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Catholic League Takes Scholastic to Task for its Co-Production of Atheist Movie

"The Golden Compass" closely connected to "bigoted, anti-Christian book" series

By John Connolly

New York, November 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, wrote an open letter on Tuesday to Scholastic Corporation reprimanding the educational and media company for its co-production of the movie "The Golden Compass."

Donohue, whose letter was sent to Scholastic Corporation CEO Richard Robinson and to all the bishops and school superintendents in the Catholic community, has been an outspoken critic of the movie because it is such an aggressive advertisement for the harshly anti-Christian book series.

"As someone who spent 20 years in education, I am aware of Scholastic's stellar reputation," he wrote. "This is all the more reason why I am profoundly disturbed by Scholastic's role in co-producing "The Golden Compass." It is not the movie, per se, that is the problem, it is the book-and the other volumes that comprise His Dark Materials-that is the issue."

Donohue then went on to criticize Scholastic for infidelity toward its own credo, which claims "to help build a society free of prejudice and hate, and dedicated to the highest quality of life in community and nation." Based on this credo, Donohue wrote that all Christians must be assured that Scholastic will not have anything to do with the sequels of "The Golden Compass," due to its connections to a bigoted, anti-Christian book that only stands to gain from Christmas sales soon after the movie's release.

The movie, which is set for release on December 7, is based on a book that contains anti-Christian themes. The evil antagonists of the story are called "the Magisterium," the name of the teaching body of the Catholic Church. The book series ends with a group of children killing God.

Phillip Pullman, the author of the books, said in an interview, "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'"  In 2003, he also commented that "my books are about killing God."

Entertainment Weekly claims the anti-religious elements of the book have been removed from the movie, and secularist fans of the book have complained about the story's atheistic message being watered down for American audiences. Christians have been wary, withholding full judgment until the movie's release, but emphasizing that it will nevertheless draw enormous publicity to the book series.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Anti-Christian Children's Novel Coming out as Time Warner Film in December starring Nicole Kidman
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082004.html

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