Monday, December 3, 2007

The Golden Compass Debate

OK. So I feel compelled to write on this subject because it is just irritating me to no end. First, let me state clearly for all... I am Catholic, believe whole heartily in God, and raise my children in our faith. I live with 2 miracles (my twins) who if not for the grace of God would not be here with us today. With that being said, I will now vent MY opinion.
I am not one to allow someone to dictate to me what I should do, not without question anyway. So when our church sent home letters to boycott "The Golden Compass" naturally I had to find out more. I read an awful lot about "in an interview Philip Pullman stated he based this novel on his atheist views" but never was the interview named. Not to mention a lot of what I read was basically 3rd party interpretation of interviews. Any mildly intelligent person, I would hope, not take those words to be fact. In fact, I got so frustrated of reading interviews of interviews I went directly to Philip Pullman's website. I read for myself his interviews. Are his views atheistic? I don't believe so. Agnostic? Definitely. In the interview on his website when asked if he believed in God he states: "I don't know whether there is a God or not..." Ending with: "...there may well be a God, somewhere hiding away". Those are not the views of a devout atheist! An atheist would have said "NO". Flat out, no explanation.
Further more, he states that his book is a fantasy. I read nothing that stated a secret plot to change all the children of the world into Atheists.
I do plan to read "His Dark Materials" Trilogy and decided for myself if my children will be allowed to see the movie. I am raising intelligent children and we are all strong enough in our faith to not let a FANTASY elude us to believe that God does not exist.
If you do not plan on reading the book(s) or seeing the movie is it because you believe that he is trying to convert your children to Atheism? Well he's not, he's not even an Atheist, not in my opinion anyway. Do yourself a favor and look up Atheist. Now this is a BIG question...Are you boycotting his book/movie because you think he's an Atheist or Agnostic? Well, that's just down right wrong if you are! Are you saying that his views are wrong and yours are right? That is like saying you wouldn't view/read because he was Jewish or some other religion. That is what is so great about our country (and yes I know Philip Pullman lives in Wales) we are allowed to have different beliefs and not be persecuted for them. So what makes you superior to judge him?
What bothers me most is how people just accept what they hear from others as fact. When we start allowing others to dictate our views we loose a piece of ourselves. Intellect is what sets someone apart from the crowd. Do you go along with the crowd or do you stand out? I prefer to have my voice heard and make my decisions on my thoughts and feelings, not of those around me.
I don't want you to think that this blog is a rant for my views, because it's not. However, for my children's sake, I cannot allow them to grow up making unintelligent decisions. They are my greatest gift from God and I thank him (God) everyday for giving me these 5 precious lives. "God never gives us more than we can handle." ~Mother Theresa
I live by that quote. Do you think a mere book or movie could lead me away from that?

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