The Golden Compass - My Two Cents Worth

A while back I posted the trailer of the upcoming movie The Golden Compass on this blog. It took awhile, but two folks finally saw fit to comment on the post.  Below is part of the original post by me, the two comments, and my response to them.  This will give any interested reader my view about the movie and the books. 

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I read Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials (of which The Golden Compass is the first book) a few years ago.  My daughter Desiree also read them.  And while we don’t necessarily buy into the worldview that is presented in the novels, we did find them intriguing and exciting reads.  Concerning the books, wikipedia has this to say about their plot:

The trilogy follows the coming of age of two main characters, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a multiverse of parallel universes and a backdrop of epic events. The story begins in Northern Lights [titled The Golden Compass in America] with fantasy elements such as witches and armoured bears. As the trilogy progresses, it acquires allegorical layers of meaning, introducing a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics (quantum physics), philosophy (metaphysics, philosophy of religion and, arguably, a degree of hylopathism), and theology (biblical symbolism).

Comment #1. Phil, 1 month and 7 days ago

Not my comments, but that from a secular observer: Pullman contrasts innocence and experience, good and evil. He redefines Mary as a fallen woman and Eve as the redeemer of men, and presents God as an ordinary angel before killing him…’I'm just as interested in the Creation story as the fundamentalists are,’ says Pullman, ‘but in the part played by the tempter, who leads us to the kingdom of good and evil, which is wisdom, as an act of kindness towards those beings who had been kept as prisoners by the authority … http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,542616,00.html
«1Th 5:21 & 22 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.»

Comment #2. Randy, 1 month and 6 days ago

As a pastor of a protestant church, I am shocked that you would endorse a trilogy of books - and its first movie - written by a staunchly outspoken atheist. Further, if you read the books, you know that Adam and Even kill God. As a youth minister myself, with children of my own, I can’t even begin to imagine someone in your position to be so irresponsible to those who listen to you in the pulpit. Pullman has been quoted as saying his biggest goal in life is to pull in children and their parents with this movie to read his books and «kill God» in their minds, thus pushing his atheism on others. What are you thinking?

My Reply, Comment #3. Will, 1 month and 6 days ago

Randy,

I have read the books, and though Pullman is an avowed atheist and no doubt has all kinds of motives for writing his books (perhaps including the one you mention), I find the books themselves to be a harsh, albeit needed, critique against the abuses of some organized and and all state-run religion. If I want to read good theology, I know where to find it, believe me. Taken on their own merit, Pullman’s books lend themselves to all kinds of discussions about religion, church, faith and spirituality. My daughter, after she had read the books, and I talked about some of Pullman’s views found in his work, and I can assure you that she has not been moved to «kill God» in her mind. In fact, I believe that books like Pullman’s can actually strengthen the faith of his readers by causing them to think deeply about what they believe, as well as formulate thoughtful responses to the ideas that are troubling.

Christian Critics of fantasy and science fiction books often derail them for their unorthodox views and storylines. This was true of the «Lord of the Rings» trilogy, the Harry Potter series, the writings of Stewart O’Nan, and many, many others, And while all three of the authors of the aforementioned works consider themselves Christian, this has not lessened the criticism that came and still comes their way. This, in spite of the fact that, in my opinion, in all of these works, and even in Pullman’s books, we can find elements of truth that cry out to be recognized and dealt with. That is what I am thinking.

Phil,

I hope some of what I have written above also serves to address what I think about the «secular observer’s» thoughts that you quote. Pullman is not the first person to have a real problem with authority or with what he sees as the authoritarianism of much of the institutional church. I think I need to delve more into his background to discover more about the environment in which he was raised, but I would be willing to bet that he had some very bad experiences with Church and organized religion that led him to believe the way he does. Thanks, however, for the scripture quote, which I assume is all your own doing. There’s nothing like a smack across the psyche with the Bible to make one see the error of his ways.

