Phil Pullman and James Randi sitting in a tree
You may have heard, or seen an email, about how Phillip Pullman's upcoming movie "His Golden Compass" (based on a book from a trilogy) is overtly anti-Christian. Well, Snopes.com says: TRUE.
While I object to the sensationalist emails that uber-Christians send around every time something offends their delicate sensibilities, I'm kinda siding with the email on this one. This jackass has written a trilogy of fantasy books, in direct reaction to the Christian message snuck into the Chronicles of Narnia (which Pullman overtly despises), with the explicit purpose of getting entrenched in the minds of children and wiping out any religious beliefs. I mean, I don't think anyone should lace children's literature with any religious or anit-religious beliefs - it's just playing dirty.
I may go see the movie, because Rhian is nuts for this guy. I also like Nicole Kidman (which may balance out the stupid talking polar bear). But I'm tempted to burn this asshole's book, not out of any offended religious sensibility, but out of a hatred anyone who would use fantastical tales to clandestinely convince children to "kill God."
I hope Phillip Pullman gets sent to some sort of Catholic institution where he can be repeatedly raped by a succession of priests. And maybe a talking polar bear.
- Canadrian's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Comments
Just for the record, I'm not
Just for the record, I'm not nuts for his anti-religious views, I just enjoy his writing. I also still think that the Christians are overreacting by wanting to boycott the movie and not allowing their children to go see it. If they wouldn't mind people seeing movies with obvious Christian messages in them, why not ones with anti-Christian ones? Are they afraid of adults and children alike being exposed to ideals other than their own? Oh no, the kids are going to want to kill God because this movie said so? No, they are being battered all the time with different ideas and beliefs, and in the end they will choose the one that makes the most sense to them.
I certainly don't agree with Pullman's spitefulness and public disrespect for Christianity or his motives for writing this book, but I think that his cunning plan will fail. He's not convincing anybody.
Christian evangelism is equivalent to Atheist Evangelism
I'm with you on the "if this, then why not that?" point. And seeing the number of prizes his books have won, I'm sure they're an excellent read. I just feel it's pretty under-handed tactics to have a tamed-down movie at the beginning of the holiday season, which will whet kids' appetites for the book series for the holiday, and the books have an explicit purpose of making children want to hate religion. I mean, that's why the guy wrote them! It's not like Chronicles of Narnia has an explicit message of "if you don't believe in God you'll go to hell," but His Dark Materials does have an explicit, very plain message of how evil organized religion is, and holy crap, at the end of the trilogy the kids KILL GOD. Does it get any more obvious what they guy's trying to do here?
My main problem is that the guy is purposely trying to hoodwink kids into his own views with some fairy tales that he knows they'll gobble up. I don't think anybody should ever push their beliefs on anyone else, but if you have to do it, do it on the level. Giving away poison candy is not the way to go.
-----
"Being tired is like playing mind games with some of the pieces missing."
-----
"Being tired is like playing mind games with some of the pieces missing."
Golden Compass not anti-religious, movie's star says
A Globe and Mail article has a lot of people saying "I don't think the books are critical of religion, just the abuse of power." That's fine, except as another commenter points out, Pullman has himself stated that the books are anti-religion. The first few comments are good, and then the comment thread just turns into an atheist vs. theist shoutfest.
Look, don't get the wrong idea here - I am not trying to put down atheists, and I am not trying to promote any theist/atheist viewpoint. I'm just saying I don't think anyone should so aggressively sneak their own intolerant views into literature for children. It's dirty fighting, and it's wrong. I don't mind that Pullman doesn't like religion, and I don't want to get embroiled in that debate. I just think he's a jackass for saying the things he says, and doing the things he does.
As much as I am against the banning of books of any variety, and as much as I don't believe parents should constantly put up horseblinders and firewalls for their children, I also think that people of any ideology should not nefariously poison mental candy for children. A lot of atheists, and certainly most skeptics seem to view it as their moral duty to somehow "innoculate" society against any belief system due to the amazing destruction that non-scentific belief supposedly causes. To crusaders of any ideology, be it theistic or atheistic, I have just one thing to say:
FUCK OFF. Leave people alone, let them believe what they want to believe, and direct your attention to the one and only life you have any right to mess around with: your own.
-----
"Being tired is like playing mind games with some of the pieces missing."
-----
"Being tired is like playing mind games with some of the pieces missing."