Is going to see Golden Compass as bad as going to see a Rated R movie?

Ok, This isn't just about the golden compass (though I will get to that). I just titled it that to get your attention. This is really about why I don't see rated R movies. Many intelligent people, my teachers and classmates especially, have made fun of me and those like me for not wanting to see rated R movies or any movie that I don't deem worthy. Something they say a lot is, "Those who won't see that movie think that if they see it, they will become it. If they see a movie about gay people, they'll be forced to be gay." And then they laugh.

The main problem with this fallacy is that many of us aren't sure whether its true or not. We often just laugh along with them and say, well, I guess they're right. But let me assure you that the whole idea is at best, a half-truth.

When it comes to our children it may be somewhat true. We hope that our kids are learning their morals from us, and not the media, but TV can be very convincing in its point of view. Kids who don't really have their morals in place yet are easily influenced. So yes, we do worry that if they see a movie that glorifies violence, they'll want to act it out.

I do not believe we do it for the same reason when we restrict ourselves however. I realize I cannot speak for everyone. But for me, I don't watch immoral movies because its putting myself in a place of darkness. I (and many others) believe that in order to gain the guidance and influence of God, I should try to be clean. When I watch things that are what I consider immoral, I decline my chance to have divine guidance: not just during the show, but lastingly afterward. When I don't have God's help in my life, I make unwise choices, its harder to deal with trials, and especially it becomes harder to resist temptation. My temptations may have nothing to do with the movie. For instance, I may never have been tempted by infidelity, but perhaps I''ve always been tempted to yell at my kids.

So what am I saying? Am I saying that a movie that glorifies homosexuality will make me yell at my kids? Maybe so, if that is what one of my personal struggles happens to be. We still always have a choice in our actions. But why make it harder on ourselves than it already is?

That being said, my objection to see immorality doesn't necessarily extend to an objection to see everything that disagrees with my beliefs. For instance I don't believe most of what is in the Nicene Creed, but I don't have objection to reading it. On a lighter note, the science fiction and fantasy I read is all bunk. I don't believe any of it to be a true depiction of life, yet I still feel ok about reading it. Why? Because I don't believe that reading or seeing something that is untrue is darkness. I believe that God allows us to suspend reality occasionally. I don't believe subjecting ourselves to untruths really has any relation to subjecting ourselves to immorality.

Maybe that is elementary and obvious to you. But I have to ask then, whats all this hullabaloo over the Golden Compass series? I have to first admit that I have never read it, and I haven't yet seen the movie. But from what I've heard, the series presents a world in which there is no God. Rarely has a series been so bold as that. Even so, its a fantasy isn't it? The rest of it is all fantastical, and so is that. Why can't we just accept it as a fantastic story in which people can do things that are impossible in reality, and in which there is no God, which to many of us is pure fantastical fiction?

Now there are some philosophy's and untruths that I do think can be darkness, simply because they are more than untruths: they are anti-truths. This is why I try not to read anti-Mormon literature. Instead of just informing me what others' beliefs are, anti-Mormon literature is trying to tear down my beliefs, and that to me is pure darkness. So let me say that if the Golden Compass is actually trying to dissuade people from believing in God, then its very possible it is darkness, not just fantasy. If there are people that read it and say, you know, this is true. There is no God because of the points presented in this book, then I guess I won't see it or read it. A movie just isn't worth losing the influence of the spirit over for me. And though it can be different for everyone, I know I don't want to subject myself to Anti-god media, any more than I want to see a rated R movie.