New Atheism

Tue - December 4, 2007

Golden Compass Book Discussions

Here's the flyer for our upcoming book discussions. Come join us if you're in the neighborhood!

Posted at 08:07 AM Read More |

Fri - November 30, 2007

Preacher-Man Phillip Pullman

John C. Wright's review of His Dark Materials begins,

"My respect for this author just hit bottom. Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, hits back at critics who accuse him of peddling 'candy-coated atheism'. 'I am a story teller," he said. "If I wanted to send a message I would have written a sermon.'"

From there Wright shows, from the perspective of the storyteller, just how much of a sermon Pullman wrote.

Posted at 01:46 PM Read More |

Over-reacting?

Look around the blogosphere and you'll find people who say Christians are over-reacting to The Golden Compass. This news might give you some perspective on that:

"KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear 'Muhammad.'"

Posted at 01:36 PM Read More |

Mon - November 26, 2007

Rehabilitating The Golden Compass's Religion?

Donna Freitas, in yesterday's Boston Globe, tells us that The Golden Compass (and its associated trilogy, His Dark Materials) is not hostile to God at all, and that its hostility to Church is targeted at a false Church that we should all be glad to take aim at. It's a creative interpretation. In an interview with Freitas, Pullman seems to endorse this view. I would love to be able to go along with it, to take a grand metaphorical approach to the books, and to find all the goodness of God in them after all. (I have indeed written about some good things we can gain from the books.) Freitas's view doesn't ring true to the books or to Christianity, unfortunately.

Posted at 07:35 PM Read More |

Fri - November 23, 2007

A New Bearing on "The Golden Compass"

Yesterday morning, before the parades and the food, I finally finished the trilogy His Dark Materials. I guess that means it's time for me to Pronounce my Judgment on the series, which includes the book at the basis of the controversial Golden Compass movie. But I'm not going to do that. I've stated my opinions along the way, and I've already linked to two excellent overall analyses by Jeffrey Overstreet and Mars Hill Audio. What I'd like to do instead is to show some major points of agreement Biblical Christianity has with Phillip Pullman's vision. There will be some surprises here.

Posted at 12:55 PM Read More |

Wed - November 21, 2007

Strongly Recommended: Jeffrey Overstreet on The Golden Compass

Jeffrey Overstreet, a Christian fiction author, has just posted on The Golden Compass: questions he has been asked, answers he has given. I can't recommend his article highly enough, for its balanced understanding of the books, their potential effect, and most of all what we Christians should do about it all.

Posted at 06:46 AM Read More |

Tue - November 20, 2007

"Democracy of Reading" or a Hidden Agenda? (Phillip Pullman)

Phillip Pullman just wants his readers to enjoy his books, he says. He's good at that. I'm a couple chapters into the third book in his controversial trilogy, His Dark Materials, and I find myself enjoying the read. Considering that I've more or less assigned myself the books as required reading (I have to read them if I'm going to discuss them), and that I disagree with his whole view of God and the good, that's pretty remarkable. Everyone agrees he's a gifted storyteller, and this may be the best way I have to express my agreement with that. However...

Posted at 09:17 AM Read More |

Sun - November 18, 2007

"I'm Trying to Undermine the Basis of Christian Belief"

"I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief." Phillip Pullman said this to the Washington Post in 2001, in an interview about his trilogy, His Dark Materials, from which the upcoming film The Golden Compass is derived. (And Scholastic is trying to make his books required reading in your child's school--see below).

Excellent Analysis at Mars Hill Audio
I learned about this Pullman quote from Ken Myers and Alan Jacobs, discussing the literary and religious themes of the series in this Mars Hill Audio podcast. It's intelligent, literate, and interesting, diving into the books' symbolism and showing what it means. I encourage you to take the time to listen to it.

Posted at 07:51 AM Read More |

Fri - November 16, 2007

BreakPoint.org on "The Golden Compass"

Posted at 02:30 PM Read More |

Tue - November 13, 2007

Death of Divine Authority—Pullman's Agenda

Phillip Pullman has famously said his trilogy, His Dark Materials, is "about killing God." In a previous post I showed how he is not just writing about an alternate world completely unrelated to ours, but about our world and our God. That conclusion is further supported in the quotation to be presented below.

Now, everyone knows that if there is really a God he cannot be killed, so what is Pullman up to? It becomes clear early in the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife.

Posted at 11:06 AM Read More |

Mon - November 12, 2007

Original Sin Is the Source of Truth? (The Golden Compass)

I've been questioned as to whether I should have trusted SparkNotes' plot summaries for the trilogy, His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman. I've just finished reading the first book, The Golden Compass. The plot summary at SparkNotes proved to be very accurate, and the analyses were very insightful and supportable. They missed an important element, though.

Posted at 04:02 PM Read More |

Mon - November 5, 2007

On Christianity, The Arts, and How To Have a Disagreement

The Golden Compass, the upcoming movie with a distinctly anti-God and anti-church background, is generating controversy more than a month before its release. I've already contributed to that discussion. This matter is leading me to reflect on how, generally, Christians ought to respond to art and media that conflicts with our faith and beliefs. A number of thoughts come to mind.

Posted at 11:36 AM Read More |

Wed - October 31, 2007

Once Again, How Can This Be Legal?

Last night I asked how it could possibly be legal for schools to promote the anti-God trilogy beginning with The Golden Compass. Some might answer this way: The Golden Compass is just one book; the anti-God, anti-Church material doesn't show up there, but only in the second and third books. And only the first one is being promoted. What's the problem?

Well, if you recall a certain court case in Dover, PA, you won't need me to tell you what the problem is. But I'll go ahead and say it anyway.

Posted at 07:15 AM Read More |

Tue - October 30, 2007

Coming Soon To Your Child's School: Hostility Toward God and Church, Heavily Promoted

True or False: Separation of church and state means schools won't teach from materials that promote hatred for the church—or killing God.

Answer: FALSE

Posted at 07:52 PM Read More |

Mon - October 29, 2007

The Golden Compass and "Killing God"--Not An Urban Legend

Emails have been circulating about an upcoming anti-God movie, The Golden Compass, based on Phillip Pullman's children's trilogy, His Dark Materials. The facts in these emails check out, for a change. It's not an Internet hoax. Pullman is about "killing God." The fact-checker website Snopes.com says,

"The film is based on Northern Lights (released in the U.S. as The Golden Compass), the first offering in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of children's books, a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God."

Posted at 03:56 PM Read More |

D'Souza vs. Hitchens: "Is Christianity the Problem?"

The Dawkins Delusion?

Religion Leads Logically To Violence, But Atheism Doesn't--Richard Dawkins

Three Threats to Science and Freedom?

New Atheists: Things Said, Things Not Said, and Suggestions

WWJD: "We Won Jesus Died"

New Atheist Rhetoric

Agreeing With Richard Dawkins

Agnostics and Atheists: For Your Response

Atheism Is Not Great

Say It Ain't So, Michael Behe