The Broken Compass

Phillip Pullman is the answer to liberal atheist's prayers (if they actually ever prayed). Pullman is the author of the Northern Lights trilogy of children's books which is soon to be released as a controversial new children's movie starring Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards.

Series author, Pullman's books have been lauded as one of the ten most influential children's books of the past century by the Carnegie Medal people and roundly condemned as anti-Christian by Catholic and Protestant groups.

Now, I've got some problems with dogmatic Christianity myself - the once all-powerful "Church" that used to dictate behavior belief and which and as Pullman claims, takes all the joy out of life. I agree with much of Pullman's cricicism of the political Christian church and understand the man's anger.

Unfortunately, Mr. Pullman takes out his anger not only against fallible, often corrupt human religious institutions, but also directs his vitriole against God, who, by the way, never okayed the establishment of instutions filled with greed, corruption and pederasty in the first place

Angry liberal atheists seem to forget that God has some particularly harsh things to say about people who do evil acts in His name. Pullman hates the Narnia Chronicles and though he denies writing his own series as an antithesis to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, he casts his anti-religion world with many of C.S. Lewis' storytelling devices and symbols.

I get tired of people who are angry at phoney religious people and take it out on God and ridicule His children as at best fools and at worst corrupt exploiters of their fellow humans.

I will not see "The Golden Compass" and after J.K. Rowlings announcement that Dumbledore is gay, I'm pretty much through with the Harry Potter series too. It's a nice thing about living in a world dominated by people who believe a person has a free choice (a distinctly Christian concept by the way). You don't have to spend money on something you don't like.

I bet the "Golden Compass" doesn't earn enough to clear their expenses, much less become a successful trilogy of movies.

Sorry, Phil. Biting the hand is a dangerous business. I'm willing to bet a lot of parents will have problem with a children's story where the kids knock off God at the end. They might even decide (gasp) not to buy the books.

Just one man's opinion


Tom King