But Pullman said the Narnia books contained "a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice" and "not a trace" of Christian charity.
"It’s not the presence of Christian doctrine I object to so much as the absence of Christian virtue," he added.
"The highest virtue – we have on the authority of the New Testament itself – is love, and yet you find not a trace of that in the books."
Pullman’s acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy tells of a battle against the church and a fight to overthrow God.
Is Pullman irritated because the film version of his own novels proceeds in fits and starts? (I’m sort of fuzzy at this point, but as I recall, the first real script I heard about was going to drop the "Drop Dead God" angle. But then I heard a new director and/or writer had been brought on board. I have no idea where it stands now.)
Me on Pullman, the author who is ignored by the Potter-obssessed, but is far more problematic because he has an explicit agenda to subvert theism.
A First Things review, critical, far more learned and subtle than mine.
(Do read the comments at the end of the BBC piece, too.)
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