greater-than-the-sword:

panteradraco:

katekarl:

rolkientolkien:

greater-than-the-sword:

shchenya:

greater-than-the-sword:

“Christianizing” Science fiction

What I would really like to see (or be) is an author who can do for science fiction what Lewis and Tolkien did for fantasy.

I don’t mean to write a grand sweeping space epic with an allegory in it. Even if it was set on a space ship, the genre of such a story would still be fantasy.

Fantasy was once considered pagan, and still is by some people, but it was “converted”, if you will, by taking the elements of the genre such as symbolism and supernatural powers and making them Christian. But the thing is, symbolism isn’t the hallmark of the sci-fi story, so it would be a mistake to think you could make a “Christian sci-fi” story by inserting Christian symbolism. You have to actually work within the boundaries of the genre, which is something that I rarely see Christian writers do for sci-fi. Ted Dekker is a great example of how not to do this, since almost all his supposed sci-fi stories rely heavily on symbolism. This comes off heavy-handed and just weird in this genre.

No, the hallmark of sci-fi is posing difficult philosophical questions. And then answering them. Exploring ethical dilemmas or dangers that could potentially be real life. If you wanted to Christianize science fiction then what you would have to do is try to answer these questions from a Christian point of view. If the fantasy genre is perceived as pagan than the sci-fi genre is perceived as atheist, since it is usually atheists or humanists answering the questions in the stories, but they don’t HAVE to be.

This is what I was attempting to do in Copper (the automaton with a human soul) and what Julie Rollins did in her (very edgy) stories discussing ethical issues, which were a big influence on me. For example one of them was about a woman who, in a parallel universe, had an abortion, and another one was about a society where clones are raised to harvest their organs, but considered to not be alive since they’ve never been conscious. I’d love to see more of this sort of thing and if anyone knows of any authors who are doing this sort of thing please let me know.

Can we please not? Tolkien and Lewis did so much damage to fantasy for so long, it’s all built up on Christian bias and “Civilising the pagans” tropes. Sci fi is about the boundaries and social commentary on current world through analogy, we don’t need one of our few outlets dragging into the christianisation and homogenisation of the world. Fantasy is only just getting over this now.

Someone better at wording what I mean, please take over, because this is just wanting more problematic sci fi pushing harmful doctrines… (Such as the heavy handed anti-abortion stuff).

I am a Christian, so you’re not gonna sell me on the idea that Christian doctrines are problematic, and certainly not that Tolkien and Lewis, the fathers of modern fantasy, “damaged” the genre. Sorry.

Tolkien, Lewis, and Godawa improved fantasy, you’re just too cowardly to see you’re own depravity.

👏👏👏

I don’t see symbolism as turning science fiction into fantasy but at least the post is well-written. Along the same line, I do not believe C S Lewis or J R R Tolkien damaged the fantasy genre.

Each person writes from his/her own perspective so his/her world view may be reflected in their works. Just as Christians shouldn’t call fictional works by secularists problematic, I think the reverse shouldn’t happen, fiction is fiction. It may help us draw parallels and empathise with people of certain view points, but fiction itself cannot convert anyone unless the reader confuses certain elements of it with reality.

Science has an ambiguous view of the soul, some say it exists, others say it doesn’t. Where is the line in which scifi crosses into fantasy? Is saying a robot having a soul fantasy? Star Wars, with this mysterious Force, may have crossed the line into fantasy. Or one could argue that an alternative universe is governed by different natural laws.

I’d say so whether the OP is rooting for any other school of philosophy or religion. Fiction policing is so yesterday…

Well, fair enough. I don’t think the presence of symbolism automatically turns sci-fi into fantasy. But it’s not really native to the genre so to speak.

I also wondered about whether a robot having a soul counted as fantasy, but that sort of depends on whether you think of a soul as being real or imaginary. That particular story was steampunk though which sort of adds fantasy elements to the mix.

When it comes to Star Wars though, yes I would argue that Star Wars is a space fantasy and is not actually sci-fi. However, I’m not making this post to tell anyone what NOT to write. I’m mostly trying to promote more creation of a particular thing.

squeeful:

glitter-pear:

curiousobsession101:

the-spooky-birdy:

liberscaryrynn:

superbuzzwheeze-unsolved:

vrabia:

ayniasaubade:

philosophy-and-coffee:

the-multiverse:

iliveforthefantasy:

panda2296:

musingsofaramblerrr:

Hello? Little human? Okay I kiss you now.

