Is 'Golden Compass' 'selling atheism to kids'?

The plot sounds familiar: movie takes on religion, angers some faction of believers. But the furor surrounding "The Golden Compass," a $180-million fantasy epic coming to theaters next Friday, is more complex than that. Based on the first volume in the award-winning trilogy "His Dark Materials" by religious skeptic Philip Pullman, the movie already has been condemned by conservative Roman Catholics and evangelicals. They say it will hook children into Pullman's books and a dark, individualistic world where all religion is evil. But at least one liberal scholar has called the trilogy a "theological masterpiece," and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rates the film "intelligent and well-crafted entertainment." Meanwhile, some secularists complain the movie from New Line Cinemas waters down Pullman's religious critique. They feel sold out by the author, who has described himself as both an atheist and agnostic. Read more...