Starkville Christian Home Educators

[MonaLeigh]

Ok, I heard something about the library starting up a discussion group for the older kids using the trilogy by Phillip Pullman. WARNING: This writer is an aethiest and puts his anti-Christian views in his books. My daughter loves to read and read the Golden Compass(which is coming out in theatres this winter) she informed me that his book misquotes the Bible. Being a smart girl she new it was wrong.

I am copying and pasting more info:

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials book 1)
by Philip Pullman
Reading Level: Young Adult
Reviewed by Kathy

Parental Advisory!

Lyra Belacqua is a young girl who grows from curious mischief-maker to fierce heroine. A journey across the world takes her head to head with gobblers, witches, and ruthless scientists. Accompanied by gypsy helpers, an enormous armored polar bear, her personal daemon Pan, and a mysterious gadget known as an alethiometer, Lyra uncovers secrets of her past while discovering a "mystery" of the universe. The Golden Compass is not your average book. The plot is thick and intricately woven, full of deception, magic, betrayal, loyalty, suspense, terror; and a cloud of controversy surrounds it all.

Lyra and her assorted companions are out to defeat the "gobblers" (representatives of the church) who steal children's Daemons (the outer, animal manifestation of a human soul). Daemons and humans are intertwined with a sort of invisible umbilical cord; the two cannot be parted without certain death. Pullman, a professed atheist presents the church of the day (in the sequels it is God) as the evil. He manipulates The Bible by including his own re-written passages of Genesis that explain the origin of Daemons. Additionally, there is disturbing violence and murder of adults and children, and the heroine habitually and convincingly lies. Pullman is making it no secret he is anti-God.

His Dark Materials is not simply a work of fiction-it's a mockery of Judeo-Christian beliefs. It's troubling to think the world has embraced this book through various awards and glowing reviews, and even an adaptation of The Golden Compass to the big screen; New Line Cinema plans a projected release date Holiday Season, 2007.

Lies, disconcerting violence, false doctrines, blasphemy, and several powerfully disturbing scenes; what's a parent to do with a book like this?

You do your job. Protect your kids. Choose wisely what your family reads and teach your young adult children to do the same. Anyone who takes offense to the misrepresentation of God should not read Pullman's books. That leaves our family out of his pool of readers.

This is from homeschoolbuzz