Children's Alert! Beware The Golden Compass

Thanks so much for sharing this info with our group. I heard lots of rumors about the Harry Potter books, but this sounds much worse than witches and monsters!

Z'

I don't know, I really don't think it's that bad. I read The Golden Compass when I was younger and didn't know much about religion, I actually believed in God at the time, and I never came away with a sense of wanting to be anti-religious or anti-God. It was simply a good book to read.

Hm... thank you for the info... I will take this under consideration when recommending the movie / book to others.

Leslie, thanks for the feedback...I'd never heard about the books and I do know that a lot of misinformation came out re Harry Potter books...

In any event, an alert is always important so that we can form an opinion before our kids start begging!

Thanks Tina and Day Dreamer (love your picture!) for feedback!

I love the Harry Potter books and didn't see anything wrong with any of them. When I saw all the fuss about how "anti-god" the Pullman books are, I went right to Borders and bought them. I like to make up my own mind about the worthiness or unworthiness of books and movies. I haven't read these yet, but will start them very soon.

Old Crow...I would do exactly what you did...which is what I did with the Harry Potter books when my niece started talking about her son wanting to read them...so I read them first. However, I do not automatically assume that these things will not be harmful...have you listened to the words of some of today's music? I cringe when I hear it...

On the other hand, books about magic and witches are, in my opinion, quite different from suggesting to children that God has been killed and that "they" can do anything they want...hope you'll let us know about those books...all my nieces and nephews are now too old to even want to read them...LOL

Thanks for commenting!

This is worse than anything out yet, from what I hear. Our children must be exposed to nothing where God is mocked or dies! There is enough of that out there. I home parents stand up and say "NO" to what their children want and keep in mind they cannot make their own decisions.

I thank you for posting this and visiting my articles & photos! Always good to see you!

Kim...you are exactly right...there are parents who have not realized that NOT saying NO early has led to many, many heartaches... it is a difficult world, today, in which to raise a child...I wish you well with your son...and pray you maintain strength...

Three questions:

How much Christian propaganda is there out there?

Why is it acceptable to push a particular religious belief through children's literature and movies, but not acceptable for a book to challenge this view?

How many commenters have actually read these books?

Hi Matt...all valid questions. I'll give you my opinion--after all that's only what any of us can do. As you will realize from my heading, I was concerned enough to post this. Why? Because I feel children are unschooled and unbiased...therefore, they need parental guidance. Obviously, I am a Christian, so I do not wish to have my children read or see movies without guidance. I hope you feel the same about yours.

There is a lot of propaganda out there... Christian, non-Christian, sex, violence, and even worse...see my latest review on Islamic Terrorism. Would you want children to be taught that Wahhabism is the only religion and that to conduct suicide bombings is what God expects from each child?

I have not read these books; however, if any of my nieces and nephews expressed an interest...I would read them before they did...indeed I do read and have read all of the Harry Potter books except the last one (not yes, but will) And I would give my opinion on what the books say.

I do not oppose freedom of speech or other rights; I do oppose any disruption of a child's learning experience that is based upon somebody's perception of truth...that is, without a guiding person involved. Unfortunately, too much knowledge is reaching and forming the lives of our children...a child's formative years are early--those when a parent is normally the dominant role for the child. I know from personal experience that what is learned during those years can affect children throughout the rest of their lives.

Children are forced to deal with sexuality issues, both from child abuse as well as television and books...they need to be told that there are men and women who will hurt them if they have the opportunity. Children are taught to smoke, drink, oftentimes do drugs through peer or parental association. And, Children are led to beliefs and judgments by those same individuals.

As I would for any of these issues, if I saw something or read something that could be detrimental to children in their formative years, I would highlight, warn, scare, persuade...try anything to get the word out...Beware, you may not want your children to learn about this issue without your guidance.

Thank you for raising these questions. I hope if you have any further thoughts, and feel I can respond, please feel free to do so.

Thanks for the respectful response, Glenda. We are certainly the guardians of our young children's educations.

However, you opened your comment with this observation: "I will never understand why individuals who profess atheism find it so important to 'prove' their theory/belief."

Should atheists hide their beliefs in the works they create? Why is it that an atheist who expresses his opinion is trying to "prove" his theory to you? (And have atheists ever come to your door with pro-atheist literature? I've had PLENTY of Christians try to impose their views upon me.)

I think that Christians take for granted their historically dominant role in society, and any sign that there is a challenge to their beliefs is taken as some kind of assault on them personally. By all means, keep your kids from this movie. But kindly realize that there are many dissenting views of the world, and that expressing them does violence to your faith only if that faith was extraordinarily flimsy to begin with.

