Free-thinkers and atheists were disappointed by the omission of important religious themes – and the Catholic protesters and Donohue feared that the toned-down final product would simply act as “bait” for the infinitely more menacing books, luring parents into a false sense of security. In retrospect, the rather underwhelming movie arguably fell into the trap of trying to please everyone and ultimately pleasing no one. The author himself, with admirable yet pithy restraint, responded by calling Donohue a “nitwit”, and expressed his sadness at the calls for a boycott, which effectively characterised readers and cinema-goers as mindless, easily-influenced sheep. He may have experienced little resistance in England, but it's a different story here.' “His side is counting on our side to lie down and die. It is also fuelled by hate – by a crusading hatred of all religions, but most especially ours,” read a call-to-arms statement issued by the League. 'Pullman represents the new face of atheism: it is aggressive, dogmatic and unrelenting. But in the November of 2007, The Golden Compass – a movie adaptation of Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights – managed to do just that.Ī US Catholic campaign group, aware of the controversial and largely negative portrayal of the Church in the source material book trilogy, and of Pullman’s own avowed atheism, called for a boycott of the film.īill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, expressed particular concern about the content of the novels, which he described as 'atheism for kids'.

Children’s books and films, with the possible exception of the “Satanic” Harry Potter series, don’t usually spark religious outrage.

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