In a follow-up email exchange, Randy went on to say:

I appreciate and respect - and in some cases agree - with what you say in response … in your case, your daughter is older and more capable of abstract thinking than my 8-year-old and 6-year-old boys … so, I would agree that it would spur some great discussion and much-needed “digging” to allow a teenager to figure out what they truly believe about God and not lean on what they’ve seen or heard from Mommy and Daddy. I guess my greatest trepidation stems from how a very young child may be “blindly” led. I realize the responsibility of parents and talking it through … but let’s face it … there are a lot of parents out there who don’t take a second to check out what is being poured into their children’s minds … they see a cute little movie with “fantasy” and think it is okay … that’s where I’m coming from … please accept my apologies if I have offended you or come across as judgmental … forgive me of that …

To which I replied:

No need to apologize.  I believe I understand where you are coming from, and I agree with you that there are many irresponsible parents out there.  Parents, who don’t take the time to find out what their children are reading or watching on TV or in the movie theatres or listening to on their ipods.  I have seen far too many parents bring pre-teens into R-rated films to think that common sense comes naturally just because one fathers or gives birth to a baby.  And to a degree I share your trepidation as well. In any case, you really haven’t offended me, and I am glad that you stopped by my blog and hope you will come back again. 

In the last month or so a great deal has been written about The Golden Compass, the atheism of its writer, and his stated objectives in writing his books.  Much of it has a sensational tone to it, and Compass has become the latest in a series of movies bringing an outcry from some Christians about its content and themes (The Last Temptation of Christ and The DaVinci Code being two other films that immediately spring to mind).  Calls for a boycott of the movie have ensued and garnered support as well (a sure-fire way to draw more attention to the film and increase its box office take).  Excerpts from some of the better blog posts I have read about Compass (both positive and negative - though most of them support my own views . . . this is my blog, after all) are found below.  Of course, you can click on the links to read more than just the excerpt.

Where Does ‘The Golden Compass’ Point? by Gareth Higgins on Jim Wallis’ God’s Politics Blog:

Here’s the good news: The Golden Compass does not promote atheism. It isn’t going to steal your children. It does not signal the end of hope for religion in the West. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news: it promotes the same, shallow “don’t touch my stuff or I’ll kill you” message that appears in so much of popular culture. But more than this, in spite of delightful visual imagery, and a couple of performances in which it’s clear the actors are having fun (an icy Nicole Kidman, and the great English theatrical knight Derek Jacobi to name two), it’s simply a boring film.

At its centre there is at least an attempt at exploring interesting territory – we are in a parallel universe in which everyone is accompanied by a ‘daemon’ – an animal representation of their personality, and a comfort in times of trouble. Meanwhile, a shadowy authoritarian body, “the Magisterium”, is abducting children and performing daemon amputations. Too much daemon, too much free will, too little for the Magisterium to do.

The religious resonances are obvious, but the film doesn’t make any explicit commentary on Christianity. Rather, its enemy is the misuse of power to force people to think or act against the exercise of freedom. The image of severing our connection to that which keeps us in a state of wonder is a powerful one; and The Golden Compass does a good job of reminding us just why children can sometimes understand things that confound adults.

The Golden Compass and, You Guessed It, Atheists from the blog The Parish:

The Golden Compass opens this weekend. I read the series several years ago; I was an evangelical at the time, possibly a bit of a fundy. I remember reading the passage wherein God dies and being a little angry. However, I also remember thinking that this was one of the most brilliant examples of children’s literature I’d ever read. It far surpasses Narnia in complexity, character development, story, plot, originality, and almost every other aspect of what makes a book (trilogy, in this case) literature. The concept of a daemon (sort of like a soul) as external to and opposite in gender from the human, as well as its nature as an animal that reflects the personality of the human was, I thought at the time, one of the most original constructs in kids’ lit in generations.

The entire point of Pullman’s series is that the Church uses a construct called God to control behavior, and in doing so, robs us humans of our humanity and freedom. How does the Church respond to this? By insisting that we keep our kids away from this movie. It’s called atheist propaganda—I guess that makes Narnia Christian propaganda. It’s subversive, meant to rob our children of their faith. The Church in turn will rob them of their ability to think critically and consider all questions that touch on belief. Atheists shouldn’t be proselytizing children. The Church will continue to offer VBS, backpack give-aways, free pizza, game platforms, bad music, and easy answers to difficult questions, because, I suppose, when you’re right, it’s okay that you’re the proselytizer? I don’t use this word much, but this is rank hypocrisy. If you can evangelize kids, then atheists can do the same damn thing, so quit crying about it. Read the books. Read ‘em to your kids. Talk about the ways Pullman is right—don’t act like he’s not, because he’s dead on when it comes to the ways churches control the minds of young people, using fear, intimidation, hell, judgment, faulty apologetics, guilt, and rewards for conformity.

