So for the last couple months, controversy has been swirling about the Golden Compass. Religious groups have been pushing school districts across North America to ban the book not only from reading lists but also from libraries in general. The pope has gotten involved from across the ocean. "Good" Christians are being encouraged to avoid the movie as it apparently pushes atheistic theology that would corrupt the minds of innocent youth and forever push them away from the truth of Christ.
Yes, I am being a little fecicous here. Truthfully, I'm tired of this kind of stuff playing out in the media. I'm tired of Christians pushing for boycott in areas that seem ridiculous. It seems to me that all this does is make Christians look bad...again. Frankly, I'm a little tired of it.
Last night on my way home I was listening to a podcast from Erwin McManus. He was teaching from the story one of the many sinners rejected by the religious leaders of the day and accepted by Jesus. One very poignant statement he made was that sinners of all kinds are safe with Jesus...always. I like that since I (gasp) fall into that category. The other question he asked, though, was this: why, as Christians, are we willing to throw the first stone and cast judgement? He sited examples of church 'stuff' that he's walked through, some of the public issues he's been confronted with as a leader of a large, North American church and just plain dealing with people scenerios that show that, yes, as Christians, people who are supposed to be loving and living in Jesus' example of safety for sinners are often the ones to cast the first proverbial stone.
Fast forward to watching the news. Sure enough, another newscast about the Golden Compass. Sure enough, more Christians saying the same thing. Now, I know this isn't new. In fact, it seems strangely remenicent of the reaction to another work of fantasty...can anyone say "Harry Potter?" My reaction, is the same.
Stop it!
There you have it. That's the shortened version however, given the chance, which I have right now, I might take it a little further.
Have you, dear critic, read the books or are you blindly making assumptions based on what you've heard someone say somewhere along the way and throwing your decision out into the public forum to not "make a difference?" Let me tell you, you certainly are but I'm guessing it's not the difference you were hoping for. I, for one, am more interested in reading the trilogy (yes, there are two more books for critics to get worked up over) than ever before. In fact, I might never have had any interest in either book or movie before all the media hype...and I guess I'm not the only one.
Furthermore, are we, and I lump the Church as a whole here representing all Christians in whatever camp, providing other viable alternatives? Really. We've had Narnia, yes, but realistically, are we providing alternate "acceptable" entertainment of the same quality and caliber to challenge the minds and imaginations of our youth and equally entertain the parents that will walk the journey with them? Here's my suggestion: rather than just complain and beg for censorship, how about we do something better?
Then I have to ask, since when are we giving up the educating of our children to someone else? Why is it that we fear the impact of books and/or movies so much? When the DaVinci code thing was brewing, I was asked by a friend why Christians were so upset and I honestly didn't have an answer. I don't know why. My take on it is that sometimes controversy is good. If we are doing our job teaching at whatever age group and whatever level, why should we be afraid? Aren't questions and controversy, then, just another opportunity to teach and guide, for Truth to be seen? Are we forgetting the inherent power of Truth? Man, this stuff gets me riled up. All these things that we find to cast judgement on, not just the work but the artist behind it in many cases, are fiction, friends, and should be treated as such. While there are truths and themes portrayed, please take heart in the fact that all Truth is God's Truth and the rest will pass away. Really.
I think at the core of it, though, is for me this idea of judgement. We talk alot about love and acceptance, about living the way that Jesus would (the guy who hung out with sinners of all kinds, by the way) and about grace. We even add in stuff about discipline, direction and teaching. I'm forced to ask, how do these situations of judgement and criticism reflect that nature of Christ? We can't expect those who don't believe in Christ to reflect his values and nature. We can't expect them to live by the same belief systems or reflect Him in their creative works. But we can hold that expection for ourselves. At least I think that's fair.
I don't know what Pullman's beliefs are or what sort of subversive message he was trying to portray. I do know that, according to
several articles, this is what he said about his work and his "atheistic" views while hanging out with Letterman:
As for the atheism, it doesn’t matter to me whether people believe in God or not, so I’m not promoting anything of that sort. What I do care about is whether people are cruel or whether they’re kind, whether they act for democracy or for tyranny, whether they believe in open-minded enquiry or in shutting the freedom of thought and expression. Good things have been done in the name of religion, and so have bad things; and both good things and bad things have been done with no religion at all. What I care about is the good, wherever it comes from.What do you think? Perhaps he has a point?
Now that my rant is just about over and my frustration level has lowered a bit, I hope that anyone reading this knows that my hope is not to cast judgement in kind. Instead, I hope to ask questions that encourage us to think about how we're representing the cause of Christ. I know that my opinion isn't the only one out there that matters, although sometimes that realization is a little bit of a hit on the ole' ego (ouch) so to finish it off, I'd like to throw out some comments by a writer for
Relevant Magazine. She says:
I hope that all people (including myself) would want to be kind, to act for democracy, to be open-minded, and to feel encouraged to think and express themselves freely. I would of course also want them to love the Lord and develop a deep and long lasting relationship with Him. Christians, however, do not have a monopoly on good values. People do good things everyday. Not all of those people believe in God. Yet I believe that God is good and God is in all good things. I believe God can use people, even if they aren’t Christians, to further His Kingdom.We should read books and watch movies that show what it means to be good and kind, to be brave and courageous and to love others without judging or condemning them. Therefore, I’d be more inclined to see movies like Harry Potter or The Golden Compass than I would some of the other movies that are released. I also feel that if you want to encourage anyone’s imagination (especially a child’s), they should be allowed to see films like these regardless of if there is an underlying message or not. Children are not looking for religious or political undertones like adults are. They are looking for great films with a great story and cool special effects. There is so much programming out there that really isn’t appropriate because of sex, violence, and language, so when a movie like this comes out we should get together and watch it, then discuss it afterwards; people should give it a chance. I, for, one am looking forward to seeing The Golden Compass.There has been much debate as to whether the media influences culture or whether culture influences the media. I think it is both. This is the information age, and we as a society are constantly being inundated with images and messages—some good and some bad. So when there is good, as Phillip Pullman said, it shouldn’t matter where it comes from. Our God is good, and He has a hand in all things that are good. So when we see or hear messages of love, kindness and freedom, we should embrace them and encourage others to do the same.Okay, so maybe our views aren't that different...she just says it better.
Now after all that, what do you think? I'm off to see if I can find part of the book online to start reading!
