Ontario School Board Bans Fantasy Book

[Akoto]

BURLINGTON, Ontario —

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.

Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_BANNED_BOOK?SITE=AZTUS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Boojatta]

1. Did Salman Rushdie ever state that he is an atheist?