, it is YOURS FOR THE ASKING! Give it a try, turn to your disbelief and ask for faith. His goodness is eternal and will always welcome you if you turn to Him in your heart. This goodness strengthens me every day and gives me joy. I wish for you to experience this joy too!
I pray you will find the Savior as He comes again this Christmas and is born again into this world.
Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal Rock. (Isaiah 26:4)
Comment by aeternus — December 6, 2007 @ 10:07 am
as for the deamoms My kids and I already visited the website and made ours, it was a bit of silliness my children are not simple enough to think it is real. Its a game that generates random animals geez my kid is 10 and figured that one out.
I also looked for that dvd you mentioned because I thought hmm maybe he is trying to push his believe system and that would be proof that he is indeed out to get our children but can’t find it. Does it really exist ?
Comment by Kat — December 7, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
I appreciate very much that you are trying to learn more about this Golden Compass Trilogy and about its author. It is good of you to be an investigator of all your children are interested in. However, you need not worry if the author is an atheist. That comes straight from his mouth. I think he is unabashed in his desire to promote his way of thinking.
As for the deamon creator on the movie website. I’d avoid it like I would a oija board! It may be fun and games, but then again, there are invisible forces at work here which we are unaware of so why take a chance?! It is a great opportunity to teach children about the dangers hidden beneath the guise of “fun”.
I just did a little more surfing for you so you can read directly about the author. A quick visit to New Yorker Magazine and the British Humanist Association will help you learn more. The DVD series DOES exist.
Here are some quotations taken from an article in the New Yorker Magazine 2005: FAR FROM NARNIA Philip Pullman’s secular fantasy for children. by Laura Miller
Peter Hitchens, a conservative British columnist, published an article about Pullman entitled “This Is the Most Dangerous Author in Britain,” in which he called him the writer “the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed.”
I don’t think it’s possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words ‘spiritual’ or ‘spirituality’; but I think I can say something about moral education, and I think it has something to do with the way we understand stories.”
“Although I call myself an atheist, I am a Church of England atheist, and a 1662 Book of Common Prayer atheist, because that’s the tradition I was brought up in and I cannot escape those early influences.” In “His Dark Materials,” Pullman’s criticisms of organized religion come across as anti-authoritarian and anti-ascetic rather than anti-doctrinal. (Jesus isn’t mentioned in any of the books, although Pullman has hinted that He might figure in a forthcoming sequel, “The Book of Dust.”) His fundamental objection is to ideological tyranny and the rejection of this world in favor of an idealized afterlife, regardless of creed. As one of the novel’s pagan characters puts it, “Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling.”
You can read the whole 7 page story here:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/12/26/051226fa_fact
From the British Humanist Association Website:
Why Atheism? (DVD / Video, Team Video, http://www.team-video.co.uk ) – very useful stimuli for discussion, with teachers’ notes. In 6 short films: atheists of all ages and from many cultures talk about their beliefs about “leaving God”, birth, marriage and death, and life in Belfast; students “defend the faith”; and Philip Pullman and Michael Rosen discuss atheism.
To see a flyer for the series visit this link: http://www.humanism.org.uk/uploadedFiles/cms/store//Oracle_Scene/article_TeachersandStudents_files/ATTACHMENTS/Why Atheism_ leaflet col-2.pdf
Comment by aeternus — December 7, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Comment by kycatholic — December 10, 2007 @ 3:16 pm
[...] Thanks to Aeternus for her post on the Golden Compass movie. More information on The 12/07/2007 episode of Catholic Answers Live, “Pullman’s Atheistic Pull” with guests Pete Vere and Steve Wood. It is very interesting and informative. Pete Vere and Sandra Miesel are the authors of a new book “Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children’s Fantasy”. Pete Vere talks about Pullman using C.S. Lewis’ imagery and reads from Pullman’s book apologizing for repeating blasphemy over the air. This talk is continued in the next hour, the 12/07/2007 episode of CAL, “Now Playing! Catholic Movie Reviews” with guest Steven Greydanus of Decent Films Guide. [...]
