Discussion:
The Golden Compass - to boycott or not to boycott?
(too old to reply)
Steve Hayes
2007-12-07 03:45:02 UTC
Permalink
The film "The Golden Compass", based on Philip Pullman's novel "Northern
Lights", which is to be released on 7 December, has created a furore before
most people have seen it.

Some Christian groups, on learning of the author's atheist views, have been
calling for a boycott of the film.

T think the call for a boycott is silly, for reasons I've explained more fully
on my blog at:

http://tinyurl.com/3y8skp

Apart from anything else, there have been reports that sales of Pullman's
books have increased by 500% since the fuss began.

The first volume of the "His dark materials" trilogy was released in 1995
(about the same time as the first Harry Potter book, which far outsold it),
and the third volume, "The amber spyglass" was released in 2000. Sales
increased dramatically when people began to talk of boycotting the film. As
one movie maker once said, there's no such thing as bad publicity.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
B.G. Kent
2007-12-09 23:47:15 UTC
Permalink
Post by Steve Hayes
The film "The Golden Compass", based on Philip Pullman's novel "Northern
Lights",
**snip
Post by Steve Hayes
Some Christian groups, on learning of the author's atheist views, have been
calling for a boycott of the film.
B - Yup and now they've just made it more mysterious and interesting to
others who might not even have heard of the movie. I don't understand the
call for a boycott...atheists get bombarded by others faiths...why can't
they put out a story for them? Looks like a good movie anyway...I'll be
going.

Bren
b***@aol.com
2007-12-17 03:08:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by Steve Hayes
The film "The Golden Compass", based on Philip Pullman's novel "Northern
Lights", which is to be released on 7 December, has created a furore before
most people have seen it.
.
Post by Steve Hayes
Some Christian groups, on learning of the author's atheist views, have been
calling for a boycott of the film.
.
Post by Steve Hayes
T think the call for a boycott is silly, for reasons I've explained more fully
.
Post by Steve Hayes
http://tinyurl.com/3y8skp
.
Post by Steve Hayes
Apart from anything else, there have been reports that sales of Pullman's
books have increased by 500% since the fuss began.
That's pretty much to be expected anytime a book is made into an 180
million dollar film.

However, when an 180 million dollar film has an opening weekend of 26
million, that is a very unsuccessful film.
B.G. Kent
2007-12-18 00:11:00 UTC
Permalink
On Mon, 17 Dec 2007, ***@aol.com wrote:

...
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by Steve Hayes
Some Christian groups, on learning of the author's atheist views, have been
calling for a boycott of the film.
.
Post by Steve Hayes
T think the call for a boycott is silly, for reasons I've explained more fully
...
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by Steve Hayes
Apart from anything else, there have been reports that sales of Pullman's
books have increased by 500% since the fuss began.
That's pretty much to be expected anytime a book is made into an 180
million dollar film.
However, when an 180 million dollar film has an opening weekend of 26
million, that is a very unsuccessful film.
B - ah but it will probably do hand over fist when it comes to DVD too. I
think the boycott is silly because many so called Christians have for
eons..put down other faiths as evil or heretical and felt very "righteous"
about it but one film which hints at but doesn't outright say anything
against Christianity as a whole...makes them get all cranky? geeze take a
chill pill guys!!

what's good for the goose.... etc.

Bren
b***@aol.com
2007-12-19 04:38:34 UTC
Permalink
...
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by Steve Hayes
Some Christian groups, on learning of the author's atheist views, have been
calling for a boycott of the film.
.
Post by Steve Hayes
T think the call for a boycott is silly, for reasons I've explained more fully
...
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by Steve Hayes
Apart from anything else, there have been reports that sales of Pullman's
books have increased by 500% since the fuss began.
That's pretty much to be expected anytime a book is made into an 180
million dollar film.
However, when an 180 million dollar film has an opening weekend of 26
million, that is a very unsuccessful film.
B - ah but it will probably do hand over fist when it comes to DVD too.>
Why? New Line lost a fortune on this film - why would they pump more
money into advertising the DVD?
I think the boycott is silly because many so called Christians have for
eons..put down other faiths as evil or heretical and felt very "righteous"
about it>
.
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today. Who would you rather be, a Muslim in London, or an Atheist in
Iran?
.
but one film which hints at but doesn't outright say anything
against Christianity as a whole...makes them get all cranky?>
.
Actually, you're the one who seems to be upset that the Atheist film
was a dismal failure..
what's good for the goose.... etc.
.
Did you know that the Inquisition killed up to five thousand people -
while the Atheisst butchered about 100,000,000? Why not have a
pleasant conversation about the millions and millions of souls the
Communists killed? Or is what's good for the goose not good for the
gander after all?
B.G. Kent
2007-12-20 03:15:37 UTC
Permalink
On Wed, 19 Dec 2007, ***@aol.com wrote:

