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{"id":18532,"date":"2006-07-19T23:21:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-19T23:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/2006\/07\/19\/what-do-paul-bettany-and-nicole-kidman-have-against-christianity\/"},"modified":"2013-01-05T13:39:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-05T20:39:04","slug":"what-do-paul-bettany-and-nicole-kidman-have-against-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/07\/what-do-paul-bettany-and-nicole-kidman-have-against-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do Paul Bettany and Nicole Kidman Have Against Christianity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

According to Cinematical, Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany have joined the cast<\/a> of Philip Pullman\u2019s The Golden Compass <\/em>as the \u201cvillainous\u201d Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel.<\/p>\n

If this report is just a rumor, I\u2019m doubtful.
\nIf it\u2019s true, I\u2019m baffled.
\nI hope it\u2019s a rumor.<\/p>\n

Paul Bettany\u2019s a talented actor, no doubt about it. But why would he be so drawn to films that paint Christianity as the source of evil? The Da Vinci Code <\/em>wasn\u2019t enough for him? It\u2019s harder and harder to remember that he did once play a man of faith\u2026 in The Reckoning<\/em>. (No doubt the studio will once again try to excuse The Golden Compass <\/em>as \u201cjust fiction,\u201d even though the story specifically targets Christian faith and Biblical accounts as lies and wickedness.)<\/p>\n

And why would Nicole Kidman, who identifies herself as a Catholic, participate in a fantasy that goes out of its way to declare her own faith as a heap of lies? The saga doesn\u2019t stop there\u2026 it re-stages Adam and Eve\u2019s fall as a triumph of the human spirit, and depicts God as somebody who needs to be overthrown. \u201cIt\u2019s just pretend\u201d doesn\u2019t cut it.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s true\u2026 how very disappointing. I would have hoped both of these talented actors would know big-screen bigotry when they smell it.<\/p>\n

Film critics are already complaining about how M. Night Shyamalan mocks film critics in Lady in the Water<\/em>. Will they be equally willing to observe that Philip Pullman isn\u2019t just making a mockery of foolish Christians, who often deserve a good lampooning\u2026 but he\u2019s slandering the Christian faith itself?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"