More on "The Golden Compass"

The following comes from the Associated Press:

The Golden Compass: Atheist manifesto for kids?

By ERIC GORSKI
AP Religion Writer

The Golden Compass, a $180-million fantasy epic coming to theaters Friday, is being condemned by evangelicals.

Based on the first volume in the award-winning trilogy His Dark Materials by religious skeptic Philip Pullman, evangelicals say The Golden Compass will hook children into books full of a dark, individualistic world where all religion is evil.

Meanwhile, some secularists complain the movie from New Line Cinemas waters down Pullman's religious critique. They feel sold out by the author, who has described himself as both an atheist and agnostic.

Starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, The Golden Compass traces a 12-year-old girl named Lyra from Oxford, England, to the Arctic to the edge of another universe, where she becomes locked in a battle between good and evil. The characters are shadowed by their own “daemons”: talking animal companions that take on soul-like qualities.

In October, the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights launched a boycott of the film, calling it “selling atheism to kids” at Christmastime in stealth fashion.

Director Chris Weitz says he cut controversial religious content to make the film more commercially viable, with the plan of being more faithful to the original material in sequels.

For instance, the evil organization dominating the world is not “the church,” as it is in the book, but the “Magisterium,” which is getting criticism anyway because it's a Catholic term.

The later books are even more direct in their religious criticism. One character, a former nun, says: “The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all.”

Pullman himself says, “I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”
Britain's National Secular Society, of which Pullman is a member, says the changes made to avoid controversy amount to “taking the heart” out of the work.

The Golden Compass arrives at a time when books by atheists are best-sellers and Hollywood studios are plumbing the fantasy genre for the next big franchise.
The Pullman series follows the release of the first movie based on Christian author C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. Both feature epic battles, talking animals, polar bears and a wardrobe. But from there, the works diverge.

Catholic author Sandra Miesel is among those who call His Dark Materials the “anti-Narnia.” Miesel co-authored a forthcoming book, Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy.

Among her complaints: Every clergyperson is evil and standing in contrast to the Christian belief in heaven, Pullman's afterlife consists of bodies breaking into particles and being recycled into the material world.

“If you look at what the material is about, you might find it advisable to stay home, go to another movie, or read a good book,” Miesel advises.

Other critiques have appeared on evangelical blogs and Web sites. Adam Holz of Focus on the Family, writing on the Christian ministry's Plugged In site, calls Pullman's books and the film a “deliberate attempt to foist his viciously anti-God beliefs upon his audience.”

Most diabolical, Holz says, is that Pullman's audience is children, setting it apart from another book-to-movie many Christians view as heretical: The DaVinci Code.