**snip
Post by b***@aol.com
B - ah but it will probably do hand over fist when it comes to DVD too.>
Why? New Line lost a fortune on this film - why would they pump more
money into advertising the DVD?
B - I never said advertising..I said when it comes to DVD. You don't NEED
to advertise for a DVD and even if they did...they would be doing it to
recoup any loss.
Post by b***@aol.com
I think the boycott is silly because many so called Christians have for
eons..put down other faiths as evil or heretical and felt very "righteous"
about it>
.
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today. Who would you rather be, a Muslim in London, or an Atheist in
Iran?
B - A pagan or Christian in North America personally...which is what I am.
I don't agree about Christianity being the most embracing though...I seen
so called Christians in the American South East be very anti-Jew...very
Anti-Pagan....whereas I've seen Pagans be very embracing of all
faiths.
Post by b***@aol.com
but one film which hints at but doesn't outright say anything
against Christianity as a whole...makes them get all cranky?>
.
Actually, you're the one who seems to be upset that the Atheist film
was a dismal failure..
B - where do I say I am upset? I don't see it as an atheist film..I see it
as a film that talks about not letting your brains be sucked out of you by
some huge group intent on force.
Post by b***@aol.com
what's good for the goose.... etc.
.
Did you know that the Inquisition killed up to five thousand people -
while the Atheisst butchered about 100,000,000? Why not have a
pleasant conversation about the millions and millions of souls the
Communists killed? Or is what's good for the goose not good for the
gander after all?
B - Please site your sources. Please make sure they are true sources and
not propoganda. No one can kill a soul. I say if you are going to be
strong in your faith..that a little criticism or allusion to...is not
going to hurt you.

Blessings
Bren

--

["... souls died" is standard English idiom for people dying. It's not common
in modern American English, I guess. --clh]
Matthew Johnson
2007-12-20 03:15:38 UTC
Permalink
[snip]
Post by b***@aol.com
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today.
Really? And where, pray tell, did you _find_ one of these "Christian
nations"? Surely not France, where Catholic values have little impact
on daily life of the commaon man, and even less on law anc
culture. Surely not the US, where Masonic ideology is more dominant
the Christian, with Masonic and pseudo-Masonic symbols on our coins
and paper money.

Really, I don't think most people in this NG have ever even _been_ to
a "Christian nation". I have, and I can tell you that they are
radically different from the secular nations of America and Western
Europe.

[snip]
--
-----------------------------
Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
Quidquid boni habet tribuat illi a quo factus est
(Sanctus Aurelius Augustinus, Ser. 96)
mcv
2007-12-20 03:15:39 UTC
Permalink
Post by b***@aol.com
.
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today. Who would you rather be, a Muslim in London, or an Atheist in
Iran?
In much of the Middle East, Muslims and Christians have lived in peace.
It's actually only very recently that Christians in that area are
feeling so threatened that they want to leave the country.

When Christians conquered Spain in the middle ages, Jews living there
fled to North Africa and Turkey, not to Europe. I fear the Muslims
may have learned their intolerance from us.


mcv.
--
Science is not the be-all and end-all of human existence. It's a tool.
A very powerful tool, but not the only tool. And if only that which
could be verified scientifically was considered real, then nearly all
of human experience would be not-real. -- Zachriel
steveo
2007-12-21 02:48:00 UTC
Permalink
Post by Matthew Johnson
[snip]
Post by b***@aol.com
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today.
Really? And where, pray tell, did you _find_ one of these "Christian
nations"? Surely not France, where Catholic values have little impact
on daily life of the commaon man, and even less on law anc
culture. Surely not the US, where Masonic ideology is more dominant
the Christian, with Masonic and pseudo-Masonic symbols on our coins
and paper money.
Really, I don't think most people in this NG have ever even _been_ to
a "Christian nation". I have, and I can tell you that they are
radically different from the secular nations of America and Western
Europe.
What nation(s) would you say is a "Christian nation"? What qualifies it as
such? I assume that you have something besides the Vatican in mind.

