Today's post was written by Nathan Talbot, a regular blog reader and frequent commenter. A special thanks, NT, for the thoughtful insights and contribution to Walk Wisely.
I have been receiving some emails about the movie The Golden Compass. This movie is an adaptation from the first novel in the trilogy of books called His Dark Materials written by English author Phillip Pullman, who is a proud atheist. The more troubling aspect is these books are, by his own admission, designed to “kill God in the minds of children”. Now there are conflicting reports about how much of this theme the movie includes because they deleted some of the more controversial parts to make it “not as offensive”, and the first book is said to be the least offensive of the three to those who do believe in God.
The point of this post is not to re-iterate the meaning of the movie/book or to serve as a warning to Christians who may read this. It is troubling to me the number of Christians saying that they will in fact see this movie or take their kids to see it. They even go as far as scoffing at those of us who do not agree with seeing it or allowing our kids to see it. Their comments seem to attack us calling us zealots and accusing us of not being able to think for ourselves or not “trusting our kids” will be smart enough to understand it is just fiction.
I have heard (or read where) people say, “Well, I don’t really agree with the author but he is just such a good writer I will definitely read the rest of his books.”
Really? Should “good writing” or the “quality of work” be the litmus test for what we feed ourselves? The reasons to avoid or dare I say boycott this movie seemed rather obvious to me initially. However, the more I’ve read about Christians who have no problem with it, not only was I troubled, but it prompted me to thoroughly examine my reasons for choosing not to see the movie.
We should not put money into a man’s pocket whose clear message is to destroy the idea of God in children. It goes against what we believe as Christians and I would rather not “sow into this man’s ministry”.
Why would we, as Christians, want to subject ourselves to a story that is so completely contrary to our fundamental beliefs? I don’t think it wise to feed on things so openly contrary to the Word of God. Furthermore, it is extremely offensive to my spirit to hear such things. I love my God, my Heavenly Father, and it pains me to even read of these things. I could not in good conscience go sit and watch the story unfold before my eyes. I wonder how anyone in relationship with their Heavenly Father could sit through such a maligning of Him without feeling outraged.
It is our job to teach and protect our children. It is our job to help guide them in the things of righteousness, not to give them all the options and let them decide for themselves. Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way that he should go, and even when he is old he shall not depart from it”. This tells me that we are to teach our children the things of God and not to confuse them with thoughts/stories/movies of there being no God.
What about free-thinking adults? Those who say, “Well, we know better, it is not like I am going to believe the message of the movie. I am just going to enjoy the creativity of it, the excellence of the literature/movie production, or the amazing work of art that it is.” There are some pretty revealing scriptures guiding us in these matters.
Proverbs 3:7 states “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.”
Proverbs 16:17 tells us, “The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life.”
We are instructed to avoid evil in many places in scripture. What could be more evil than the story of children killing god, with the ultimate conclusion declaring there is no God? Even though I feel certain I could see the movie and it wouldn’t rattle my faith, I am going to trust the wisdom of the Word of God and “shun the obvious evil”.
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your Word.
Psalm 101:3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.
As a Christian believer this movie goes against all that I know to be true and right and good and is therefore evil. There is no moral high ground for watching such things. There is no benefit that could come from watching such things. We should not be ashamed to take a stand against evil in our world. We should not be “open-minded” about evil things and we should support and edify those who take this stand as well, not admonish them for being zealots or over protective.
“As for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15), and we will not be supporting or seeing “The Golden Compass”.
bloggers note: to read a full summation on The Golden Compass go to http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
4 comments:
Thanks for the post, NT. I've been thinking a lot about this...the movie, its purpose, what our reaction as Christians and parents should be...
I'm not a big "organized" boycott/picket type person; I think that we often shoot ourselves in the foot doing that, since all our protest just means more publicity for the movie.
But I'm not surprised at the Christians who've spoken against the movie and called for a boycott. I AM surprised at the Christians who've spoken out in support of the movie/book.
I've read mostly on blogs about it, and most of the Christians in support aren't parents. But there are some parents who don't seem to care if their kids see it. Some Christians don't like the theme of the books, but forgo their taste of "faiths" in order to please their taste in literature. This is odd to me. Many people find a crucifix in a bottle of urine to be "art" but regardless of artistic and creative ability, the subject is obscene, plain and simple. I guess that's what's missing from Christian Culture these days: "plain and simple."
There doesn't seem to be a plain and simple truth anymore. We all seem to do what we want and justify our actions however we want. Most of the Christians I read who were in support of the books also raved about Harry Potter and chastised Christians for being against the Potter books. I guess I should be grateful that most of these Christians aren't parents.
We are indeed held responsible for our children and what we teach them---either by precept or by example...and even by what we "allow" them to do in the name of education, enlightenment, and entertainment. May God help us all.
Thank you for your post, NT. I received an e-mail about the movie a month or so ago and read it's verification on snopes. Since then, I've been sharing with everyone possible what I know about this author and why we shouldn't support his movie. My husband and I see previews on t.v. for the movie, shake our heads and say "what a shame, it looks like it could have been a good movie."
Enjoyed your views, Nathan Talbot. I do wish Christians would be bolder, stronger and more willing to withstand the evils of the day!
It is wonderful we live in a free country and can make the decision to see/hear and believe just about anything we want to. But it works both ways. As a Christian it really is okay that I CHOOSE NOT TO consume every movie/book/TV show offered.
I'll never understand why Christians try so hard to be like the rest of the world --indulging our senses in whatever the media puts out there.
Parents need to be wiser, smarter, and more courageous to guard our little ones' hearts and minds. Once they are exposed to evil images and mixed messages about evil and good it is more difficult to teach them how to delineate between what is truly "Godly and spiritual" and what is make believe. Stick to the Godly... give God all the credit for every good thing.
If we are sincerely trying to teach our children how to discern the things of the Spirit and how to be led by the Holy Spirit - it is vital we not mixed up every superhero/fantasy story/fairytale adventure in with their innocence.
Parents are shamefully afraid of keeping things from their children that might make them different or make them a standout. Sad to say, most parents are guilty of the same fear for themselves.
If you are interested in a powerful Biblical view on The Golden Compass I highly recommend the following link below to read another great article released today.
http://www.kcm.org/goldencompass.php
you'll have to copy and paste- sorry.
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