Interview with an Android
by R.A. Hobbs
Smashwords Feb 2011
Paul the robot has converted to Christianity, abandoning mere man-made morality. He is interviewed by Chip, a radio talk show host. There are two callers, an atheist and a Christian fundamentalist.
This looks like a promising idea, but it soon becomes apparent that all the characters, not just Paul, are mechanical and have been bolted together from bits of standard caricatures in order to fulfil a limited purpose. And this is none other than to convince the reader that the Bible is true and atheism is wrong. In other words, it is primarily religious propaganda.
It is true that the least pleasant character in the story is the Christian caller. She is a narrow-minded bigot who abusively rejects the idea that Paul can be "saved". He is a machine and that’s that. Paul replies that God is not cruel – he’ll accept anyone who comes to him.
It’s no great concession to admit that bigots come in all varieties and some may be religious. However, it does give the reader the false impression that R.A. Hobbs is not taking sides. One has to remember that the Christian caller and Paul (the hero of the story) believe in the literal meaning of Genesis. And they probably share many other beliefs. It’s just that Paul is far more broad minded on the subject of church membership.
The real gulf here lies between Paul and the atheist who mentions evolution. Paul’s argument against evolution is –
‘evolution is not proof against a creator – (it is) just another theory on (sic) the means of how we were created.’
Unfortunately, that’s the point at which the talk show host stops the debate. One might hazard a guess that the atheist’s reply would have been – evolution is not a theory of how we were created, it is a description of the mechanism by which life gradually evolved from simple organisms, and by definition that does not support the notion of a creator of complex organisms.
Would the alternative theory to evolution that Paul has in mind happen to be intelligent design? If so, why didn’t he, as the creation of science, take note that intelligent design has no scientific evidence to substantiate it? Furthermore, as a theory, intelligent design relies on the unverifiable proposition that there is an intelligent designer. Who then, created the designer? And who created the designer who created the designer? In logic this infinite regress is a sign of a flawed argument.
Paul, as a robot, might be expected to know something about logic. If he thought for himself, he would surely be troubled by flaws in his argument. For good reason, Paul’s designer chose to leave logic and balanced reasoning out of his programming. He might have started asking awkward questions. He might even have decided he didn’t share his designer’s views.
Genre fiction, or just plain fiction, has been used to expound or promulgate religious doctrine before now – the Father Brown detective stories spring to mind, not to mention the Bible, the Koran and Upanishads. However, it does seem perverse, almost immoral, to use science fiction to belittle genuine science.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
New Time Religion
Left
by Chris Walters
Smashwords March 2011
I have a notion of what the "Rapture" is because I've seen it in an episode of the Simpsons. Well, most people in Europe don’t have a clue when it comes to the apocalypse. The belief that God will finally give us some evidence that he exists by killing everyone is not widespread over here. Or even comprehensible. Angels are another tough sell.
Of course, Left is an ironic take on the Rapture. The avenging angels here are brought up to date. They are spectral robots, as faceless as de Chirico’s mannequins, but ablaze with blue light and sporting tentacles. Their method of taking people to the bosom of Christ consists in reducing them to cinders. They are attracted by prayer, but anyone in the vicinity can be a target too.
The story follows Beverly, the mother of grown up children, who, with several others of like mind, take objection to being incinerated. They would prefer to stick to the old method of going to their maker. They form a group and some of the younger men, naturally enough, decide to try and take out one or more of the angels. They lure one down with the unwitting assistance of a believer, and launch an attack with crowbars, hammers etc. The angel is not impressed and turns them all to toast, except for Beverly who flees. She is shunned by the believers she encounters after crashing a car, but fortunately a group of skeptics, heading out of town, pick her up. They stop off at a gas station and, as bad luck would have it, a fervently religious woman turns up and begins to pray. The nightmare begins all over again . . .
Left is written in first-rate narrative prose that perfectly balances description, dialogue and action. It’s a pleasure to read. My one criticism is that the story isn’t long enough.
Perhaps I felt this because Left is more than a mere satire on the already absurd notion of the Rapture. More interesting ideas are touched on. For instance, Beverly reminisces about visiting her daughter, Trish, who has been "saved" –
But everything that happened during those visits——the introduction to a friend, the church services, the dinner at a neighbor’’s house, the tickets to the symphony in St. Louis for her and Trish and Trish’’s friend from choir——seemed staged, as if they were all scenes strung together to tell a story called The Salvation of Beverly. Nothing explicit was ever said, but the invitation was always there, an invisible Jesus at her side
In other words, religious devotion has debased and lessened Trish’s love for her mother and turned their relationship into a mere exercise in trying to convert her. A whole novel could be written about that.
