Rebecca,

   You would see the movie as you have learned to look at things and should be able to tell if it is good or not, real or not. That is what a parent or adult has over a young child, that life time of learning to tell the difference. Like one of my sons was trying to get me to allow him to do something he told me about, acting like nothing was going on. I told him no because there was going to be this and that. He looked carzy at me and asked how did you know. My wife told him because your dad had been there and done or seen that. That is called guiding your children.

  Again, all I am saying is that when a warning sign is up you do the foot work to make the decision to let your child do something or not. I am not calling anybody a bad parent, just I belief the kids are worth a little effort to help keep them in the road. Let them explore and learn, but help in guiding them.

No, Harry Potter, Halloween, and all does not bother me.  But there is evil, of that I am sure.

Is the movie rated PG-13?  If so, the movie is geared towards teens and adults.  I just talked with a friend of mine who is a pastor's wife and whose opinion I really value and she said that she just doesn't want her money going to such an openly anti-Christian person.  That logic and reasoning actually makes more sense than the "throwing children to the godless" or the "lazy parent" reasoning.  My 15 year old might think the movie is too silly looking anyway.  But, I am still curious and I wonder:  If someone told me "that the corrupted church in the movie was symbolic of a false religion" would I see the movie in the same way compared to if someone told me the movie was anti-Christian and that the church in the movie was our church. 

What's being missed here is, yes, the movie is relatively innocuous and entertaining - that's the point!  The concern is that children will be curious about the books and want to read them.  The first book, THE GOLDEN COMPASS is basically as innocuous as the film but subtly different.  The second and third books, THE SUBTLE KNIFE and THE AMBER SPYGLASS however, get worse and worse.   THE AMBER SPYGLASS has children killing God so everyone is free to  do anything they want.  Throughout the trilogy the theme is that religion (God) is oppressive and evil - an historical claim made by atheists.  In an interview, Pullman, an avowed atheist, said he wants to "kill the idea  of God in children."   The film is an attempt to draw the children in.  There are detailed reviews of each book online to check it out as well as interviews with Pullman. 

People can laugh and claim that this is silly hysteria; all I'm suggesting is  that parents spend some time researching the books instead of listening to the Hollywood hype about this "wonderful childrens' film." 

Triangle,

I'm sure Mr. Pullman KNOWS that not many children are secure in their faith and are very impressionable.

A movie that is based upon books that attack Christianity and in the last book "kill off God" because he's supposedly old and uselss doesn't deserve my family's patronage.  Fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, even biography, some things are still sacred, like moms :-} , and should be respected.

I did not say to not take them, I said to go see it yourself FIRST. Then instead of letting someone else say to not take your kids, you make the decision to take the kids. If you decide that the reviewers were 8 up you can take them and enjoy it together, watching the reactions of them and have an answer if they hit you with a "why are they doing that" question. I am speaking about young children here.
    You people take things way out of context. And like was said, it may not be worth the money to take them after you see it. Boy, have we seen so many movies that just are not worth the ticket price nowadays.

Before Harry Potter there were warnings against Cabbage Patch dolls, Smurfs, and even home interior.  When I was a child, back in the 70s, people decorated their homes in frogs and mushrooms.  Remember that?  You know, like in the 80s people decorated with paisleys.  This decor (frogs and mushrooms) was warned about by a few Christians.  I remember as a child I thought these people were crazy.  Frogs were considered satanic because the string of logic went something like: frogs come out at night, frogs are creatures of the night, night is dark, dark is satan.  I'm serious!  When people put these types of issues before relationships and the way they treat and interact with others they are doing more harm than any movie ever could.  You and I do more damage to "the church" than any movie ever could.  Having experienced these many warnings as a child it makes me more skeptical as an adult.  I don't believe everything I hear, in fact, it makes me want to "find out for myself."  Maybe this negative publicity is actually clever advertising!  I didn't give the movie a thought until all the hoopla.

This reminds me of the drama surrounding Harry Potter.  Remember that?  All of our children were going to turn to witchcraft and become magicians.  If people are so insecure about their religion, then they should not see the movie.  If you are secure in your faith, a movie isn't going to shake it.  Besides, from what I've seen of this movie, it's not worth the price anyway.  Cool down. 

