Just because an atheist author wrote it, doesn't make it "evil"

Yesterday I received another email message with the title: "ALERT - Golden Compass". This is the 2nd or 3rd such email I’ve gotten warning me about this “evil” movie the “Golden Compass”.

I guess it’s wimpy of me (or perhaps I'm just not feeling confrontational) that I’m not doing a "reply all" via email and saying that I’ve read all three books and loved them and am looking forward to the day that our kids will be old enough to read them, too. In fact I’m really looking forward to the Dec. 7th release - and I fully expect we will go see this movie.

Here's the rub for me - the people who are emailing this haven't read these books. I have. They're blindly fowarding an email because it's the "Christian" thing to do. These are award-winning* children’s books and the inherent message is that religiosity used as political power can be a very dangerous force. Am I the only one who sees the irony that people are blindly forwarding an email from a church organization campaign without having read or researched for themselves about these books?

Granted Pullman (Philip Pullman, the author) has publicly dissed the Chronicles of Narnia (considered to be Christian-friendly fiction), granted he chose character names (“dæmons” and “angels” and “God”) provocatively – but on reading the books, I don’t see how any atheistic viewpoint or analogy wins out at all.

In fact religious leaders in England (where the books are far more popular) have publicly announced their support of the "His Dark Materials" series and on the basis that the books amount to an attack on dogmatism and the use of religion to oppress, not on Christianity itself.

In my humble opinion the books are highly imaginative, entertaining and thought provoking. They raise several interesting questions about what makes a person a person, what it is to find our path into adulthood, what it is to have a soul, and why we should be cautious not to let the human leadership of the "church" have undue political power over our lives. (And how we should perhaps instead rely on a moral compass (in the book the analogy is the alethiometer - which in my interpretation could be the Bible, faith, our private conversation with God) to be our guide.)

To me, the essence of my faith is that I have a personal relationship with God. I'm not following some rules set down by another human being because they supposedly speak for God. I'm prayerfullly considering what God would have me do - not letting the "religious right" or some other church leader decide for me.

I believe God gave me a brain and free will for a reason.
I believe God wants me to question, reason and discern for myself.
I believe that the still quiet voice I hear is the guidance I need.
I beleive that after years of education in hermeneutics, biblical theory, catechism and history of the Christian church not to mention ample study of the scriptures that I don't need to be spoon-fed rules and regulations for my faith walk.
I'm not down with being told what I can and cannot read. I'm not cool with being told something I found spiritually invigorating and entertaining is "evil".

Again, I find it absolutely ironic and a bit sad that people I know, and otherwise like (friends and acquaintances via Girl Scouting, etc.) are forwarding a message because someone started a chain email saying this movie is “anti-God”.
And by the way, one possible author of that chain email is actually the well-funded and organized campaign by the Catholic League.

This alone makes me think the lesson the book shares about not letting the church have undue political power over our lives is vitally important.

The day your church starts telling you what you can and cannot read, or what you should or should not allow your children to know about, perhaps it's time to educate yourself on what is that is just so bad that people want to spend time and money telling you to avoid it.

*Pullman's books have one the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book. Moreover, this summer Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, called Northern Lights in the British edition, was named the best children's book of the past 70 years. A public vote, by readers from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, selected the book from a list of past winners of the Carnegie Medal for children's literature.