"My books are about killing God," British author Phillip Pullman told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003. Pullman's first children's novel in a trilogy, The Golden Compass, was adapted into film, and will be in theaters Dec. 7, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

"I've been surprised by how little criticism I've got. Harry Potter's been taking all the flak," Pullman said. "I'm a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people - mainly from America's Bible belt - who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven't got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said."

Pullman, not only an atheist but also an open anti-Christian, is using his books and the upcoming movie to dupe children in to reading his novels, which contain anti-Christian messages, and depicts the killing of God by its characters. Books of the trilogy have sold more than 15 million copies around the world, with The Golden Compass winning the Carnegie Medal for Children's Literature in 1995 and in 2007 being awarded the Carnegie of Carnegies' for the best children's book of the past 70 years. The Amber Spyglass, the final book of the series, won the Whitbread Prize in 2001, as the first children's book to do so.

It seems Pullman uses his trilogy series, His Dark Materials, as a platform to bash Christianity and promote atheism to young children. The message is a hope to kill God in the minds of children, and the worldwide distribution of the upcoming film The Golden Compass, will no doubt bring this message to a much larger audience.

The film would seem mild to those who view it, and looks for audiences to accept it as nothing more than a fairy tale. The film, a less offensive version of the first book which is the least odious in the trilogy, cleverly masks its anti-Christian voice with action scenes that would compare to 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If unsuspecting parents take their children to see the first movie and enjoy it, children will likely ask for the book series for Christmas.

In the trilogy, a young girl becomes trapped in a fight against a "wicked" church known as the Magisterium. Another character, an ex-nun, explicitly says "...I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake." ( The Amber Spyglass, 464).

In the last book the young girl and a boy, who are supposed to represent Adam and Eve, are pressured into physical union by the former nun turned scientist. From there the children are depicted killing God, who is at times called Yahweh in the novel.

The motif of sexual maturation that often shows up in the series is appalling. Through the novels, the little girl is often encouraged to engage in a sexual relationship with a boy she is affectionate towards. One interpretation of the message Pullman tries to send through this is that by expressing sexual freedom, one will abandon childhood innocence and begin making decisions as an adult.

The books also openly laugh at religious vocations that take vows of chastity, and imply that sex is necessary for all children to continue into an age of maturation. By denying oneself that pleasure, one is living a half-life. God is only killed when the young girl engages in an act of physical pleasure.

The second book in the series, The Subtle Knife, also contains castration and female circumcision by church members in order to censure the pleasures of sex for its members - something hardly humane, true or, most importantly, appropriate for a children's novel.

His Dark Materials is a sinister rebuttal to the popular Chronicles of Narnia series by the self-declared Christian C.S. Lewis. Both novels begin with undeniably similar young girls hiding in wardrobes, and each contains similar elements of different worlds and the personification of animals.

The upcoming movie, The Golden Compass, should not be supported nor should Pullman's series. By disguising his own beliefs on religion in his seemingly harmless novels, he seeks to dissuade children into following their own religions, be that Christianity, Judaism, Islam or any other type of religion. By pulling the wool over parents' eyes, sneaking into households, and silently settling on the naïve minds of young children, he seeks to take a stab at the hearts of the youngest religious believers in the world.

His stories openly support fighting authority, appeasing sexual desires (even as a child), and abandoning childhood innocence while applying disparaging stereotypes to churches, clergy and lay members of any religion.

Pullman's franchise of movies and books are not harmless. They are in every way, shape and form dangerous and the ideas conveyed through them need to be kept away from the absorbent minds of children. Do not give your time, money or support to Pullman. Only by standing against these products, as parents, as older siblings, as moral beings, can we help prevent dangerous seeds from being planted in this generation's youth.

Children admire fictional characters and often try to mimic their actions. Let us not allow Pullman's characters to be the next heroes for this generation's children.