Fun fact: the cat is checking the baby’s mouth to see if it is still breathing. Were it not breathing, the cat would commence to eat it.

FUN FACT

Omfg

That’s just blatantly untrue. While cats have been known to eat human corpses, it’s generally only when they’re starving and have no other food source.
Seriously, quit demonizing cats.

Nose touches (as you see here) are a cats way of saying hello. It’s a friendly greeting. It’s NOT checking for breath.

Laying on a human (as you see here) is literally cat cuddling. Thats it.

We have literal records of cats going out of their way to save the lives of children from various dangers, from fires, to dog attacks, to choking to death. Its very easy to look up.

The only cases of cats eating their humans, have always been when their human died and it has been several days without the body being found. Amazingly this tends to line up with the cat not being fed and therefore STARVING.

It’s also a common thing among most pet animals too? Like sorry, your dog will do it too. Hell, ever heard of the the Donner Party? Humans aren’t exempt. When faced with survival, you try and survive.

STOP DEMONIZING CATS FOR BEING ANIMALS.

(And I mean, all it takes is a quick google search to figure this out, but no lets spread misinformation about innocent animals?)

If you actually truly believe cats are out to get you, and are cold and not affectionate, or whatever else people use to justify demonizing cats… You need to actually look up cat behavior. Your cat who ‘ignores’ you? More often than not is just respecting your space. Your cat who lashes out? Probably not feeling safe in their environment. Your cat brings you gross things? Trying to look after you.

Cats aren’t dogs. They have a set way of communication, and while they can learn dofferent expressions of affection, it will always be less evident than with dogs (who are particularily malleable to human behavior.) This doesn’t mean they are any less loving or capable of bonds.

All it takes is a quick google search to figure out why your cat does what they do. And literally, no cat intrinsically wants to eat babies.

are you kidding me, cats are super protective of small children. they’ve been known to attack dogs, snakes, alligators and grown-ass men if they thought a child was in danger. a stray cat in russia saved an abandoned baby from hypothermia by cuddling him, alerted people to his presence and tried following the freaking ambulance that took him to the hospital. they are very sweet and patient with babies and there are tons of adorable videos out there to prove it.

IF I EVER HEAR ANYONE TALKING SHIT ABOUT KITTIES I SWEAR

“cats are not dogs”

And there’s the rub. People have issues with cats because they’re mad they don’t act like dogs. They are a different animal and they relate and communicate differently. That doesn’t make them worse pets or evil or something.

^^^

Cats are good and pure creatures, dammit

Actually true fun fact! Cats who live with humans see those humans as colonymates! Cat colonies communally raise kittens. So if a cat’s human has a baby, the cat considers themself an automatic co-parent. So as far as that cat is concerned, that baby is its baby too. That cat is cuddling with and doting on its kitten.

Oh my god, that last fact is so fucking cute

Yep. Was just going to put that last bit. Cats are great.

void-within:

contevent:

ardynsmoogle:

contevent:

ardynsmoogle:

dragonageconfessions:

Confession:

After DA:O Awakening, I want to know what happens if you allow the
Architect to live. Is he and his ‘freed’ DarkSpawn impervious to
Corypheus? I want something in DA4 to answer my questions about this
interesting character.

Credit: Confession Made by Confessor

I legit want to know. I killed him the first time since I didn’t really know him and everyone said to kill him but now that I know him (still haven’t read The Calling but I know he’s obv bad) I want to let him live so bad. I want to know if the Warden or future characters could talk him out of things like destroying the old gods or something. The Architect is more reasonable than Corypheus so it would be nice to have a magister who you can seriously talk to.

Lots and lots of Spoilers below.

Short answer, spare him.

Keep reading

Thank you so much for clarifying. I haven’t had the time to read The Calling because of school and I’m in the middle of playing the series again (currently on Awakening). It just feels like I’m the only person who really wants to let him live. And I honestly believe that we can reason with him, but it makes me wonder what is going to happen once he finds out who he used to be. Also, I’m looking forward to how Solas’ plan unfolds for the world and if the games decide to make darkspawn have a big role again (since there are people that let the Architect live). I hope some source in the future also gives us more information on the other magister sidereals. I’m just going to let the Architect live this time and see what happens from there.

