Just in time for Christmas, Hollywood has released The Golden Compass, a film based on the first book of a trilogy of children's novels written by atheist Philip Pullman. Pullman is not a fan of his fellow childrens' writers J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis. He denounced the Lord of the Rings trilogy as "infantile" and absolutely hated the Chronicles of Narnia, calling it "morally loathsome" and "one of the most ugly and poisonous things I've ever read."
This is downright weird.
Some critics have objected to the overdrawn contrast between the forces of light and the forces of darkness in Christian fiction, but Pullman's trilogy is no less Manichean. The only difference is that in Pullman's world the evil regime is run by God Himself. Pullman pictures a kind of Calvinist moral structure, run by a kind of Catholic network called the Magisterium, and behind the whole oppressive system is a tyrannical God. As Pullman envisions it, the church kidnaps and tortures children and subjects them to hideous experiments in which their bodies are separated fro their souls and the children are turned into zombies who are then left to die. Pullman's trilogy finally ends with God being killed, the collapse of the Calvinist moral rules, and the emergence of sexual freedom.
Profoundly stupid stuff. I was not surprised to discover that Pullman is a big fan of atheist Richard Dawkins. Pullman speaks of religion in terms that could be lifted directly from The God Delusion. Pullman has been quoted saying it is not even possible for God to exist. "Every single religion," he says, "that has a monotheistic God ends up by persecuting other people and killing them because they don't accept him." Actually this is flatly untrue of Judaism and Hindusim and only in a very qualified sense true of Islam and Christianity. It would be more accurate to say that every atheist regime, from Communism to the Nazi regime in Germany, has systematically persecuted and killed its opponents for practicing traditional religion and for not accepting their secular race and class-based ideologies.
Certainly Pullman knows that there is nothing oppressive or murderous in today's Anglicanism. He is free in his native London to believe or not to believe. What is it then about religion that he's so strongly opposed to? For Pullman, as for many atheists, the problem with Christianity seems mostly to focus on sexual freedom. Reviewing Pullman's work in The Atlantic Monthly, Hanna Rosin writes, "The most curious aspect of Pullman's theology is the primacy he places on teen sexuality...the whole series builds up to a celebration of losing your virginity." So here is Pullman's case against religion. Basically, religion is what asks you to pull your pants up. This may be termed Pelvic Atheism.
True to form, Hollywood has stripped Pullman's movie of its overt anti-religiosity. The evil guys in the Hollywood version are not God's minions but a kind of amorphous Nazi-type dictatorship. Pullman can take solace, however, in the fact that the movie will probably lead a lot of people to read his books. Aren't we fortunate to have an atheist children's novelist whose main objective seems to be to corrupt the minds and morals of the young?
Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 35)
76. The Jews misunderstood this prophecy just as you have.
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Well, dawn, that's because Jews and us atheists are just ignorant, dilusional and foolish, whereas you and your fellow enlightened Christians are intelligent and wise. You see things clearly the way they are and there is no chance in Heaven or on Earth that you may be mistaken. You are better than all of us. All hail to you!
emma at 12:53PM on Dec 17th 2007
77. Wow. I never said I was any better than anyone emma. I was not trying to be unkind. If you are an Atheist why would you defend the Jewish take on prophecy since Jews believe in God then they must also be dillusional from your point of view. You need not defend the Jewish people from me, I have nothing but commpassion for them or you for that matter. Can you not discuss a matter without being nasty?
dawn at 1:00PM on Dec 17th 2007
78. Oh how fortunate "the jews" for your compassion.
Richard at 1:01PM on Dec 17th 2007
79. Dawn @ 74:
"Strange, when good things happen: people get the credit but when bad things happen: God gets the credit."
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Not true. When a prayer is answered, god supposedly granted it. However, when a prayer is not answered, "god has a plan." God either "saves" grandma from breast cancer, or god kills grandma because he "has a plan." God either "saves" an infant in the hospital, or god kills the infant for "his plan."
Break Time at 1:02PM on Dec 17th 2007
80. ATHEIST
Reply to: Is it not interesting that the big bang was the brain child of a Belgian priest-physicist (Le Maître)and a Russian Soviet physicist (Gamov)?
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Not very interesting at all.
The Big Bang is REAL. The education or background of the people who understood what they were seeing.... seems unimportant.
Christians have been taught to ignore reality in favor of their Imaginary world. Christianity is a disease that dumbs down their victims.
I've never met a Christian who was truly intelligent. I attended a lecture by William Lane Craig at UCLA and I wouldn't let the guy sub for one of my classes. I asked him ONE question about demonic possession and he got so flustered, all he could do is repeat two pages of stuff he had memorized. He was unable to THINK.
Christians are like that. They brag about how smart they are, but when put to the test, their brains refuse to work.
reply to: I have good friends who are in either camp and of various faiths. We genuinely like and respect each other, including our varying perspectives - it's a dialogue of discovery.(end)
I haven't met them, of course.
But the CORE belief of an Atheist is that God does not exist.
When they see a Christian who "believes" that a God is going to judge us based on whether we accept Jesus as a Savior.... the atheists think you're a fool. A gullible fool.
they might not say it, but that's what they think.
