Okay, I am sure I am going to get into trouble here. But here it goes.
So, it wasn't too many years ago that there was a big uproar about the Harry Potter books. And I didn't join in I just didn't have kids the age to read them and I have too many other books I wanted to read. I have never been one to accept what the majority of people say about something without really looking into it myself. Especially if it is the Christian right community that is saying it.
I also think that if you tell your kids not to do something it becomes a lot more appealing.
So, as the kids got older I could see that the Harry Potter issue was going to come up. But I hadn't read them and I didn't feel comfortable just throwing them in the ring with it. So, I said we would get the books and read them together.
We read the first three books together and the kids and I both loved them. The fourth is not age appropriate, I feel, for the little guys but Faith has read it and Mike and I are reading it right now.
With that said here comes the "Harry Potter" of 2007. Some may disagree but this whole Golden Compass nonsense is in the same league. And frankly I am getting a little tired of the email going around. I just wonder if the people who are forwarding the email could say that they had actually read the book. I have not read the book so I will not judge it. But I did go to Phillip Pullman's personal website and found something interesting. He is The Orchard's target audience!! Here is the quote and I will tell you what I mean
question: His Dark Materials seems to be against organised religion. Do you believe in God?
"I don't know whether there's a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say. I think it's perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don't know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away.
Actually, if he is keeping out of sight, it's because he's ashamed of his followers and all the cruelty and ignorance they're responsible for promoting in his name. If I were him, I'd want nothing to do with them."
Wow that is really telling. What he says isn't against God it is against his followers. Christians. And can you blame him? I am a Christ follower and I have seen some pretty ugly stuff, out of myself included. The whole goal of the Orchard is to reach out to people just like Mr. Pullman. People who have been hurt by religious doctrines. Those rules that say you have to be a certain way for God to love you. That if you just follow these simple rules you will be acceptable in God's eyes. These things are not true! God loves you where you are and he forgives you even when you can't forgive yourself!
Now, I am not saying that I am going to go out and purchase the book and give it to my kid for Christmas. But I am going to get it from the library and read them before I write them off as vile and worthless. And if after I read them my kids want to read them we can read them in an educated way and discuss them.
Hiding from the culture around us is not going to make it go away. Understanding it helps us to relate to it though.
Just my two cents worth.
Kristen
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4 comments:
No comments yet? Well, here goes-read the books-I plan to, but you and I are both fairly intelligent adults and able to discern right from wrong in God's eyes. I truly believe that what you read as a child affects how you look at life-there are books I read as a child, that have colored how I look at life today. Mr. Pullman may be the "target audience" for the Orchard-good! But realize that he is also a VERY outspoken atheist and that has to color the things that he writes, especially since he said "I loathe the Narnia books" and this Dark Materials triliogy is in direct response to Narnia. The only true wisdom is God's wisdom-ours is just foolishness-no matter what any MAN says-just my two cents worth.
Ok. I've been thinking a lot about what you said so here I go. First off, I love the Harry Potter series! It is all fantasy with good verses evil and good always wins. As for the Pullman books...On one hand, I agree with you about reading them and deciding for yourself. However, on the other hand, I struggle with the idea of reading a book written to depict God as being anything less than the perfect God he is. I guess if you have children who really want to read this series, it should be done as a family read aloud with lots of discussion as you go along.
Our God is an awesome God who sees us through the perfection of Christ. Isn't it amazing to think that after all of this garbage that Pullman has written- all he has to do is accept that Christ is his Lord and Savior, pray for forgiveness and repent (that repenting is tough stuff!), and that heaven would be his eternal home? Now that story is worth reading!
-Alicia :0)
Preach it Kristen!!
I read the books when I was about 12 and I thought they were amazing. They're really well written and the plot is really original. I didn't really feel like it changed my faith as a Catholic. And think about it, if these books are enough to really impact your faith, then your faith wasn't very strong to begin with.
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