Using the Programme Guide of the World
Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland in August 2017 (to which I will
be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on,
rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf
copy of the Programme Guide. The link is provided below…
Religious
Diversity in Fiction
Religious quests are often used in science
fiction and fantasy and - very often - they draw on Christianity. But how about
other religions? How are they used in fiction?
Naomi Libicki: a
science fiction and fantasy short fiction writer who lives in Jerusalem
Mrs. Philippa
Chapman: Authority on eldercare and religious diversity, Church of England
T. Thorn Coyle:
writer of science fiction, fantasy, and alternative history; understands pagan
practice
Brad Lyau: science/fiction
historian (http://www.rawbw.com/~mikeb/BL_SFList.html)
This is a strange
statement. What kind of proof does the person who generated the subject of this
panel offer for the statement that “religious quests…in science fiction and
fantasy…very often…draw on Christianity.”?
Certainly Lewis’
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS, and Donaldson’s THOMAS
COVENANT books do (though only tangentially), Steele’s COYOTE books certainly
(but, IMO, only to create sympathetic dramatic attention between oppressive
conservatives and heroic…non-conservatives) as do David Weber’s SAFEHOLD series
which draw on Christian hymns (but my objection is the same for Steele’s COYOTE
books); but Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS, Herbert’s DUNE books, Rowling’s HARRY
POTTER books (though there may be pseudo-Christian architecture and ritual),
and Alastair Reynold’s REVELATION SPACE novels, have markedly not-Christian
worldviews. Quite a few feature no gods at all – the STAR TREK universe is the
best-known a-theist society, after that, Cherryh’s ATEVI books, McDevitt’s
several universes, Czerneda doesn’t touch on religion as far as I can remember.
While none of the
above (except the Lewis and Tolkien books) are specifically “quest” series,
certainly all of them contain characters who set off on quests of one form or
another.
So what was this
discussion like? Was it Christian-bashing?
I DO have a friend
who was there and he had this to say: “I did make it to that one, but I'm
afraid I don't remember much. Looking at the names of the panelists, I remember
one was a pagan, one was a lay minister in the Anglican Church, and the
moderator was an Orthodox Jew. There was one other, but I don't remember what,
if any, his affiliation was. It was a decent conversation, but nothing new or
earth-shattering. – Paul Foth, 10/15/17”
WHEW! It was good
to hear they didn’t waste time in venerational hair-splitting (as in, “Paganism
is WAY better than Christianity” or “If there was no Christianity there would
be no war on Earth” or “Christians stole all of their pathetic religion from
the druids, indigenous peoples, and Babylonian pantheons”…)
So then, after
poking around at the books listed above, I thought I’d add the following from
my collections: While Robert A. Heinlein himself was not a Christian,
strictures of publishing for young people in the 1950s dictated at least a
non-aggressive attitude (his adult novels are different stories); the Pern
books of Anne McCaffrey have no religion at all; the UPLIFT books of David Brin
have multiple religions and are THE driving forces in the series; the DERYNI
series by Katherine Kurtz are deeply intertwined with Christianity; Kristine
Kathryn Rusch’s THE DISAPPEARED science fiction mystery novels occasionally use
alien religions but not (that I can recall) Christianity; Tobias Buckell’s
XENOWEALTH books seem rooted in Mesoamerican religion; Zelazney’s CHRONICLES OF
AMBER have some Christian threads, but more “Celtic...Norse mythology,
and Arthurian legend…Philosophical texts...Plato's Republic…and the classical
problems of metaphysics, virtuality, solipsism, logic, possible worlds,
probability, doubles and essences are also repeatedly reflected on.” (From the
Wikipedia article) As well, the science fiction of some writers has been
heavily influenced by the decidedly a-Christian worldview of the Singularity
(the works of Charles Stross, Iain M. Banks, Vernor Vinge); Peter F. Hamilton’s
next series will feature aliens in search of their god, though the VOIDSHIP
series didn’t seem to have much to do with Christianity.
So – while it’s
true that several novels and series draw from Christianity, I’d say that in my
experience it’s far more evenly split and may in fact, lean more toward what I
would call alternative venerations…
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