An Atheist on The Golden Compass

Apparently, word is out in many Christian communities that the new movie, The Golden Compass, is anti-Christian. Well, the advertisements I have seen for the new movie show arctic adventure, talking bears, witches and battles. That does not seem very different from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, which the Christian community embraced with open arms.

Christians do have reason to be worried; the book upon which the movie is based is about something very different from what I see in those 60-second ads on TV. It is about original sin and the road to a new religion

From the first chapter to the final pages, the book is about the search for Dust, which is a physical particle that is original sin. The Dust, which cannot be seen by the naked eye but is picked up on images developed with special emulsions, comes from the Aurora Borealis and is strongest at the North Pole. It is evident only on adults; children are free of it as they have not yet experienced original sin for themselves.

The two main adults in the book, the parents of the heroine Lyra, are both seeking to research Dust and to find ways control it, and even get rid of it entirely. Her mother wants to do away with sin so that people will become easy to lead since there would be no passion, sex or love. People would follow the rules set out for them (by the Church, whose corrupt leadership is called the Magesterium) with far less bother, conflict or distraction. Meanwhile, her father knows that there is great power in Dust, perhaps great enough to allow for travel through time and space.

As an atheist, I do not believe in original sin. Humans are not broken because of a fall from grace which is the understanding of procreation. The garden of Eden seems to me to be a horrid, lonely place -- far from the perfect setting it is supposed to be. How could it be perfect without sex? Sex is what gives us children, so how could a garden be blissful without generations of family gathered together? For that reason I fail to see why the knowledge of sex is ever seen as sin.

In fact, I do not believe in sin at all. I think that there are bad thought and deeds in the world and in all of us. But I do not see that as sinful. Evil does not equal sin, it is just evil. Anger, lust and envy -- feelings that are strong or frightening -- are not sin. They are part of human nature and need to be understood, addressed and hopefully controlled, not done away with.

The magic of The Golden Compass is the critical look that author Philip Pullman takes at religion. Why do we continue to believe certain things? What will it take to bring about change in these beliefs, some of which are antiquated? Can there be a new way to believe, as Lyra sets out to find out?

To those who assert that The Golden Compass promotes atheism (as I heard on Fox News recently) I say that critical thinking is not the same as godlessness. We should all be more critical, and what we believe in should not be out of the sphere of what can be criticized.

I am glad to see that The Golden Compass is a movie. Just as I was glad to see The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe come to life on the screen. The two actually go well as a pair, one meant to strengthen the myths of Christianity and one meant to call them into question, and both have talking bears.

Comments

[mamacat]

Finally saw the movie on Sunday. Frankly, I do not see any religous connections in this movie, nor in the other ones mentioned. Maybe the book it is based on encouraged critical thinking, but the movie does not say anything especially different, that I could see. "think for yourself" and so forth, but that isn't too dangerous, is it? Or have we gone so far down the path toward totalitarianism that advocating critical thinking is now considered a threat?

[WilliePilgrim]

Atheist, deist, believer, whatever, any perspective on us humans' plight regarding our most rudimentary behaviors and our most elaborate displays such as courtship, that doesn't take into account the fact that we a chuck-full-o' instincts that guides some fairly complex behavior, and recognized that we still are monkeys at heart and in the brain, is bound to paint nothing but a pretty picture, interesting perhaps, but absent of meaning and useless for guidance.

[carefulcautious]

As long as it doesn't question Islam!

[eldridge]

As a literature teacher and a non-believer:

There was sex in the Garden of Eden. There was sex in heaven, between angels. Check out Paradise Lost and Uriel's explanation.

Lust, anger, etc., are the capital sins because they are the source of sins. Crimes such as murder occur because a person is angry, lustful, greedy, in an uncontrolled way. The Seven Sins are all also good things-- there would be no humankind without lust, humans would not survive without food and drink. These things only become sins when a person loses moderation. A balanced person is right to become angry when the situation calls for it, but not let that anger become untempered. Same with love, passivity, melancholy. That's the theory of humors.

