So Why Is A Teacher At A Catholic School Linking To This?
I report, you decide
Last night, a friend of mine and I were discussing how one of the teachers at a local Catholic school was linking to a certain author on the schools website. Well, I went to this particular teachers section on the school's website, and from there, to her links. Sure enough, I found the following;
Author Phillip Pullman's homepage. He writes a very interesting series of
books in the vein of Harry Potter. http://www.philip-pullman.com/about_the_author.asp To be honest, it seemed pretty ho-hum stuff to me until I found the following in my e-mail inbox this morning;
PLEASE NOTE AND PASS ON TO THOSE ON YOUR ADDRESS LIST: BE SURE TO ACCESS HE "SNOPES" WEBSITE MENTIONED IN THE ORIGINAL EMAIL. IT DESCRIBES THE MOVIE "THE GOLDEN COMPASS" SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE ON DECEMBER 7. IT IS A VIRULENTLY ANTI-CHRISTIAN FILM BASED ON NOVELS BY A BRITISH AUTHOR, PULLMAN, AND AIMED AT CHILDREN. ALL CHRISTIAN GROUPS SHOULD BE ALERTED TO THIS LATEST ATTACK ON RELIGION, AND PARENTS SHOULD BE ALERTED TO THIS LATEST ATTACK BY ORGANIZED ATHEISM. This particular e-mail went on to claim;
The movie has been dumbed down to fool kids and their parents in the hopes that they will buy his trilogy where in the end, THE CHILDREN KILL GOD, and everyone can do as they please. My, my!! Isn't that just slightly disconcerting? Well, said e-mail suggested swinging over to Snopes.com to verify if all this bruhaha is just another internet email fraud.
Well, according to Snopes, it aint. Here's some of what Snopes has posted; (emphasis mine)
The Golden Compass, a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman that is scheduled to be released into theaters on 7 December 2007, has been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on Northern Lights (released in the U.S. as The Golden Compass), the first offering in Phillip 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.
The series' author, Phillip Pullman, is an avowed atheist who has averred that "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'" Critics of Pullman's books point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "My books are about killing God." Things are starting to get curious, aren't they? Well, fellow bloglodytes, I thought I should check on some of these rather incendiary claims. And I most certainly did discover that Pullman stated in a 2003 interview with Steve Meacham of The Sydney Morning Herald; (emphasis mine)
"I've been surprised by how little criticism I've got. Harry Potter's been taking all the flak. I'm a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people - mainly from America's Bible Belt - who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven't got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God." Interesting, huh? So I decided to see what The Catholic League had to say about all this. (emphasis mine)
New Line Cinema and Scholastic Entertainment have paired to produce ‘The Golden Compass,’ a children’s fantasy that is based on the first book of a trilogy by militant English atheist Philip Pullman. The trilogy, His Dark Materials, was written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism. The target audience is children and adolescents.
Each book becomes progressively more aggressive in its denigration of Christianity and promotion of atheism: The Subtle Knife is more provocative than The Golden Compass and The Amber Spyglass is the most in-your-face assault on Christian sensibilities of the three volumes.
Atheism for kids. That is what Philip Pullman sells. It is his hope that ‘The Golden Compass,’ which stars Nicole Kidman and opens December 7, will entice parents to buy his trilogy as a Christmas gift. It is our hope that the film fails to meet box office expectations and that his books attract few buyers. It certainly is obvious that Pullman and his works are not only non-Catholic... they're militantly anti-Catholic. And this takes me back to my original question; why is a teacher at a Catholic school linking to this?
I report, you decide
Last night, a friend of mine and I were discussing how one of the teachers at a local Catholic school was linking to a certain author on the schools website. Well, I went to this particular teachers section on the school's website, and from there, to her links. Sure enough, I found the following;
books in the vein of Harry Potter.
Well, according to Snopes, it aint. Here's some of what Snopes has posted; (emphasis mine)
The series' author, Phillip Pullman, is an avowed atheist who has averred that "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'" Critics of Pullman's books point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "My books are about killing God."
Each book becomes progressively more aggressive in its denigration of Christianity and promotion of atheism: The Subtle Knife is more provocative than The Golden Compass and The Amber Spyglass is the most in-your-face assault on Christian sensibilities of the three volumes.
