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Really? I saw Dune 2 more as the Spice allowing people to see the future, and the genetic difference between Paul and the freemen letting him survive the worm piss.

He never planned to resist, instead he took the superstition of the people and used it to his own advantage.

Yep! I’m strongly religious in a weird way (my mother HEAVILY drilled in a sense of suspicion and what she called “using the brain God gave you) so maybe that’s why I fixated on the religious imagery and compared it to my own understanding of faith and the greater world of religious, specific Christian interpretations

@Anon2024 my main points will be outlined in a series of comments :

1. The lack of a perceivable God-figure worshipped by the masses
1. a. The lack of a perceivable moral code resembling any sort of philosophical exploration of human existence outside of a tool-like state

The human soul is heavily valued as seen by the untouched pool of human water which would have given much needed resources to the Fremen if utilized. The water of outsiders is seen as corrupted by chemicals.

I was also raised religiously, except what was drilled into me was fear of false gods and false messiahs.

so my view was probably based on that.

I do believe this water is analogous to the human soul and corruption of state.

The water of Fremen is considered holy, as it is derived from their own. The water of outsiders is corrupted. Ok, simple enough.

However, the water of Fremen would be similar to that of the outsiders, given that they consume the outsider’s water.

Compare this to the adoption of the outsider’s religion due to the influence of the Bene Gessert missionaries.

The religion is deemed pure by the Fremen fundamentalists, but it is not at all a concept of their own people.

@Anon2024 I do agree the religion was just a tool of the Bene Gesserit, but I believe Paul’s choices gave credibility it was not due, transforming it to a religion directly opposite the fundamental tenets of Earth-religions.

I do not trust that Spice gave the ability to perceive the future, which is where my take gets spicy lol

Now, assuming a God figure exists, a Creator, that creator has insofar been abandoned conceptually. Religious pining focuses on the coming of the Messiah, not the fulfillment of God’s will. This instills a sense of waiting hated by Chaani (Zendaya) and the Northern Fremen

This waiting, as well as the prophecy set up to perfectly match the Bene Gesserit, are man-made tools to control the population.

The Fremen highly value purity of the soul, but also ritual violence (slaying of former leaders). This seems unique to them rather than instilled by the Bene Gesserit missionaries. This ritual violence is upset by Paul, which according to modern sensibilities appears to be a positive change.

Paul presents as a Messiah figure in a religion without a God, in a position where he, but not the followers, recognize the religion as merely a manipulative tool.

Now, I believe this positions Paul as God of the religion, rather than the Messiah. The Messiah in the Christian belief system emphasized human-ness aligned with divinity, not a one-man show.

Moving on to my next point:
2. the inheritability of the divine right and prophecy as genetic manipulation and transference of generational pain

I don’t know about that. Our takes on Christianity are probably far too different. However the I think the important thing is the authors take on religion of the original dune novels.

Frank Herbert was raise Catholic but wasn’t a devout Catholic, so it could be said he had a negative view on religion to begin with.