Those values viewers in the heartland are at it again, clicking \u201cforward\u201d on yet another wave of hot emails about sin, evil, magic and Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n
Here\u2019s the news, as harvested on the Internet by experts at Snopes.com, a giant website dedicated to researching urban legends.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHi! I just wanted to inform you what I just learned about a movie that is coming out December 7, during the Christmas season, which is entitled \u2018The Golden Compass.\u2019 \u2026 What is disturbing to me is that this movie is based on the first of a trilogy of books for children called \u2018His Dark Materials\u2019 written by Philip Pullman of England.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an atheist and his objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. I heard that he has made remarks that he wants to kill God in the minds of children, and that\u2019s what his books are about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Snopes.com researched the many issues raised in this message \u2014 concluding that these emails are (you may want to sit down) essentially true.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s even true that Pullman devotees have accused New Line executives of editing out some of the book\u2019s juicier heresies in an attempt to offend fewer Christian consumers. After all, the studio has about $180 million invested in this project and would like to make two more movies based on the award-winning trilogy.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s really amazing is that all of those evangelical and Catholic critics have been aiming their heavy artillery at J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books, when they could have been firing at Pullman, whose books came out first,\u201d said Sandra Miesel, co-author of the upcoming book \u201cPied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children\u2019s Fantasy Literature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cPullman is brilliant at hiding what he\u2019s really saying,\u201d she added. \u201cAlso, his books were marketed for people with more elite tastes. Once they started winning awards, they became more popular. And now, here come the movies, so people are really starting to pay attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Pullman has, however, never been soft spoken. In one famous interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, he expressed amazement that Rowling\u2019s Potter books took more flak in Bible Belt America than his own.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God,\u201d he explained. As for his own beliefs, he added: \u201cIf we\u2019re talking on the scale of human life and the things we see around us, I\u2019m an atheist. There\u2019s no God here. There never was. But if you go out into the vastness of space, well, I\u2019m not so sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
As a writer, Pullman greatly admires Milton\u2019s 17th-century classic \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d with its battles between good and evil to determine who will rule heaven. The \u201cHis Dark Materials\u201d trilogy covers similar territory and tries to turn the tables through the triumph of two young adventurers, Lyra and Will. The goal is for this couple \u2014 a new Eve and Adam \u2014 to eat forbidden fruit and, this time around, destroy God.<\/p>\n\n
Along the way, Pullman serves up clergy who kidnap and torture children, visitations from gay angels, fickle witches patrolling the skies, a wise shaman, warrior polar bears, a brilliant ex-nun and plenty of opportunities for children to get in touch with their inner \u201cdaemons,\u201d the talking-animal spirits who represent their souls.<\/p>\n\n
At the heart of the story is a substance called \u201cDust,\u201d which may or may not be Original Sin in a physical form. Then again, Pullman recently told Atlantic Monthly that \u201cDust\u201d is evidence of a godlike energy unleashed when people gain wisdom, explore their emotions, challenge authority and \u2014 especially for adolescents \u2014 explore their sexuality.<\/p>\n\n
Meanwhile, evil incarnate has a name in Pullman\u2019s books \u2014 the \u201cChurch.\u201d Its bishops wear purple, its cardinals wear red and there is a Vatican with fancy guards. By the end of the trilogy, the ultimate villain has been identified as, \u201cThe Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
In the movie, however, \u201cMagisterium\u201d is always used instead of \u201cChurch.\u201d These forces of evil are, however, fond of Orthodox Christian iconography and Bible verses written in Latin.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI guess it helps to know that the word \u2018Magisterium\u2019 is the term used to describe the teaching office of the Catholic Church,\u201d said Miesel. \u201cThat\u2019s really subtle. \u2026 Actually, it\u2019s not very subtle at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Those values viewers in the heartland are at it again, clicking \u201cforward\u201d on yet another wave of hot emails about sin, evil, magic and Hollywood. Here\u2019s the news, as harvested on the Internet by experts at Snopes.com, a giant website dedicated to researching urban legends. \u201cHi! I just wanted to inform you what I just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[85,1532,324,396,431,1542,658,728],"class_list":["post-1464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atheism","tag-catholics","tag-entertainment","tag-god","tag-hollywood","tag-movies","tag-philip-pullman","tag-religious-left"],"yoast_head":"\n