Incidentally, I'd suggest that "The Golden Compass" is not in fact appropriate for young children, irrespective of its underlying philosophical positions. The intensity of the film (as judged from the trailers) makes it unsuitable for children who are under 12 years old. I won't be taking my daughters to see it because of this fact alone. The books are more intense than Harry Potter, too, and I won't be reading them to my kids for awhile.

Matt...I agree "somewhat" regarding your thoughts...Perhaps I've had a unique experience by working on a university campus for nearly 40 years...yes, I have had debates with scholars on their atheists or agnostic beliefs. It was hard for me to do so; thus I know that it would be very easy for a child to absorb new information without some type of guidance.

No, I do not feel that anybody need hide their opinions, but I do feel that negatively going against another's beliefs or faith or opinions is wrong. If we do have freedom of religion, then why do we need to adjust to another's "religion" or non-religion (don't know whether that is an acceptable term, sorry)... I do not feel I am widely read in the area, but M. O'Hara and others who work "against" another's religion, it seems to me, is a violation of my own rights.

I think probably I was also a little biased by a recent review I did for a book by a former priest, now atheist. He accepted my review as fairly well balanced but no matter what I wrote, to keep it professional, I found it hard that his book was based upon negatives as opposed to proving his opinions/beliefs by positives about his new beliefs (does that make sense)...

Again, I know little about the books...however, why would an atheist need to kill a "God" that doesn't exist in his book? If an atheist writes a book regarding his own beliefs...I'll read it if I wish...just like any other book... If an agnostic writes a book regarding his own beliefs...the same... However, I see no reason for me as a Christian to write a book, criticizing the beliefs of an atheist as part of that book. Now I quickly point out that in scholarly endeavors, there might be a basis to "compare" different beliefs...

I don't have the academic credentials to argue an issue, nor do I feel I have the biblical knowledge to argue religion...I have only my own personal experiences upon which to base my faith.

You bring up a good point regarding the historically dominant role. There is one. Admittedly there is also historical documentation that religion is or was often forced on people in the past...I surely don't condone this. However, I do have just a basic question for "any" difference of opinion. Whatever happened to majority rules? To me that has never meant that the majority is right, necessarily...it merely states that the majority of people have come to this opinion. Where does the line for personal freedoms end and the "overall good" begin. Illustratively, I worked at a university where new laws were bureaucratically put in place that all facilities must be made accessible. Yes, there was some flexibility, but very little. Any new construction required that every single space in every single facility was to be accessible to the handicapped. The additional costs for the "possibility" of any given room be needed for the handicapped is astronomical. Now having worked with my mother as she became handicapped, I believe there needs to be accommodation...however, I would never expect that she should be able to go anywhere, anytime and be fully accommodated...nor did she.

How can we come to recognize that negotiation and arbitration can occur rather than a demand for personal recognition. I welcome an "Atheist" Day for not believing in Christ if that is desired...if I don't have to argue about putting up a manger at my office if I want to celebrate Christmas.

By the way, I have read many, many, many fictional novels that include characters that are atheists, agnostics...whatever...and thoroughly enjoyed them...But none of those characters took potshots at my own beliefs. That is the bottom line issue... at least for me.

Glenda,

Consider this statement:

"There is no evidence that the god of the Koran even exists, much less that he has done what his followers attribute to him. Mohammmed was a canny leader, but didn't have a direct connection to the creator. In its radical form, Islam has had a pernicious effect on humankind."

Is it "ok" by you for that view to be expressed, in fiction or otherwise? Is that view to be disallowed because it is "against someone's religion"? Shall we allow political correctness to dictate the claims that are "acceptable", to the extent of suppressing any negative statement about religion?

Now, in that statement, replace "Koran" with "Bible", "Mohammed" with "Jesus" and "Islam" with "Christianity", and tell me if it is acceptable. If not, why?

If it is, then I'm not sure what it is you object to in atheism.

And, by the way, I hope you're not serious about "majority rules" in matters of faith. The tyranny that that leads to should be self-evident.

My apologies to Matt and anybody else who felt my introduction to this article was offensive. I have changed it. For those who may comment in the future, you'll have to read through the above to see the evolution! LOL

First Matt, you are right in your last statement...I've just finished reading and writing a review for a new book, Defeating Islamic Terrorism (review is here on Gather). It reminded me that when those that speak with authority in matters of religion, they have done some atrocious things. I knew this; this book reminded me how bad it can be.

In fact, Matt, you are probably correct in all of your arguments...I was reacting emotionally to this book/movie...It is interesting, as I think about it, that if I were doing a professional book review, that I would have made sure that my review was based upon content that I have personally evaluated. I did not do that upon reading somebody else's evaluation...I reacted because of my own fears for the children in today's world.

