Re: WorldCon 2006 (was: The Mohammud Cartoons)


Thomas Armagost wrote:
In message <Xns9781EF3849FF9quackandflap@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Matthew B. Tepper" <oyfl@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> "Thomas Armagost" <silly@xxxxxxxx>

[chomp]

> Of course, the building in which I was born is now owned by a
> religious group started by a certain science fiction writer
> whose first name was Lafayette, so I'd better stop right there.

If memory serves, he announced his plans at a WorldCon. He was on a
first name basis with grandmasters of the Golden Age.

>> It's sobering to realize that humanistic sci-fi is sacrilegious to
>> some Christian, Jewish and Islamic fundamentalists. Sci-fi
>> stories are antithetical to their values, as is the science itself.
>
>> A sci-fi story that took place in a universe created by the Supreme
>> Being would probably constitute an even greater sacrilege.
>
>> Will a panel at WorldCon take on this topic? Or will it be
>> delicately avoided? I'd be appreciative if you provided pointers
>> to novelists who have written on this subject. Potential
>> panelists.

I'm crossposting these questions to rec.arts.sf.composition and
rec.arts.sf.written but feel free to post your followup to any one of
the three newsgroups.

I'm afraid I don't understand the questions. They seem like something
I'd be interested in, since I'm essentially a fundamentalist (in the
doctrinal
sense) protestant Christian science fiction writer.

What topic are you wondering will be on a panel at World Con? The
famous cartoons? Censorship? Or the fact that some things in
some SF books are disapproved of by some people in some religions.
And what does L.Ron Hubbard have to do with any of it?

I don't find humanistic SF a sacrilege... I find it unconvincing. If
the
theme of the book is to prove that a secular outlook is correct and
a faith outlook benighted, I feel preached at, and unconvinced.
Preachy
books tend to be poor, though the choir usually doesn't notice or care.
If the book suggests that the *people* had all given up religion, I
tend to
doubt the author's omniscience... because while individuals may, people
don't behave that way.

And since speculative fiction with gods is so common, I don't know
why a universe with a Supreme Being would be sacrilegious. Why
would you think so? Unless the novel is proporting to be something
other than fiction... that this is what God is, that this is *true*...
why
should fundamentalists care particularly that the SF universe has a
Supreme Being?

While I've known people who had religious objections to science fiction
it wasn't, in the least, the science that they objected to. I think
one
person just felt that while there wasn't anything wrong with reading
it,
that it took time that could be used for religious service. At least
one
other person felt uncomfortable with the disconnect between the near
future return of Christ and stories set in the extreme far future.

Is it just religion in science fiction that you wonder will be
addressed
on panels at World Con? Or something else?

-Julie

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: WorldCon 2006
    ... sense) protestant Christian science fiction writer. ... books tend to be poor, though the choir usually doesn't notice or care. ... If the book suggests that the *people* had all given up religion, ... While I've known people who had religious objections to science fiction ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Fording the Gap of Religion and Literature
    ... > of modern literature from Maryland University. ... > I've found through my plentiful readings of SF and Fantasy, ... > other organized religion is just a total peice of crap made to control ... So your fantasies are justified by science fiction and fantasy? ...
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  • Re: dominant religions
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    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Materialism versus a sense of wonder
    ... It seems to be a common assumption that if you don't have faith in any religion, then you must be a materialist, doomed to live in the world without any sense of wonder about the big issues. ... Once you start putting faith in a God, or a Source of the universe, or a Purpose to the universe, you then limit your sense of wonder. ... I've said before that I find science fiction to be the place where the greatest universal discoveries can be found. ... Thus, I found it very interesting that when Arthur C Clarke died, he expressed such strong anti-religious sentiments. ...
    (rec.music.dylan)
  • Re: Chronicles of [etc] - New Website Address - [url]
    ... Terry Brooks - Shannara books ... of Destiny books are sort of like spiritual fantasy in the pre- ... the head with a blunt message about your religion. ... pre-existing universe the angels come from (at least, ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
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