The Baha'i Studies Listserv Yes. That's an important piece. But I think there is more to the novels than just that. In the later novels, the Authority (presumably "God") and his forces led by the angel Metatron are the primary enemies. And at one point one of the "good guys" is explicitly described as playing the role of the serpent for one of the alternate universes. And the Magisterium which supernaturally / metaphysically abuses children by splitting them from their familiars are aligned (at least in intention) with the Authority.
I mean, Pullman wasn't just a creating "pc" version of Narnia in terms of the cultural/racial issues. He's highly critical of Christianity itself and I think that is definitely expressed through the series. On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 9:23 AM, Sen & Sonja <[email protected]> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > On 17 Jun 2010 at 8:41, Gilberto Simpson wrote: >> I'm curious about how you dealt with the "controversial" aspects. Was >> the book anti-religious? anti-God? > > Not at all, Pullman speaks of an imagined world in which spiritual > aspects of a person are visible in a "familiar" taking the form of an > animal, and relates this world to others in which the fundamental > laws are different - our own, in which spiritual realities are > invisible would be just one. By making the spiritual visible, the > misuse of the religious when it is entwined with power is also > highlighted. That's an important lesson for children to learn. Then > it gets interesting, because there are doors between one world and > the other, and children who go through them > > Sen > > > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:[email protected] > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
