His Dark Materials

I have already raised the flag about this new movie coming out, The Golden Compass. Due to my vast readership and expansive influence, I'm sure both of my readers are now fully aware of the danger. I noted the other day, however, the real danger in this stuff.

Philip Pullman, the author of The Northern Lights, the book upon which the upcoming movie, The Golden Compass is based, says of himself that he "is of the Devil's party and does know it." He says of this book that it was his goal to invert heaven and hell. He considers Christianity "a very powerful and convincing mistake" and believes that the constant function of the Church is to "control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling." His stories include Church-controlled scientists who kidnap children and perform gruesome experiments on them. His self-stated ultimate goal is the killing of God.

In the first book, however, The Northern Lights, we are treated to only the surface story. Pullman denies that it's his answer to C.S. Lewis (whom he calls a racist and "monumentally disparaging of women"), and he asserts that his books aren't anti-Christian -- they're anti-religion. But the effect here is a bit disconcerting. We will be given an exciting film looking for all the world like the Chronicles of Narnia with only a hint of anti-God in it. Kids will be excited and want to read more. They can run on over to Walmart and find the trilogy -- His Dark Materials. Oh, joy! Good reading! More fun! Parents, having seen nothing too disturbing about the movie, will allow this spiritual land mine into their homes, happy to have their kids read again. And Philip Pullman will be given the opportunity to poison young minds with his own hatred of the Church and his own lies about God.

I'm not against Pullman's freedom of expression. I would protect his right to say what he wants. I don't have to face God for his words at Judgment Day. And I don't think that my beliefs are so indefensible that they can't stand up to a bitter enemy of the church and his children's stories. None of that concerns me. What I am concerned about is that this material is going to be handed to children. These little minds are not prepared to analyze the information they're given. And parents rarely take the time to do it for them or with them. So, thinking that they're simply giving their kids another nice book to read, they will be handing their children poison of the variety that tastes good, goes down easy, and serves to repress the truth ... all without knowing it.

Maybe you're a concerned parent who reads with your kids and can walk them through this stuff. Good for you! Maybe you're a cautious parent who doesn't just jump up and down that your young reader wants to read and are concerned about what they read. Excellent! For the rest, please be cautious. It looks innocent enough, but the author himself has not hidden his intentions. Be aware.