It's Pearl Harbor Day! But today America faces an even graver threat: The Golden Compass

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As you may recall, I don't get to the movies much. Alas.

That's a pretty serious alas too because I love movies and I would love nothing more than to become a regular theater-traipser. But alas.

Simple lack of funds and times and babysitters is the primary reason we won't be seeing The Golden Compass, even though I made sure to read the book before today.

And unlike Asmond, my stake president hasn't joined in with the anti-Compass hysteria flitting through the Christian realm this month.

I haven't followed the controversy that closely, most controversy being exceeding dull--erratic brains latching onto airy claims--but I did read the article in the new EW and I have to say, once again, I'm sure glad to be a Mormon.

I guess I finally understand why mainstream Christians hate us so much. Consider this line from the EW article:

And it is partly the story a church operative named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), who has embarked on a perverse plan to purge mankind of its free spirit, the same one that inspired Adam and Eve to get on God's bad side by chomping on the apple.

Lucky Mormons! We're not threatened by this at all! First, we don't believe Adam and eve got on "God's bad side"--and as you read the article, many of the so-called Christianity-threatening evil doctrines of the movie are things whose threateningness would baffle any Mormon. Like seeing an oppressive regime called "the Church" as something whose destruction would accompany the destruction of God . . . or whatever.

The allegedly incendiary quotations from each of the books included with the print version of the article are similarly mysterious. Anyone would find these threatening?

G.P. Taylor, a best-selling Christian fantasy novelist, agrees: "My God is big enough to defend himself against Philip Pullman. As a Christian, I think his story brings up great points of debate."

Well said. I don't know why more Christians don't feel the same. And I'm totally confused about why all Mormons don't feel that way.

I'm reading Henry Eyring's The Faith of a Scientist right now and his main theme is the very true this:

As a Latter-day Saint . . . I am obliged to accept only the truth. I simply have to investigate . . . . As a Latter-day Saint, my problem is as simple as that.

Exactly. See, that was Joseph Smith's great innovations: that the Gospel includes All Truth. If it is true, we believe it. Simple as that.

Take evolution. The Church was careful from the very beginning to avoid expressing an opinion on evolution. Figure it out for yourself. Individual members at all levels had sometimes lusty conversations on the topic, but the Church itself? Figure out what the truth is and decide. That is all.

That's what Mormonism's all about: Truth.

We don't have to make up our minds before we see a movie. We don't have to "know" what, oh, dark matter is before science arrives at a conclusion. We just have to figure out what the truth is, and then believe that.

If that makes the kneejerks uncomfortable, so be it. But my faith is not so tenuous as to be afraid of new information. Especially fictional information.

And that movie looks like it's going to be really good.

Or at least 63% good.....

(....+ 0% threatening = ..... just fine, thank you very much)