As for what it's against - the story is against those who pervert and misuse religion, or any other kind of doctrine with a holy book and a priesthood and an apparatus of power that wields unchallengeable authority, in order to dominate and suppress human freedoms.
Philip PullmanYou going to be a scientist when you grow up?” That sort of question deserved a blank stare, which it got.
Philip PullmanWhen you live for many hundreds of years, you know that every opportunity will come again.
Philip Pullman