Pingback by » Blog Archive » “Golden Compass” & “Pied Piper of Atheism” Podcast — December 10, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
[...] http://aeternus.stblogs.com/2007/12/05/golden-compass-points -our-children-towards-aetheism-and-hate/#comments “Golden Compass-points our children towards atheism and hate” by Aeternus, 12/5/07. Aeternus goes head to head with some aggressive commenters. Bravo, Aeternus! [...]
Pingback by Stack o’ Links: The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman, and His Dark Materials — December 10, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
I’ve been collecting links on the Golden Compass/Phillip Pullman/His Dark Materials stuff, and have added the New Yorker article to my collection. I’ve posted them all at my place:
http://claresiobhan.stblogs.com/2007/12/10/stack-o-links-the-golden-compass-phillip-pullman-and-his-dark-materials/
Thanks, again, for your edifying work.
Clare, blogging at Always Advent
Comment by claresiobhan — December 10, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
Comment by aeternus — December 11, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
Comment by CrazyKommie — October 3, 2008 @ 11:23 pm
I thank you for leaving your comment.
I should never want to encourage people to avoid entertainment for we all need a little break once and awhile. I do think it is dangerous though, to point our children over to the television or even to a book without first thoughtfully reviewing what it is we are showing them. Young minds are easily lured by fantastical imagery and so this film and book series is sure to “wow” lots of minds. However, since the author has stated his “agenda” and “intention” as one of disbelief in God and anger and loathing toward the Catholic Church it seems silly for a good Catholic Mother to want to participate in this “entertaining story”.
I think it right and fair to look out for what my children see and read. I also think it right and fair to critique the author and to do some basic research into his philosophy and premise.
I appreciate your thoughts on this movie (though I believe the worst harm to be done by reading the books). I hope you will not mind if I beg to differ at the confusion and harm it can possibly do to young minds.
Comment by aeternus — October 4, 2008 @ 5:43 am
I wonder though, if they do end up making a sequel, which I really hope they do because it was a interesting movie, are you still going to get uptight on it and write another blog like this?
Comment by CrazyKommie — October 8, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
And I could equally say that any christian (or any religion) based movie is manipulating young minds.
Doesn’t mean me or you is right though.
Comment by CrazyKommie — October 8, 2008 @ 6:29 pm
I am glad you returned for a little more discourse.
First of all, please believe, I do not feel any animosity towards you, and more specifically I appreciate your “non belief”. I do not share that non-belief with you and more importantly I wish you could feel the certainty and the love I have in my own belief in God! This love and faith is the center of my life. I believe with perfect certainty that this earthly life is just the beginning of an eternity of love with God who created us in His perfect love. Oh, how I pray you might experience this happy knowledge!
I do not think you are a “bad” person and I applaud you wanting to live a good life and be of good moral character. I feel sad that you do not know God who is love. Forgive me if I presume too much, but I am sure that He is the one who inspires you to lead a good life even though you don’t know it yet.
I found this wonderful little podcast online which I would invite you to listen to. I think you are a man of reason and will find the speaker, Peter Kreeft, a thoughtful and clear thinker and presenter of arguments for “Why God exists.” I think maybe, even if it is just out of curiosity, you might take a listen to it. I’m NOT trying to indoctrinate you!!! I am only trying to share some rational philosophical discourse which may stimulate your mind. And if you hate it, well then, you have more ammunition against all “theists”.
You can find it here. (Mind you there is some humor)…
http://www.peterkreeft.com/audio/08_arguments-for-god/peter-kreeft_arguments-for-god.mp3
Anyway, if you are trying to live a good life than I know that somewhere in the hidden depths of yourself you will find peace in coming to know truth. I am sorry that I am too simple a soul and too un-intelligent to prove why God exists. I just know in my heart that He does. I wish you could know this happiness.
Peace to you this day.
Comment by aeternus — October 9, 2008 @ 9:05 am
You said:
“Oh, also, did you ever stop to think that maybe he is just writing a story for fun”
I don’t have to think about that. The author told the world what his intention in writing the book series is.
