Food For Thought

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Y'all may have seen this already, but the Boston Globe has a pretty good article on His Dark Materials: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/11/25/god_in_the_dust/?page=full

I am definitely an atheist, but I still believe in the Universe, and I can see where she's going with this concept--it's a kind of god that makes more sense to me, which probably means it's somehow heretical. I remember thinking along her lines myself when I read the books--that it wouldn't be hard to make them theistic, although he clearly didn't mean them that way. I even guessed that Hollywood would take this route to avoid the untouchable concept that maybe atheists aren't all hardened bitter immoral jerks: that this evil church was a false church supplanting some true god.

Also, of course the crazy religious people* would be up in arms. We can't have our kids reading anything that might make them think, after all. Atheist kids are perfectly welcome to come see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, even if it clashes with their ideology because the Christians agree with it.** But we can't have those damn atheists enjoying stories that agree with THEM while the CHRISTIANS are left out. That's immoral.

What cracks me up is that they just now seem to have really noticed this series, and it's with the damn movies, which will amaze me if they've left ANY possible interpretation of anti-religion in it. *sigh* The power of Hollywood.


Also: DAMMITALL, I WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE. WHY MUST I WAIT OVER A WEEK AFTER IT COMES OUT?! I am GOING to find a theater here, see if I don't.


*As opposed to the not-crazy religious people, and I'd like to thank all of those.

**Unless they're the frothy-mouthed Christians who think it's somehow WRONG because everything except their own incoherent interpretation is correct.

Comments

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

Totally agreed on all counts! I hate people who keep comparing the Narnia movie to this one and saying that, well, Narnia is OK because it's all POSITIVE religious values, but THIS, oh, THIS is just negative slander from those damn atheists!

Uuuhh, have they ever READ Prince Caspian(the next Narnia movie, just like the next Dark Materials books are more religious...)? It's chock full of hatred and anti-atheist/Muslim stuff, in a horribly blatant way. Great big WTF.

[i-blaze-the.livejournal.com]

It must be slightly harder where you live to ignore these crazy religious types I guess*, not that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the place when I was over there. What I've always found works is what I use on Jack [censored], he's a very ridiculous man, and therefor I refuse to believe he exists and that nondescript inert atheism put him on earth as a test of sanity.

*Well, I say that but apparently where I sit right now is basically in the captial for Islamic extremists in the UK if you believe the media. I've not met one yet... then I've not been to the local Mosque either or gone inside those old factories where there's strange illegal activity going on but I think that's more drugs related. Either way I stay the hell away from that place at night.

[medusasowl.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a strange policy of anything that agrees with anyone else or is inclusive of non-Christians is ANTI-Christian. I've never understood this. Kind of like the phrase "Happy Holidays" meaning "war on Christmas"... because even though Christmas IS a holiday, recognizing that not everyone celebrates the same is somehow an attack or something...

I dunno. It's sad and hurts my brain. Their way or the highway... I'm glad not all Christians are like that, but I wish the sane ones were more vocal than the loonies.