On Nov. 27, Eric Lombardi wrote a column about the upcoming movie, "The Golden Compass" ("Golden Compass kills God"). In it, he challenges Christians to boycott the film, claiming that we should not commercially support the undermining of our beliefs. I think this suggestion is the opposite of a rational Christian response to the film.

Unlike almost everyone I've talked to about this movie, I've actually read the His Dark Materials trilogy. In fact, I read it this past summer after being intrigued by the upcoming movie's trailer. It is important to note at the outset that yes, Philip Pullman does have an agenda with his writing. His criticism of the Catholic Church in the His Dark Materials trilogy is far from subtle, particularly in the last novel of the series, "The Amber Spyglass." Throughout the series, however, the agents of the Church (called the Magisterium here) are depicted as uniformly evil and supportive of terrible things, such as the severance of children from their souls via technological means.

Why, then, would I not support a boycott? Put simply, Pullman's story does not make an anywhere near competent case against faith. What it does do effectively is attack the occasionally harmful effects of blindly adhering to dogma without reason.

Pullman never once talks about the person of Christ or any of the actual objects or articles of faith of the Church in his story – his focus is that their overly dogmatic focus and obsession with regulating people's behavior has become harmful. While Pullman himself may be someone who genuinely hates religion, his story can help remind us that our faith and, for Catholics, our Church, should not simply be about dogmatism, and indeed they are not.

At a Jesuit institution like Marquette, we're especially challenged to use faith and reason in tandem in order to best serve God. Boycotting an opportunity to gain new insights on our faith just seems counterproductive. I, for one, will be first in line to see "The Golden Compass." And I also recommend the book.