May the Lord bless & keep you in the New Year!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Golden Compass not Pointing to Gold
Not only did the Christian community want to avoid The Golden Compass, so did the secularist community. In less than a month, the movie has dropped off the top ten movie list. By the last account I read, revenue is woefully behind the production cost. Most movie critic reviews have been unfavorable. On the day of its release, Ms. Christy Lemire, AP movie critic, rated it one and a half stars out of four. I have not seen a television ad for the movie for quite some time. Looks like this movie is on the fast track to DVD land.So much for meaningful discussion about it. Not even secularists are interested in discussing it, except to comment about how they wasted their money to see it.
I will be interested to see if there will still be sequels regardless of the results of The Golden Compass. It will be quite telling if there are more movies based on Pullman’s trilogy. It would certainly confirm the director’s intent: "Whereas The Golden Compass had to be introduced to the public carefully, the religious themes in the second and third books can't be minimized without destroying the spirit of these books. ... I will not be involved with any 'watering down' of books two and three, since what I have been working towards the whole time in the first film is to be able to deliver on the second and third films." —The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz, on his plans for preserving the strong anti-Christian messages found in the second and third installments of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, should they make it to the big screen. (PluggedIn online) More of his comments can be found here.
It is a shame that so much talent goes toward insulting the loving God who provides us our talents to begin with. And it is a shame that so many fail to grasp the lesson.
As for me, I’m waiting for the release of the new Veggie Tales movie, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. I imagine that it will be a hoot.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas!
"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." – Luke 2:1-7
May you have a joyous Christmas!
May you have a joyous Christmas!
Friday, December 07, 2007
December 7, 1941 – A Day of Infamy
Today is December 7th. It is the day to remember the devastating unprovoked attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor by the nation of Imperial Japan. It is the day to remember that Japan’s action plunged America into all-out military war with the evil forces of Imperialism, Fascism, and Nazism. It is the day to remember mournfully the tremendous sacrifice in lives that had to go into defeating these evil regimes. America confronted Pearl Harbor not with retreat, but with a determination to overcome totalitarian threats faced by the entire world. It is a day to remember that.
Oh, how I wish that the history of that day and the subsequent years would be remembered today. For America, and the world, once more faces the serious threat of murderous totalitarianism. For more than six years now, we have engaged deadly forces that would seek to place the world under their particular rule. Reality demonstrates the brutality that our current enemies use to maintain their control of regions under their domain. They are every bit as brutal, cruel, murderous, and dangerous as their Imperialist and Fascist predecessors.
On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress requesting declaration of war against Japan. In a short time, America also declared war on Germany and Italy because of their declarations of war against America. Americans waged unlimited warfare around the world – even in places that did not declare war on us – that would not end without the unconditional surrender of the enemy.
Today, we have a President who comprehends the threat to both America and the world. He is doing everything in his power to defeat that threat, but he is besieged with enemies within who seek to derail the necessary war efforts for the sake of playing partisan politics. In my opinion, there is a very good chance that the “war in Iraq” would be over by now if it were not for the continual interference and harassment from American fifth columnists (“Fifth Columnists Strike Again”)who hold out hope to an enemy that cannot win on the battlefield. They continue to sell their souls to our enemies.
Before the end of World War II, similar politics reared its ugly head. However, America was fortunate enough then to have a hero who chose to place the needs of his nation ahead of partisan politics and the political power it may have given him. I have written of Thomas E. Dewey before, and I still commend him to my readers as a true American hero. It would be encouraging to see similar heroism today.
Today is December 7, 2007, sixty-six years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. May Americans never forget that day in history, and may we always remember with honor those who responded to the call to keep our great nation free from the deadly tyrants who sought to subjugate the whole world. God Bless America!
Oh, how I wish that the history of that day and the subsequent years would be remembered today. For America, and the world, once more faces the serious threat of murderous totalitarianism. For more than six years now, we have engaged deadly forces that would seek to place the world under their particular rule. Reality demonstrates the brutality that our current enemies use to maintain their control of regions under their domain. They are every bit as brutal, cruel, murderous, and dangerous as their Imperialist and Fascist predecessors.
On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress requesting declaration of war against Japan. In a short time, America also declared war on Germany and Italy because of their declarations of war against America. Americans waged unlimited warfare around the world – even in places that did not declare war on us – that would not end without the unconditional surrender of the enemy.