Atheism for kids. That is what Philip Pullman sells. It is his hope that ‘The Golden Compass,’ which stars Nicole Kidman and opens December 7, will entice parents to buy his trilogy as a Christmas gift. It is our hope that the film fails to meet box office expectations and that his books attract few buyers.
posted by Kevin Whiteman at
2:59 PM
16 Comments:
Pullman is a nasty piece of work. He's been interviewed by the BBC (who, naturally, think he's the bees' knees) and has come out with his anti-Catholic stuff quite openly.
Of course, there's no guarantee that the teacher in question is actually a practicing Catholic. Most likely not.
The Golden Compass looks like it would be a great show! Don't tell me it's anti-Catholic--cause I wanna see it! Oh well (shaking my head). Will I go to Hell if I watch the show--after all I am an adult--able to discern?
Oh, and why the hell is the teacher at a Catholic school linking to this?
Yet another assault on Christendom in the culture wars.
What we are dealing with is the mindless culture of politically correct Hollywood. Keep in mind that anti-Catholicism is an acceptable and encouraged form of bigotry, so the powers that be have kissed Pullmam's "golden arse" in the hope of perpetuating that pernicious attitude.
It's Hollywood. What do you expect? And Kidman is supposedly Catholic!!!
Tom
I think the principal should have a "come to Jesus" meeting with Ms Bilger (the teacher).
Why is Nicole Kidman, a Catholic, starring in this film???
Vir,
You're nothing if not thorough. Great job of research to confirm the entire story/
Tara,
Yes, you may be able to discern, but why would you support him with your dollars. Also, have you ever heard of giving bad example? What if some potential convert or a weak Catholic sees you buying a ticket and, thus, takes it as an endorsement to their detriment. Remember what St. Paul said in this regard.
Caveman,
as has been said, there's no guarantee that the teacher in question is Catholic, or even Christian. I've been following this on Catholic Exchange, so the info on Pullman isn't news to me.
FAB,
precisely. Giving bad example (aka "causing scandal") is one reason to avoid this.
FAB:
Your right, sigh--I won't give them my money, and I don't want to give bad example--sigh, but the previews looked really good, sigh.
Mac & Arkanabar,
To be honest, I don't think it really matters if the teacher in question is a Catholic or not. The important thing to me is, she's a teacher in a Catholic school.
Why should Catholic children in a Catholic school have "literature" such as the drivel from the fevered mind of Philip Pullman be recommended to them in such a favorable light from one of their own teachers?
I would think that Catholic School wouold be one of the placed that they are safe from such... not recommended to it. Don't you think?
_________________________________
FAB,
Thanks!
_________________________________
Lynne,
I think the principal should have a "come to Jesus" meeting with Ms Bilger (the teacher).
Provided the principal isn't of like mind. One can only hope.
I'v been following this in a minor way, just enough to let me decide to not see the movie.
But the question of why this is linked to in a Catholic School, well I guess I'm not suprized.
It's part, along with my experience of Catholic High School (don't pray to bread, it's meant for eating, and don't use the rosary, it's outmoded) and the experience of my kids in Catholic School, why I no longer support the Catholic School System in the US. Home Schooling looks real good now, and if I end up in charge of the education of young children again it will be home schooling.
Cavey - I speak from experience. Catholic schools which are only "nominally" Catholic are the most anti-Catholic establishments there are. I said that I thought it likely the teacher wasn't practicing (and therefore virulently anti-Catholic)
One reason this movie is acceptable while it is "offensive" to draw cartoons about Mohammed is that as Catholics, our gut reaction to this kind of thing is not to become violent and start burning stuff.
If I hadn't heard Bill Donohue speak out about this movie I would have taken my children to see it and possibly have bought the books. Luckily, there are people getting the word out-like you-to unsuspecting parents.
Mark said, "One reason this movie is acceptable...is that as Catholics, our gut reaction to this kind of thing is not to become violent and start burning stuff."
Other reasons include 1) the poor cathechesis since Vatican II, to the point Catholics don't even realize their Faith is being attacked or inmpugned; 2) just as the rest of America has become a flock of castrated sheep, Catholics in America have forgotten -- if they were ever taught -- about the gift of fortitude and that they have an OBLIGATION to defend our Faith; 3) like most other Americans, Catholic in this country have bought into the politically correct bullshit as will as the pacifist philosophy that they won't speak out for fear of "offending" someone or some group and/or think there is something bad about being a soldier for Christ (or a warrior for any cause).
I spoke with our principal. He said he was recently made aware of the anti-Christian aspects of these books and he pulled them right away.
I'm glad he pulled them, but how many other children's books are seemingly innocent, but have sinister undertones.
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