To the Daily:
Writer misreads ‘The Golden Compass’
Paul Tassi’s column Tuesday about “The Golden Compass” (Losing my (and your) religion, 10/06/2007) portrayed the movie as a fun film for kids, with some “subliminal” anti-religious themes mixed in. Tassi failed to mention that “The Golden Compass” is based on the first book in a trilogy that concludes by glorifying the death of God. Explicitly killing God is not “subliminal.” The author of the trilogy, Philip Pullman, has publicly stated that his goal is to “undermine the basis of Christian belief,” and according to an article published in The Telegraph, he “expects the film to remain ‘faithful’ to the books he wrote.”
Tassi argued that it’s “stupid” for Christians to be concerned that this movie is coming out. In making this argument, he fails to understand that the end-goal of Christianity is to have a relationship with Christ; Christians are called to fall in love with the Lord and make him the center of their life.
A loving husband would never consider seeing a movie based on a trilogy that ends by glorifying the death of his wife, and neither would he take his children to see such a movie. Not only would seeing the movie hurt his wife, but his relationship with her would be damaged. The relationship with God is no different in that sense.
Monica Przebienda
LSA junior
Ann Arbor’s election is meaningless
In response to Wednesday’s story about the lackluster election in Ann Arbor (The Quiet Election, 11/07/2007) I ask: What exactly do you expect in terms of voter turnout for an election that was decided approximately four months ago?
Ann Arbor is dominated by Democrats, with little to no second-party presence. The primaries for the City Council were held, and have always been held, during the summer, when the students have no opportunity to voice their vote. This essentially means that you have one person to vote for in the general election. That person only represents the views of Ann Arbor’s summer residents, which are not always in line with those of Ann Arbor’s residents for most of the year.
Voting in yesterday’s election would have been as meaningless as voting in Myanmar’s elections.
Sean Serraguard
Rackham
Maize out for Ohio State showdown
With a home showdown against archrival Ohio State looming, it’s time the Big House shows how great it really is with a stadium-wide maize out. Students need to contact alumni or corporate sponsors to produce maize T-shirts to be distributed at the game. Alumni and sponsors now have the chance to start another tradition against Ohio State. Imagine 110,000-plus fans, all wearing maize. Not only would it be a remarkable site, but an intimidating force against the Buckeyes. Let’s make the Big House look and feel as amazing as it is.
Bryan Chesen
Rackham