Today, we have a President who comprehends the threat to both America and the world. He is doing everything in his power to defeat that threat, but he is besieged with enemies within who seek to derail the necessary war efforts for the sake of playing partisan politics. In my opinion, there is a very good chance that the “war in Iraq” would be over by now if it were not for the continual interference and harassment from American fifth columnists (“Fifth Columnists Strike Again”)who hold out hope to an enemy that cannot win on the battlefield. They continue to sell their souls to our enemies.
Before the end of World War II, similar politics reared its ugly head. However, America was fortunate enough then to have a hero who chose to place the needs of his nation ahead of partisan politics and the political power it may have given him. I have written of Thomas E. Dewey before, and I still commend him to my readers as a true American hero. It would be encouraging to see similar heroism today.
Today is December 7, 2007, sixty-six years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. May Americans never forget that day in history, and may we always remember with honor those who responded to the call to keep our great nation free from the deadly tyrants who sought to subjugate the whole world. God Bless America!
(Photo: The USS Arizona succumbs to the lethal Japanese bombers during the Pearl Harbor surprise attack)
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Golden Compass Rhetoric
As the day has drawn nearer for the release of “The Golden Compass,” I watched the film’s ads for clues confirming or rejecting the warnings about it. I have found confirmation. One ad featured an authority figure in the film declaring something to be “heresy.” Combined with other observations already made about the movie and novels, I believe this to be an indication that the “evil” in this film will be religious authority and the “good” will be those opposing the religious oppression.
Dare I draw such a conclusion from so little evidence? Might I not be wrong? I might be; however, as “V for Vendetta” was being released, I noticed the apparent religious (specifically Christian) symbols displayed in the previews and commented to my son that my belief was that religion would be portrayed negatively in the movie. He disagreed with me until he saw the movie; afterwards, he admitted that I was right.
Being well aware of world history, I know that oppression has been the result of and/or perpetuated by religious authority throughout some periods. Christianity has not been exempt from being so abused. Subsequently, I am not entirely opposed to literature and entertainment that tell of the “little guys” struggling against the oppression of even so-called “Christian” religious authority.
What disturbs me about the way it is being done these days is the deceitful manner of those telling the tales. In every instance I have noticed lately, they ignore completely the historical context in which real people have struggled. They like to create and extend an exaggeration that all Christian moral and ethical viewpoints are oppressive. They likewise ignore the historical reality that those opposing oppression from Christian religious authorities did not seek to obliterate Christian faith. Instead, they sought to reform it and return it to its proper biblical application. This is a significant distinction between reality and the fiction being paraded as forms of reality.
A reason that Philip Pullman, author of the trilogy of children’s books that include “The Golden Compass,” can pull off this charade is that our culture no longer takes the time to investigate historical context anymore. As a result, those who seek to create moral equivalency between religions, religious oppression, and the truth of the Christian faith are able to do so with impunity because of their audience’s lack of knowledge and their deceitful tactics.
As the rhetoric concerning “The Golden Compass” has heated up, more light has been shed on the backgrounds of both the movie and the novels. The more the light shines, the more the deceitful tactics are illuminated. A number of reviewers have taken Pullman to task for obscuring his true intent in the first book or two so as to draw young readers into his atheistic reasoning without their awareness. Janie Cheaney writes, “This writer has read Pullman’s trilogy and has written about it for WORLD (Jan. 27, 2001). The first two installments throw some anti-religious darts, but the third crosses from literature to propaganda and leaves no doubt that the author had God in his sights all along.” (Janie B. Cheaney, “Broken Compass,” WORLD, December 8, 2007, p. 11)
Perhaps even more alarming are the film director’s stated purpose: “"Whereas The Golden Compass had to be introduced to the public carefully, the religious themes in the second and third books can't be minimized without destroying the spirit of these books. ... I will not be involved with any 'watering down' of books two and three, since what I have been working towards the whole time in the first film is to be able to deliver on the second and third films." —The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz, on his plans for preserving the strong anti-Christian messages found in the second and third installments of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, should they make it to the big screen. (PluggedIn online) Read more of his comments here.
I will conclude this post with a couple more links to reviews and comments about the movie. Not all are negative. It is my intent to leave the reader with information to make his/her own judgment. As for me, I am not going to support the errors of either the movie or the trilogy with my personal resources.
And, if anyone finds me in error concerning my observations and conclusions, I welcome any comments demonstrating my mistakes.
