Sure, you’ve heard that the tales of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) hint at Christianity. But, the Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman also has a hidden message. The first book in the series, The Golden Compass, was made into a movie starring Nicole Kidman and that’s when the fireworks and false accusations started to fly.

You see, Mr. Pullman happens to be an aethiest. He didn’t set out to write a book encouraging young children to leave the church and hate God, as it was insinuated. Instead, like any writer, he sat down to write a story.

 It formed in bits and pieces in his mind as he slept, as he ate and as he went about his day to day activities. And, really, that’s’ how it happens for most of us. We jot words, phrases and ideas down on scraps of paper all the time. So … while many Christian groups hollered, the premise of the book was supposed to be a look at organized religion and how it can become corrupt. In fact, Mr. Pullman has no problem with Christians or any other religious group. He does, however oppose corruption entering an organized religion. I am sure we can all think of examples of that.

Anyway, it makes for an interesting read and an nice change of pace from other spiritual books. Side Note: anyone think that Nicole Kidman chose this role as a little private message of her opinion on a certain religion that she is no longer part of?