Hollywood Attacks the Church (Again)

In it's never-ending quest to degrade, offend, and harass the Church, left-wing Hollywood has added another Christian-basher to the mix. What's so upsetting about it this time? It's targeting children for indoctrination to atheism. The movie is The Golden Compass and is based on the book of the same title. It is author Philip Pullman's antithesis to the Narnia tales, which you will find are on his most-hated list.
The following text is my summation of a document from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights entitled The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked that I received through my local church. For more info on them, you can check out catholicleague.org.
The film is being sold as an innocent children's fantasy, but in reality the is nothing innocent about it: the movie is based on a book that was written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity.
The author is regarded as one of England's great storytellers and as "one of England's most outspoken atheists." What makes him special is that this "atheist with a mission" has targeted children to spread his message.
The book is from a fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials (sounds great for kids, doesn't it?) and is more popular in England that Harry Potter. With the movie versions being "toned down", parents may not realize the blatant hatred for Christianity in the books and buy the set for their children, not expecting anything more than the fairy tale put forth on screen, making this mission to warp the minds of children even more subversive.
What is interesting to note is that Hollywood is taking a huge risk with this film. Past box office gold such as Narnia, The Passion, and Lord of the Rings were all from openly-Christian creators and all involve blatant or subtle versions of Christ's story. To present another Narnia-esque "family film" that is anything but might just backfire (and I hope it does). The League reports that 85% of the US population is Christian, meaning that if we all upheld our beliefs and demanded more respect by not supporting this film, it will lose massive amounts of money, unfortunately the only thing that really gets Hollywood's attention. Unfortunately, many Christians are uninformed, which is why I'm posting this. Even those who are informed tend to throw away their dignity and support those who bash them, such as the millions who bought the DaVinci Code book, movie tickets, and DVD. I pray that anyone who sees this realizes there is so much more going on than "just a movie" or "just a book". People are making billions off of hatred and lies. Isn't it time we, the majority, flex our collective muscle and say, "Enough is ENOUGH"?
Chris Weitz, the screenwriter and director, admits that those going for a movie about the Catholic Church "will be wildly disappointed" and that "there may be some modification of terms. You will probably not hear of the 'Church' but you will hear of the Magisterium. Those who will understand will understand." He calls himself a "lapsed Catholic, crypto-Buddhist, which I think is appropriate for the piece."
In the book and movie the evil institution, the Magisterium, is the teaching body of the Catholic Church, i.e. the pope and bishops. Putting a spin on it to keep Christians from being scared from the film, he adds that the "Authority" (God) "could represent any arbitrary establishment that curtails the freedom of the individual, whether it be religious, political, totalitarian, fundamentalist, communist, what have you". (Since when are religion and politics "arbitrary establishments"?)
An English author wrote, "In describing the Church, Pullman uses a host of specifically Catholic terminology: It has a pope, magisterium, cardinals, oratories, intercessors, etc." So it is not just any ideology or institution he seeks to smear, it is the Catholic Church in front of the firing squad.
The book is published by Scholastic, a company known for its book fairs and catalog sales to children in schools. Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Entertainment (the media arm of the corporation), is acting as a New Line Cinema producer. (Especially interesting considering New Line was the company that made gazillions off of LOTR.) Unlike her work on The Indian in the Cupboard, in which Indian advisers were used or on Maya and Miguel, that used Latino consultants, no religious leaders were asked for input on this film.
In making this movie, Scholastic, the world's largest publisher and distributer of children's books, violated its own Credo, which says, "To help build a society free of prejudice and hate, and dedicated to the highest quality of life in community and nation". They also profess "high moral and spiritual values" and is to stand against "discrimination of any kind of the basis of race, creed [...] or national origin". Except when it comes to Christians, I guess.
On Scholastic's website, a short review of each of the three books, a biography or the author, and an interview with Pullman leaves out all traces of Pullman's in-your-face atheism--in short, a sanitized cover-up.
The only reason this massive cover-up by film-makers, cast, publishers, and so on exists is to ensure profit. Weitz even stated, "New Line is a company that makes films for economic returns. You would hardly expect them to be anything else. They have expressed worry about the possibility of HDM's perceived antireligiosity making it an unviable project financially." In other words, if the movie offends Christians, they won't buy the books for their kids' Christmas gifts, making the point: This is nothing but a stealth campaign to use deception to make millions.

