The religious right doesn't want you to see this
movie. The Catholic Church has mounted an expensive organized
campaign against the film. What better reasons to take the kids to
the theater this Friday? |
This mystical spiritual epic is based on one of a trilogy
of children's books by Philip Pullman. It takes place "in a world
where people's souls exist outside their bodies in the form of animals
called daemons, and a global evil threatens to dominate all thought
and belief. That evil is embodied in a political/religious dictatorship
referred to as the 'Church' or 'Magisterium.' " (Kansas City Star)
The author never calls the organization "Christian," but the Catholic
League may feel the similarity is too close for comfort. "It's not
just atheistic," said Kiera McCaffrey, of the Catholic League for
Religious and Civil Rights. "In these books everyone associated with
Christianity is a torturer of children, a liar, power mad." (Kansas
City Star) |
Director Chris Weitz said that the film would make no
direct mention of religion or God, two of the key themes of the books
- a decision attacked by fans of the trilogy…However, Weitz reassured
fans…that religion would appear in euphemistic terms. (imdb.com)
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Pullman is a 61-year-old Brit - the grandson of an Anglican
parish priest - and is an honorary associate of the Secular Society
(a British organization that promotes secularism)…But he maintains
the His Dark Materials books target not any individual religion but
rather totalitarianism in all its forms, from communism to theocracy.
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While the "Magisterium" of his novels may resemble the
Roman Catholic Church (it has bishops and monks and an executive committee
called the Vatican Council), Pullman never describes its theology
or identifies it as Christian. Instead he presents it as an authoritarian
entity that attempts to control all aspects of individual's lives
through assassination, kidnapping, torture and strict control of information.
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"It doesn't matter to me whether people believe
in God or not," Pullman has written. "What I do care
about is whether people are cruel or…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."
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"Good things have been done in the name of religion
and so have bad things; 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." (imdb.com) |
Focus on the Family joined the Catholics in fearful
censoring of this work of fiction. Adam Holz, associate editor for
Focus on the Family's Plugged In magazine…called the series "heretical."
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"Pullman has been openly hostile about C.S. Lewis,
and has been pretty clear about his desire to offer an alternate fantasy
series based on what he would describe as humanist principles,"
he said. (citizenlink.org) |
Yes, it's true that Pullman's books promote such humanistic
values as opposition to organized dogma and totalitarian concentrations
of power, and support of intellectual curiosity, kindness, love, courage,
and courtesy…for the Catholic League and other opponents of the film,
being critical of religion or just being atheist is analogous to being
immoral. We know that that just isn't so. |
For Pullman…his books are a positive Humanist response
to the C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia and their thin, black-and-white
Christian morality. (American Humanist Association) |
Go see this movie with your kids. If you like it, tell
your friends, buy the books and support Pullman and his novels against
hostile anti-humanist campaigns. |
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