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Happy birthday, Gary! Now I don't at all consider your post an indulgence. I think Pullman is an important figure for we on the left. The review of O'Collins' book attacking Pullman is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/12/priest-accuses-philip-pullman-christianity By the way, Gary, when you say you're not going to read the book I certainly hope you mean O'Collins, not Pullman. In any case I'll read O'Collins because the ways in which people respond to Pullman I think are important. Because it's true, Pullman is against BOTH churches as institutions AND against the concept of god(s). I may have mentioned previously that Pullman has purposely done yeoman's work in countering the influence of C.S. Lewis -- and in fact after reading the Scoundrel Christ I was inspired to finally tackle Lewis's science fiction trilogy -- and it's every bit as dangerous and reactionary as his apologist writings and the Narnia Chronicles (although not nearly as well-written as the latter). Finally, as for Pullman's emphasis on "true stories" -- as opposed to the "myths which are true" believed in by Lewis and Tolkien -- contra O'Collins, Pullman is much closer to historical reality, and when that's indeterminable, perfectly within his rights to create his own fictional version of an already fictional life. (See Engels and Kautsy. See also Carl Sandburg or Kurt Vonnegut) PS: Love your quip at the end! Andy On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 6:46 PM, Gary MacLennan <gary.maclenn...@gmail.com> wrote: > > What part of the word "divine" does our good Jesuit father not understand? > If Jesus were divine then he would be always and everywhere able to correct > misrepresentations or has he run out of lightning bolts and fiery hell > holes? > > Ah that feels better... > ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
