Microsoft Word final-current Developments at the Intersection of British Children-online-version doc

6.6.2
 
Theology and Ethics 
For many people in modern Western society, religion is losing the strong influence it 
used to have and, consequently, recedes more into the background. The resulting gaps in 
traditional forms of religion are filled increasingly with ethical issues. Even if religion is more 
and more denied its all-embracing importance, humans still have a strong need for spirituality 
and comfort. The philosophical approach of ethics, i.e. moral principles, resembles religion in 
many ways, yet is not based on any dogma. In a way, it can be a more open forum for the 
discussion of moral questions, behaviour and decisions for those who might feel restricted by 
traditional forms of religion of irrefutable nature.
This social development is mirrored in children’s literature, too. The latter used to be 
the
instrument for religious indoctrination of the young and until the middle of the twentieth 
century Christian values were firmly anchored in children’s literature. In his works, Tolkien is 
unobtrusive and less explicit than C.S. Lewis in the religious fantasy The Chronicles of 
Narnia. 
Ever since then, the open presence of religion in children’s fantasy has been waning. 
In recent years, Christian doctrine is more and more substituted by partly very profound 
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Jacques’ Redwall series and Baldry’s Eaglesmount series, both animal fantasies, try to pass on the chivalric 
ideals, too. However, with their stereotypical distinction of good and evil and the overall generalisation, even of 
the main characters, Redwall and Eaglesmount do not exhaust the potential which suggests itself here.

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philosophical discussions of moral values. In our corpus, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials 
trilogy is the best example of this development so far.
The approach of the millennium, with its anxieties, insecurities and doubts in its wake, 
caused a resurgence of spiritual concerns. The cinema adaptations of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia 
novels in 2005 and 2008 and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in 2001-03 fit in well into this 
context. In how much their religious aspect takes second place behind dominating iconoclastic 
action and battle-scenes remains to be discussed elsewhere. While Harry Potter for instance 
fuels the discussion concerning witches, Satanism, occultism, magic and faith,
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Pullman’s 
His Dark Materials
openly and offensively discuss God, religion and ethics on a more 
philosophical level. Despite statements and portrayals very disrespectful of Christian 
traditions and beliefs Pullman’s work is not as contested in public as the mass phenomena 
Harry Potter
. It seems that the most fervent critics have become totally absorbed by 
Rowling’s heptalogy and, in the heat of the moment, overlook more radical works.