I am, among other things, a parent.
As generally defined, a parent is "A father or mother; one who begets or one who gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child; a relative who plays the role of guardian." The last word in this definition bares a close look, for it carries a heavy responsibility.
To get some idea of just how serious this title is, let's look at some of the synonyms: protector; defender; shielder; steward; teacher; custodian; advisor; watcher; keeper; mentor.
If you are a parent, I am certain you can identify with most (if not all) of these titles on many levels. That is because all of us, regardless of background, upbringing, social standing, economic status, race or religion, share one thing in common: we love our children. We bring them into this world, raise them, feed them, clothe them, teach them, love them, worry about them, discipline them, care for them, bandage them, hug them, tuck them in at night, tell them bedtime stories, play with them, pray for them, cherish them. For as long as we breathe they are our hopes and dreams embodied. We never stop being a parent once we become one.
It is an office you never retire from, a calling you never put down.
It is a high calling to aspire to. "Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life." (Proverbs 22:6) Other translations have the first part of the verse as "Train up a child according to their bent", or "Train up a child in the way he should go." Nonetheless, you are not only charged with your child's physical and emotional well-being, but their spiritual as well. I don't think I personally know any parent that shirks this duty, regardless of what faith they are or whether they know this verse. I can tell you that as a Christian parent, I am held to a high standard.
This means that I closely guard and monitor not only what my son does, but also what he watches and what he listens to. Movies, books, games, music, TV, Internet, activities and his friends come under my watchful eye and need to pass my moral and ethical (that is, biblical and spiritual) litmus test. Everything that he is exposed to has an influence, and I am responsible for what that influence is and how it will one day shape my son into a man. I will not always be able to watch over him, but making sure he has been given a good benchmark to hold his decisions to is ultimately up to me. I will one day be held accountable not only for my own life, but also for how I raised my son.
As a general rule, I keep him (and myself) away from anything that involve or glorify things that scripture clearly speaks out against. For example, those things that are particularly violent, graphic or scary such as horror movies: he doesn't need to have nightmares or have a fearful nature. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7) Anything that is lewd, pornographic or sexually suggestive: he hasn't hit adolescence and I am safeguarding his purity until he matures. "Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you." (Ephesians 5:3) Those things that promote witchcraft, the occult or Satanism: I am charged to nurture a love for the Lord in my son, not a love of the world. "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." (Deuteronomy 18:10, 11)
Needless to say when a film that comes out we both want to see, I check into it before we actually go see it. I am not opposed to walking out on a film if I find it particularly offensive and demanding my money back (just ask my wife, I have done it before), but I much rather simply avoid the film in the first place. So when the preview of The Golden Compass got my attention, I did some digging. It first appeared to be something akin to The Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, on the surface at least.
But things are not always as they appear.
The author of the novel that the film is based upon is a professed atheist. As many are no doubt already aware, he is also a staunch supporter of the secular humanist movement as well as a very vocal critic of Christianity and the Christian church in general, specifically the Catholic Church. Some of his statements to this effect are as follows:
"I am all for the death of God." ("Philip Pullman," www.books.guardian.co.uk)
"My books are about killing God." (Tony Watkins, Dark Matter, pp. 21 and 152)
"The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people's lives in the name of some invisible god (and they're all invisible, because they don't exist)and done terrible damage. In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow-creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it." ("Religion," www.philip-pullman.com)
"Give them [the Catholic Church] half a chance and they would be burning the heretics." ("Profile: Philip Pullman: He's Killed God, Now He's Off to the Theatre," The Sunday Times, November 23, 2003)
In a letter to the British Humanist Association: "I am happy to support you and argue for your aims, and pour ridicule on faith schools." (See the British Humanist Association, "Philip Pullman CBE," www.humanism.org.uk)
"Many religious leaders are men who, it's obvious to anyone but their deranged followers, are willing to sanction vicious cruelty in the service of their faith." (John Bambenek, "The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins," www.blogcritics.org)
"I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief." (Alona Wartofsky, "The Last Word; Philip Pullman's Trilogy for Young Adults Ends With God's Death, and Remarkably Few Critics," Washington Post, February 19, 2001)
It appears the author's endeavors to undermine Christianity and kill God are through his children's books. As if seeking to malign the one true hope for humanity wasn't enough, he seeks to do so through impressionable children. The film adaptation was an excellent medium to do just that, since much of the author's more obvious anti-theist and anti-church material were toned down when the book made it to screenplay in an effort to grab a wider audience.
How could this be anything less than harmful to my child? If there was anything I should rise up and object to, if there was anything I should protect my son from, were there any moral convictions I should stand firm upon, it would be such as this. How could this not be religious, anything other than a matter of faith, any less than standing up for my personal belief? How could this not demand criticism by everyone with a conscience, religious or otherwise?
Going back to Proverbs 22:6, and being charged to "Train up a child in the way he should go", that also means keeping my son from anything that would poison his faith or draw him away from God. I would no less seek to do that than I would allow my son to skateboard on the freeway or drink strychnine. I cannot condone seeing this film or reading the books it is based upon. As his parent, I am also charged to be an example and as such cannot do that myself (I think every parent realizes that your child watches your actions far more closely than they listen to your words). So I cannot see this film either. Nor can I allow others to remain ignorant of the film's content or the message it is attempting to convey. Being passive is not an option: any more than watching someone drown without throwing them a life preserver is an option.
I printed out all the information I had gathered on the film, the novels and the author. My wife and I sat down and had a talk with both of our children, and why we would not be seeing any of the movies or reading any of the books. I took the same information and made copies, shared it with friends, family, co-workers, and my church small group. I made phone calls, sent emails, and talked about it over coffee.
I am always very serious about something when I talk about it over coffee.
I would agree with comedian Brad Stine's statement when he says that in our society, there are many who have been deceived into believing that "standing up for yourself and defending your personal point of view makes you a close-minded hate monger." The truth is we are called to stand up: even to being despised, even to being persecuted, even to the ending of our lives. We are (as Christians) called to profess our faith and proclaim the Good News. We are not to be ashamed nor are we to be silent. We are not to deny our personal beliefs for the sake of political correctness.
For the sakes of our families and our children, we are not to stand idly by and do nothing.
I am very thankful for my family and children. I pray that I provide a good example for them in all things: as a man, a husband and a father. I pray that my son grows to be a good man because he had one to look up to and mentor him along the way.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)