The movie is being warned about because the "bad guy" in the movie is a corrupt ruling church-like organization.  I doubt children would think that this corrupt ruling government is actually THEIR church or Christianity in America.  I bet some wouldn't think that even if you told them to!  That's how my kids are, "Uh uh, that's not anything like our church!"  I think issues that could be discussed after viewing the film would be "democracy vs tyranny" "not aligning yourself with a corrupt church or group" "could a church become corrupt" "have churches ever been corrupt in our history" "How is your God different from the god in this movie?"  "What would you do if you were in ::main character's:: place"  Just some ideas. 

All we know about the movie is the offense that people have taken after hearing that it is anti-Christian.  We haven't even seen the movie.  The author of the books is an atheist and a rude one at that.  That is what people feel so strongly about.

I challenge a few brave parents to view the movie together and give Mr. Lewis an interview with their honest intelligent reactions.  Would it shake your faith to watch a movie where the ruling bad guys are a corrupt church?  Did you really think the church in the movie was your church or Christianity?  Would you take your children to see this movie?  Were the warnings about the movie accurate?  Do you think you would have taken offense to the movie if you were told that the bad church was symbolic of false religion?  Also, if these brave parents take their children, maybe Mr. Lewis could interview the children?  He could even ask them if they think the bad-guy in the movie was similar to their church.  I bet it isn't. ;)

If as a parent someone's been raising ther child under certain beliefs and those beliefs are eradicated by viewing one movie, I'd say that person failed as a parent.  Besides, if it wasn't for all of the media hoopla, this movie would have been forgotten within a few months of its release as are most films.  And how many children (again, without the aid of the media sensationalism) would be able to pick up on the symbolism in the film and relate it to religion?

 

If there were problem reviews with a movie or book, I would NEVER, NEVER take my children to experiment if it was good or bad.  They are not educated scientist, they are sponges. If I thought that it would be something they might be okay with and all the reviews were a bunch of hoopla then I would take them later because I, the parent, had done my job and run the blocking first. I was not and am not my childrens best friend. I am the father, the parent, and we have a responsiblity to them to act like it. People are so worried about spanking the kids nowadays because it may hurt them physically or make them feel bad that we overlook the mental, upright upbringing we are also responsible for.

Whether people will admit it or not, there is good and evil in this world, right and wrong. And if you have been blessed with little ones to raise and get them on the right track in life then I think it is worth that little effort to do that. We should not be lazy in our parenting.

It's a movie.  If you don't want to take your kids.....ummm...then don't take your kids.  If you don't want to see an "anti Christian" movie....ummmm...then don't go see the movie.  Seriously....it's a movie, not a constitutional ammendent.  What is this?  Russia?

One more comment- the "Christians" have been asleep and lukewarm in this country for the last generation. Responses in cases like these show that we just lay down and let the godless have their way.  They don't even have to TRY to seduce our young, we bring them to them.

I won''t take my children.  They are not guinea pigs that I experiment with, then ask them how things went. I'm the adult in the situation, and I don't plan on exposing my kids to an author who hates C.S. Lewis and said that his books are the anti-thesis to these Christian-themed books.

My children can certainly think for themselves, but they ARE children. If some show is questionable about sex or violence, I won't let them tell me their review, I'll take care of it beforehand. Religious tomfoolery or mocking God is still my call as a parent.

Instead of good winning, evil will win, especially when kids start clamoring for the books behind the movie.

Above all, there are enough good movies out there, and I won't contribute to the coffers of this guy.

From the AP movie review:

Oh yes, and about that tizzy that Pullman's writings are anti-Christian, and that "The Golden Compass" foists atheism on malleable, unsuspecting children — any reference to religion is totally vague and up for interpretation. The evil body trying to manipulate young minds isn't any specific church but rather the broadly imposing Magesterium.

Tickle Me Elmo is more subversive.

This is pretty much what I'm expecting from this movie. The out and out anti-God stuff that certain groups would protest rarely makes it into a wide theatrical release.  Most people go to a movie to be entertain, not informed. That's something like likely bothers people at both ends of this debate.