well, yes, Eddings did abuse the magic quite a bit when he wanted to, but there is something to be said for that as well - the fact that magic (for many fantasy readers) is magic and can do the impossible, make the impossible everyday almost. I remember being amused in the Elenium/ Tamuli when the knights discovered that there had never been a need to go to other "pagan" gods to get magic, since magic in that world was a granting of prayers. This, of course, upset a magician whose speshulness had just taken a nosedive. Eddings had a pretty loose take on magic, in all his books, and that's fine by me. I'm pretty casual when it comes to magic systems myself, readingwise.
I'm an atheist, but I adore magic in fantasy, not because of any belief in it or religion, but because I find the idea of a world where theoretically anything is possible exciting. I love reading and learning about that world and its own particular limitations and majesties.
because this belief that there is a (or several) all powerful beings that watch over them usually means that they strive to be a better person,
with all due respect, religious people (of whatever kind) often make this statement, yet myself and other atheists would say that we try to be good people too. Being godless does not equate us as being immoral. We take our morals and ethics from ourselves and human conduct. You could say that, as cynical as some of us might get, we believe in humanity.
But we are not default immoral, and we do not feel the need to have supernatural agents watching over us to make us behave or strive to be better people.
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Date: 2008-04-30 09:56 am (UTC)I remember being amused in the Elenium/ Tamuli when the knights discovered that there had never been a need to go to other "pagan" gods to get magic, since magic in that world was a granting of prayers.
This, of course, upset a magician whose speshulness had just taken a nosedive.
Eddings had a pretty loose take on magic, in all his books, and that's fine by me. I'm pretty casual when it comes to magic systems myself, readingwise.
I'm an atheist, but I adore magic in fantasy, not because of any belief in it or religion, but because I find the idea of a world where theoretically anything is possible exciting. I love reading and learning about that world and its own particular limitations and majesties.
because this belief that there is a (or several) all powerful beings that watch over them usually means that they strive to be a better person,
with all due respect, religious people (of whatever kind) often make this statement, yet myself and other atheists would say that we try to be good people too.
Being godless does not equate us as being immoral. We take our morals and ethics from ourselves and human conduct.
You could say that, as cynical as some of us might get, we believe in humanity.
But we are not default immoral, and we do not feel the need to have supernatural agents watching over us to make us behave or strive to be better people.