Does The Golden Compass point to a new atheism?

Perspectives: Does The Golden Compass point to a new atheism?

Rebecca Grace - Guest Columnist
OneNewsNow.com
October 29, 2007
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/10/perspectives_does_the_golden_c.php

It all started with a phone call I received several months ago. A concerned mother called to tell me about The Golden Compass, an upcoming film from New Line Cinema. Several more phone calls followed the first one as did a plethora of emails expressing disgust over this movie -- and rightly so.

I plan to review the movie, but I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet. So, in the meantime, here is some information that will help you understand why the film has the potential to be extremely dark and dangerous.

According to CNSNews.com, leading atheist writers and intellectuals are engaged in a "scientific" quest to ultimately destroy organized religion, particularly Christianity. Oxford professor Richard Dawkins, author Sam Harris and journalist Christopher Hitchens are some of the big names leading this "new atheism" initiative. Evidence of their agenda is seen in efforts such as the Out Campaign and the Blasphemy Challenge.

CNSNews.com defines the Out Campaign as "a movement started by Dawkins to encourage Americans to proudly display their atheism."

ABC News describes the Blasphemy Challenge as a way "to challenge people to make videos of themselves denying, denouncing or blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and then post them on YouTube." ABC News also calls it "the cutting edge of a new and emboldened wave of atheism."

The Blasphemy Challenge targets teens while an upcoming movie that may have a similar agenda is likely to appeal to families, especially children.

The Golden Compass is a film from New Line Cinema based on the first book of a series, His Dark Materials, written by English atheist Philip Pullman. It is set to release December 7 in theaters nationwide. From watching the trailer, it's easy to see that the film has a C. S. Lewis/Narnia feel to it, but don't be deceived.

Pullman's book trilogy is the story of "a battle against the church and a fight to overthrow God," BBC News reported. The Guardian, a British newspaper, goes even further to describe the books as "metaphysical fantasies encompassing parallel worlds, the death of God and the fall of man ...."

"I don't know whether there's a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say," Pullman said in an interview posted on his website.

Therefore, without yet seeing the film, at least one pro-family group -- the American Family Association -- is alerting Christians to the potential dangers of The Golden Compass. Because of Pullman's clearly articulated anti-Christian motives, AFA is warning all viewers to run from the film.

The Golden Compass is set in an alternative world with a sinister Magisterium. It is about a girl named Lyra who sets out to rescue her friend Roger who has been kidnapped by an organization known as the Gobblers. Roger's rescue turns into an epic quest to save two different worlds -- one in which people's souls manifest themselves as animals. These manifestations are known as "daemons," and Pullman says they help a person grow toward wisdom.

In addition, the movie website allows visitors to answer a set of questions and create their own daemons that journey alongside them in life.

"One of the [book] series' main themes -- the rejection of organized religion and in particular the abuse of power within the Catholic Church -- is to be watered down," according to the Telegraph, a newspaper in the U.K.

"But when the film is released in December the Magisterium will be shown as a critique of all dogmatic organizations, thereby avoiding a religious backlash."

Although the film has supposedly been stripped of the books' key denunciation of religion to prevent offending Catholic audiences, that doesn't appease the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. The Catholic League still views The Golden Compass as bait for Pullman's books, which the group says are representative of the author's two-fold agenda "to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity. To kids."