Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

(Regarding criticism by religious groups against The Golden Compass)

"The book's concept of God, in fact, is what makes Pullman's work so threatening. His trilogy is not filled with attacks on Christianity, but with attacks on authorities who claim access to one true interpretation of a religion. Pullman's work is filled with the feminist and liberation strands of Catholic theology that have sustained my own faith, and which threaten the power structure of the church. Pullman's work is not anti-Christian, but anti-orthodox.

"This emerging controversy, then, is deeply unusual. It features an artist who claims atheism, but whose work is unabashedly theistic. And it features a series of books that are at once charming and thrilling children's literature, and a story that explores some of the most divisive and fascinating issues in Catholic theology today."

-- Donna Freitas, visiting assistant professor of religion at Boston University, "God in the dust -- What Catholics attacking 'The Golden Compass' are really afraid of", The Boston Globe, 2007-11-25