Original sin is not sex. Original sin is hubris, pride. Eve is talked into eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil by the argument that she would know what God knows, she would become like God.

Thinking that you have a direct line to God, hubris, is what leads to monsters like Robespierre, Torquemada. Beware of those who think they know God's will.

[MajorKong]

Saw the movie today and really enjoyed it. If you enjoy fantasy I'd highly recommend it.

[rughead23]

Polar bear coats are actually the color of the cuticle, they appear white via the reflection of light off the snow.

[Aaror]

The most amusing part of this whole thing is that the Christians are promoting Narnia as the alternative. Of course, most Christians figure that since Lewis converted on his deathbed, all the satirical works he wrote to undermine people's faith were magically changed into stories to encourage children to Christianity. It would not surprise me to find that folks who believe this still do believe in Santa.
"dyslexic Christian sells soul to Santa, asks Satan for a teddy bear."

[PeteBogs]

Christian groups are calling for a boycott of the movie... it's not the same as "kill someone for naming a teddybear Mohammed," but it does share one similarity - insecurity about one's own beliefs to the point of radicalism...

[mamacat]

I don't like people telling me what I can or cannot watch, what I can or cannot think. I will go and watch this movie because the previews look really cool. I'm too old to come away from what is basically a cartoon movie and then to have my religion changed. How about giving people a little credit? Just because we let Bush fool us......

[Marioli]

I´ve been catholic my whole life. My parents raised me with Christian principles. In my youth I had a time where I questioned the religion, the way it appears in the world, and my faith itself. In the end, I found that returning to religion gives me the most liberties to live my life in a good way, to take good care of myself, emotionally, physically and in all other respects, and thus gave me strength and made me able to to the same for others if they wished so. It gives me the framework of how I live my life. To me, a religious life is all about choice.
Nobody has ever tried to indoctrinate me, and I have yet to come across a "bible-thumping" person.

[writerjohnny]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but no amount of critical thinking about religion will change anything as long as toddlers are indoctrinated before they can distinguish fantasy from reality. Santa and God are both reality until adults or older children break little kids hearts by telling the truth about Santa. Somewhere there's a poll where 90% of scientists believe in "God". That's because their parents and other irresponsible adults brainwashed them before they could make an informed decision. Until religious indoctrination of defenseless children by organized religions is outlawed the con artists will continue to dominate the people. Question of the day...Why did the Christian God leave slavery and child/spouse abuse off the 10 commandments?

[lwaxanatroi]

Fewer bears in the sequels, but we will meet Harpies. They're pretty cool.

[ESerafina42]

Excellent post - I just have one fault to find - the sentence: "From the first chapter to the final pages, the book is about the search for Dust, which is a physical particle that is original sin." Dust is not original sin - that is what the Church thinks it is. The Church (evidently called the Magisterium in the movie) is certainly nothing resembling any church on earth today so there's no need for the fundies to get their knickers in a twist. In fact, I've always seen it as a combination of the worst in Catholicism and Protestantism, which seems borne out by the fact that in the history of this alternate world, John Calvin became Pope and the Papacy was abolished soon afterwards. However, I don't think that Pullman is necessarily just bashing Christianity - that is just the civilization he was raised in and knows best. He is against authoritarianism and the suppression of independent thought.

[wiseferret]

Um. please read the triology. Dust is not actually "original sin", that's just what the Church of the first book chose to assume. In reading "The Golden Compass", I thought it was quite clear that what the church thought it was, was wrong, although its not defined until the last book.
As an athiest, you may like the whole tale, since there's quite a tear down of the whole notion of religion. And the importance of self-determination.
As for the religious critism of the series, its hilarious. They are making one of the main points of the book by condemning it.

[Dave24]

Those who disagree with evolution are the ones who need it the most.