Time Travel discussion

You my want to join the November Monthly Book Giveaway thread. Now accepting entries about HIS DARK MATERIALS series, and the science vs. religion debate Mr. Pullman engaged in.

I've moved this thread out of the Book giveaway prize section. That is reserved for Lincoln and John's monthly time travel give-aways.

Thanks for letting us know about his giveaway though.


I am not a Pullman fan as such but I absolutely love the Dark Materials and a couple of other novels he has written.

I found Pullman to have been somewhat direspectful of JK Rowling's success in the past which didnt win me over in terms of how he critised her. Criticising is fine but do so with respect to others. I sensed some hint of jealousy which is uncalled for.


HIs views on religion vs science is fascinating and very much worthy of debate. I largely agree but there is a line to be drawn on how you treat those who have religious faith. You see I would never ever try to shatter other people's faith. I would respect them and actually congratulate them on finding a path that gives them comfort of mind. Why shatter that. No matter what is the truth, having faith in a religion is a mentally therpautic in life. I wish I had one at times. However, there are of course extremists who try to aggressively force their beliefs on others. Now that is so not on!

Very good, Tej. Thanks for the response. I agree with you wholeheartedly. And I would add that, in the end, maybe all that really matters is what you "believe." As you know, America was founded on respect for individual beliefs. I find that a very interesting word to explore, scientifically (the science of believing). Because thoughts and beliefs are very real things that can be examined.

My biggest gripe with Pullman is that he seemed to paint with a very broad brush when it came to his criticisms of religion and the Catholic church. I may have posted this somewhere on this site, but I'll state it again. I think his criticisms have everything to do with people who are in power and how they abuse that power, not about the core doctrine of Christianity.

Having stated all that, I did enjoy THE GOLDEN COMPASS. Very vivid and real.

Thanks again for the post.

I read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy several years ago after someone expressed shock and dismay that I had never read any of the books. I liked The Golden Compass, but was really disappointed in the rest. In fact, if I recall correctly, I was pretty annoyed by the time I finished The Amber Spyglass at having wasted the time to read it.

On the subject of faith, Tej did a great job of describing how I feel on the subject.

On the subject of people in power abusing that power, I thing religion gets an unfair share of criticism on that. Sure, there have been abuses and atrocities perpetrated by religious leaders, but many of the greatest abuses of power and atrocities in history have been carried out by decidedly non-religious regimes.

Vickie wrote: "I read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy several years ago after someone expressed shock and dismay that I had never read any of the books. I liked The Golden Compass, but was really disappointed in..."

Yes, my point as well, Vickie (though I may not have expressed it so clearly). People who seek power will gravitate toward the system in power, whether it be secular or "religious."