I will be continuing this discussion with specific examples of the atheist teachings in these children's stories in upcoming posts, allowing you to absorb what I've put here for you in easy-to-grasp (and not ridiculously long) blogs.

God bless you with discernment on this and all related issues. I would encourage you to share my blog with any of your family or friends that could use this information.

Stephen

"He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." 1 Cor. 4:5 (NIV)
Song of the Day: "The Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns

Test

New Sheets

Aren't new sheets great? There are a few things that are just awesome when new; things that change your mood, get you excited, make you feel special and pampered...things like shoes, coats, cars, and carpet. It's the anticipation of opening a new CD, not knowing what the songs will be like, wondering what the CD looks like, browsing through the liner notes for the first time. It's the way you move your hand to draw attention to a new watch or ring.
Yesterday I bought myself new sheets and those feelings definitely came with them. I haven't had new sheets in years. I had lived 2 years of the past 5 in a dorm, so I had new sheets for the twin beds I slept in, but my full bed at home got neglected. This year I threw out a torn pillowcase from my tan set, leaving me without a matching case for the rest of the set, which also includes a fitted sheet that's losing its elastic. I also turned one of my navy pillowcases into a dust cloth. I threw out both of my light blue Egyptian cotton pillowcases because they'd become discolored with age and washings. On top of that, the flat sheet from that set has a hole in it from Milo taking a flying leap into my bed, claws and all. It was time to get some new sheets--after all, I don't want to move into my first apartment with stuff that makes me look like a hobo.
I don't know what's happened in the past few years, but I swear bedding is 3x more expensive than it was. I got a whole set of Egyptian cotton sheets for college for about $30. Now a single sheet costs that much. Comforters are like $100-300! Are they made with spun silver? When a pillowcase is $15-30, there's a problem.
Being the OCD shopper I am, I of course checked sale ads and the web before going to any store. I refuse to purchase anything at retail, plain and simple. I'm the guy who goes to the clearance rack first, bypassing the uninformed shoppers at the front of the store (the most expensive place). I checked out Kohl's yesterday (a recently discovered gem) and found some cool sets on sale, but put them on my "suggest for a birthday gift" list. Then my mom and I went to south Lincoln to check out the new Target Supercenter. South Lincoln is the new "it" location, with multi-gazillion dollar developments bringing in new malls, housing, country clubs and golf courses, restaurants, etc. We passed a housing development with gorgeous homes, a pond surrounded by boulders and a waterfall, and a giant lodge to dine at.
The new Target is just as nice--it's huge, clean, well-lit, and stylish. It features fresh sod, new trees, sculptures (in Target red of course), neon lights, and sits across from a golf course. Inside is a Pizza Hut and Starbucks--mmmmmm. You smell the fresh lattes right when you open the door. The special was spiced pumpkin, but I resisted. The grocery section is massive, with an entire aisle for seasonings and another one just for coffee and tea, and yet another just for snack bars. The produce area features an organic section and you can get drinks and sandwiches from the deli to enjoy while shopping.
I swear there was bedding stuff spread over 12 aisles. Lucky for me, the college stuff was all clearanced since everyone's a couple months into the school year. Of course, all I seemed to find was either girly or for twin beds. Just before leaving, I found a set of sheets on the opposite end of the section for $3.24. Yes, $3.24 for the ENTIRE SET! I love Target. The sheets are solid Kelly green (not a first pick, but I'll take it!) and definitely add color to my room. I put them on so carefully, making sure to shoo the cats out so they didn't jump up and put holes in them. They have that new sheet smell and the creases from being in a package. I took extra care to wash up before bed so I didn't get my nice sheets dirty. I slipped in and turned my relaxation music on (also from Target--"Music for Stress Relief", previous purchase) and had a whole night's sleep for the first time in ages.
Don't you love new sheets? PS--I'm asking for more for my b-day--something with a print this time.

Song of the Day: "Brace Yourself" by Howie Day

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