His Dark Materials - and the truth

Earlier last year, I was sent an e-mail about The Golden Compass movie, warning me that I should not see it because in the end, the trilogy was about killing God.

I will be the first to admit, that in and of itself, was a bit perplexing, but I am also one to question. I did some research online, and not being able to glean much more than very diverse descriptions of the book, the movie, and the author, ended up investing $12.95 into the trilogy in one volume. WORTH EVERY PENNY!

The story itself is very good. The plot and characters are well thought out. The story line captures attention, and if the religious affiliations had maintained the subtlty of, say, The Chronicles of Narnia, or the Lord of the Rings, it is very possible that I would be recommending this book to everyone with children.

Such is not to be. The truth of the matter is that the books are vividly anti-religious. They depict aspects of religion that are deep, and cite scripture to define the heinous crimes and derisions in which some of the characters engage. Additionally, there are very graphic explanations of these crimes and atrocities.

The author himself is anti-thesitic, and is using a juvenile genre to portray that lifestyle decision. While I support that we need to understand and respect other people's beliefs, we also need to remember that we cannot throw their beliefs into their face as wrong.

Okay, so that was my criticism for the book. I will say this, I personally won't read it again, and odds are good that my children will not have access to it until they are adults. Furthermore, it is probably a given that my children will not be watching the movie either.

I am interested in watching the movie, as I would like to see what Hollywood does with the religion aspect, so if you are interested in watching it, please let me know. I may put a small group together later to watch it when it comes out on DVD. Also, if you are interested in borrowing the book, I will be more than happy to loan it out. I will, however, point out a few passages before I loan it so you know what you are getting into (good passages and bad passages).

I'm glad I invested in it, for the peace of mind that it offered. I consider myself a fairly avid reader with a very open mind, but this book took a lot of effort for me to finish.