The Protocols of the Elders of Rome

Snopes, I find pretty reliable.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

A forwarded mass email regarding Golden Compass inspired some acrimony in my family, with one person offering another a thousand bucks if he had actually read the books or seen the movie about which he was complaining, and thinking that proved he was narrow-minded.
And no, I have not read them, either.
But that is a ridiculous standard -- we all rely on the empirical knowledge of others, whom we, empirically, have come to trust.
The stock market went up xxx points today --- oh, do you know it did? were you on the floor of the exchange? better yet, did you run around to the headquarters of and speak to the CFO of every big board company, find out how they were doing and do the math yourself?
Of course not.
So I'm pretty happy to take Snopes word for something.
And I think there is something evil and dangerous in the books.
And I agree with the blogger who said if Judaism or Buddhism were slandered and parodies in this manner a studio would never touch the property.