the golden compass…yeah, i know

it’s been done to death over and over again, but just because i havent gotten in a good debate in almost a month, i’ll bite.  i could very easily get sidetracked here, so bear with me.

the big hubub about the golden compass, to the best of my knowledge, it that the books are anti-religious, or more specificly, anti-roman catholic.  evidently if we let our god fearing (and dont even get me started on that phrase…well, maybe in a little bit) youth read the work of phillip pullman, they will become hedonistic athiests with no moral compass whatsoever. (please excuse the pun)  now, before i go any further, i defy each and every one of you to do one thing and one thing only before you give your opinion on the situation: READ THE FUCKING BOOKS.  i appologize for the language, but it just felt like a proper thing to go with my mood.  i own and have enjoyed all three, and would be more than happy to mail them to you so you can also read them.  now, assuming you have read the books, and have read them as novels instead of satan in print, i can continue. in the series, yes, there is an organization known as the magisterium, and yes, it does sponsor research involving cutting children away from their souls in a rather morbid act that more often than not leaves the children dead or worse.  first of all, what are the chances of the young audience these books are read by even knowing that an actual magisterium exists?  hell, i wasnt even aweare of it being real untill another writer on here pointed it out, and i went to a catholic school till 8th grade.  further more, think back to every book you’ve ever read, every book with a plot that was deeper than winnie the pooh, and think of what they all have in common: an antagonist.  why do they all have an antagonist? because if they didnt, they’d be mindless drivle. some of the greatest literature of all time have rather promenant antagonists: kings, governments, militaries, butlers, evil space aliens that climb into your ear and controll your brain (any guesses on that last one?).  now, by your logic, hamlet encouraged killing monarchs, the military is developing world ending supervirues and should be destroyed, and all butlers are murderers that almost get away with it every time.  these are fictional stories.  so what if they have something in common with the real world, that doesnt make them tools for corrupting our youth.  yes, pullman used a catholic establishment for further his plot, so does conan o’brien.  yes, the series describes a group of people totally out of their normal character, totally opposite to what really goes on, but that’s not the first time it’s happened, and i can tell you right now it’s not the last. deal with it.

secondly, these books evidently lead children away from god and weaken the faith of all who read them.  i find this impossible to believe.  if you’re strong enough in your faith, you should be able to read the book and say "hey, that wasnt a bad book. i dont agree with al the author has to say, but kudos on the good story"  if you can observe anothers oppinion and disagree without becoming a self rightous prick, good for you, you have my full support, whether i like you or not.  but if you judge something ment for entertainment based on your own expectations on what everything sould be like, or worse yet, if you attack something without having READ IT and deem it heresy, then, im sorry, but you deserve the "boot in the ass" award, it’s ok, lots of people deserve it.  furthermore, if you read his books and say "wow, i dont believe in any form of diety anymore just because i read one mans take on it" then honestly, how strong was your faith in the first place?

moving right along, i will give to the critics that yes, these books are set in a dimention where there is no omnipotent being, nobody that molded humanity to fit it’s preconseived notion of what humanity should look like.  but fi you’d take a closer look (sorry, that invovles opening the cover), you’ll realize that throughout the book pulman pushes several ideals that right wongers might not deem heretical: things like having an open mind, looking into things before you jump to conclusions, doing the right thing even if it’s hard or unpleasant.  and my big thing: questioning authority.  now i know most people who dont like the books arent big fans of asking why, or how, or what for, but it’s a big thing for me, i encourage it.

if nobody ever questioned authority, the world would still be the flat center of the universe, there would be great amounts of water held back by the sky, arsenic based miracle brews would still cure what ales you, blacks would till be slaves, and being left handed would be a sign of the devil.   progress can only be achieved by people who are willing to go against what everybody else thought, risk ridicule, doubt and excommunication for what they think is true.  my man darwin himself said that forming his theory of evolution was like admitting to murder.

there is an argument out there that those who tell you to question authority want you to question everything except themselves. im sure there have been in the past, but not this time.  i realize that everything i just said could be completely wrong, or that i could be the only one on the face of the earth with these opinions, but im ok with that.

just remember that for all the religion, causes, conflict and everything else in the world, we have no clue what’s going on.  we think we have a handel on things, but we could be completely wrong.  we think we know what atoms are, we think there is a god, we think we are alone in the universe, but we could all be totally wrong.  atoms could be universes too small to see, god could or could not exist, god could be part duck for all we know, and maybe we’re just part of a super being’s ant farm aong with hundreds of ther universes. we dont know.

i guess what im triying to say is this: think outside the box, do the right thing because it’s right, not because you’l get wings later, and for the love of anything you hold sacred, loosen up, and have a sense of humor about life.  cuz if nobody finds anything funny, what’s the point?

till things are brighter.

nick.