The Golden Compass Controversy

New Line Cinema's "The Golden Compass" comes out this Friday.  This movie is based on the first book called "Northern Lights" (in the UK) in the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.  Pullman is the son of an Anglican Minister and is quite outspoken about the merits of Atheism.  The story is about Lyra, an orphan who lives in an alternate universe.  Lyra's friend is kidnapped and she begins a journey to rescue him.  Her biggest opposition is the Magisterium.  It appears the movie has been adapted in order to not be as overt as the novel in depicting the evil authoritarian organization (the Magisterium) as the Church or more specifically the Roman Catholic Church.  In the book the Magisterium has monks and an executive group called the Vatican Council (not included in the movie).

Pullman responds to the criticism of being an atheistic, anti-church propagandist by saying that he is against all forms of totalitarianism from any source.  The Kansas City Star had an excellent article about the reaction of many Christians and Churches to this movie.  You can read the article here.  Reading the criticism of most of the religious leaders  in the article seemed trite and full of fear.  Fortunately the article also quoted Christian leaders who expressed  non-fear based opinions.  Craig Detweiler from Fuller Theological Seminary reminds us that this is a work of fiction that appeals to the imagination.  I agree.  My imagination sees the Magisteriums of the world as those who are willing to demonize anyone who doesn't embrace their creeds and world view.  These kinds of Magisteriums exist both inside and outside the Church.  Criticism from the church for this movie and Pullman's trilogy is the wrong fight at the wrong time.  Detweiler states, "For the church to be criticizing a book that suggests religious organizations can harm young people is particularly ill-timed.  Here in Southern California the Roman Catholic Church is facing $1 billion in judgments in sexual abuse cases.  So I don't think these protests are coming from a position of strength.  In fact, they tend to make Pullman look remarkably prescient."

In hopes that I will avoid being accused of an anti-Catholic sentiment, I will quote from a book I finished yesterday by Timothy Radcliffe called What is the Point of Being a Christian?  Radcliffe is an Oxford educated Dominican Friar.  Radcliffe writes, "It is a failure of courage to rush into condemnation... fear never serves the pursuit of truth... even if someone says something which is clearly unorthodox, my first reaction must be to see what truth they are trying to say rather than immediately condemn their error.  They may be struggling to say something true, even if they are putting it in a way that is untrue."  I think we would do well to react to this film in this manner.  I don't think Philip Pullman has an agenda against Jesus Christ, his frustration is with Jesus' followers and institutions that speak arrogantly on Christ's behalf.  Instead of jumping on the fear bandwagon let's go see the movie and have conversations with those around us - conversations that are inquisitive, imaginative and winsome.  Peace.

Comments

[Mike]

Here is a resource for this conversation -

Dark Matter: Shedding Light on Philip Pullman’s Trilogy His Dark Materials by
Tony Watkins (InterVarsity Press).

[andy]

A hearty amen! My goodness...I have had so many conversations about this "controversy" lately. I think we will cover it in the next podcast as well.

If only the Church would get as enraged about true injustice that takes place in our nation and the world as they do about this film.

[jeff]

I remember a few years ago when The Passion of the Christ came out and this was supposedly the greatest evangelistic tool of all time. Barna pointed out that the best he could find was anecdotal evidence that it made a difference.

Then more recently The Divinci Code was going to send the church into a tailspin...and we are still doing fine.

I agree...dialog is the way to go. This is a movie, nothing more and nothing less.

I would be curious if other pastors have been bombarded with e-mails about this movie? I have received more about this then I have about anything else recently. (All with the first sentence being, "I don't usually forward e-mails but, ...."

[Mike]

Hey Jeff,

It seems like the answer is yes - the spurt of e-mail warnings are rampant. As if the future of God's reign is about to be nudged into a tipping point of obscurity by Mr Pullman's fictional work.

[Josh Fillingham]

Thank you! Kristin and I have talked to a few Christians who are letting fear take them, and it is quite depressing. I think anything that encourages a healthy imagination is a great thing because I believe that God has the ultimate imagination.

[Mike]

Perfect love casts out fear...

Good to hear from you Josh. Tell Kristin hello.

[Melissa]

Thanks for your post, Mike.

Jeff - I, too, have received several emails and Facebook group invitations encouraging me to join the boycott. I posted some thoughts about the movie recently on my blog along with some other helpful links.

[eric reynolds]

Thanks, Mike. I was waiting for this posting since we talked about this briefly at Jacob's Well on Sunday. I couldn't agree more with andy's comment above. We are using our voices and energies on the wrong things.

[aaron]

I too have received emails and facebook's on this. What concerns me is that a lot of those are from students and teen staff who are being told this is how we as Christ followers react and interact with things that hint at opposing our beliefs. I deeply resonated with that quote at the end of your post Mike. It really does seem to come down to perfect love cast out fear.

[Mike]

Here is a link to an article in Christianity Today entitled, "Fear Not The Compass." http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/fearnotthecompass.html

[Mike]

Also, before someone bashes New Line Cinema for The Golden Compass and claims that they have an agenda against Christianity remember last year at this time they released The Nativity Story.

[Gras]

Our pastor mentioned during a sermon a few weeks ago that many people had warned him about the movie, but he was just passing along the information. And I think he had small children in mind with the warning. Thanks for sharing your philosophy on this kind of thing in general.