The Golden Compass is a film scheduled to open in theaters on December 7th. There are Christians who are up in arms about Pullman's militant atheism. I'm not for atheism, either, but there are some dangers in campaigns like this.
I have
previously posted on this topic, arguing that there are influences from the media that are considerably more insidious, hence more dangerous, than blatant atheism. I stand by that conclusion. I would also point out that campaigns of this type sometimes backfire. There is a possibility that people will see
The Golden Compass just to see what the fuss is about, who might not have seen it otherwise. Since the first of the books is considerably less blatant than the next two, there is also the danger of looking ridiculous.
I'd like to provide two links that indicate
Pullman's anti-Christian attitude. It's real.
The first link is to
an article written by Pullman, about the Narnia books. The article is more anti-C. S. Lewis than anti-Christian, to be sure, and, as much as I admire the writing of the late Lewis, I must admit that Pullman presents some valid and pertinent criticisms, most of which have previously been made by Christian critics. However, his militant atheism comes through loud and clear, when he says that the revelation, to the main human characters in
The Last Battle, that they have died, and that they are now in an infinitely better world, is "propaganda in the service of a life-hating ideology." That ideology is Christianity.
The second link is an
interview with Pullman, about his beliefs, and where they came from. He expresses his anti-Christianity quite clearly.
I originally had a second part, indicating that
Pullman has undercut his own anti-Christian case or, perhaps better put, the cases of some other atheists. However, on December 4, 2007, I decided to remove that portion of the post, and change the title accordingly, based on comments by George (see those comments below) who says that the evidence I presented did not support the claim that I had originally made. That being the case, I removed the claim. This will have the effect of removing any links anyone might have made to the original post.
