Scouting Magazine and The Golden Compass

[Gold Winger]

Ever hear of the library? Books are free there.

 

"Read reviews, duh!"

 

So you'd rather take the word of others than open your own mind and read it yourself. Mullahs and Christians do have much in common, don't the?

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

NJCubScouter writes:

But at least that book [Go Dog Go] has no religious (or irreligious) overtones that I ever discovered in years of reading and listening to it.

 

Like many hidden satanic messages, you have to read it backwards.

[gwd-scouter]

Og God Og.

[evmori]

So you'd rather take the word of others than open your own mind and read it yourself.

 

Don't think that's what I said! That is more your opinion of what I said which is incorrect.

 

Og God Og! Love it! Hey does that mean cavemen believed in God?

[NJCubScouter]

Og God Og! Love it! Hey does that mean cavemen believed in God?

 

According to one of the "2000 Year Old Man" routines, they originally believed in a guy named Phil, and prayed to him, until one day Phil was struck by lightning, and they all said, "There's something bigger than Phil!"

[ASM915]

Did you hear about the dyslexic atheist? HE real thought there was a Dog.

Oops1 Can I say that here? If not, moderator, send it off into cyberspace.

 

Maybe the next time Scouting Magazine publishes a list of books, it might ve advisable to break the list down into appropriate age ranges, like they do for movies. That way you don't have a Webelos reading something like "Clockwork Orange" or an Erica Jong contribution.

 

I guess it was good that the list was in Scouting Magazine. That way the parents/leaders would see the list, and be able to make the decision whether they wanted their boys to be exposed to certian veiwpoints or not.

[NJCubScouter]

ASM, as you know (since you were the one who brought this all up in the first place), they do have the list broken down into age groups, "young guys", "middle guys" and "older guys", although they do not specify what the age ranges are for these groups. My son tells me that most of the books on the "older guys" list would be for boys under the age of 14 or so.

 

To check this out a little further, I went to the web site from which the list in the magazine was taken. Interestingly, the Harry Potter books are on the web site's list (under "middle guys"), but were not selected for the shorter list appearing in "Scouting." Kind of an interesting omission considering that those books are so popular. Maybe the writer of the "Scouting" article decided that Harry Potter would be "too controversial" to include in "Scouting", but was not aware of the controversy over the "Golden Compass". If this is what really happened, it's kind of ironic, because (based on the discussion here) it seems that the Golden Compass does contain some anti-religion (or anti-a-particular religion) themes, while the Harry Potter books didn't contain anything that should have been controversial.

[ScoutMomSD]

wow - interesting thread.

 

Is this on the books that Palin said "so if I asked you about taking a book out of the library what would you say?"

 

First, I never believe what critics say, book or movie. Most critics panned the last Indian Jones movie and I loved it. Also many books, movies, paintings, etc are considered trash or bad initially and works of art later - does the name Van Gogh ring a bell?

 

I went to a religious based elementary school and the librarian took the Nancy Drew books out of the library because they werent "true literature". So what was the favorite present of girls that year for their birthday, Nancy Drew books.

 

I did quite a bit of research on this whole controversy and to agree with some of the above posts, the point of the books is more against ORGANIZED religion and not a specific religion. It really is along the lines that as long as human beings are in charge of things and they are inherently flawed, there will be people who abuse power in business or in the Church. Ted Haggerty and Larry Craig come to mind. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, no matter who has the power.

 

Do all catholic priests or for that matter scout leaders molest - of COURSE not but when folks are put in power with no checks and balances, they feel they are entitled and in the worse case scenario, above reproach due to their position.

 

Another point is to think that at a certain age you are controlling what kids are reading (for that matter doing) is just silly. Pretty much 5th grade and on, they are starting on books with more mature themes. My daughter has read Stephen King books which are primarily thrillers but do have some off color themes. And I read Catch 22 at her age. As well as the Exorcist. Did my mom buy them? of course not.

 

I WANT my kids to read things that elicit questions and discussions. I believe there is a quote about giving your child not only roots but wings.

 

 

[Trevorum]

ScoutMom,

 

I agree. I want my kids to read voraciously and without boundaries and contemplate all that they read. I want them to read Golden Compass, Brokeback Mtn, and Mein Kampf and then think soberly about the things they read. I'm not worried about them becoming skinheads or gay shepherds and I know their perspectives on the world and it's people will be broadened. Which is always a good thing, I believe.

 

The problem is, some parents out there do NOT want their kids exposed to any ideas other than their own. They want to restrict the boundaries of their kid's imaginations by setting limits on what they can read. That's a shame. IMHO.