Let’s just all agree to disagree

First off, please stop with the forwarded emails. Seriously. Pretty much all of them have been debunked. There’s not much a forwarded email could tell me that my evening newscast or email blast from the local paper hasn’t already told me.

What email am I talking about?

There will be a new children’s movie out in December called “The Golden Compass” starring Nicole Kidman. The movie has been described as “atheism for kids” and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled “His Dark Materials” that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the “Chronicles of Narnia”. His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.

Clearly, Pullman’s main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that “my books are about killing God.” He has even stated that he wants to “kill God in the minds of children”. It has been said of Pullman that he is “the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed.”

While “The Golden Compass” movie itself may seem mild and innocent, the books are a much different story. In the trilogy, a young streetwise girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle to ultimately defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God. Another character, an ex-nun, describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing mistake.” In the final book, characters representing Adam and Eve eventually kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH. Each book in the trilogy gets progressively worse regarding Pullman’s hatred of Jesus Christ.

“The Golden Compass” is set to premier on December 7, during the Christmas season, and will probably be heavily advertised. Promoters hope that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie, that they will enjoy the movie, and that the children will want the books for Christmas.

Please consider a boycott of the movie and the books. Also, pass this information along to everyone you know. This will help to educate parents, so that they will know the agenda of the movie.

I actually first heard about all this via a Myspace bulletin from a former coworker who lists herself as an atheist. She was basically saying Christians were lame for their reaction to the movie. Both Trin and I got this email from an old friend last week. I immediately deleted it.

Why??? Am I promoting atheism? No. I dislike littering my friends’ in boxes with forwards. Plus, why would I participate in what’s essentially a grass-roots advertising campaign? Because that’s what controversy stirs up for films — look at Passion of the Christ. The anti-Semitism controversy helped sell it, according to Wikipedia.

I also dislike the tone of the email. I mean, if a film all a kid needs to turn him/her to atheism and you as a parent don’t want that, then you as a parent aren’t doing your job. I don’t know about anyone else, but it would take a lot more than a film or even a few books to shake my faith. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved Greek and Roman mythology. It didn’t turn me into some pagan priestess or anything — but rather, it gave me a perspective on history and human nature that was ascribed to gods and goddesses.

I’m also glad I’m not the only one saying this is a silly campaign.

Bryan McAnally points out that there are tons of movies that don’t promote Christianity or are even family friendly, but we don’t get up in arms about those films. He also points out the inconsistency in how Christians reacted to the Da Vinci Code (oh! Its an opportunity to discuss the Bible with non-Christians!) and their reaction now to the Golden Compass.

Another blog also points out how intolerant we are of others and their beliefs.

I’m not worried about someone who is seeking to “kill God” through his books. I have no qualms about how things are going to work out in that fight. And forwarding silly, alarmist emails about some humanist is not going to influence that fight one bit.