The Golden Compass movie comes out this Friday, December 7th. Some are billing it as a Humanist (or in this case Atheist) movie, though I think that is a stretch. The books do take a stab at the Catholic church, but that is more just treating the church as the dogmatic, authoritarian organization it is. The movie tones this down some and isn't quite as blatant, but it is still a statement against authoritarian rulers.
But, the Catholic church is causing some of the problem it self by trying to ban the reading of the books and boycott the movie. Of course, this will probably make the movie and books even more popular. I know it makes me want to go :)
Check out the AHA article here or a YouTube interview with author Philip Pullman here
