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in support of free expression
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YFEN
Express Yourself! Op-Eds
The Golden Compass: Why I won't Boycott by Kate Havard
I read The Golden Compass and His Dark Materials when I was a little girl. I enjoyed reading them. And no, they CERTAINLY did not turn me into an atheist.
People often underestimate children when it comes to books- and believe that they can't separate reality from fiction- Remember when people thought the Harry Potter books would turn kids into Satanists? All they did was turn kids into readers.
Anyone who thinks that His Dark Materials (series) is an attack on God probably hasn't read it. I don't think one can boycott anything until they know what it is- so I mean, you don't have to contribute to Phillip Pullman’s profit margin by actually buying the books, you could use the library. However, before you boycott the books-- you should read them.
(Think "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer") Read them, and THEN disagree with them, hate them, boycott them (but please don't burn them).
And I know a lot of people say, "I don’t have to read the books to know what they're about" but that isn't really true, because everyone interprets literature differently.
I think a book series whose main characters abandon faith and "kill God" in order to "do as they please" would be despicable. I very strongly believe "His Dark Materials" is NOT that book series.
And even if they WERE that book series, I wouldn't try to stop people from reading them- because faith is stronger than a movie or a children's book series. Nobody (not even a child) will read these books and stop believing in God. No one can "make" someone else stop believing in God.
I am not saying I agree with Phillip Pullman, or the movies, or anything. I am just saying that you can't accept that these books are wrong just because someone tells you they are. We have to think for ourselves. I am very much pro-thinking. And I am certainly pro-books.
We can't challenge something by hiding from it, by boycotting it- I mean, obviously, it's not the movie itself that people dislike, its the ideas behind it--and you can't boycott an idea. In fact, boycotting an idea just makes it stronger, it gives it credibility. Which is the last thing this group wants, am I right? Does this group consider His Dark Materials to be a threat to the Bible?
Of course it isn't!
If these books are anti-religious? Well, then Phillip Pullman has the same rights as you or I have- the right to be wrong.
If we believe, and others don't, does this somehow lessen our faith, make it smaller?
I think not.
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