The next time, listen to the way they ask you questions about your faith. Like they're talking to a child who isn't smart enough to understand.
William Hays at 1:05PM on Dec 17th 2007
81.
Dawn, I'm afraid I am going to disagree, but since you but yourself civilly I will reciprocate.
People blame others for not taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Some times this is a legitimate blame. Other times it is transference from us no willing to take responsibility for yourselves. I don't blame God for anything because he doesn't exist. I might as well blame Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. So I blame human beings for bad things when I feel they should be held responsible for them. I don't go looking for some supernatural scapegoat.
Now, if God DID exist, yes I would be utterly furious with him and want him held responsibily both for the injuries of nature, the intolerance of his followers, and the harm that occurs in ever day life. To allow pain and suffering to occur when you have the power to halt it is irresponsible at least and monsterous at the most.
You make a point that blaming God would be like jailing a parent for the act of their child. Well what if that parent was in a position to stop the crime of their child? As in they know for certain that the crime would take place and did nothing to stop it? Suddenly the culpability is a lot greater than simply being the unwitting parent, isn't it?
God doesn't exist, but people who believe in him do. It's not their belief that concerns me. Rather, it's what they do with their belief. That, to me, is the crux of the issue. People who promote charity and tolerance and forgiveness are held in high esteem by me, whether they do so due to religious teachings or to other philosophical values. Often that's not the case, but some times I do find christians who tolerate my lesbianism because "Jesus forgave all kinds of sinners so who am I to judge?" It is these people who redeem christianity in my eyes. I'll never believe it, but I also won't hold the faith of those who do in contempt.
Also, I think you're quite wrong. When good things happen, people always thank God. As if God went out of his way to make things happen for their benefit rather than simple luck of probability. When people do good things, they almost never thank the generosity of humans helping other humans. It's hard for them to even recognize it without some religious excuse.
Somber at 1:06PM on Dec 17th 2007
82. Philip Pullman corrupts the minds and morals of the young? They said the same thing about Socrates. Thank God (pun intended) that we don't have to hear about him nowadays. Furthermore, if you bothered to do a little bit of research, you'd find that while Pullman may be an atheist, his books are more anti-fundamentalist than anti-religion or anti-Christianity for that matter. Even Rowan Williams, the current archibishop of Canterbury, has endorsed Pullman's books, sharing this same viewpoint. I know, I know, he's got some (gasp!) liberal views, but he's still a Christian and a man of the cloth for that matter. That's got to score him at least a few points with you, Dinesh.
David at 1:08PM on Dec 17th 2007
83. It's been 2000 years already, and it's still all amess. How much more faith do we have to put into this "plan" before it starts to pay out?
Mokele-Mbembe at 1:07PM on Dec 17th 2007
84. Well put William Hays.
Richard at 1:07PM on Dec 17th 2007
85. ATHEIST
Reply to: 76. If you are an Atheist why would you defend the Jewish take on prophecy since Jews believe in God then they must also be dillusional from your point of view. (end)
Oh, come on. Please.
Here is the verse from the Old Testament.
"For out of you, Bethlehem, will come one who will rule Israel."
Are you going to repeat and repeat and repeat your nonsense that this verse describes Jesus?
That Jesus was the Messiah predicted in this verse?
When did Jesus rule Israel?
Step outside your Imaginary World for a second and READ the verse. (And I'm saying that because I've read exactly the same Christian nonsense from three other Christians on these boards.)
Learn to READ. Then, read it.
William Hays at 1:09PM on Dec 17th 2007
86. Somber; where I saw racism in Lord of the Rings was not between the dwarves, elves, orcs, men, etc.. but in the different nations of men. The Men of the West were the good guys and the swarthy easterners, the Khadish, the Easterlins, the Haradrim and the Umbar Pirates were the ones under the influce of Saruon.
I think Tolkien was an Orientophobe (if that's a word).
Ryan Anderson at 1:09PM on Dec 17th 2007
87. Lol. Dinesh maybe you next blog could be "The Irony of Atheists Arguing the Superior Logic of Jews Over Christians".
Blaming the Christians for Hitlers actions against the Jews on one hand and then despising Christian's caring for Jews on the other. Make up your double minds will you.
dawn at 1:11PM on Dec 17th 2007
88. Isn't it funny when a team of doctors pour hours of labor into saving emergency patients, and when the patients have recovered they thank God?
Mokele-Mbembe at 1:12PM on Dec 17th 2007
89. Hmmm "Pelvis Athesim." What a steaming hot cup of stupid this is.
All we missed was calling for a book burning and D'Idiot would have hit the God-Nazi Trifecta. Oh and even though all sorts of others have pointed this out, it bears repeating: HITLER CONSIDERED HIMSELF CHRISTIAN. He thought he was just perfecting God's Work.
Pullman's work may be open to free-will, but by no means is it condoning mad-sex. Only God-Nazis seem to be confused about that definition.
Tim at 1:12PM on Dec 17th 2007
90. Mr. Hays-
It doesn't say WHEN the one will rule Israel.
Josiejo at 1:12PM on Dec 17th 2007