Re: WorldCon 2006

On 10 Mar 2006 22:20:41 -0800, J.Pascal wrote:

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

Not to worry, Julie, this is just somebody who's bought in on the
"theocracy" BS the leftists are spreading.

I know some evangelicals who object to science fiction on religious
grounds. Primarily they're objecting to the fact that most SF accepts
evolution and other rationalist viewpoints, although I've heard the notion
Thomas mentioned before (that the far future doesn't exist, because the End
Times are coming). But all the ones I know are acutely aware that free
speech is one of the major things that allows them and their faith to
survive, so they aren't in the least interested in suppressing anything
lest they be suppressed themselves. They might teach their kids to stay
away from it, and the pushier ones might try, once, to discuss the
possibility that it's sinful, but that's as far as it's likely to go.

My co-worker, a deacon in a small evangelical church, and I discussed
Heinlein's /Job/, and the discussion was both civil and interesting. The
main thing he objected to was the final bit, which is specifically
polytheistic and thus anti-Judeo-Christian. He thought the depiction of
Satan was amusing, and looked for (and found!) verses to support Heinlein's
version.

Regards,
Ric
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