Hooked on 'Dune'
I'm reading the third in three prequels to the sprawling science fiction epic "Dune," written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, and based on characters created Brian Herbert's late father, Frank Herbert.
Despite that awful 1983 movie adaptation by David Lynch -- memorable for its stunning visuals but forgettable for its leaden dialogue, its incomprehensiblity and for putting Sting in a blue plastic diaper -- the Dune universe is full of provocative ideas about science and religion.
I could buy the notion of wars over a resource essential to transportation and found only on a harsh desert planet (sound familiar?). However, one idea in the book (first published in 1965) that I initially had trouble swallowing was that man still could be so driven by religion to do cruel, inhuman things in the year 10,191.
I am not so skeptical now.
Comments (1)
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I think it's an oversimplification to say that anyone would do anything because of their religion. In the book "Dune" -- as in real life -- cruel acts take place for political and econimic reasons, and religion is used as a means to "justify" them.
At most, I think you could say that when it comes to violent actions, religion provides a framework that will encourage followers to exhibit less socially-instilled inhibitions of basic instinctual human behavior.
Posted on August 11, 2005 4:15 PM