His Dark Materials

The author doesn't kill God in the 3rd book, he kills a god. The real God in fantasy books is the one never directly mentioned, who controls everything and makes sure that no matter what goes wrong, things end up the way they're supposed to. The kid who wrote Eragon (Christopher Paolini?) may be an atheist, but he most certainly writes in the same God that Pullman writes in and that Tolkien wrote in.It seems strange that Pullman would get called anti-C.S. Lewis in this thread, because C.S. Lewis was a huge fan of George MacDonald's, and I am quite convinced that George MacDonald would say of Philip Pullman the same thing he said of the skeptics of his day, after wholeheartedly agreeing with something one said: "This passage bears out what I have often said--that I never yet heard a word from one of their way of thinking, which even touched anything I hold."Anyway, the "destiny" God of fantasy books is visible throughout the series, and he doesn't die in the end.Even Patricia McKillip's Riddle Master, with a "High One" subtly moving things in the background, has a yet Higher One, a "Destiny" never directly mentioned, that works all things out for the best.

Hmm. Maybe I'm a sexy atheist. While perhaps guilty of sexy atheism, I have to plead not guilty to this. It's there in fantasy books, and it's really out front, even though it's between the lines. Tolkien probably realized it when he wrote his books, and he wove destiny in on purpose, but the others do it just as much. Gollum is "meant" to survive, because he's needed to finish disposing of the ring.In the same way, the subtle knife goes to the one it's supposed to go to. Will is meant to get it. Who decided that?Eragon is supposed to get the egg. It's clearly not just chance that he was hunting in the spot the egg appeared. Only after he picked up the egg did the dragon choose him.It's not like I have to do any cramming to find these things. They cry out to me. One of my favorite lines in a movie is from The 13th Warrior. I forget the Norseman's name, but he says to Antonio Bandera, "Go dig a hole and hide in it, then, you will not live one minute longer." Admittedly, the Norse were theists, but that attitude is in pretty much all the fantasy novels I have ever read, and I like them, so I read a lot.I would agree that in these books "human beings have the power within them to direct their destiny," but I do not agree that "the destiny of all stems from everyone's individual choices." There's always something intervening to overthrow the will of the evil one and his followers. In the case of HDM, the evil one is the one who dies in the end, and his magisterium lose. Gosh, it's the only kind of God I've got. The other kind doesn't seem to exist to me any more than he does to you, Richard Dawkins, or Philip Pullman.I've been an atheist, crash, though not for very long. The only kind of God that can exist is one that isn't very understandable, and who hides himself often for some unknown reason that bothers pretty much all of us who are willing to look at life around us.

Excuse my posting patterns. I just got back from Myanmar, a 11.5 hour time difference. I'm not sleeping anywhere near normal hours. Hey, I'm still in the fantasy novel realm. I'm not talking about reality here. Whether I have a feeling that there should be a God applies to reality, not fantasy novels. You don't? I can't argue with you, because I don't understand. To me, if something is destined, then some force/power/person destined it. If it is destined, and it overrides all attempts to go against destiny, then that force/power/person who destined it is the Almighty.I've never questioned that. It seems obvious to me.I guess I'm not even saying that destiny mandates the existence of God. In a book where "destiny" causes things to happen, Destiny *is* God.Can you tell me why you don't think so?