Thoughts on the Golden Compass

I wonder if perhaps this could be another Nietzsche or Lennon comment taken wrong by the Church. Nietzsche and Lennon are responsible for probably two of the most well-known and offensive comments made toward Christianity. Nietzsche with his famous "God is dead" quote and Lennon's almost-as-famous, "We've become bigger than Jesus Christ" [referencing his career success with the Beatles]quote. Both comments fueled an angry fire under the Christianity pot and the backlash from the Church was vehemently palpable.

While I am not praising their controversial statements, I wish to draw attention to what the Christians missed during these times. Nietzsche looked around his country and saw the poor who were getting poorer, the wealthy getting richer, and the Church doing nothing beyond the "motions of Church" - Nietzsche rightly concluded that God was dead in that the Church was not living in a way to convince the world otherwise. There was no concern for the poor and the helpless. There were no outcries against injustice. The Church had killed God in a figurative sense and ignored His passions in a literal one. Years later, John Lennon compared America's reaction of four Brits playing music to God dying for the sins of man. He concluded that the American audience was more interested in the rise of Rock and Roll than the rising of a crucified Savior. Was he wrong?

Now comes the His Dark Materials series written by an outspoken atheist who intends to, from what I understand, kill a senile God and his oppressive forces. I wish him the best of luck. I too wish to kill that god and destroy that church.

The God of Christianity is not an impaired God whose age has removed him from all reality. Nor should the Church of that God be an oppressive force. Perhaps now is not the time to withdraw from culture and voice our disapproval by boycotting any "anti-God" person or message. Rather I would suggest that it is a better time for us to love our enemies and take the time to listen and to learn. Most of the Church missed its opportunity to wake up to the realities shared by Nietzsche and Lennon. Will this be another repeat? Will we point our fingers and say "tsk tsk tsk" and "shame shame shame" or will we use this as an opportunity to teach our children about the importance of rejecting a God who is not the God of the Scriptures? Will we refuse to be a church who represses those who need the Church the most? The handicapped, the impoverished, the unemployed, the bitter, the broken, the sinful, the idol worshipers, the . . . atheists ? I'd personally love to see Philip Pullman's face (the author of the Golden Compass) when most of the Church in America watched his movie all the while knowing about the agenda behind it. And what if those Christians were to write him and say "Thank you Mr. Pullman because you reminded us that we should overcome evil with love, that we should live like our God is in control, and that we should pull the plank out of our own eye before we judge others. With love and thanks - The congregation of Somewhere-out-there Denominational Church"

I think we would have another C.S. Lewis - who used to be an atheist.