Christian Apocalyptic Fiction
Tom Doyle’s essay on the relationship between SF and fundamentalist Christian apocalyptic fiction.
Christian SF is the next “new thing” in SF, one of the large underground movements just beginning to emerge into the public eye. There are young, new groups on Yahoo! dedicated to Christian SF, Christian Fantasy, how to write Christian SF, ad infinitum, none of which existed two years ago.
Personally, I find the concept of “Christian SF” to be an oxymoron, much like Christian rock and Christian psychotherapy. I believe there is a place in SF to explore faith, spirituality, and even religion. Some of my favorite book, such as “The Sparrow,” deal with Christianity and Christians. However, “Christian SF” fundamentally limits expression to those principles which support and promote Christianity.
Explore, so long as it is done in the name of G*d.
Imagine anything you want, as long as it conforms to Christian belief.
The idea that SF can–or in this case, must–be limited in order to promote a dogma is one that I find objectionable.