Comments on: The Golden Compass - What’s so Terrible?

By: Ron

Ron — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:36:32 +0000

I laughed when I read about some churches holding protests outside of movie theaters that showed “The Golden Compass”. They did the same thing when “Life Of Brian” come out and you remember what a great blasphemous movie that was! ::: sigh ::: I wonder what would happen if people started holding protests outside of the more extremist churches ….

By: JollyRoger

JollyRoger — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:44:47 +0000

I also went to see it, and found nothing that would shake anyone faithful from his or her faith.

The problem is that a lot of Americans confuse religion with spirituality, and they are about as alike as water and gasoline. Yeah, they’re both liquids, but…. try swimming in gas. Religion is a curse upon the spiritual side of humanity, and the sooner it’s gone, the better.

JollyRoger’s last blog post..Remember These Words

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:45:32 +0000

Stumbled across your blog some time ago and am only now compelled to write. I too have a tiger daemon. His name is Brynn. Interesting stuff

Thanks for all that you write about.

Jen

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:14:58 +0000

Well, you asked, “What’s so terrible?” and I’d have to say, it’s Nicole Kidman … bad actress … yikes, that really took the flick down a notch, for me.

The rest is just more stuff to fill newspapers and the blogosphere … too much, too often, and too off the mark …

Take care!

Steve’s last blog post..Staff IT Right in 2008

By: VirusHead

VirusHead — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:16:40 +0000

It’s easy to attack something that you’ve shaped into something easy to attack. I have more respect when someone talks about specifics. The main problem with many of the angry atheists (and I have a great deal of sympathy for much of that) is that they lump all religion together as one big thing - a mind control tool and that’s it. They seem a little blind to the idea that we all have our “myths to live by.” I would like to see more concentration on the alternatives - what are they for? I’m also really tired of the false dichotomy between religion and science - it’s so outdated and beside the point.

You don’t hear much about liberation and freedom anymore.

I tend to be suspicious whenever a liberatory discourse becomes too authoritarian.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:04:26 +0000

Sad to see, though, that many atheists appear to be developing the passion for control and fear of different ideas the the most narrow minded religious people have. Not something I see in the Golden Compass books at all, but it’s popping up in any number of places.

There recently was an article in Salon by a priest explaining how he reconciled his faith with evolution. A thoughtful article containing a mild pitch for Catholicism as allowing a less reductively literal interpretation of the Christian religion. The response was over 600 angry and puerile letters from atheists.

By: VirusHead

VirusHead — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:45:04 +0000

I’ve read the books and enjoyed them very much.

I remember reading the Dune books when I was young, and there is a similarity here. The people who spread religious memes were Bene Gesserit witches called “Reverend Mothers.” It was one of the books that allowed me to start separating the idea of power from the idea of spirituality. This in turn allows someone to consider them separately - a very liberating sort of thing and one that is vital to authentic spirituality and faith.

If you’re afraid to use the mind and spirit that you have to work with, it’s like slapping the cosmos in the face.