Comment by aeternus — October 9, 2008 @ 9:07 am
Thank you for sending me the guy talking. I honestly can’t listen through the whole thing though, it’s quite long. And i already heard about 20 speakers when I went to Creation to try to understand why Christians believe in god. (one hell of a week to confuse a poor soul). But when I listened to this speaker, I really don’t agree with him on much of this. He said that there atheists believe in everything by chance… which in my perspective is completely incorrect. My atheism, and several of my buddies or are atheist, all agree that we just don’t know why all of this is here, we even say there MAY be a god, or perhaps the big bang theory is correct and Earth’s early atmosphere combined with the lightning storms created Life. But no one knows, and this speaker is making it sound like Atheists already have a solution to why everything is here, which we dont, that’s why we create theory’s like the big bang. Since the universe is expanding rapidly and expanding faster every second, it must have gone down to a single spec. It’s just like the tectonic plates theory. We can’t exactly prove it YET, but its a logic explanation for everything with the continents drifting and such, and even you believe in this theory.
Thank you again though for the speaker, and sorry i turned this into a religious battle in a way
Alright, cant wait to here from you tomorrow =P
Comment by Brooks (CrazyKommie) — October 9, 2008 @ 5:57 pm
Honestly, we think that’s just nonsense to believe in a book that could be completely wrong and might have been just used by emperor Constantine to control people in the ancient times. (I’m not trying to offend you here though, sorry if i did)
Comment by Brooks (CrazyKommie) — October 9, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
I applaud you for giving a listen to the podcast. You are a good fellow (as I already guessed). I am glad that you posted back because now I know something more about you. You are NOT and atheist! If you will forgive me, I think the term for your belief can be rightly called “agnostic”.
If you were an atheist you would deny the existence of God and in fact would be vehemently opposed to any notion or possibility of God. You would deny anything of a “spiritual” nature and would not believe in the possibility of anything you could not see or examine or quantify physically.
An agnostic, on the other hand, thinks it impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time. An agnostic thinks God may exist or may not exist. It is a question which can not be answered. (you can read an agnostic’s diatribe of his belief here: http://arts.cuhk.edu.hk/humftp/E-text/Russell/agnostic.htm)
The word Agnostic come from the Greek word “a” which means privative and the word “gnostikós” which means “knowing”. This pretty much gives the definition — a person can not privately know or not know the existence of the unseen spiritual world. You can read the “Catholic explanation” of agnostic in the Catholic Encyclopedia (if you feel so inclined) here: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01215c.htm
An agnostic is one who says “well, maybe there is a God. I don’t know Him and I’m not sure I believe the dogmatic rituals of any church system but I admit there is a chance that they could be right. I’m not sure scientists have ALL the answers as to how the universe was born so I’m not sure I can trust fully in their limited knowledge either.
Anyway, I think it is good for all people to realize that they do not have the answers to all the questions of life. That would be pretty darn arrogant for anyone to proclaim. However, to be humble enough to admit that “I don’t have all the answers” is an honorable position for a person. In stating that we don’t have all the answers we can be open to the unknown and the possibility of a reality which exists beyond our own physical world. If we say we don’t have all the answers because we can not see everything clearly or quantify what we do not know then we trust their is an invisible and unknown force which is inside each of us. It is a place inside us which yearns for that knowledge.
That place, I believe, is the soul which longs for its Creator who knows all because He IS ALL. I believe that God did send us “messengers” to help us know Him. And, I believe that when God could not be known well enough through his prophetic messengers that He sent us His Son to speak to us directly. Jesus shows us (through example of His perfect obedience to the Father) what we should imitate to please His Father and gain an eternal life. But, remember, even Jesus says that this way is made through “faith” in that which can not be seen….
Brooks, I appreciate very much our conversation and I do not think it is a “religious battle”. I have thought of it as an honest discussion. You have been very forthcoming and I respect your candor with me.
I pray you will continue to explore, think, reason, learn, examine and probe your own mind and your own “invisible nature” so that you will come to know ultimate truth and love in Him who made you!
Comment by aeternus — October 13, 2008 @ 9:58 am
So I suppose I will just have to wait until my time of death comes to find out the unanswered question. I just hope it not too late for anything. (It would suck to find out Hinduism is right and I come back as a bug, and Hell doesn’t sound too pleasant either)
And I still have to figure out why people, such as you, can be so firm in a belief about religion, when there is no personal experience with going to heaven/hell, but oh well I suppose.
Thank You.
Comment by Brooks — October 13, 2008 @ 1:26 pm