christofu
Pavement Inspector
More specifically, I'm annoyed at the hard-core Christian groups who are condemning the movie and who have (a) not seen it; (b) not read the books; and (c) not engaged their brains.
The central premise of the series by Philip Pullman: free choice good. Pullman goes on to examine this through an exposition of what is basically gnostic dogma. Note, that's gnostic... not agnostic. Look up gnosticism at Wikipedia.
A short summary of gnosticism is that there IS a supreme being out there somewhere, usually an embodiment of good. However (and here's the difference between gnosticism and Abhrahamic religions), there is another "demi" god that is closer to our world. In different variations of gnosticism, this demiurge may or may not know that there is a superior being (i.e. they may believe that THEY are THE god). In different variations, the demiurge can be good, evil or merely incompetent.
OK. So in His Dark Materials, Pullman has a "god figure" called The Authority. I say "god figure" because it is exposed in later books that The Authority is, in fact, the first angel created and not a god. The series evolves into being about overthrowing The Authority and his church (The Magisterium) which has yoked humanity.
A few thoughts on this.
Surely it is a good thing that free-willed humans would overthrow a false god? No?
There is no mention of the gnostic supreme being in the series. Except one. One very, very big mention. The name of the series is "HIS DARK MATERIALS". Who's dark materials? What? Could it be... that the entire series is about a plan put in place by a supreme being to have humans overthrow The Authority as the false god that he is? Why else would it be called "HIS DARK MATERIALS"? There is no other link to this title anywhere in the series.
Dust. I've seen people talking about dust. If The Authority is not our God, is Dust? Who knows. It's fiction. It certainly would be not inconsistent that Dust is an agent of the supreme being though. Dust is represented as being a sentient force that is beneficial to thinking beings. Dust may be just one of His dark materials.
I'm annoyed by the reaction of Christians to the books, and to the movie.
"Blasphemy! They kill God!" The Authority is a false god. Just one of His dark materials. If The Authority was written as being physically red in color, with bat wings, a forked tail, carried a trident, had horns and breathed fire, everyone would rejoice that people would not worship him.
"Blasphemy! The afterlife isn't all virgins, beer drinking and hockey." Who's to say in Philip Pullman's works what happens after the trapped souls come back into the world and dissolve? Just as there is no mention of a supreme being except in the title of the series, there is no analysis of what actually happens after the souls no longer exist in the world except that they "no longer exist."
"Blasphemy! Philip Pullman is an atheist, and he's trying to corrupt our children!" If your children's faith is so weak and your influence on your children is so small that they cannot stand the test of a work of fiction then perhaps you should reexamine your whole situation. By the way, I am also an atheist but unfortunately I'm all out of fresh babies to throw into my blender for my morning baby smoothie, so I'm probably going to get thrown out of the atheist union now.
His Dark Materials is a work of fiction. Actually, I believe it's a very good work of fiction. I'll admit that even I got a bit misty-eyed in places. It should be enjoyed as a work of fiction.
The central premise of the series by Philip Pullman: free choice good. Pullman goes on to examine this through an exposition of what is basically gnostic dogma. Note, that's gnostic... not agnostic. Look up gnosticism at Wikipedia.
A short summary of gnosticism is that there IS a supreme being out there somewhere, usually an embodiment of good. However (and here's the difference between gnosticism and Abhrahamic religions), there is another "demi" god that is closer to our world. In different variations of gnosticism, this demiurge may or may not know that there is a superior being (i.e. they may believe that THEY are THE god). In different variations, the demiurge can be good, evil or merely incompetent.
OK. So in His Dark Materials, Pullman has a "god figure" called The Authority. I say "god figure" because it is exposed in later books that The Authority is, in fact, the first angel created and not a god. The series evolves into being about overthrowing The Authority and his church (The Magisterium) which has yoked humanity.
A few thoughts on this.
Surely it is a good thing that free-willed humans would overthrow a false god? No?
There is no mention of the gnostic supreme being in the series. Except one. One very, very big mention. The name of the series is "HIS DARK MATERIALS". Who's dark materials? What? Could it be... that the entire series is about a plan put in place by a supreme being to have humans overthrow The Authority as the false god that he is? Why else would it be called "HIS DARK MATERIALS"? There is no other link to this title anywhere in the series.
Dust. I've seen people talking about dust. If The Authority is not our God, is Dust? Who knows. It's fiction. It certainly would be not inconsistent that Dust is an agent of the supreme being though. Dust is represented as being a sentient force that is beneficial to thinking beings. Dust may be just one of His dark materials.
I'm annoyed by the reaction of Christians to the books, and to the movie.
"Blasphemy! They kill God!" The Authority is a false god. Just one of His dark materials. If The Authority was written as being physically red in color, with bat wings, a forked tail, carried a trident, had horns and breathed fire, everyone would rejoice that people would not worship him.
"Blasphemy! The afterlife isn't all virgins, beer drinking and hockey." Who's to say in Philip Pullman's works what happens after the trapped souls come back into the world and dissolve? Just as there is no mention of a supreme being except in the title of the series, there is no analysis of what actually happens after the souls no longer exist in the world except that they "no longer exist."
"Blasphemy! Philip Pullman is an atheist, and he's trying to corrupt our children!" If your children's faith is so weak and your influence on your children is so small that they cannot stand the test of a work of fiction then perhaps you should reexamine your whole situation. By the way, I am also an atheist but unfortunately I'm all out of fresh babies to throw into my blender for my morning baby smoothie, so I'm probably going to get thrown out of the atheist union now.
His Dark Materials is a work of fiction. Actually, I believe it's a very good work of fiction. I'll admit that even I got a bit misty-eyed in places. It should be enjoyed as a work of fiction.
). It felt very disjointed and hurried, and it seemed that certain parts tried to compensate for those two things by throwing in information that seemed more crammed that rosie odonell's sandwiches.
