the golden compass...my two cents

Never short of opinions, I figured I'd weigh in on this Golden Compass thing. Just a few thoughts and no doubt, I could very well be wrong on some or all of them so take what makes sense and dump the rest.

1. I don't think we, Christians that is or if we need clarification, followers of Jesus Christ, need to be too concerned about this movie and here's why.
a) The guy who wrote this (Philip Pullman) is not exactly the most avid atheist or even really literate of atheist positions. I have not read these books but from what I have gathered via various reviews and talking with those who have read them, Pullman seems to have more hangups with organized religion than with God.
b) Anyone remember The Da Vinci Code? Neither do I. :-) Let's face it, our tendency is to overreact to these things and give them too much credit. Ten minutes of research on ole Dan Brown's book discredits almost every claim.
c) The last time I looked we are following, serving, submitting to, and worshipping a God who came as a man who said that he was "the way, the truth, and the life". If I really believe that, and I'd like to think that I do most of the time, there is little in this world I need to fear which of course doesn't excuse stupidity (just watching anything and everything and filtering nothing, there are plenty of things that are destructive and immoral and we don't need to place ourselves in those things) but does give me some confidence when reading, watching, and/or experiencing something that may not be "Christian" or is possibly even "anti-Christian". I don't think Pullman is more influential or powerful than God. And I really don't mean to sound sarcastic there. Sometimes I find myself concerned about things like this book and giving them more credit than I would God.

2. Protesting this movie and/or book seems kind of absurd. I mean, certainly we have the right to do so (but so did a lot of groups with The Passion of the Christ but we weren't exactly listening to them were we?), but is that really how we want to be seen and known primarily. I realize that as Protestants, we protest at our core but maybe it's time to dump that and start swimming upstream in culture to affect it creatively rather than always criticizing it and yelling.

3. This movie, like The Da Vinci Code, affords us a great opportunity to become more well versed in what we believe and why we believe it. Though the world may not always perceive this, we aren't a dumb bunch of people. Jesus, the Bible, church, etc. actually make a lot of sense and we can engage challenges intelligently, creatively, and mercifully without resorting to hysteria (which is not where things are, but they can quickly go there).

4. Perhaps we can learn something from these books, namely what are the big issues that Pullman is criticizing and are some of them legitimate? Can we ask that question and seek an answer and still be Christians? I think we can. And perhaps understanding why these books resonate with some people can give us a better insight into how we, the church, may be misrepresenting God and missing the point.

5. On the other side of this I'm seeing people who are Christians that mock or make fun of those who have concerns about this book/movie. To that I say, "Be careful." At the end of the day Pullman is a professed atheist who admits to taking ideas from Lord of the Rings and Narnia to develop an atheistic approach to epic storytelling. There is an agenda, though at times Pullman will downplay it, and namely it is to destroy God, or at least an idea of God. That is dangerous and marketing it to children is not exactly good stuff in my opinion (which is why it is good for us parents to know what we believe and why we believe it and to ask hard questions so that we can help our children wrestle when appropriate). I think atheism is empty and dangerous and though I don't want us to become hysterical, I don't have a problem with churches and clergy addressing this movie/book and helping people to see through the lies.

At the end of the day I just hope we have some perspective. I plan on reading The Golden Compass soon if only to have a better idea of what is in it to better address questions my youth may have. I don't wish to become hysterical but I do think we should draw attention to the negative aspects of such art. Hopefully, from our end at least, grace, mercy, and listening will rule the day.

That's it. For anyone who stumbles across this post, I would love to hear your point of view.