In my blog post prior to Thursday's class I wrote about the manipulative power that religion may have and how the novel exposes this, but then after the class discussion I re-read the apendicies and developed a different concept on the role that religion had in the novel. At the end of Appendix II Herbert discusses why the Fremen are so religious and more importantly why their religion is predominantly based on mysticism. The Fremen live in a very harsh climate that is hard to survive in. Religion helps the Fremen derive meaning from their experiences and deal with the harsh realities of their life. They must be very vigilant and rigid in many aspects of their lives. For example, if the Fremen are not careful about the way that they walk in the desert then they are at risk of being destroyed by the worms. The establishment and adherence to rules help the Fremen survive in the desert. The religion of the Fremen is deeply rooted in mysticism (including prophecies, omens, and the Missionaria Protectiva) and may also serve as a creative outlet or a break for the Fremen from the rigidity of their daily existence.

At the end of class Professor Jackson posed the question, "to what extent can religion substitute for reason or can reason substitute for religion?". I considered this question in terms of the almost necessity of religion in Fremen society (because it helps maintain rigidity and provides an outlet for creativity), the reverence that the Fremen give to Keynes, and the end of Appendex III that asks readers if maybe there is a higher being (God) involved in the events that occur. It seems as though religion and reason can not be interchanged but that they are always linked to each other. Religion seems to give the Fremen an outlet for their creative energies and gives them a reason to believe that their existence is not futile. In terms of Paul it does not really make reasonable sense that a teenager that stumbles into the desert is the Muad'Dib that will save the planet of Arrakis, but if religion is a tool for the Fremen then they need Paul to be the Muad'Dib and to help them. Possibly, by the Fremen believing in Paul he is able to fufill the prophecy. Keynes, as a scientist, was the epitome of reason because he found a way to change the environmental composition of Arrakis. However, Keynes failed to carry out his plans where religion did not fail (religion was still present in society after Keynes died and the prophecy of the Muad'Dib was fufilled). Finally, Appendex III suggests that there was a higher being that knew and manipulated the events that occurred and even manipulated the Bene Gesserit who believed themselves to be the ultimate creators of events. It seems to me that the existence of a higher being would explain and provide a reason why Paul was able to become both a spiritual and religious leader even when the Bene Gesserit believed that he was not fufilling the prophecy. A higher being explains events that beings such as the Fremen and Bene Gesserit do not understand, thus God becomes reason through organized religion.