A dear friend of mine is joining a campaign to discourage Christians from viewing the film The Golden Compass. His talking points consist of misquoted scripture and murky premises. However, his passion on this subject would make you believe that if this movie gained enough popularity, it would bring about the demise of Christianity as we know it. According to him, neither children nor adults are capable of identifying truth from fiction when it comes to serious spiritual issues like these. He claims that his current studies toward a bachelor's degree in youth ministry gives him the background needed to critique this film.
I would like to disagree. Based off of what we discussed in class in regards to the book Eyes Wide Open, to shelter a child’s mind would be to put them at a severe disadvantage when it comes time to expose them to the real world. I must say, ‘protecting’ our kids by refusing to expose them to movies like this only hurts them later on when parents are not there to provide a truthful outlook on the media text. Also, I have a hard time believing that children will be won over to the Atheist side through this movie. Even young children are capable of deciphering truth from fiction. Children are going to see this movie because it’s an adventure movie with cute furry computer generated animals, not to examine the potential deep-rooted symbolism regarding religion and truth.
In the end, I believe that fearing this movie is equivalent to having weak faith. If you are shaken by the notion of a movie stealing believers away from the church, then your idea of the power of truth is miniscule. I do not believe that we should continue to limit our children’s exposure to all types of media supplemented with a biblical worldview.
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