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Golden Compass + catholic league


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I dont understand why the catholic league are complaining about this film, from a neutral perspective i personally didn't think there were anything wrong with the books, the controversy only exists if you actually have the effort to look beyond the primary objective of the books, which are used to bring to life an amazing imaginary world with a decent story. Both adults and children have the common sense to realise this is a totally seperate world from the one we are in, so why are the catholic league saying this undermines religion?

"Pullman is using this film as a sort of stealth campaign. He likes to play the game that he's really not atheistic and anti-Catholic. But yes he is and we have researched this."

 

Further more, I dont understand the effects of this 'campaign' - if one has faith in religion then a lousy film shouldn't undermine the faith. If it does undermine their faith, then they probably dont have faith in the first place, so its not a problem.

 

 

For me personally, a religion is a weak religion if it will not allow others to come and express their views. Faith is only faith if it can withstand the challenge of pursuasion and ignore all doubt. By boycotting a film, are the catholic league actually helping catholics, or using this boycott as their own stealth campaign to stop children from becoming athiests? Or is this sometype of hatred campaign against athiests, boycotting the film because an athiest made it. Whats the difference between doing this, and boycotting a film made by a black man, simply because he is black and the film encourages black rights?

 

This just all sounds like stupid politics to me, but I dont understand it because I dont live in America and dont understand American culture. Everyone should boycott the catholic league by watching the film, reading the books, and buying the t-shirts!

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I am in no way defending the catholic league...because I feel that the catholic church in no way represents me or my beliefs just because we both claim to believe in the same God.

That said, I wouldn't normally advocate boycotting anything like this because everyone has a right to their opinion...but the writer of the books definitely IS against the Christian faith. Here is a direct quote from him in a 2003 interview: "my books are about killing God" and in a 2001 interview he said he was "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief". To me there is a massive difference in wanting to get your message out because you want to help people...and wanting to get your message out because you want to hurt people.

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Hi, I've not followed any of this, but Playaa, the two quotes you use, if taken in even the slightest different context could mean totally the opposite to what is suggested.

 

"Killing god" and "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief", does this mean encouraging people to question/test their faith? If it does, surely that's a healthy thing?

 

Just to add, I don't know the exact context the quotes were in, but purely based on the above, they could mean either side.

Edited by Leveller
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I got those quotes from the snopes.com article about this exact subject. The fact is that the man is an atheist (some would describe him as a "militant atheist") and has said himself that he wants to undermine Christian faith. That is not an attitude that I feel should be supported.

 

on the flip side, there ARE Christian groups out there that say the opposite of what the Catholic League says and are saying that his books are just trying to show the faults in organized religions.

 

For reference sake, the first book (and the one that the film is made off of) is supposedly not heavy with this message at all...it's the 2nd and 3rd (and upcoming 4th) books that are alot heavier with the anti-religion message.

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Ok, I'm not supporting him, because I really don't know much about the issue or him for that matter, just wanted to make sure that the quotes were in context because I could hear Mel Gibson saying the exact same thing and meaning it in a different way....

 

Actually, I just did a bit of reading about the Catholic League and they do seem to be overly zealous in their attacks on anything which doesn't apparently praise catholicism. I support the idea that members of any moderate religious group should be able to follow their faith without defamation or discrimination, but in a land of "free speech" it's hardly practical and when I see that Catholicism is the largest section of the largest religion (Christianity) within the US, making up nearly 30% of the population, it does seem like a bit of a pointless group in my opinion. (Similar to some home owners associations as an example, in that they frankly have little else to do but find fault with things they don't agree with).

 

Just to be clear I am a Christian, I'm not a "basher" of other religions, I have nothing against Catholicism, but this argument looks to be extremist (Pullman) v. extremist (Catholic league), has little to do with whether this is a good and entertaining movie and really a bit pointless. Neither is likely to accept each other's viewpoint, but much like politics, they'll do their best to make a mountain out of it.

 

I personally didn't like the "army recruiting video" that was the kids movie "Barnyard", but it didn't detract from it being an entertaining movie for kids.

Edited by Leveller
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I'm gonna just say something that's been bugging me for a while and it doesn't have that much to do with what has been brought up so far.

 

Whether this man is a "militant atheist" or not, people seem to always get a mob mentalitiy about this sort of thing. For example, people banning Harry Potter because it promotes witchcraft. It's amazing to me that in a country as advanced and modern as America we can be so backwards looking sometimes, its just a movie....

 

 

But that's just my 2 cents,

 

Allanon.

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the truth of the matter is that the "mob" in every single one of the situations is small...far from the majority. What makes it seem different is two things. One, extremists are always loudest. Two, In a country the size of the United States, even a small minority of the population is still alot of people.

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I think the reason this causes so much of a reaction is that it is a children's movie. Everybody is pretty careful about the messages their kids receive. As a Christian myself, I know that it concerns me. While I do not limit my kid's access/knowledge about other faiths/views, I generally like to present them with those that are compatible with mine. As their parent, that is my prerogative. Generally I will explain my beliefs to my children and explain opposing views as well. Then I will tell them why I believe the way I do. I don't see anything wrong with that.

 

Concerning this movie, from what I have read (could be totally wrong), if they make sequels they are planning on bringing in more of the anti-religion message. I really don't know. I have not read the books. I'm sure the movie will be like Narnia. An epic movie that will never reveal it's true message. Because I am concerned about the sequels, I will not allow my kids to see this movie. Now if the sequels come out and stay true to the story but exclude the faith (or anti-faith) then we would probably watch them.

 

I appreciate the fact that these concerns have been brought up so I can make a knowledgeable decision.

 

I guess I would be opposed to this like I would be opposed to those children's books that promote homosexual relationships. There will be a time when they can make their own decisions. Until that I am going to shield them from some things that kids really have no business having to deal with.

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