“It Tells the Truth…
…as for how to read it, you’ll have to learn by yourself.”
As brought to my attention by my boss, an article about the Calgary Catholic board banning the Golden Compass books from their schools for atheistic content kind of annoyed me. I just couldn’t believe it. Not that the board wasn’t supporting the books ― it’s no secret that the author is an atheist outspoken enough to be dubbed “the most dangerous author in Britain”. I couldn’t believe that the Board would revert to something as archaic as a book ban. I know why they did it, but in my opinion, they’re going about it completely wrong.
First of all, the second you ban something from the eyes of school-aged children, they want to see it, no matter what. I consider myself a rule-follower and I was a good and obedient kid in school. But even for me, in the case of a book or movie or something I felt was harmless, when an authority figure explicitly said “do not do this”, it made me want to. Just out of curiosity more than anything. And that was me, the good kid. Other kids are just looking for ways to rebel. Thus, banning a book (of all things) is completely counterproductive.
Material affects people in different ways. I read Harry Potter, I liked the story and the concept. Do I worship it? No, do I place it before God? No. It’s just a story and it involves wizardry. I’m not a weaker Christian for reading it. If my school would have banned the book while the installments were still coming out, would that have stopped me? Um, no, not at all. Because I knew that it wouldn’t consume my life. I read Harry Potter, but I read it with the knowledge that my religion was against certain aspects of it. And I think that’s important to remember. We can read or study things we don’t agree with without damaging our faith. If a faith in God needed to be protected by remaining ignorant, then that would be a faith worth renouncing. But that’s not how it is. If everything we believe is true, then belief in God can withstand anything.
So, some can read and study things without being fundamentally changed by them. Not all people are the same. For some others, for example, Harry Potter has become their life. I saw a story on the news a few months ago about two sisters who have collected so much Harry Potter merchandise, their house almost can’t fit it all. I see that as unhealthy, not just as an obsession but as a rather deplorable waste of money. I guess you could make the argument that “waste of money” is a subjective term, but still, I shudder to think about how much money they spent on all that stuff. I still haven’t heard any report of someone becoming a witch after reading the series, but let’s be honest, in this crazy world, it probably has happened. In cases like that, where an obsession has spun out of control (which is assumedly what the Board is hoping to avoid), would a ban on this material have helped? I must say, I seriously doubt it. The point is, there are tons of ways kids can get hold of a book like this despite a school ban. Public library, eBook, unsuspecting grandparent’s Christmas present. All a school-wide ban does is increase the chances that a child is reading the book alone and without learned input from an adult. Like I said… counterproductive.
Schools exist for education. Religious schools have the advantage of teaching material from a Godly perspective. And that’s an advantage I think is thrown away sometimes. To ban a book, to say “don’t read this, it’s dangerous to your faith” is basically saying to kids that God has to be protected by us, and not the other way around. I wouldn’t be surprised if the kids interpreted bans like this to mean, “we believe in God, and this book contains something we don’t want you to know, so stay away from it”. I agree that children are impressionable. I agree that there are things they should be protected from and warned against, like smoking and lying. But trying to shelter them from opinions is a terrible thing to do, for two main reasons that I can see.
One, if you isolate a child and refuse to only talk about one worldview, it’s in danger of falling to pieces in the future when the child grows up and is inevitably exposed to all other worldviews. In a manner of speaking, the child doesn’t “know his enemy”. This is why I think The Golden Compass should not be banned. I think it should be read in class and discussed. I think it should be exposed for what it is. The author wasn’t being sly or covert in his intentions. He’s quoted as saying, “I wanted to undermine the basis of Christianity.” I think it’s fair to tell the kids that there are many in this world just waiting to tear down their faith. Then I think it’s fair to give the kids the tools and words and facts and courage to fight them off.
Two, Christianity was intended to be a free choice. For everyone. Parents can’t choose a religion for their kids; all they can do is guide them. If a child (or adult, for that matter) doesn’t want to believe in God or be a Christian, forcing him into it will push him the other way. I’ve seen it happen, and the result is very, very ugly. Often it involves not only a mind made up about religion being nothing more than a method of control, but great divides in families, too. When in doubt, we should look at what God did. He gave Adam and Eve a choice. He put the forbidden tree where it was completely available to them. He told them, “Hey, don’t eat from this.” It was clear. God gave them a choice knowing full well that they would disobey Him. He could have banned the tree. He could have forced them to obey by giving no alternative, but He didn’t. So we have to give children the chance to disobey, scary as it sounds. Isn’t it true for everything that people put much more passion into things if it’s their idea too? Someone forced into belief won’t strive for excellence in his faith. But someone who has decided for himself to follow God might stop at nothing. It all comes down to what kind of Christians we want to be turning out.