steveo
b***@aol.com
2007-12-21 02:48:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
B - ah but it will probably do hand over fist when it comes to DVD too.>
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
Why? New Line lost a fortune on this film - why would they pump more
money into advertising the DVD?
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - I never said advertising..I said when it comes to DVD. You don't NEED
to advertise for a DVD>
.
Yes, you do. Spider-Man 3 is being advertised around the clock over
here.
Post by B.G. Kent
and even if they did...they would be doing it to
recoup any loss.>
.
The 180 million dollar film grossed 9 million in its second weekend -
a disastrous 65% drop from a "disappointing" opening. People have lost
their jobs over that film. "Compass" is not going to be a film which
New Line will want to invest a lot more money.
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today. Who would you rather be, a Muslim in London, or an Atheist in
Iran?
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - A pagan or Christian in North America personally...>
.
Actually, "B" would have been "an Atheist in Iran." I see that you
chose "C" - the cheap dodge to avoid the question.
Post by B.G. Kent
...which is what I am.>
.
Yeah, right.
.
Post by B.G. Kent
I don't agree about Christianity being the most embracing though...I seen
so called Christians in the American South East be very anti-Jew...>
.
Seen any forced labor camps for Jews in the American South East? Any
beheadings?
Post by B.G. Kent
very Anti-Pagan....whereas I've seen Pagans be very embracing of all
faiths.
.
I flirted with Paganism a decade ago. I've found Pagans to be closed
minded, contemptuous about other religions.
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
Actually, you're the one who seems to be upset that the Atheist film
was a dismal failure..
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - where do I say I am upset?>
.
I said you seem upset, and you do.
Post by B.G. Kent
I don't see it as an atheist film.
.
Then you don't see the painfully obvious.
.
Post by B.G. Kent
as a film that talks about not letting your brains be sucked out of you by
some huge group intent on force.
.
And that group happens to be the Christians. The author of the book
the film is based on is very clear about that point. He hasn't
bothered to hide it.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
what's good for the goose.... etc.
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
Did you know that the Inquisition killed up to five thousand people -
while the Atheisst butchered about 100,000,000? Why not have a
pleasant conversation about the millions and millions of souls the
Communists killed? Or is what's good for the goose not good for the
gander after all?
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - Please site your sources. Please make sure they are true sources and
not propoganda.
.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Book-Communism-Crimes-Repression/dp/0674076087/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198143875&sr=1-1
.
No one can kill a soul.>
.
The Atheists certainly tried.
Post by B.G. Kent
I say if you are going to be
strong in your faith..that a little criticism or allusion to...is not
going to hurt you.
.
Ditto.
Matthew Johnson
2007-12-21 02:48:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by mcv
Post by b***@aol.com
.
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today. Who would you rather be, a Muslim in London, or an Atheist in
Iran?
In much of the Middle East, Muslims and Christians have lived in peace.
'Peace', yes. But it was sort of like the 'peace' between whites and blacks in
the Southern States of the US under Jim Crow. As long as Christians meekly
accepted their _clearly_ second-citizen status, they were not under much threat
from Muslims. But it was still true that Muslims could and did murder Christians
with no fear of prosecution.

An even more important difference is that _outside_ the Middle East, in, for
example, the Balkans, Southern Russia and Ukraine, the Muslim persecution of
Christians was much more active and brutal.

