Wandering with Reckless Abandon

I found myself shaking my head at a series of emails going around earlier this week.

The current popular thing for Christians to protest is the movie The Golden Compass. Apparently the movie is based on a book by an avowed atheist who has his heart set on turning people away from God (or so the email goes).

The email goes like this:

There will be a new children’s movie out in December called “The
Golden Compass”. The movie has been described as “atheism for kids”
and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled “His Dark
Materials” that was written by Philip Pullman.
Pullman is a
militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and
the “Chronicles of Narnia”. His motivation for writing this trilogy
was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of Christ that are
portrayed in the Narnia series.

Clearly, Pullman’s main objective is to bash Christianity and promote
atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said
in a 2003 interview that “my books are about killing God.” He has
even stated that he wants to “kill God in the minds of children”. It
has been said of Pullman that he is “the writer the atheists would be
praying for, if atheists prayed.”

While “The Golden Compass” movie itself may seem mild and innocent,
the books are a much different story. In the trilogy, a young
streetwise girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle to ultimately
defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God. Another character, an
ex-nun, describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing
mistake.” In the final book, characters representing Adam and Eve
eventually kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH. Each book in the
trilogy gets progressively worse regarding Pullman’s hatred of Jesus
Christ.

“The Golden Compass” is set to premier on December 7, during
the
Christmas season, and will probably be heavily advertised. Promoters
hope that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the
movie, that they will enjoy the movie, and that the children will
want the books for Christmas.

Please consider a boycott of the movie and the books. Also, pass this
information along to everyone you know. This will help to educate
parents, so that they will know the agenda of the movie.

Why are we so scared?

Why do we panic whenever a movie or tv show comes out that is slightly (or not so slightly) disparaging towards Christianity?

What convinces people that God is dead are the petty squabbles and powerlessness that is so rampant within the church world. The fact that a movie that promotes atheism is enough to have us up in arms and protesting makes me wonder whether we really believe in the power that we talk so much about.

So maybe people will explore atheism because of this movie.
I hope that they will.

I believe with all of my heart, mind, and soul that we are created for a relationship with the one, true God.
The creator of the heavens and the earth.
I AM.

I believe with all of my heart, mind, and soul that this relationship is so core to who we are that we have no chance of being fulfilled without that relationship.

I believe that no movie made, being made, or yet to be made will ever have the power to negate God’s heart to see His children restored to right relationship with him.

I believe that we need to stop being afraid, and start bringing the Kingdom of God to the earth on which we live… and as we do that there will be no choice but for people to realize the power, vitality, and irresistability of our God…