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by Kevin Pauley
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB
According to Mr. Pullman’s point of view, one of the clear indications of the Church’s evil lies in the fact that the Church doesn’t want you to grow up or know sexual pleasure. The scientists that are directed by the “Board of Oblations” work to separate the kidnapped children from their daemons through a process called “intercision.”
Intercision strangely resembles castration, which is a process in which a young boy’s testicles are cut off so that he never reaches male maturity. Intercision also reminds one of female circumcision, in which a girl’s genitals are damaged so that she cannot fully experience sexual pleasure.
Historically speaking, both of these practices are religious in origin and stem from a false religious demand to prevent sexual pleasure. Thus, intercision is both religious and anti-sexual. In Pullman’s books, it is performed by the General Oblation Board, which is a branch of the Church, and is intended to prevent the onset of “upsetting emotions” and allow children to grow up without ever feeling passion.
Pullman’s writings indicate that in this pursuit of asexuality the Church is hypocritical. Ms. Coulter is head of the Gobblers, or the General Oblation Board. She works for the University and the Church, but had an affair with Lord Asriel while still with her husband. Through this character, Pullman paints the Church as hypocritical and manipulative.
On his official website’s faq, Pullmans has this to say about the Church: “I don't know whether there's a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say. I think it's perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don't know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away. Actually, if he is keeping out of sight, it's because he's ashamed of his followers and all the cruelty and ignorance they're responsible for promoting in his name. If I were him, I'd want nothing to do with them.”
Pullman’s hatred for a hypocritical church is only surpassed by his hatred for an authoritative or dogmatic church. In his books, authoritative God is evil. All three books describe an on-going war against God who is evil, at worst, or senile and irrelevant, at best.
Further, Pullman indicates that the only way out of the problems sin presents is to kill God. The Church authorities in Lyra’s world equate Dust with original sin and try to eliminate it by separating the children from their daemons, thus eliminating the human capacity to sin. But Pullman suggests that the capacity to sin is essential to the very idea of humanity. Without that capacity, humans would be zombies.
So the only way to deal with the troubles of sin is to kill God, something the children accidentally do at the end of the story. Notice again how humans are elevated and God is denigrated. Humans do not even have to MEAN to kill God. They are so powerful and He is so weak that they can do it accidentally, much as one steps on an ant by mistake.
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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