Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

I have finished the three books of Philip Pullman. The Golden Compass is the first book in the series. I thought I would chime in with my final thoughts on the book. First, let me say that I decided that I would not go see the movie. After reading the novels, I didn't feel that the I could agree with where the story was going to go. I am sure that the movie is a wonderful cinematic piece. But I chose not to see it. The second and third books develop the story of the main character, Lyra, as she continues on the adventure that was begun in The Golden Compass . The story continues to show the opposition of Free Thinkers versus the Church. Lyra, and her new companion Will, seem to be caught between the two sides. Lyra was raised by the church (although she never fit in) but doesn't want to give over completely to her father's anti-church opinion. Along the journey to find Lyra's father, Will acquires a remarkable knife that enables the wielder to travel between worlds...

There is quite the little controversy bubbling up in Tulsa. In Saturday's Tulsa World there was an article about the prayer that opens the regular city council meeting. Tulsa has a tradition (like many other cities) of asking religious leaders to come in an lead the gathering in prayer before the business of the meeting is dealt with. According to the article, persons representing the Tulsa Interfaith Alliance approached the chaplain who coordinates the religious leaders who volunteer to pray. They approached him in the interest of inclusiveness. Karl Sniderman said that he and another TIA board member attended a council meeting that was opened by a person who prayed in Jesus' name. Sniderman goes on to say, "I'm Jewish and she's Muslim, and it kind of irked us." This conversation led to the decision by the coordinating chaplain to not allow prayers that were prayed in Jesus' name. Anyone who could not in good conscience abide by this condition is being as...

Oklahoma has been under a nasty bit of weather this week. I am happy to report that our home and church have electricity. We only went about 38 hours without any electricity. Our family didn't suffer any the time we were without. The church is open to anyone who wants to get warm, but we cannot shelter anyone overnight. But there are plenty of Oklahomans who are suffering. I wouldn't even pretend to think that my family experienced what many are now going through. We were comfortable and hardly put out. There are some who have nothing. No source of heat or light. No way to get a warm meal or water. Many of the electricity companies are saying that next week will be the earliest before power is restored to all locations. And we are expecting another winter weather system through here tomorrow night. May God continue to bless those who are without and prepare those who do have to share.

This Advent our family is making a conscious effort to spend a little time together each day. It may be a reading a story together, or making Christmas cookies, or coloring our own Christmas cards. Last Friday our activity was going to a movie. This year's holiday offerings are a little slim. I didn't feel comfortable taking our boys to see Fred Clause . And The Golden Compass was a no go for Lisa. So we settled on Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium . No one is giving this movie a good review. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 38% (out of 100% I assume). Most were complaining about that it was too sweet. One of the reviewers even said that people wouldn't stay to the end. I am going to disagree. This is perhaps one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time. No, the acting is not stellar. Dustin Hoffman was a lovable, sort of off-beat character. Natalie Portman is a composer caught between the world of magic and reality. Jason Bateman is firmly entrenched in the real worl...

I know most people are focused on the movie than the book. But some movies are based on a story. If you want to get to the heart of where the author originally wanted to go, then read first, watch later. This goes for adults as well as shortcutting high school English students. The Golden Compass, as I stated in the last post, is an alternate Earth. Please keep that in mind. The world that Pullman has created is his own. It is not this world. But his worldview, how he believes and understands the universe, is the underpinnings of his created Earth in the book series. The book begins with the hero of the series, Lyra. She is 11. She is rambunctious and feisty. She gets involved in the play wars of the boys from around her. In fact, she is often the leader. She has been abandoned into the care of one of the colleges of Oxford. She is cared for by Scholars, priests, administrators, and servants of the college. Her parents, she is told, were killed early in her life. Her only relative is a...

Tomorrow marks the release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass. I have gotten a little bit of the pre-release anti-publicity about this movie. I received an email and a fax spam from the opposition groups. Since there was some controversy over this movie, I decided to pick up the book and read the story before seeing the movie. At first, I wasn't going to see the movie. Now I may go and see it, if only to compare the book and movie. It really depends on my feelings toward the book. If you are not familiar with the controversy, I will sum it up as briefly and fully as I can. The Golden Compass is based on the first in a trilogy of novels written by Philip Pullman. I am not familiar with Mr. Pullman's work, so I cannot offer any opinion on his writings. The substance of the controversy is that Mr. Pullman is an atheist and this series of books has been accused of attacking God, the church, and religion. I am not going to tell you not to see this movie. The beauty of l...

I found out over the weekend that one of icons on my childhood years had died. On November 30, Evel Knievel lost his battle with a terminal lung disease. He was 69. The '70's were Evel Knievel's decade. He was a celebrity daredevil who seemed unstoppable. He was clearly not indestructible. His crashes are famous. His broken bones are just as well known. I remember the days on the playgrounds pretending to drive motorcycles up and over imaginary ramps. He was a superhero and sport star wrapped up in one. In recent years, Evel Knievel accepted Christian faith after decades of maintaining a distance from organized religion. His testimony in front of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is available on YouTube. He was obviously struggling in health. He was not the flamboyant, iconic, superheroic figure I remembered from my youth. But he was passionate in his proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.