[FoRK] The Golden Compass: AWEsome!

[Jeff Bone]

On Dec 2, 2007, at 6:47 PM, Lion Kimbro wrote:

>   Anti-Evolutionary-Spirituality Atheists, beware, you're just being
>   set up for a trap.

Blah, blah, blah.

First off, Lion, the discussion around here re: the problems of faith  
--- the arguments, positions, and the sentiments expressed ---  
predate your participation on this list by years and only  
tangentially recently involve your wacky whatever-it-is you're  
proposing to add to the bestiary of "spirituality."  Don't flatter  
yourself by thinking that those sounding off against religiosity in  
general (well, me anyway) are targeting you in particular.  Though  
truth be told, I do indeed have even more contempt for the utter  
brain damage of the New Age than I do for, say, the Christians ---  
and your random melange of applied vaguenesses resembles nothing so  
much as the New Age psuedoscientific mumblings of, for example, my  
erstwhile stalker's delusions.

>   * if you're an atheist, I think this is a beautiful introduction
>     to some of the key ideas of an emerging spirituality that
>     is predicated on science and reality, ...

Again, the most laughable thing about all of this is that you  
*actually* appear to believe this.

This isn't an "introduction" to anything, Lion, other than the story  
that Pullman seeks to tell.  Pullman is not creating a religion,  
quasi-religion, or any other such thing.  The stuff described in the  
book (dust, traversable multiverse, artifacts, etc.) is *fantasy* ---  
fictional devices used in telling a story.  The story happens to be,  
by Pullman's own admission, a vehicle for a particular political and  
generally anti-religious message;  it's certainly not intended as a  
blueprint for anything as mind-numbingly, ridiculously, epically  
oxymoronic as "an emerging spirituality that is predicated on science  
and reality."  (Makes one want to run to the shelter of such sensible  
"scientific" expositions as Dancing Wu Li, Tao of, and so on.  Cough.)

You've really outdone yourself, here.

Having said all that, I'm sure the movie's quite good;  I thoroughly  
enjoyed the books, am looking forward to the movies and would have  
seen the sneak last night myself had I not had tickets to Blue Man  
Group.

>     http://www.spiritualatheism.org/

How silly.

jb