‘The Golden Compass’– Does Not Point to True North by Ben Witherington

I am not a person that is much in favor of banning things. For one thing it usually backfires (although the banning of the ‘Da Vinci Code’ movie after a brief release in China, seems to have accomplished some of the government’s aims to avoid religious upheaval). Plus I do indeed believe in those amendments, including free speech.

However I continue to get red alerts from persons on both sides of the Atlantic pond that Phillip Pullman is not an author you want young Christian children to read or spend time with. Www.snopes.com/ reports that Pullman, in an interview with the Aussie paper The Sydney Morning Herald in 2003 said that his books are about “killing God”.

Peter Hitchens, a British commentator, (no relation to the atheist of the same name) calls Pullman the most dangerous author in Britain. Whether dangerous or not, he is certainly popular, and his novels have won various awards. The first in the trilogy we are concerned with, called ‘Northern Lights’ has now been made into a movie entitled ‘Golden Compass’ and released just in time for the Christmas rush season. Hollywood can of course do what it wants, but Christians have no obligation to support films with an atheistic, or better said strongly anti-theist point of view. Below you will find what the Catholic League says about the matter.

Golden Compass from the blog Bandits No More

Many people are asking me about the new movie The Golden Compass. I haven’t seen the movie, only read the books. The main comments have been about the fact that the author of the books is an atheist determined to show the folly of religion, and that the end result of the books has the child heroes killing god. I’ve found that while Mr. Pullman may be trying to aim at God, his aim is actually merely at god - and even that misses in the end.

Now what’s that supposed to mean?

The description of the god at which Pullman aims does not fit the God of Christianity (though it does, unfortunately, fit the god some Christians have claimed over the centuries). The god of the books is closest to the god of medieval Christianity at its worst. The only attribute of Pullman’s god is omnipotence - and that omnipotence is pretty shoddy, reduced in reality to a mere exercise of authority. The real God is omnipotent - but that omnipotence is always expressed in, through and around other characteristics, including holy love. It’s for this reason that Pullman’s picture of god and ‘Christianity’ has no place for Jesus. Jesus is not only the opposite of Pullman’s atheism but also of Pullman’s god. It’s good to remember that one of the things for which the early Christians were persecuted was atheism - they didn’t believe in the right gods. (That’s why when you converse with someone who says, “I don’t believe in god,” it’s always a good idea to figure out which god they don’t believe in. There are more gods that I don’t believe in than that I do.)

So what are we to do? [Click on the link above to read the author's suggestions]

But perhaps the best post I have read on the movie/books is found here:  Christians and The Golden Compass on Ben Myers’ blog Faith and Theology.  It was written by Kim Fabricius

Of course Pullman does have the church in his sights. Indeed he is on record as saying that “My books are about killing God.” I just hope that The Golden Compass faithfully executes the deicide that the author so imaginatively conceived and elegantly crafted in the novel.

For the death of this God would actually do the church a great service. He is the god Pullman’s mentor and fellow iconoclast William Blake, whose 250th birthday we celebrated last Wednesday, called Old Nobodaddy, who bears as little relation to the God Jesus called Abba as the straw deity that the New Atheists so tediously torch. This god, who is finally defeated in the third book of the trilogy, is a bearded old fart “of terrifying decrepitude, of a face sunken in wrinkles, of trembling hands and a mumbling mouth and rheumy eyes.” He is the object more of ridicule than indignation (one thinks of the satire on idolatry in Isaiah 44).

Later the author goes on to add:

As Rowan Williams, a great fan of Pullman, has written: “What the story makes you see is that if you believe in a mortal God, who can win and lose his power, your religion will be saturated with anxiety – and so with violence. In a sense, you could say that a mortal God needs to be killed.”

Two other posts to consider:

Good discussion of “The Golden Compass” by sheyduck|everyday theology

Why I’m not afraid of the Golden Compass… by Laura|Life Awakened (Laura Ralston)

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What are your thoughts on the movie and/or books?  Do you plan to see the film?