More Golden Compass News

My friend Dennis sent me this article from the Scottish daily The Herald; I think it makes a lot of sense. I particularly like the following paragraph:

Pullman has stated that it doesn't matter to him whether people believe in God or not. He is a champion of kindness over cruelty, democracy over tyranny, open-minded inquiry over the shutting of freedom of thought and expression. He is right when he says: "To read a great story is not to absorb a doctrine but to begin an imaginative collaboration. It is that freedom that the boy cotters find so frightening. Thou shalt not', is soon forgotten. Once upon a time lasts forever'."

While I may come to different conclusions about the story than Mr. Pullman, I gladly join him in the imaginative collaboration. In my opinion, a big problem with any religion, philosophy, political movement, or what-have-you is that they all tend to move from discovery and freedom to dogma and self-preservation. When you build a big organization, you have to keep it going, protect your interests, pay the bills, and control your followers. It's all too easy for these things to take the place of whatever the organization was for in the first place! I think those who remind us of the values in the quote above are doing us all a service by their challenge.

Pullman must die!

Well, the loudest Christians are gathering wood, preparing to burn Phillip Pullman at the stake for daring to write a book that spawned a movie that represents his beliefs. The title of this egregious book (and the movie) is The Golden Compass. Yes, Mr. Pullman is atheist or agnostic (depending on the interview). Yes, Mr. Pullman is anti-religion and even admits to promoting said view through his stories. What cracks me up is that the charge leveled at Mr. Pullman is that he is trying to persuade children of his views. Children! Um. Has anyone heard of Veggie Tales? Mr. Pullman isn't the only one foisting (What a great word! Say it again with me: "Foisting!" I knew you could.) his beliefs on unsuspecting young minds. Isn't our job as parents to help our children explore and process all that is foisted upon them? I know, I know; it's much less work to simply abandon them to the Christian entertainment industry. I mean, helping them think for themselves implies we have to, right? What the Flying Spaghetti Monster is that all about?

My wife recently posted on her blog about her views on this horrifying movie event, and I heartily concur. She did a fine job, and I won't repeat what she had to say. Instead, I will add a couple quotes from a recent article on the hubbub that I found on CNN.com titled "Is 'Golden Compass' Selling Atheism to Kids?" The answer to the title's question is: probably. Still, I think the quotes below suggest a better response to the issue than a cheery Yuletide Pullman bonfire.

"If you just say 'no' to your kids without engaging in a conversation, they're going to see the movie anyway and all you're teaching them is power, not really teaching your values. If we have faith, what are we afraid of?"
--Sister Rose Paccate, director of the Pauline Center of Media Studies in Culver City, California

Donna Freitas, a visiting assistant professor of religion at Boston University, goes a step further, calling the books a "theological masterpiece." Pullman's intent aside, she views the trilogy as a treatise on Christian belief.

To Freitas, the series' mysterious "Dust" -- portrayed in the books as connected to original sin -- represents the Holy Spirit. Pullman is not attacking religion but those who use power to corrupt, she said.

I think Freitas is wrong. Pullman is attacking religion. Art, however, is always made up of two parties (artist and audience) connected by a medium. Both parties bring their experiences, beliefs, emotions, and reason to the medium. Most authors would say that it would be hubris to insist that readers "get" their message and only their message from a story. In this sense, I think Freitas' interpretation is certainly feasible.

Ultimately, I want to help my children form values, not merely enforce my power as a parent. They must learn, in age-appropriate ways, to engage with the world in which they live. I want them to react not from fear, but carefully, thoughtfully, and compassionately. Perhaps we should spend more time working through these things with our children and less time campaigning to make everyone we disagree with shut up. After all, If our faith is genuine, what do we have to be afraid of?