Lies about Our Lord repulse Christians

By Monica Perry

It would upset me to hear falsehoods promoted about someone I love. Even if I could easily refute the accusations, hearing the lies would still be painful to me. I would not consider them entertainment.

For the same reason, I was not remotely interested in reading the book or viewing the movie of The Da Vinci Code. Lies about my Lord repulse me. As a friend put it, reading a book about Christ having an affair with Mary Magdalene would be about as entertaining as reading about her husband being unfaithful. Both ideas are repulsive.

It may be a good idea for some poor soul out there to become familiar with the book in order to refute the silly accusations, but I would not volunteer for such a task.

When my teenage daughter learned that The Golden Compass was the first movie in a series that culminates in the "heroes" killing God, I was gratified to discover that her sentiments were similar to mine. She didn't like the idea that someone would promote falsehood about God and His Church. Good special effects or not, she wasn't interested in seeing the movie because she was indignant. It seems that I have done something right. My daughter loves the Church.

There has been an aspect of literature which has been ignored in the discussion of The Golden Compass. Imaginative literature does not only present ideas for our intellects to examine. Literature (particularly that which is well written) moves us emotionally. It attempts to move our wills to love certain things and hate certain other things.

Our kids do not come to us pre-formed. (Sometimes I wish I could have opted for that version.) It is our duty as parents to form them emotionally as well as intellectually. Not only do we want them to know what is good, true and beautiful, but we want them to love these things.

One of the ways we can do this is to expose them to imaginative literature and movies the underlying purpose of which is in line with our beliefs. If imaginative literature invites them to emotionally connect with the characters in the story, we want our yet-to-be-formed children to connect with characters who are pursuing what is truly good and avoiding what is truly evil.

It would concern us, for example, if the evil the characters were trying to avoid was something called the "Magisterium." It would clash with the idea we should be planting in our children, namely that the "magisterium" is a manifestation of the promise God made to us that He would not leave us orphaned.

Hollywood is generally not very helpful in supplying Catholic parents with material suited to our purposes. If it was, our job would be considerably easier.

Notable exceptions to Hollywood's almost invariably abysmal fare were two recent films: Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. Though we do not often visit the theatre (it's expensive for a family of eight) I had no problem springing for these movies. They helped me to form accurate ideas in my children of things such as courage, duty, sacrifice, and love.

Artistically well done, these movies also inspired my children to love these great goods. Narnia, in particular, encouraged love for Christ and what He accomplished for them. I was very grateful for the help.

On the contrary, it seems that The Golden Compass would be more of a hindrance than a help in forming young children. Though most of the anti-Catholic references have been removed, there still remains the very objectionable reference to the "Magisterium."

Also, how many children insufficiently formed in their faith will be adversely affected when the attraction of the movie leads them to read Philip Pullman's books, the purpose of which (as clearly stated by the author) is to attack the very faith we parents are trying so hard to pass on to our children?

Watching the movie or reading Philip Pulman's books is, of course, a different matter, once children are sufficiently formed in their faith, but caution should be exercised in this regard. The point at which apologetics can begin may be different with every child. A good sign that a child would not be adversely affected by the movie might be that he or she reacts with indignation when their faith is attacked in any way.

We would then know that their hearts would not easily be led astray: "Where your heart is, there also is your treasure." At that point, however, it is unlikely that the child would have any desire to see the film.