Knowledge vs. Organized Religion

The second most prevalent theme in The Dark Materials is that of knowledge vs. religion/ignorance/stupidity. I felt very blasphemous when I wrote that in the margin of the book; just establishing that as a dichotomy made me feel like I was sinning. However, once I thought about it, I realized that it's not really knowledge vs. religion, but vs. organized religion. The most obvious example of this is the war that Lord Asriel wages on the Authority, or since the Authority was apparently in need of euthanization, the war Asriel wages on Metatron and his allies. By the way, I think it is extremely interesting how Megatron was brought down, by Mrs. Coulter's feminine wiles, which have always served her well. "The Regent was a being whose profound intellect had had thousands of years to deepen and strengthen itself, and whose knowledge extended over a million universes. Nevertheless, at the moment he was blinded by his twin obsessions: to destroy Lyra and to possess her mother" (page 844). An angel whose power and knowledge were unequivocable was blinded by the classic male struggle between brain and penis. Megatron's death illustrates that his position was on the wrong side of the dichotomy. Being on the side of organized religion, he was also ignorant, and was thus doomed to die.

Here is an interesting blog that expresses thoughts similar to mine.