The Golden Compass....use it as a topic of conversation...not a ANOTHER wedge....

Hey Everyone,


There are a couple of emails going around about the new movie, "The Golden Compass". They are saying somethings about how the movie/book bashes the Catholic church and stuff and I just thought I would weigh in.


First a little background.....

I LOVE and collect children's literature.

I started working in the school library when our oldest was in kindergarten and continued doing so until last year when our youngest was in the seventh grade. A) So that I could catch up and monitor children's literature since so much had been published since I was a child. and B) So that I could stay close to what goes on in the schools.

Also...on a spiritual note....

I do tend to read books with a "spiritual eye"...for lack of a better term. What I read, be it religious, spiritual or TOTALLY secular IS colored by my relationship with the Lord. I see God where others might not tend to see him....and I am fairly sensitive when something is even mildly "anti-God".

With that said.....

You will never be able to let your children read MOST classic children's literature if you do not let them read anything with magic, witches or other things supernatural. AND if that is what you choose to do...that is FINE...but it means they will miss out on a LOT of GREAT children's literature INCLUDING the Narnia, Tolkien and L'Engle series. All of which were written by Christians. I know because I RESEARCHED IT....ON MY OWN. I did NOT take anyone else's word for it. I read their books and bios and interviews.

ALSO....I have read all of the Harry Potter books. They ARE the next classic children's literature. I have read and watched MANY interviews with JK Rowling and she has never said one thing, that I have seen, to lead me to believe that any of the GARBAGE you read in mass emails about her "pushing" witchcraft or bashing the church is true. She DOES NOT bash the church in her books and the "heroes" in the book do not hate "muggles". They, in fact, spend most of their time trying to protect them.

My problem with her books.....It CAN promote witchcraft. Among young people who DO NOT HAVE parents that care enough to read it with their children and/or might not be believers. These books hold NO danger to those with parents who sit down and explain to them that magic is ALWAYS a bad thing but for some UNKNOWN reason MOST great authors use it in their books. So....I feel a real sadness for all of those children who don't have anyone to "protect" them from Satan's insidious ways.

The DiVinci code....read it....loved it....love his other books too. I do feel that Tom Hanks was a VERY poor choice for the main character in the movie though. ;)

Liberals like to talk about how IGNORANT Christians are. Well....the ignorant ones are the ones who can't read the forward of this book and SEE VERY CLEARLY, IN BLACK AN WHITE where this guy, Dan Brown, says that this is a WORK OF FICTION PEOPLE!!!! How much MONEY and time was spent not ONLY by the Catholic church but by many evangelical churches giving seminars on how to BATTLE the book and movie that could have been used to buy food for the homeless or for the widows and orphans??? Satan must have had a GOOD laugh about that one!!!

Now...the Golden Compass. I have felt an overwhelming sense of "evil" from maybe a half dozen books. So much so that I was compelled to SHUT THE BOOK after two pages or so. One of them was an Anne Rice book. DUH!!!

But another one....was the Golden Compass. Now this is where you will think I am nuts. This book was SOOOOO "weird" to me that I HAD to continue reading it! I KNEW that this guy was bashing NOT just the catholic church...like these emails are saying.... but "THE CHURCH".

So...because I HAD TO KNOW where the heck this author was coming from and what he was trying to promote.......I read the whole book....and the next one.....AND started on the third one....before I finally got to about the second chapter and just shut the book. I was not willing to feel the way I felt when reading those books for the sake of research. I just decided to tell everyone I know to keep those books away from their kids. Not something I usually do.

AND....it is one of the handful of books that I have told my children that they can not read until they are adults and can make their own decision. And they have not argued with me. Because we have a history...an established routine....and they understand our background...... BECAUSE we have talked about it.

I have known the movie was being made for A LONG TIME. And guess what.....I am going to see it. I ...for myself...would like to see how they approach many of the things that bothered me about the book...as a believer. The kids aren't sure that they want to. They know what I have said about it. So we will see how that all plays out.

And you know what. My kids are almost grown now! I can't read or watch EVERYTHING they want to read and watch now. During the summer they might read 3 to 5 books a week!!

BUT....We pray that we have laid a good foundation. I still kind of flip through most of their books. I give my opinion....but most of the time they make their own choices. Some they put down ....some they don't....and most of the time they surprise me by making AMAZING choices before they even leave the library. The girls both read a LOT of Shakespeare this summer....which I NEVER read because it is HARD!! ;) But guess what.....Shakespeare sometimes used "supernatural" elements in his stuff.

ANYWAY....I guess you know what my "soapbox" is now huh?!?!? Sorry....but children's literature REALLY is one of my great loves. Anytime I can couple that with my love for Christ...well that's just a bonus!!

Here is a link to Snopes where you can read one of the emails going around and some other info
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

And here are a few interviews with Philip Pullman. The first one is probably the most telling.

http://www.surefish.co.uk/culture/features/pullman_interview.htm

http://www.powells.com/authors/pullman.html

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-pullman-philip.asp


C.