Are they also going to ban the bible? That’d be swell.

Catholic board bans ‘Golden Compass’ indefinitely

“The Golden Compass” and two other books in the “His Dark Materials” trilogy have been banned indefinitely by the Halton Catholic District School Board despite a committee’s recommendation that the titles remain on library shelves.

Board chair Alice Anne LeMay told CTV.ca that the committee found the books suitable for students in Grades 7 and up, but the majority of board members voted against the committee’s report Tuesday night.

The book, written by popular British author and avowed atheist Philip Pullman, has won numerous awards, including the Maine Student Book Award and the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults award.

“Philip Pullman’s trilogy of atheistic ideology, carefully couched within the realm of fantasy for young readers, is in direct opposition to the mission statement and governing values of our board,” the board’s decision reads.

The trio of books was removed from library shelves last November after receiving a request for review from a member of the community. All three titles were available to students upon request.

The board set up a committee, made up of teacher, principals, trustees and consultants, to review the book and recommend whether it should be available to students.

LeMay said this is the first time a book has been banned from school libraries within the board. The three titles will not be made available to students upon request and will be “stored at the central board office for the time being.”

 Aww, I guess this means Tom Cruise can’t go to Germany anymore.. sniff sniff.

Germany Prepares to Ban Scientology

Germany’s interior ministers announced Friday that they consider Scientology to be unconstitutional. They have asked the country’s domestic intelligence agency to prepare a dossier on the organization’s activities with a view to ban it next year.

Germany’s interior ministers announced on Friday that they considered Scientology to be unconstitutional and said they would seek to ban the organization.

Berlin Interior Minister Ehrhart Körting told reporters that the interior ministers of Germany’s 16 federal states and the federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble “consider Scientology to be an organization that is not compatible with the constitution.” The ministers, who are meeting for a two-day conference in Berlin, now plan to charge the country’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, with preparing a dossier to pave the way for a possible ban next year.

The agency has had the organization under observation for over a decade. Germany does not consider Scientology to be a religion but a money-making cult.

Nothing like keeping an open mind amongst religious schools. I guess a school is no place to learn, right?

Ontario School Board Bans Fantasy Book

BURLINGTON, Ontario, Canada (AP) — A Roman Catholic school board in Ontario ordered the popular fantasy book “The Golden Compass” taken off library shelves at dozens of schools Thursday after receiving a complaint about the author referring to himself as an atheist.

Similar concerns prompted a Catholic organization in the U.S. to urge parents to boycott a movie version of the book starring Nicole Kidman.

The board for Catholic schools in Ontario’s Halton region said a complaint was lodged after British author Philip Pullman stated in an interview that he is an atheist.

“We have a policy and procedure whereby individual parents, staff, students or community members can apply to have material reviewed. That’s what happened in this case,” said Rick MacDonald, the board’s superintendent of curriculum services.

The board, which oversees 43 Catholic elementary and secondary schools, has not released the identity of the complainant. It also removed two other books in Pullman’s “Dark Materials” trilogy as a precaution.

While “The Golden Compass” was first published in 1995, attention was drawn to the book by the film, which opens next month, MacDonald said.