Christian Groups Boycott Atheist “The Golden Compass”

Conservatives always like to say "there is no right NOT to be offended". Time for them to heed their own advice. These Christian groups need to grow a thicker skin.

Christians these days (and come to think of it, for the past thousand years) have a serious problem acknowledging that things not Christian have even the right to exist. At least I know now that I can go to the theater without being jostled by bible-thumpers.

In all fairness I am not walking around with my bible under my arm the whole time, but I do have a problem having children exposed to something that might encourage violence or more feelings of insecurity. A child feels secure when he is raised in a religion where he can feel that he belongs in today's day and age there is no need to confuse children more where they already come from a broken home or a family more intent on having a career and the material aspects than a family life. Showing this movie to children might encourage feelings where they feel unsafe because the God he knows and trusts and which is there to protect him can be killed? People who call themselves liberals sometimes just hide the fact that they are lazy and insecure in themselves therefore they encourage free thinking because that way other people think for them and give them opinions that they can use for themselves. Satanism or the practise or insinuation of anything satanic should be totally banned, whereas other religions still uphold themselves and they can be proud and upstanding citizens as they do not believe in the absolute cruel and ridiculous practises that goes hand in hand with satanism. I will actively go against this movie with all I have.
Feel absolutely free to criticize.

God isn't real. This is just a statement. Does it mean that I really believe this? If were yes, that's still ok, the constitution says I am allowed to believe in any religion I want. Opinions are important but so is common sense. This book is fictional and if people can't understand that, I do agree that their children might not fully understand difference of opinions. So, are we going to start burning books now? I have hoped we as people have come farther than this.

I am not offended by this author because I am a sinner. Hidden in Christ, we are without offense. I don't deserve life and I cannot take back one awful thing I have ever done. Salvation is for all. But, the one who gets it is the individual who accepts it. Why do we "Christians" feel as though we have to preach condemnation. That is not what Jesus asked us to do. Salt and light. We are warned in Romans ch1-2 that some folks foolishly turned the truth about God into a lie but we are not allowed to condemn, for we are just as guilty of sin as they are. But having been justified, we actually are in a worse state then the lost if we condemn them. If you don't agree with the movie- stay out of the theater and purchase books with your children (start while they are young). God is real and if He had to save you from sin do you honestly think he needs you to prove He exists. He wants us to love him and love our neighbor as ourselves (for some out there I see the problem- self-absorbed/egotistical). He proves he is real in the way we live- it is a revelation to others. The author of the trilogy is what some of you were. Let God work it out for him like he did us. Pray for him .

Don't be too quick to judge this movie. From what I have seen of the previews, it looks like while it may be anti-catholic, it may not be anti-christian. In fact it looks like a quite good epic of good versus evil. Christ told us to come to Him as a child would and that is the approach that the movie takes. Evil becomes those who would beat that free will and inquisitiveness out of us with guilt and innuendo- something that the Catholic church has specialized in over the years, imploring us to trust them, and them only. This is simply not scriptural.

"It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science." [Darwin]

"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities." [Voltaire]

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism." [Einstein]

"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

"I cannot believe in the immortality of the soul.... No, all this talk of an existence for us, as individuals, beyond the grave is wrong. It is born of our tenacity of life – our desire to go on living … our dread of coming to an end." [Edison]

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma." [Lincoln]

"Religion is a byproduct of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity?" [Arthur C. Clarke]

"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies." [Thomas Jefferson]

"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile." [Kurt Vonnegut]

"Religion is based . . . mainly on fear . . . fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. . . . My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race." [Bertrand Russell]

It is not a matter of being offended. I have red alot of ugly comments from people who are for this movie, and that is fine. However it is our duty and our right to protect our children. God sent his son to die for our sins. Jesus has already paid the price for all the evil deeds that man has caused throughout history. We are not here to judge no one, I pray that people seek God for knowledge and wisdom. There is enough evil in this world, and we will do whatever it takes to protect our kids, God gave them to us and it is our responsibility, it is enough with what goes on in the real world, we do not need Hollywood or Mr. Pullman creating anymore deception, lies, and evil for his own agenda.

I do not agree with this author, nor will I take my children to see his movies or let them read his books. However we can not tell each other how to live thier lives, all we as Christians can do is make the choice that we feel is God like. If you want to protest the movie & books, then educate your friends & co-workers. Tell them what you have heard & learned about this author, but don't add your two sense, just stick to the facts. We are told not to judge. Just pass on the information that you have and let each person make up thier own mind. When the time comes, and we are before our creator he will make the judgement that matters. Stay strong in your faith & know that God is with you, and for those of you that do not believe, I will be praying for you, as should everyone else that believes. PRAYER is a POWERFUL THING!!

I find it so interesting that so many people claim they need to protect their children. I'd love to know what from. Free thinking? Intelligent exploration? If your religion is so fragile - and your children so dim - that they have to be protected from an allegorical tale? Don't you trust those young minds? Or are you worried your brainwashing wont work?

Hoo boy, Strwfrawg, you said it best! As a Christian minister I want people to know that numbered among us are some who have no fear of sincere free-thinking people who may disagree about matters of religion and faith. They, like people of faith, have always been around. I hardly know where to begin, but suffice it to say that I think that it is time to recognize the ease with which many pick up the weapons of fear and guilt in order to manipulate and control others. But recognize also that these weapons are not used exclusively by organized religions. For example, they are obviously common in the arsenal of politics, the scientific community, and quite prevalent in the marketplace as well. (What do you think is driving the madness in the insurance, healthcare, and many other industries?)
As for science, I only have a quarrel with those who fail to recognize that it, too, has its dogmas and who fail to recognize how ludicrous it is for today's "scientists" of all people, to purport to have all the answers, as if science has never proven itself wrong on even fundamental suppositions! I once asked an astrophysicist, "What went bang?" (answer: "A quantum singulairty.") I then asked, "Well, what made it go bang?" (answer: "A quantum singulairty." ) These are essentially faith statements to the effect that science teaches that something went "bang" and something" made it go "bang" but what it was is beyond our ability to explain. The "Big Bang" is premised upon a statement of faith.
A God who relies on threats and demagoguery, or alternately, on bribes and cajolery to control subjects, deserves to die. But the God I have come to know and trust has moved beyond that to send a Wayshower to convince us that the way of sacrificial love and compassionate care is an eternal principle that never dies.
As for the critique of "Bronze Age mythologies," it is a matter of how you apprehend truth. Do you use the western enlightenment tools of evidence, proof and facts, or, as the ancients ( and even many cutures today), do you tell a story? I submit that archetypal stories have the capacity to outlive our modernist enlightment mentality.
On a further note, my observation of nature convinces me that death is a fiction; life is an eternal force that is only ever always transformed. There is more to this than a "Beam me up, Scotty" theology; it is universal principle.

Believers presuppose the truth of their beliefs - and yet, how can that be true given the thousands of competing and contradictory belief systems. "Thousands" is probably vastly underestimating things, as beliefs are by their nature subjective.
And yet, because they each feel it is true, they conclude they must shove it up other peoples' throats, starting with there children. Seen from a distance, this is so obvious, it's laughable. There is no line between belief and make belief. I prefer good old fiction over olde tyme religion any time. I read Pullman's trilogy while on Harry Potter withdrawal, what a whirlwind ride! Fantastic (that's why we call it fantasy).