Comments on: Christian Science Fiction

By: Republibot 3.0

Republibot 3.0 — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:10:06 +0000

That’s a wild – and pretty funny – generalization. Certainly I’ve had some run ins with the “Children of the Corn” types, but speaking as a Christian myself I can say they annoy most of us as much as they annoy most of you.

On a related topic, my website recently did a roundtable discussion on this very topic, trying to reach a consensus as to whether “Christian SF” is even possible, much less valid and/or desireable. We went out of our way to be fair and evenhanded, and included an atheist and a religious Jew. The results were entertaining and a bit surprising.

If any of you are interested, check it out here http://www.republibot.com/content/roundtable-discussion-6-christian-science-fiction

By: Charltan

Charltan — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:20:14 +0000

The Christian Filmmamkers are a bunch of home-schooled kids. They look like the Children of the corn. Bad movies, even worse actors and horrible stories….Yech

By: Republibot 3.0

Republibot 3.0 — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:12:04 +0000

I’m gonna’ side with Kevin here. While the Christian SF I’ve read is mostly horrible, it’s a big genre and just because no one’s done a good book in that style yet doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.

And really, if SF is all about asking hard questions taking new ideas for a spin, then why *wouldn’t* it be a great forum to discuss religion in?

I mean, Joe Straczynski (Athiest) placed all kinds of religious aspects (Both pro and con) in Babylon 5, and Philip K. Dick spent, what, a half dozen novels or more asking the really tough questions about God and Religion. And the conclusions he came to were frequently the kind that would disturb both Athiests and religious folk. That’s a good thing, because when you become too complacent in your belief pattern, no matter what it is, you start to get prejudicial and closed-minded.

I mean, saying “You can’t have religious SF” is every bit as closed-minded as a militant Christian saying that he can’t read SF because it’s sinful for contradicting the bible.

My opinion. Your mileage may vary.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:29:04 +0000

Come on guys, there’s room for all of us. Christians are a big segment of society and we’re interested in art, music, literature and film. One of the best scifi books you’ll ever read is “Dream Thief” by Stephen Lawhead (a Christian) check it out. Just one of many. Google christianscifi.

By: Alan

Alan — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:09:11 +0000

Hi. I’m a Christian- had to check out the site and read everyone’s comments, since I’ve long been into the idea of Christian sci-fi. First off, every writer presents their beliefs through their work, or else they are not being true to themselves. Most of the early major scientists held a belief in Jesus/God, and that did not deter them from creating what we call the laws of science.
Battlestar Galactica was written by a mormon, Gary Larson. His show has mormon doctrine all through it. And it was a great show (I’m not pro-Mormon.) Fantasy? Tolkien was as CS Lewis described a card carrying Christian- he helped CS Lewis become a Christian. Did Tolkien ruin fantasy or define it?
Every writer has an agenda- to get people to suspend their disbelief and believe in their ideas, whether for the duration of a novel, a movie, or a series. To present ideas as possible fact is not new to science or science fiction. To me evolution is just as much science fiction as God is to many of you. It doesn’t make me any less intelligent or anti-science, it just means I like my science entirely proveable without piecing bits and pieces of ideas together to form a doctrine and tell people they must believe it or they are stupid. Even Tesla, the greatest scientific mind to ever grace our planet, held a belief in something supernatural, though he said he would choose buddhism, but in any case belief in the supernatural did not make him less intelligent or anti-science.

By: John B Hodges

John B Hodges — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:36:45 +0000

To Vystrix Nexoth: “Signs” was Christian propaganda because it was a portrayal of the psychology of atheism, according to the standard Christian libel. Recall that Gibson has lost his faith and become an atheist following the death of his wife. His son at one point tells Gibson “I hate you, because you let Mother die”. Gibson later says he hates god because God let his wife die. So, really, he’s not an atheist, he really still believes in God, he’s just angry at God for childish reasons. By the end he gets over it and returns to his faith. Another point, recall that the aliens are banished because of a discovery made “in the Middle East”, not otherwise described. The aliens in this movie are just demons/devils/bogeymen, they have no technology, no apparent motivation for what they do. There is no science in this “science fiction” movie.

By: Vystrix Nexoth

Vystrix Nexoth — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:01:04 +0000

There have been SF movies that were obvious Christian propaganda. “Signs”, starring Mel Gibson as I recall

With that movie, I think the difference was that Christianity was treated as a set of beliefs rather than a set of truths: the main character returns to his belief due to the events in the movie, but by attributing more significance to the events of the movie than there are. Note that none of the other characters convert. In other words, it was a non-Christian movie (with literal space aliens, keep in mind) with a Christian character, not a Christian movie, in my judgement, and I wasn't put off in the least by the ending. I think it's an excellent movie, and an excellent example of how Christian themes can be properly incorporated into non-Christian works.

By: John B Hodges

John B Hodges — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:42:08 +0000

I just watched the DVD of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. Now THAT is a film I’d recommend to all for its treatment of religion. Not precisely a happy ending, for atheists or believers, but a good showing of awful truth.

By: John B Hodges

John B Hodges — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:46:55 +0000

There have been SF movies that were obvious Christian propaganda. “Signs”, starring Mel Gibson as I recall, and the latest film version of Stanislaw Lem’s SOLARIS. The latest remake of I AM LEGEND with Will Smith changed the whole message and meaning of the story, with a “happy ending” at a military compound with a BIG church in the center. And there is the continuing rule, observed in many movies, that any character identified as an atheist must get religion by the end; witness “Chocolat” and “Flatliners” and “The Day After Tomorrow” (professed atheist saves one book out of the NY public Library- guess which book.)

By: llewelly

llewelly — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:15:39 +0000

The Mormons have a big head start on these guys. For starters, Prophet Joesph Smith Jr. , waaay back in the 19th century, wrote in the Pearl Of Great Price that God lives on a world near the star Kolob. And they have Orson Scott Card, who wrote the Call To Earth series. Many points of Mormon doctrine refer to peoples on other worlds – all of which Jesus visited.