I admit to being personally offended when I hear somebody speak against my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that I know that I know he exists. Intellectually, I can accept other people's views; however, that does not change my beliefs in my God.

For those reading: do check out Matt's and the other evaluation of these stories...inform yourself about what your children may be exposed to. There is much that they should not be permitted to learn about until they are old enough to understand and evaluate information on their own.

Thank you Matt and all others for contributing to this article!

Teenager's Alert! (it's a young adult book, not a children's book):

Beware of self-righteous adults who think that the best way to raise adolescents is to hide them away, and keep them from finding out about opposing ideas.

According to the dictionary, children are "a son or daughter; offspring;" sorry if I've offended, but children are children to every parent, no matter what age.

You know, I'm not even going to argue your point, because I don't believe it...A parent has a responsibility to raise their children in the way they should go. You still have the choice to do what you want whether you agree with my article or not.

Every individual has plenty of time and ways to find out anything they want to know...

The two are not contradictory. In theory, if you would allow teenagers to view/see anything they want, then, hey, go for it... your prerogative, same as mine to post this...

The "God" (or "the Authority") in the books is not the God Christians believe in. He is not the Creator--no creator is mentioned--but the first angel to be formed of the conscious particles known as "Dust." He convices the other angels and everyone else who comes after him that he is the Creator and starts the Church to get people to worship him, but by the time of the story he is no longer in charge--another angel, this one much more malevolent, has taken over and keeps the Authority as prisoner.

SPOILER ALERT: The children definitely do not kill this "God" in the third book--they rescue him from a crystal cage he has been locked in, but he is very old and dies (happily) of "natural" causes. (The angels in the books are mortal, but they live immensely longer lives than humans.)

You might still not like this story--it's not the Christian story--but the claims out there that "the children kill God and then do whatever they like" are way off.

In fact, and MORE SERIOUS SPOILERS FOLLOW, they don't do whatever they like at all. They are from two different worlds, neither can live for a long time in the other's world or he or she would get sick and die soon, and the openings between the worlds turn out to be the cause of the problem everyone is worrying about: Dust--goodness, consciousness--is draining from the worlds because of them. Lyra and Will love each other but they can't ever see each other again. They close all the openings between their worlds in order to stop the destruction. (Environmental allegory, perhaps?)

Aniko...Thank you so much for posting this info. This is enough, I think, to give parents the "gist" of the story and make their decision. If not, borrow the book and read more to help you decide!

THEY DON'T KILL GOD!
They save him!
They go up to his 'castle' which is suppose to be like heaven and a 'bad angel' like satan is holding him in 'protection' bubble but really has him trapped. So Lyra frees god and they save him from the bad angel that was going to kill him.
The books may QUESTION things, but theres no harm in that.
If your strong with your faith reading a book like this won't hurt it.
I'm not christan,
I'm not anything!
But I believe in a higher power and I believe this book is not teaching kids anything that's bad. And in this book the witches are good. They help Lyra and the witch does several things to save her life.
The main thing in this book/movie is the danger and fear of a religious group becoming too powerful and doing harm.
The government and the church have been one before, and that didn't turn to our favor.
At least read the book before you form your opinions. I bet whoever posted this didn't read the book, or was too idiotic to understand it's true meaning

Thanks for sharing info Jessica...

Comming in a little late, but I just watched the movie last night and plan on reading the book.

Try reading the book or watching the movie before posting "WARNINGS" to parents.
Read/watch and enjoy the entertainment. Take if for what it is. One goes looking for something and one will surely find something wrong/harmful in anything. Open your mind for a change.

LeeAnn...I have to laugh about your comment on open-mindedness, sorry. As a professional reviewer, I have sometimes "suffered" through books I wasn't interested in, in order to provide a fair review. When the same comments came up about Harry Potter and my nephew was interested...I did indeed read/review the books for my own family. I volunteered because my niece didn't have the time...

I'm not quite sure why you would object to sharing a warning about anything. E.G., there's a warning out about how car kidnappers might "do what they do." Would you just not pass that own until you were yourself kidnapped????

I KNOW many people are concerned about some entertainment these days. What harm is there in passing on a warning. Many parents work two jobs and don't have the time to read entertainment news...but a quick blurb for their attention is helpful in my opinion.

Sorry I also disagree with you to allow something to be taken as it is, without parental consideration... just stop and rethink what you are saying...I hope you understand the ramifications...

Nevertheless, thanks for posting your thoughts...it helps people consider their options, I am sure.