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The church is an evil brought upon this world by the collective avarice of mankind.

It is a concoction of people in authority designed to keep everyone else in a subordinate role.

The purpose of the church is power, control, and wealth.

There is a secret that the church guards.

The secret is this.

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The church derives its authority out of a vacuum.

The church invented god and imbued to itself the blessing and edicts of the god it created.

In fact all forms of authority have similar origins and hence they are invalid.

The only true source of authority in this world or any other is the self.

I am the only source of authority in the universe.

Every living creature can say this statement with absolute confidence.

In fact the universe begs us to proclaim it loudly and join together in chorus of self revelation.

That moment will be the complete rapture of all matter into the glory of itself.

SPAM SPAM SPAM…

At one time E-mail was a useful tool, now it is a mere conduit for the digital cacophony of human consciousness.

Cleaned out the junk mail, for the 4th time today.

Scaned it quickly for e-mails that may have some relevance to my life.

Viagra, delete, porn, delete, myspace, delete, check this out its funny, delete, forward this and Microsoft will pay off your mortgage, delete…

Then the forwards come from entertained or paranoid friends and family.

Cool video, cool picture, watch this, be warned about this, boycott this…

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Boycott movie designed by atheist to teach children to kill god.

Ok, I’ll read that one.

Hmmm… interesting, Phillip Pullman writes a children’s fantasy series in the late 90s as an atheist answer to C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe”

Fire up the browser, check the facts.

Yup, its legit… this guy hates Lewis and is not bashful in revealing his disgust with Lewis, his children’s books, and everything his writings are designed to encourage.

…namely, a belief in God.

The books are very popular, won several awards, children love them.

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I am totally going to see this movie.

I was expecting to be under whelmed.

I have become rather insensitive to the concerns of the Christian coalition, religious right, fundys, neo-conservative Christian right winged fundamentalists…

I get a lot of spam from them, and if I got on board with every boycott there would hardly be any TV shows, movies, or house hold cleaning supplies available for my approved consumption.

I believe in abstinence, but I hardly find it to be a Jesus approved panacea for all problematic moral decisions.

I confidently engaged my culture and I saw this move, “The Golden Compass”… named after Pullman’s first book in the series, “His Dark Materials”.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a movie that I believe is horrifically undermining to the development of adolescent children.

It was ripe with an onslaught of atheist propaganda.

It commented maliciously on concepts of authority that ought to be explored at length with people of all ages.

It inflamed my sense of justice and put me on guard to the defense of honesty.

It forced me into a full self examination of my selfish post modern dissonance with authority figures.

It gave me pause to consider how I will raise my children some day… and caused me to wonder what type of example I would be to them.

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Then I imagined myself as a 10 year old watching this movie.

The movie was quite good.

The story is a fantasy, and a well written fantasy at that.

Fantasy worlds have a subtle advantage over alternative styles of fiction.

The advantage of suspending critical thought.

A fantasy world is buy definition imagined, and fantastic.

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The best fantasy authors invite us into another world of unique invention, but they help us along by allowing us to keep much of what we understand about the real world.

The changes are slight, but in them we find ourselves joyfully lost.

This is how I imagined myself entering into Pullman’s fantasy world as a child.

It’s a world of noble thinkers, playful children, adventurous opportunity, evil conspirators, and great danger.

A world much like my own.

The twists are small, and quickly acceptable.

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But one twist seems to grow into something of a Manichean dualism.

Every form of authority in this fantasy is evil… and evil in the way that needs no explanation… they want bad things to happen to good people.

Every person who is a free spirit, free thinker, revolutionary, independent, or loner is good hearted and trustworthy.

Lyra, the protagonist is such a free spirit; not to mention clever, smart, and likeable.

If I were to place myself in the role of Lyra, I would enjoy the following experiences…

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Every time I was disobedient to anyone in authority it turned out for the best.

Every time I lied to an authority figure it worked out for good.

Every time I was suspicious of the intentions of an authority figure my suspicions were confirmed in the worst way.

It’s this subtle reinforcement that I know I was susceptible to as a 10 year old… and a 30 year old.

The laugh track that hits every time a child speaks disrespectfully to an adult in the fantasy of the sitcom.

The nihilism that haunts every episode of Seinfeld.

The flippancy that connects every event of the Simpsons.

The witlessness that composes the lives of Beavis and Butthead.

The visceral assault of every episode of South Park.

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Yea, I got all of those e-mails as well…

Does Pullman’s movie live up to the boycott e-mail hype?

Probably not, but in that short coming the worst fears of the senders are realized through the smallest offenses.

The vigilante murder of God.

Categories: Movies, Theology