Comments on: Catholic League Claims Credit for Golden Compass Being a Sucky Movie

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:08:41 +0000

Read the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy by Philip Pullman. Very good books, struck a chord. Definitely a recommended read!

The movie was, sadly lacking.

By: ParrotLover77

ParrotLover77 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:33:45 +0000

Well, if you are allergic to latex, there can be a risk to condoms, but you’d discover your allergy looooong before condom use as any doctor or dentist visit includes exposure to latex gloves.

I do want to chime in that Birth Control Pills are, indeed, risky. They are less risk than a lot of medications, but a great deal more risky than aspirin. That’s why they are prescribed medications and a couple should definitely seek knowledgable advice from a doctor before use.

Sorry to play devil’s advocate there, Ron!

Still, even if you take medication out of the question, and even latex, there are still DOZENS of birth control methods out there. If you know you don’t want kids (or are done having them) you can go for the biggest cure for that, a vasectomy. Which I’ve done and it’s really not that bad, especially knowing the ol’ gun ain’t loaded and you never have to worry about a condom breaking or missing taking a pill.

So to quote Monty Python, the only logical conclusion is not that life even begins at conception but that “every sperm is sacred” which is just primitive and ridiculous, considering that even in a successful fertilization, billions don’t make it and die.

As for Africa, AMEN. The benefits WAY outweigh the risks there!

By: Ron Britton

Ron Britton — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:51:30 +0000

Carl:

Your IP address resolves to Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa. The Pope refuses to allow Catholics to use condoms. Presumably, this position is also preached to everyone within earshot of a missionary.

Africa is being devastated with the AIDS pandemic. Your Pope is doing everything in his power to spread the disease and destroy more lives. Until this position is changed, the Catholic church will remain one of the most evil and destructive forces in the world today.

There are NO side effects to using a condom. The side effect of not using one, potentially, is death.

By: Bunkie

Bunkie — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:09:01 +0000

Carl
Natural Family Planning has a huge risk and that is pregnancy. For many women, pregnancy can be riskier for the their health than the use of “contraception”. You have been very fortunate that your method has worked for you. For many, it does not. As you say, humans make mistakes. And it only takes a little one with this method.

Do you use any medications? I ask because most, including aspirin and vitamins, carry very scary side affects. The question that must be asked is – do the benefits outweigh the risks? For many, the benefits of “contraception” far outweigh the risk of pregnancy.

My condolences on the loss of your child.

By: Carl

Carl — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:01:26 +0000

Hi, Guys, I am Catholic, and try to do as much good as possible. i am well aware of the atrocities of former Catholic Clergy (Popes, Bishops, Priests etc). I don’t condone any of it. But remember, We all are human and make mistakes, some of us make little mistakes & some make huge mistakes and I honestly feel that nobody should judge anybody else. My wife and I have been married for 19yrs and we have 2 wonderful kids. we had 3 but, one died of cancer at 5yrs old. We have never used “contraception”. JR – have you read all the side-effects of Contraception, that alone should make one terrified of usung it. This is just a siggestion, as i also dont believe in forcing people to do things, look into the “Natural Family Planning” way, it is very simple, and allows one to understand how a women’s cycle works. it is brilliant and there is absolutely no risks involved.

wishing you all a wonderful Christmas

Carl

By: Troy

Troy — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:23:00 +0000

I did go and see the movie last weekend, whenever the catholic church says no, that’s usually reason enough. In addition Roger Ebert (who is still not back on his tv show but does write reviews again) gave the movie 4 stars, though I did see some bad reviews for it as well. I didn’t think it was that good. The prepubescent protagonist was a bit lacking in on screen charisma. Also the compass effects could have been better. The story isn’t as tight as Tolkien and even C.S. Lewis.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:30:58 +0000

I just saw the Golden Compass this weekend, and I was frankly very surprised at how bad the reviews have been. I did, in fact go to see it instead of another movie in part as a personal screw-you to the Catholic Church, but I was going to see it eventually because those are some of my favorite books. The “Coca-cola” bear does indeed kick serious ass, probably involved in some of the best fantasy fight scenes I’ve seen in a while. Several aspects of the film really impressed me. For example, in the books it is mentioned that when a person dies, their daemon dies, but I don’t remember if it mentions them shredding into a cloud of Dust. In the fight scenes, though, each death is accompanied by a rising golden cloud of Dust, which really helped me notice that people are, in fact, dying. So often now we see people shot or stabbed and just fall that there is no impact, but seeing that cloud lets you feel the thought of, wow-that person’s life was just destroyed. Anyway, that’s just one aspect that I liked. I certainly recommend this movie very highly; it is very well made and a good deal of the religious themes have survived the Hollywood scrubbing. My only caveat is that they end the movie about one chapter before the book, as the book is somewhat of a cliffhanger. However, I think it actually works better for the movie format to end it as they did. So, go see it for the enjoyment of a good movie if not simply to say, “F you, Battle Pope!”

By: ParrotLover77

ParrotLover77 — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:37:27 +0000

Maybe that last sentence was in comparison to Baptists…. I do find Catholics a lot more tolerable than Baptists. At least “fundie” Catholics will invoke real philosophical thought exercises (Pascal’s wager, et all) instead of just saying “YOU’RE GOING TO HELL! BURN! BURN!”

Despite the bad reviews, I’m still going to go see it. Can’t be TOO bad of a way to kill a couple hours, right?

The boycott of Last Temptation was silly. That movie was not in any way offensive to religion. It simply told a “what-if” scenario for Jesus. In the end, Jesus still won. He died for our sins, Satan was defeated. Etc…

Just because it showed him with dirt on his hands instead of eternally glowing, they got upset. Oh heaven forbid they portray Jesus as a man… Because for some reason I thought that was the whole point — God living as a man so he can see what our dealio is and then die for our sins?

By: Jr.

Jr. — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:50:32 +0000

You can start with the Crusades. Party on over to the Spanish Inquisition, and stop by the Pope’s stances on contraception.

By: ericsan

ericsan — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:29:14 +0000

Ron, the Wikipedia article references the film. You’re so erudite

By: Ron Britton

Ron Britton — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:19:56 +0000

Ericsan: That sounds a lot like one of the best science fiction stories ever written: The Marching Morons, by Cyril M. Kornbluth.

By: ericsan

ericsan — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:21:58 +0000

Okay, I’m completely off-topic here (or maybe not?) but I wanted to recommend Mike Judge’s movie “Idiocracy” which was squelched by Fox when they realized Judge was totally taking the piss out of them. Both hilarious and painful to watch… The premise is that dumb people outbreed smart people at an alarming rate. I guess since we’re talking about Catholics, I’m on-topic after all