Sister Mary Francis of Holy Family Catholic Church, Columbus OH. Sister has been hospitalized with bacterial meningitis. Please pray for her recovery! Hail Mary, full of grace...
The British author Philip Pullman has attacked leading American Catholics as "nitwits" after they called for a boycott of The Golden Compass, which has its world premiere in London tonight.
Pullman continues to assert that he is not promoting "militant atheism." He says the "reader and filmgoer" should be the judge. Here is a brief passage from the Trilogy:
“The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty—those were all names he gave himself.” “He told those that came after him that he had created them, but it was a lie. One of those who came later was wiser than he was, and she found out the truth, so he banished her.” (from The Amber Spy Glass)
Reader...judge for yourself. Filmgoer...check out the reviews
Here is a less than glowing review (2 stars out of 5)from the Times, of The Golden Compass:
I've just recently viewed a very disturbing trailer, for a children's movie scheduled for release on December 7th. Take a look:
What this particular trailer doesn't reveal, amidst the fantastic CGI and stunning cinematography, is that the "big, bad wolf" in this children's film is the Magisterium. The Magisterium is a powerful, evil world organization bent on capturing the souls of children and suppressing their imagination. Each soul has it's own "demon" which comes to the defense of the child in times of peril or threat. The Golden Compass is the first installment in a trilogy written by Philip Pullman. Pullman, a pro-active atheist, pulls no punches about his personal feelings regarding religion. In fact, Peter Hitchens, a conservative British columnist, published an article about Pullman entitled “This Is the Most Dangerous Author in Britain,” in which he called him: the writer “the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed.”
His Dark Materials trilogy is marketed as being "loosely based upon the classic Paradise Lost." Pullman is extremely hostile in his views of C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia, referring to the stories as "reactionary" and containing "a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice." He vigorously opposed the production of the Chronicles as a movie series, stating: "If the Disney corporation wants to market this film as a great Christian story, they'll just have to tell lies about it."
A reminder: Philip Pullman's trilogy is marketed to and read by children. To call the books anti-Catholic, is an understatement. The film contains the same errors, in a visually stunning package.
The Golden Compass is filled with anti-Catholic rhetoric: evil Magisterium, wicked priests, an ex-nun who describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing mistake,” and so on. The visual appeal of this new movie will be hard to resist and Newline is marketing this film on the heels of the very successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, though the two works share no real similarities.
Mr. Pullman is well aware of the power of a well told tale:
“ ‘Thou shalt not’ might reach the head, but it takes ‘Once upon a time’ to reach the heart.”
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