In an interview with Third Way, a Christian newspaper in United Kingdom, Pullman said of the third book in his trilogy: "Of course, I don't say, 'There is no God.'
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"My point is that religion is at its best – it does most good – when it is farthest away from political power, and that when it gets hold of the power to send armies to war or to condemn people to death, or to rule every aspect of our lives, it rapidly goes bad," said Pullman in response to a similar question.Įven though the British author has taken a more palatable approach in marketing his books as the movie date draws near, comments made in past interviews have been more indicative of his position.
"As for the atheism, it doesn't matter to me whether people believe in God or not, so I'm not promoting anything of that sort," he said in an article on the "Today" show's website. Pullman, a self-described atheist, gave a more direct answer to concerns surrounding the anti-Church and anti-religion themes in his book while responding to a question sent in by a reader in Al's Book Club.Īsked whether there is "an underlying message for atheism" in his book, Pullman maintained that he was only "telling a story." "How pitiful it is to see a grown man slip kids his poisonous pill and then pretend he trusts the reader." "We at the Catholic League never had to run from our work," added Donahue. The Catholic League president said that he didn't believe the organization's booklet was "undemocratic" but was "happy to have ripped the mask off his face." Lewis, the Christian author of Chronicles of Narnia, would describe his books as the "Devil's work." "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief," said Pullman in an article by The Washington Post, adding that C.S.
If he had any courage, he'd defend his work, but instead he continues to do what he does best – practice deceit."ĭonahue also doubted Pullman's claims that the he just intends readers to get a "good experience of a good story," pointing to a comment made several years ago by the writer. "That is why he tries to sneak his atheism in back-door to kids. "The last thing Pullman trusts is the people," Donohue said in a statement Thursday. So I trust the reader."īut Pullman's answer did little to convince Catholic League president Bill Donohue who said he was appalled that the author would continue his charade instead of directly answering to the accusations. I prefer to trust what I call the democracy of reading – when everybody has the right to form their own opinion and read what they like and come to their own conclusion about it.
"I don't think that's democratic," he continued. They know better than we do what the book means or what this means and how we should read it and whether we should read it or not," said Pullman. "Well, you know, I always mistrust people who tell us how we should understand something. In his appearance on the "Today" show Thursday, Pullman implicitly denied that his work is selling "atheism for kids" when "Today" host Al Roker brought up the accusations made by the Catholic League. The Catholic watchdog has even published a brochure, entitled "The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked," as part of a PR campaign aimed to expose atheist elements of the series. 7 release, is based on the first book from Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials, in which a young girl's quest to uncover the reason behind her friend's disappearance concludes with the killing of a character named God – who turns out to be a phony.Ĭhristian groups such as the Catholic League have criticized the movie and charged the intentional removal of anti-religious themes as a ploy to encourage kids to read Pullman's pro-atheism books. British author Phillip Pullman has publicly denied allegations that his work, including The Golden Compass which is being adapted onto the big screen, is anti-Catholic and promotes atheism.