Another point, sparing him may actually be the best option anyway. If the Architect really is one of the First Darkspawn then it likely has the same ability to transfer through the Taint.

Meaning if you “kill” him, you actually only break the alliance but leave him free, meaning you gain nothing more than stating loud and clear that the Grey Wardens, and therefore the upper world, is set on destroying Darkspawn to the last and that cooperation is impossible, or at least to be found by other means.

That last comment was my Warden’s reasoning, mostly (the fact I personally found the Architect and the concepts he stands for one of the most interesting parts of the setting was a big factor, too). Sentient darkspawn exist and kill him or not, will continue to exist – probably grow in number too, as enough Disciples survive to continue his work. Seemed a better idea to accept an alliance, as questionable as it may be, than to effectively declare a war that might go very, very badly for non-darkspawn.

curlicuecal:

todaysbird:

a rare closeup of a black swift, found throughout north america and small parts of south america. swifts are rarely seen up close; they spend more of their life in air than any other species of bird – they eat, drink, mate and sleep while in flight. they are incapable of perching like other birds; they must cling to vertical surfaces.

(x)

I had to look this up because “sleep while in flight” ????

but yeah, apparently completely true.  these birds stay aloft for as much as 10 months nonstop, feed on insects, spend more energy at night (when there aren’t warm thermals to ride) and at dawn and dusk climb to 10,000 ft altitude where the 30 min slow descent is probably when they catch their sleep.

they’re unusually long-lived for such active critters (20 yrs) and they may be limiting energy expenditure by being extremely aerodynamic and narrow bodied.  Also a single bird travels the distance of about 7 roundtrip journeys to the moon in its lifetime (>3 million miles).

[x]

the-last-hair-bender:

failedhellos:

mysteampunkheart:

lam681:

winmu:

scullylovesqueequeg:

tamtoee:

yeahmicah:

thegirlinthesea:

spookydatrump:

note-inthepages:

Accurate post is accurate.

Reminds me of the time a lady told me whip doesn’t melt. Or a guy yelled at me for not understanding him/hearing him because he kept talking on the phone

Lame

For those in retail.

I worked in a Lil Caesars and a woman came in and wanted a sausage pizza with no sausage, but got mad when she was given a cheese pizza.

So when I worked at fitting room in Old Navy, a woman told me that a medium top was too small, and that the large top was too large. So she asked me to find her an “x-medium”. Old Navy carries x-small, small, medium, large, x-large, 1x, 2x and 3x. There is no “x-medium”. But she insisted, so I went and found her an “x-medium” (which was just a medium in a different color but the same top, same make, same EVERYTHING) and she goes very happily, “THIS! THIS FITS ME PERFECTLY! THANK YOU SO MUCH! See, you can do anything you can set your mind to!”

I’m a waitress at a big fancy resort, and once a woman asked me for a diet water and when I told her there was no such thing she demanded to see my manager (who then also promptly told her there was no such thing and brought her regular water).
Another occasion of stupidity occurred when a woman had been brought a steak cooked too much for her liking. I offered to take it back and bring her out a new one, cooked a little less, and she said “NO this one’s fine I just want you to cook THIS one a little less.” I then had to get the chef and have him explain why you can’t UNCOOK a steak.

When I was working at dunkin donuts there was this woman in the drive-thru who asked for a lightly toasted croissant and then started complaining that the croissant was warm. And wanted her money back, so she gave me the croissant back and I gave her the money and then she tells me “now i want my new croissant” she wanted a new one for free and as she was screaming at me this guy in a biker gang covered in tattoos leans over the counter in the store and yells “ma’am let me just tell you what we’re all thinking. fuck off, you stupid cunt.” I couldn’t stop laughing and she drove away in anger.

Most of the people like in the stories above know that they’re being totally irrational, but also know that if they complain enough they’ll most likely get something free or discounted. So really most of the the nonsensical fucks are actually just cheap fucks with no shame or respect for people.

That last bit of commentary though.

You’d think that but I had once had to explain to a woman that I couldn’t “cut her hair longer.” Some people are actually just stupid.