to see or not to see

It's hard to miss all the buzz in the media about the anti-God message of the story, the boycotts by churches, and the allegedly sinister motives of Philip Pullman, the author. I've received a few emails warning me about this soon to be released series already.

I got the books as a Christmas gift two years ago. but I only made it through the first, "The Golden Compass", so far.

Some questions that arise from all this seem to be: whether there's an "appropriate" Christian response, whether this hype can actually be seized upon as an opportunity for dialogue, and our responsibility to impressionable children.

I find it interesting how some friends of mine (including Christians) are huge fans, while others, will now probably never go near them. In my "research" for this post I found that some people out there argue that boycotts will only blow up in churches' faces--like the boycott of "The Da Vinci Code". Other people have said it's important to protect children whose faiths are developing, from a story about characters who want to kill 'god'. Others also say that rather than being so "reactive", churches should focus their energy turning people's attention to GOOD films.

My thoughts aren't that deep. I will probably see the movie. If I had children, I probably wouldn't forbid them from seeing it--out of a (possibly errant) desire to have them engage with culture in a thoughtful way. I do think that Christians consume boatloads of questionable material that just don't happen to garner the kind of sharp attention that "The Da Vinci Code" or "The Golden Compass" get. I think it could be argued that seemingly harmless or less blatantly anti-God movies are just as dangerous for us and for children. In fact, they've got the potential to do much more damage since we are happily lulled watching them for distraction and cheap thrills.