“Sympathy for the Devil” (a discussion of Pullman’s works & how he creates a rip-off of the C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series)
“Nicole Kidman's 'Compass' Points to Success” (a review of the movie by Roger Friedman of FOX news)
Dare I draw such a conclusion from so little evidence? Might I not be wrong? I might be; however, as “V for Vendetta” was being released, I noticed the apparent religious (specifically Christian) symbols displayed in the previews and commented to my son that my belief was that religion would be portrayed negatively in the movie. He disagreed with me until he saw the movie; afterwards, he admitted that I was right.
Being well aware of world history, I know that oppression has been the result of and/or perpetuated by religious authority throughout some periods. Christianity has not been exempt from being so abused. Subsequently, I am not entirely opposed to literature and entertainment that tell of the “little guys” struggling against the oppression of even so-called “Christian” religious authority.
What disturbs me about the way it is being done these days is the deceitful manner of those telling the tales. In every instance I have noticed lately, they ignore completely the historical context in which real people have struggled. They like to create and extend an exaggeration that all Christian moral and ethical viewpoints are oppressive. They likewise ignore the historical reality that those opposing oppression from Christian religious authorities did not seek to obliterate Christian faith. Instead, they sought to reform it and return it to its proper biblical application. This is a significant distinction between reality and the fiction being paraded as forms of reality.
A reason that Philip Pullman, author of the trilogy of children’s books that include “The Golden Compass,” can pull off this charade is that our culture no longer takes the time to investigate historical context anymore. As a result, those who seek to create moral equivalency between religions, religious oppression, and the truth of the Christian faith are able to do so with impunity because of their audience’s lack of knowledge and their deceitful tactics.
As the rhetoric concerning “The Golden Compass” has heated up, more light has been shed on the backgrounds of both the movie and the novels. The more the light shines, the more the deceitful tactics are illuminated. A number of reviewers have taken Pullman to task for obscuring his true intent in the first book or two so as to draw young readers into his atheistic reasoning without their awareness. Janie Cheaney writes, “This writer has read Pullman’s trilogy and has written about it for WORLD (Jan. 27, 2001). The first two installments throw some anti-religious darts, but the third crosses from literature to propaganda and leaves no doubt that the author had God in his sights all along.” (Janie B. Cheaney, “Broken Compass,” WORLD, December 8, 2007, p. 11)
Perhaps even more alarming are the film director’s stated purpose: “"Whereas The Golden Compass had to be introduced to the public carefully, the religious themes in the second and third books can't be minimized without destroying the spirit of these books. ... I will not be involved with any 'watering down' of books two and three, since what I have been working towards the whole time in the first film is to be able to deliver on the second and third films." —The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz, on his plans for preserving the strong anti-Christian messages found in the second and third installments of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, should they make it to the big screen. (PluggedIn online) Read more of his comments here.
I will conclude this post with a couple more links to reviews and comments about the movie. Not all are negative. It is my intent to leave the reader with information to make his/her own judgment. As for me, I am not going to support the errors of either the movie or the trilogy with my personal resources.
And, if anyone finds me in error concerning my observations and conclusions, I welcome any comments demonstrating my mistakes.
“Sympathy for the Devil” (a discussion of Pullman’s works & how he creates a rip-off of the C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series)
“Nicole Kidman's 'Compass' Points to Success” (a review of the movie by Roger Friedman of FOX news)
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Hugo Chavez
What is it with this guy? What have we done to him?
“CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez urged supporters to approve constitutional changes that he said could keep him in power for life and threatened to cut off oil exports to the United States if it tries to meddle in Sunday's vote. (FOX news)”
“CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez urged supporters to approve constitutional changes that he said could keep him in power for life and threatened to cut off oil exports to the United States if it tries to meddle in Sunday's vote. (FOX news)”
“Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, facing a close vote in a referendum tomorrow to change the constitution, stepped up attacks against the U.S., Spanish banks and the media in an offensive aimed at winning over voters. Chavez told tens of thousands of supporters in Caracas he is prepared to stay in power until 2050 if voters pass his proposal, which includes eliminating presidential term limits. He vowed to seize Spanish banks and expel journalists from the country to defend his goal of turning Venezuela into a socialist state.”
Oh, I get it. He’s another two-bit thug tyrant who needs someone else to put the blame on for all the trouble and misery he brings his people.
I wonder if this means that New England won’t get their free heating oil from Venezuelan Citgo this year. Oh well.
Oh, I get it. He’s another two-bit thug tyrant who needs someone else to put the blame on for all the trouble and misery he brings his people.
I wonder if this means that New England won’t get their free heating oil from Venezuelan Citgo this year. Oh well.
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