You Can't Read That ... It's Not Religious Enough!

Apparently, some religious conservative wingnuts in Ontario decided that The Golden Compass shouldn't be in the Halton Catholic School district's libraries because it was *gasp* written by an "atheist" (agnostic actually, but whatever):

Following a recent Star story about the series, an internal memo was sent to elementary principals that said "the book is apparently written by an atheist where the characters and text are anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion."

Why? Apparently because the author has made some "inflammatory" statements:

Pullman has made controversial statements, telling The Washington Post in 2001 he was "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief." In 2003, he said that compared to the Harry Potter series, his books had been "flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God."

Yeah, whatever. The wingnuts got their knickers in a twist over Dungeons and Dragons when I was in school. Note to the wingnuts - banning the book gives it notoriety, and people will want to read it. In the meantime, if you are that scared about a children's book undermining your child's faith, perhaps it is time to start asking yourself just why your faith is so fragile.