Highly recommended.
by Chris Walters
Smashwords March 2011
I have a notion of what the "Rapture" is because I've seen it in an episode of the Simpsons. Well, most people in Europe don’t have a clue when it comes to the apocalypse. The belief that God will finally give us some evidence that he exists by killing everyone is not widespread over here. Or even comprehensible. Angels are another tough sell.Of course, Left is an ironic take on the Rapture. The avenging angels here are brought up to date. They are spectral robots, as faceless as de Chirico’s mannequins, but ablaze with blue light and sporting tentacles. Their method of taking people to the bosom of Christ consists in reducing them to cinders. They are attracted by prayer, but anyone in the vicinity can be a target too.
The story follows Beverly, the mother of grown up children, who, with several others of like mind, take objection to being incinerated. They would prefer to stick to the old method of going to their maker. They form a group and some of the younger men, naturally enough, decide to try and take out one or more of the angels. They lure one down with the unwitting assistance of a believer, and launch an attack with crowbars, hammers etc. The angel is not impressed and turns them all to toast, except for Beverly who flees. She is shunned by the believers she encounters after crashing a car, but fortunately a group of skeptics, heading out of town, pick her up. They stop off at a gas station and, as bad luck would have it, a fervently religious woman turns up and begins to pray. The nightmare begins all over again . . .
Left is written in first-rate narrative prose that perfectly balances description, dialogue and action. It’s a pleasure to read. My one criticism is that the story isn’t long enough.
Perhaps I felt this because Left is more than a mere satire on the already absurd notion of the Rapture. More interesting ideas are touched on. For instance, Beverly reminisces about visiting her daughter, Trish, who has been "saved" –
But everything that happened during those visits——the introduction to a friend, the church services, the dinner at a neighbor’’s house, the tickets to the symphony in St. Louis for her and Trish and Trish’’s friend from choir——seemed staged, as if they were all scenes strung together to tell a story called The Salvation of Beverly. Nothing explicit was ever said, but the invitation was always there, an invisible Jesus at her side
In other words, religious devotion has debased and lessened Trish’s love for her mother and turned their relationship into a mere exercise in trying to convert her. A whole novel could be written about that.
Highly recommended.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Moon Cheese
mOOn platOOn
by Steve Games Smashwords 2011
This might be a parody of a conspiracy theorist’s delusions. The narrator, a Republican Party fund-raiser and a wholehearted Regan supporter is recruited into a shadowy space program, called Moon Platoon.
Leadership of the Moon Platoon is handed down secretly from president to president. Regan is in charge now, nominally, but he tends to confuse reality with science fiction TV shows. Never mind, as it turns out a certain ex president is still in charge. Soon the narrator is travelling to the dark side of the moon with Richard Nixon. Also coming along for the ride is a psychic assassin and a racist porn star.
Nixon is the book’s most vividly drawn character – cynical, wise cracking and way ahead of everyone else. He remains the Nation’s guide and protector.
Alongside this revelation, the other elements of the story – a covert base on the moon, psychic assassins, insane CIA types, regression to former lives – don’t seem the least surprising, or even too unlikely. Such are the deleterious effects on reality caused by innumerable movies and TV shows. We can almost believe anything these days. In fact, we believe far more than we think we do . . .
In 1996, Clinton made a statement to the effect that scientists had discovered signs of extinct life on a Martian meteor they’d found in the arctic. What once would have initiated a revolution in the way we see the universe and our place within it, barely caused a stir. As was noted by several commentators at the time, everyone already knew there was life out there. It’s on the telly every night.
Perhaps Mr Games is telling us that we’re all Ronald Regans now.
Well-written lunacy by an interesting author.
by Steve Games Smashwords 2011
This might be a parody of a conspiracy theorist’s delusions. The narrator, a Republican Party fund-raiser and a wholehearted Regan supporter is recruited into a shadowy space program, called Moon Platoon.
Leadership of the Moon Platoon is handed down secretly from president to president. Regan is in charge now, nominally, but he tends to confuse reality with science fiction TV shows. Never mind, as it turns out a certain ex president is still in charge. Soon the narrator is travelling to the dark side of the moon with Richard Nixon. Also coming along for the ride is a psychic assassin and a racist porn star.
Nixon is the book’s most vividly drawn character – cynical, wise cracking and way ahead of everyone else. He remains the Nation’s guide and protector.
Alongside this revelation, the other elements of the story – a covert base on the moon, psychic assassins, insane CIA types, regression to former lives – don’t seem the least surprising, or even too unlikely. Such are the deleterious effects on reality caused by innumerable movies and TV shows. We can almost believe anything these days. In fact, we believe far more than we think we do . . .
In 1996, Clinton made a statement to the effect that scientists had discovered signs of extinct life on a Martian meteor they’d found in the arctic. What once would have initiated a revolution in the way we see the universe and our place within it, barely caused a stir. As was noted by several commentators at the time, everyone already knew there was life out there. It’s on the telly every night.
Perhaps Mr Games is telling us that we’re all Ronald Regans now.
Well-written lunacy by an interesting author.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)