The Golden Compass

I was talking to some friends the other day about sending their son to a movie and they expressed trepidation about the Golden Compass because the author is anti-religious and his writings are filled with this.

Has anyone read his works and found this to be true. My son is reading the golden compass series and he doesn't notice it.

The movie toned it down quite a bit anyway.

or is it a particular religion?

but of course that was the religion of the author's culture, so I suppose it's to be expected.

but for some people, the two are inseparable.

is believing something unquestioned.

questioning is necessary.

"Faith" often means "complete submission".

Lewis wrote that faith is "trust in that of which you do not have full knowledge".

"Faith is believing what you know ain't so." :-)

But Lewis' definition is serviceable.

Beliefs should always be challenged and questioned. It says nothing for one's faith if they have never questioned, and it says less than nothing if you go out of your way to avoid questioning altogether.

he's not saying religion is bad, he's saying dont be afraid to question your faith and beliefs.

Found it to be more like C.S. Lewis and his constant theme of good v. evil, with good always triumphing in the end.

It's fantasy.

People put too much effort into believing that one book/movie will change the core beliefs they have given their children.
And, as a parent, have always believed that I gave/taught my son the ability of inner locus of control, and that a book/movie as an external locus of control, will only change him if he chooses.
If he questions, we will talk
If he chooses to learn more/alter his belief system, I will still love him unconditionally.
I had no fear, nor harbor any for him now that he's an adult, that what he is exposed to by choice or fate will change him into a person I cannot love.

Sorry...I just don't "get" some of the BS that parents see as issues these days.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

that was for the bottom of the thread :blush:

honestly, I drew more parallels to the Republican party and those who follow it blindly than I did any particular religion or its followers. Though I suppose, to some freeper types, that's essentially the same thing, since they make no attempt to separate politics and religion.

The main "bad" character's name is Ms. Coulter, for pete's sake. :evilgrin:

Also, the people freaking out about this movie are the same ones that think Harry Potter is satanic and the vast majority of them have never read the book or seen the movie. Take their opinion for what its worth.

One passage that caught my eye--I'm going to have to go back and find it--is about the war between those who want to make people smarter and stronger and the those who want to make people humble and obedient.

And I'm surprised the right hasn't started screaming about the gay angels yet.

the gay angels are in the third book. :P

which, I agree with the other posts here, is more anti-authoritarianism than anti-church (although the Catholic Church can be seen as the ultimate controlling authoritarian). The kids just want to see the talking polar bears, fer chrissakes. Your friends should chill. (Sorry--my kid is 4 and I'm just starting to get a taste of how many parents have permanently twisted panties--their constant state of panic exhausts me.)

$8.8 million in it's second week ain't so golden.

and he thought it sucked!!

She'll bounce back.

The "His Dark Materials" fandom turned me off from bothering with the book or the movies. I saw one too many comment about how only philistines would read "Harry Potter" or "The Chronicles of Narnia", and frankly, it left me with an impression of the books as pompous, pretentious, and snooty.

How sad. The books were quite good.

I read dozens of books each year, but I can't read everything. If I hear good word of mouth, I'm more likely to read a particular book. If I get the sense that a work appeals to people who look down their nose at my belief system, I'm not going to rush out and read it.

You wrote:

I see nothing in your original post about "people who look down their nose at my belief system". I wouldn't run right out to read a fiction book that did that either.

Narnia is heavily Christian based. HP is fantasy witchcraft. If I understand you correctly, because some Pullman fans bashed these, you won't read the Dark Materials books?

The Pullman books have been getting very good reviews for years. I picked up the first one after hearing good things about the series from a friend. Please show me where in my post to you that I "looked down my nose at (your) belief system". I was simply commenting that you passed up on a good read because of some fans ravings. I just don't get it. :shrug:

It still had the good versus evil theme and in the big picture thats what all the "good books" of the world are based on.

Oh and we should all remember just whose side the "witches" were on. :7