HEY VATICAN TAKE THIS

I was raised as a Roman Catholic so I write this knowing that my God is fully behind me when I say the Vatican is sounding more and more like idiot villagers who run through the night with torches screaming " burn the books! burn the film!" My allegiance lies with my belief in the Lord and not man, and the Vatican consists of men, not gods.

I have just read a news article that says that the film, The Golden Compass, is full of no hope, of Godlessness, and that the individuals in the film are the only hope against the evil. Excuse me but I could probably name a few hundred movies in which God did not intervene or was even asked through prayer to intervene against whatever protagonist was causing grief.

I have not read the books, but I did see the movie. The brain I was using tells me that since I heard no complaints till the film came out, the problem lies with the film according to the Vatican.

To quote myself from a review I have just done about the movie, I say there is no religious aspect to this film, any more than Snap, Crackle, and Pop, resemble the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a pure fantasy trilogy, and a very enjoyable one at that.

The Vatican further complains that the sidekicks of the humans in the story are poor trapped souls called demons . Yes they are called demons, but I really liked the parts they played in the story. To have a linked companion so that you are never alone and always have someone to talk to would be a wonderful thing and is, in the movie.

The Vatican never, that I knew of had a problem with teaching that we all have guardian angels that are always with us, but never talk to us, and rarely help us even in life and death situations, and why is that? Could it be because we have always been taught that God wants us to act on our free will, and not depend on him for all the answers? I seem to remember a saying that goes "God helps those who help themselves". Is the Vatican angry because God is not given credit in the film? How many movies does that happen in?

Furthermore, the Vatican dares to talk about hopelessness? What planet are they on, that they cannot see the world is full of people who have it so bad that they lost their faith and their hope. Maybe they should concern themselves with helping the living all around them outside of the golden palaces they live in, rather than a fictional story.

Lastly, people who are true and solid in their beliefs, have nothing to fear even if it goes against their beliefs, because they cannot be swayed. It is those that are afraid of such exposure to movies and stories like this, that are of little or no real faith. So I guess the Vatican believes its followers are mindless drones easily led by any ideas other than what they teach.

Your first response is likely to be that the pope is infallible. May I remind you that up to last year we were also taught that babies who were not baptized remained in "Limbo" till the Vatican decided that sounded too harsh and changed it. As the church lady from Saturday Night Live would say "How convenient". I wonder what burning bush told the Vatican to change that belief?

The last word is when judgement day comes and your Lord asks you," do you follow me or the church?" What will you answer?