So, for example, the Turks often stole children from Christian homes and brought
them up as Muslims, as 'Janissaries'. They were, of course forcibly converted.
If a child stolen from such a home refused to convert, he was executed.
Post by mcv
It's actually only very recently that Christians in that area are
feeling so threatened that they want to leave the country.
Well, it wasn't so recent in the Balkans. It's been going on since 1380 or so.
Post by mcv
When Christians conquered Spain in the middle ages, Jews living there
fled to North Africa and Turkey, not to Europe.
And many of them regretted it, finding out that 'tolerance' depended on the
individual ruler. Some were tolerant, others were not.
Post by mcv
I fear the Muslims
may have learned their intolerance from us.
Then you haven't read the Koran. It reeks of intolerance.
Post by mcv
mcv.
--
-----------------------------
Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
Quidquid boni habet tribuat illi a quo factus est
(Sanctus Aurelius Augustinus, Ser. 96)
Matthew Johnson
2007-12-24 01:49:23 UTC
Permalink
In article <APFaj.36999$***@trnddc04>, steveo says...
[snip]
Post by steveo
Post by Matthew Johnson
Really, I don't think most people in this NG have ever even _been_ to
a "Christian nation". I have, and I can tell you that they are
radically different from the secular nations of America and Western
Europe.
What nation(s) would you say is a "Christian nation"? What qualifies it as
such? I assume that you have something besides the Vatican in mind.
You are right. It is The Republic of Georgia I have in mind. As an example of
what makes it so Christian, even during the worst of the Shevardnadze years,
when the traffic police shook down motorists with such impunity, they would
never even pull over a priest or monk.

As another example, when Saakashvili, when I was having trouble getting my
return ticket because of a snafu in the ticket office, after all the problems
were straightened out, the entire office staff asked my host, the priest-monk,
for his blessing.

Georgian life is full of things like this that mark the people as pious
Christians, even those who are lax (to put it mildly) in church attendance.
--
-----------------------------
Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
Quidquid boni habet tribuat illi a quo factus est
(Sanctus Aurelius Augustinus, Ser. 96)
B.G. Kent
2007-12-24 01:49:27 UTC
Permalink
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
B - ah but it will probably do hand over fist when it comes to DVD too.>
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
Why? New Line lost a fortune on this film - why would they pump more
money into advertising the DVD?
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - I never said advertising..I said when it comes to DVD. You don't NEED
to advertise for a DVD>
.
Yes, you do. Spider-Man 3 is being advertised around the clock over
here.
B - doesn't mean it has to be...it just is. Most people know about the
movie once it's been out.
Post by b***@aol.com
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
And yet, Christian nations are the most embracing of other religions
today. Who would you rather be, a Muslim in London, or an Atheist in
Iran?
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - A pagan or Christian in North America personally...>
.
Actually, "B" would have been "an Atheist in Iran." I see that you
chose "C" - the cheap dodge to avoid the question.
B - er no. I chose the one that I would be.
Also if Christianity is the most accepting of other faiths then why are
they always trying to get people to change to theirs?
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by B.G. Kent
...which is what I am.>
.
Yeah, right.
.
B - I wish you would've left what I was right about..now I'll never know!
heh.


B - wow..you're pretty snotty for someone who doesn't know me. Why the
attitude friend?
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by B.G. Kent
very Anti-Pagan....whereas I've seen Pagans be very embracing of all
faiths.
.
I flirted with Paganism a decade ago. I've found Pagans to be closed
minded, contemptuous about other religions.
B - LOL. Probably because you "flirted with it". I've never seen it and
have been one for 46 years. I see some people who go off on fundies...but
that is more because of the intolerance of said fundies.
Post by b***@aol.com
.
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
Actually, you're the one who seems to be upset that the Atheist film
was a dismal failure..
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - where do I say I am upset?>
.
I said you seem upset, and you do.
B - Perhaps to you.
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by B.G. Kent
I don't see it as an atheist film.
.
Then you don't see the painfully obvious.
.
B - LOL.
You can find teeth on your favourite chicken if you are told to look for
them.

***snip
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by B.G. Kent
as a film that talks about not letting your brains be sucked out of you by
some huge group intent on force.
.
And that group happens to be the Christians. The author of the book
the film is based on is very clear about that point. He hasn't
bothered to hide it.
B - You mean Christians want to suck your brains out by force? now I
wouldn't personally say that..but if you want to then...

**snip
Post by b***@aol.com
Post by B.G. Kent
Post by b***@aol.com
pleasant conversation about the millions and millions of souls the
Communists killed? Or is what's good for the goose not good for the
gander after all?
.
Post by B.G. Kent
B - Please site your sources. Please make sure they are true sources and
not propoganda.
.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Book-Communism-Crimes-Repression/dp/0674076087/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198143875&sr=1-1
B - No TRUE sources and not propoganda.
Post by b***@aol.com
.
No one can kill a soul.>
.
The Atheists certainly tried.
Post by B.G. Kent
I say if you are going to be
strong in your faith..that a little criticism or allusion to...is not
going to hurt you.
.
Ditto.
Good we agree then.

Bren

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