I have just received this Press Release regarding THE GOLDEN COMPASS,
Scholastic, and The Catholic League.
Scholastic Pressed on 'The Golden Compass' -- No More Ventures with
Pullman Sought
Contact: Kiera M. McCaffrey, Director of Communications, Catholic League
for Religious and Civil Rights <http://www.catholicleague.org/> ,
212-371-3191, catalyst@catholicleague.org
NEW YORK, Nov. 13 /Christian Newswire
<http://www.christiannewswire.com/> / -- Catholic League president Bill
Donohue wrote the following letter to Scholastic Corporation CEO Richard
Robinson; copies of the letter were also sent to all the bishops and
school superintendents in the Catholic community. Here is the body of
Donohue's letter to Robinson:
As someone who spent 20 years in education, I am aware of Scholastic's
stellar reputation. This is all the more reason why I am profoundly
disturbed by Scholastic's role in co-producing "The Golden Compass." It
is not the movie, per se, that is the problem, it is the book-and the
other volumes that comprise His Dark Materials-that is the issue.
The author of these books, Philip Pullman, does not disguise his hatred
of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church. Why, then, would
Scholastic be associated with such bigotry? As pointed out in our
booklet on "The Golden Compass," producing such a movie would seem to
violate Scholastic's own Credo, one part of which says, "To help build a
society free of prejudice and hate, and dedicated to the highest quality
of life in community and nation." Moreover, Scholastic professes a
belief in "High moral and spiritual values," something which surely
sounds odd given the Pullman connection.
Christians need to be convinced that Scholastic will never again work
with militant atheists who have an animus against their religion.
Catholics, in particular, want to be certain that purchasing Scholastic
materials does not indirectly fund campaigns against them. To this end,
we look for Scholastic to pledge that in the event a movie version of
Pullman's other two books, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, is
launched, it will have nothing to do with them. This would reassure
Christians that the "Golden Compass" venture was an anomaly.
Contact Kyle Good, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Media
Relations, kgood@scholastic.com
J.A.E. Kiszewski
Competitive & Market Intelligence, School
Pearson
201.236.5524
201. 236.6561 (fax)
jacquelyn.kiszewski@pearson.com <mailto:jacquelyn.kiszewski@pearson.com>
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