Letters | Mark Gibbens responds to "Philip Pullman: of the Devil's Party?" by Jane Hastings

After the somewhat blinkered reviews by many Christian organisations, Jane's was rather a breath of fresh air. However, my experience of the church as a Catholic is not a million miles away from the church that Pullman depicts.

Jane wrote: "The lying fanaticism, the delight in torture, the mania to control and a pathetic, whimpering god - all images so far from my faith reality that they fail to resonate."

Whilst my experience of the (Catholic) church isn't this bad, there are many aspects of it which I find deeply disturbing. Among these are it's continued awkwardness, ineptness and repressiveness on sexuality issues, and a rather dubious role in world politics (e.g. a less than ethical investment policies). Though I am still basically faithful to my church, I
find that on an organisational level it often appears corrupted by power. And there are plenty of historical episodes (the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, even some aspects of the Reformation) which are very much like the church Pullman has invented in his trilogy.

I wonder if Jane is confusing the notions of "faith" and "church" in her review. On a good day, I experience my faith as sharp pangs of hardly-perceived truth: things can just feel "right", or "of God". At their best, I guess our churches should exist to nurture this faith, but I think Pullman hits uncomfortably near the mark with his depiction of a church which has become a mechanism of control.

I thoroughly enjoyed the HDM trilogy but the cost has been a lot of uncomfortable thinking. I'm now struggling as the boundaries of "faith" and "church" shift within my own life. I don't think Christians should try to get around the difficulties posed by Pullman by trying to ignore the bits they don't think apply. I think the trilogy is a call to all of us to look to the inherent qualities of systems of power, and wonder if the hierarchies we've created are really doing God's work or somebody else's.

Personally, I got through Pullman's disparaging remarks about the church by trying to imagine a world in which God had become a dangerous notion that was being suppressed by a church that had inadvertently put the Devil into
His position. But we should remember that when Pullman talks of the God and the Devil, he is an atheist and is really exploring notions and concepts rather than realities. Though he might have said, "I am of the Devil's party and I know it", he's not really promoting Satanism. How could he be when he upholds the virtues of humility, freedom, self-sacrifice, love and truth in the HDM trilogy. Perhaps in this respect, Jane might have slightly misrepresented Pullman in her review?

But thanks for it anyway - it got me thinking (and writing overly-long emails!).

Best wishes,

Mark Gibbens (a new subscriber to CounterCulture.org.uk)