The Catholic school boards in Calgary and Halton, Ontario, both recently chose to ban Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy from its school libraries. The decision to remove the trilogy from the boards’ libraries, which are also open to the public, came after some parents complained about anti- Church rhetoric in the books. While Pullman is a self-professed atheist, and the trilogy does make negative reference to an institution that is similar to the Catholic Church, the work can also be read as broadly anti-establishment or anti-dogma and not against the Catholic Church specifically.
The fictional universe of Pullman’s books does however feature an authoritarian villain named Magisterium, who dictates to children what is right and wrong, good and bad. No doubt the irony of the situation is lost on the Halton Catholic District School Board, which is now telling children what they can and cannot read.
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass were published between in 1995 and 2000, and have been in the schools for nearly a decade. If the books have such questionable content, then they should not have been allowed on library shelves in the first place. The renewed interest in this series comes from the recent release of the film adaptation of The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. The decision to re-evaluate the trilogy comes seven years after the release of the final book. No matter—better late than never, apparently.
The HCDSB felt that the trilogy was not in keeping with the Catholic values it espouses to its students. However, to ban the books from the school libraries, especially when the movie adaptation has created much interest, is pointless. Nothing says “this is exciting reading material” like being told that a book is banned.
It would have made more sense for the school board to let the volumes remain in the library, and follow up reading of the books with a critical discussion of their content. Children and adults alike need to be able to face criticism of their institutions and learn to defend their beliefs. Faith that cannot stand up to a series of children’s books is fragile, and the Halton board’s decision reflects a telling fear that their students’ faith will not be able to hold under criticism.
