Talking Religion and Science Fiction on Angel Studios' "Lightwise"

What are the connections between science fiction and religion? How are they different and how are they the same? What kinds of questions do they ask and what kinds of answers do they usually provide? 

I was excited to be the first guest on the new Angel Studios filmed podcast, “Lightwise,” a biweekly program that examines topics in the arts, movies, and TV in a way that amplifies the light, or are founded on inspirational and optimistic messages. Angel Studios, producing various films, documentaries, and live action and animated shows through crowd funding, has been making waves in the entertainment industry by garnering smash hit viewership numbers for its products that are rivaling major Hollywood productions. Their TV series “The Chosen,” about the life of Jesus Christ, is not only a major hit, but recently its theatrical release of a special edition of several of their season 3 episodes outperformed mainstream releases from much bigger studios.

 

In the pilot episode you can watch right here, host Joel Ackerman and I talked about how science fiction and religious faith intersect, where they are similar, and how they are different. Both religion and scientific inquiry—and science fiction by extension—I argue, are on the same basic quest. They are both asking the similar big questions of who we are, where is our place in the universe where did we come from, whether or not a sentient being created us, and where we might be going in the future. How those questions are answered, however, is where the two approaches can diverge…but not as much as some might think.

 

So check out the episode and hear us tackle these big questions and discuss how they are reflected in major sci fi entertainment like “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “The Matrix,” and literary classics by Mary Shelley, Isaac Asimov, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells.

Talking about the art of science fiction

I was recently included in this article where I got to join four other science fiction writers and discuss the art and relevance of the genre. We talk about what got us interested in science fiction, the kinds of sci fi we like to watch and read, and why this genre is more relevant now than ever. 

As I discuss, we love sci fi and the genre is sure to keep growing in popularity in books, movies, and TV, because we seem to be living in a world that resembles a science fiction story more and more each day. The government’s UFO revelations, anyone? 

“Debris” is a fairly intriguing sci fi thriller

So here's a change of pace and a recommendation of a pretty good new science fiction/mystery series that just debuted on NBC.

In the vein of the X-Files, the story involves CIA agents Bryan Beneventi and MI6 agent Finola Jones working together to track down various pieces of debris that had rained down upon the Earth from a wrecked, derelict alien space ship. The bits of debris are scattered all over the world—thus the multinational effort sending agents around the globe to track down the pieces—and each of these bits of alien scrap metal appears to have a variety of paranormal effects on people that come in contact with it.

I always liked these kinds of ongoing supernatural/sci-fi/thriller shows built around an ongoing mythology and a vast, complex mystery that will take several seasons to unravel. The X-Files used to be this combination of the continuous mythology mixed in with the occasional standalone episode, or, as the X-Files used to call it, the “monster of the week” episode. Then, when Lost came along to zeitgeist-defining, smash hit ratings in 2004, the series eschewed any stand-alone episodes in order to focus its storyline on the labyrinthine mystery behind the true nature of a mysterious island in the Pacific. I enjoy this sort of a format—kind of like a soap-operaesque storytelling style adapted to a science fiction show—because they respect the attention span of their audiences and they always give me that feeling of rewarding the loyal and attentive fans who are willing to stick around and enjoy the slow-burn of a complicated mystery that will take a long time to completely unravel. Upon Lost’s success, a number of other shows jumped on this same stylistic bandwagon, but, unfortunately, most TV viewers did not have the patience to stick around for several years to see where all these other complicated mysteries were bound to go.

So this time Debris is taking a shot at the mythology-building story format and I’m intrigued by where the story could go. Although one slight flaw I’m finding in the first episode is that it doesn’t reflect at all on what the confirmation of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life does to the psyche of the rest of the world. Unlike other investigation-of-the-uncanny shows, in Debris the entire world knows about the fact that the strange metal that came from the skies is from an alien spacecraft. So it would be interesting to see the show examine how this sudden knowledge alien life impacts the psychology and the sociology or the rest of the world. What would undeniable proof like this do to belief systems, to religious systems? How would the mere knowledge of life beyond the stars effect people’s everyday outlook on life? Hopefully the show will deal with these questions at one point. 

I’m also somewhat intrigued to see that our heroes are government agents who are not butting heads with any kind of a deep mysterious conspiracy. Or at least not yet and not too obviously. There are a few hints that Bryan and Finola are not entire straight with each other about what each other’s government knows about and wants to do with the debris. And then the episode’s final scene also hints that Bryan might also not be aware of a deeper and darker agenda in the U.S. government. But at least so far the creaky old conspiracy tropes have not been pulled out of the mothballs and reused yet again, just as they have been used in decades’ worth of movies and TV shows. 

In the age of QAnon and Alex Jones, it would really be nice to leave the heroic conspiracy theorists back in the mothballs where they belong.

My Panels at the Philcon 2020 Science Fiction Convention

This year we had to settle for a virtual venue, but the Philcon science fiction convention is still on! Check out the entire program here. Anyone can sign up to listen to any panel.

And this is my schedule of appearances:

11/21: 7:00 PM - "Pandemic Fiction vs. Pandemic Reality"

11/21: 8:30 PM - "How to Sell the Story You Wrote vs. How to Write a Story That Will Sell"

11/22: 2:30 PM - "Science Fiction Horror"

Cover reveal!

So check out the cover for my forthcoming science-fiction/thriller, THE CEDAR VALLEY COVENANT, coming later this year from World Castle Publishing!

The exact release date, plot details, and all kinds of other goodies will be posted very soon. I just need to keep the suspense alive. So keep an eye on this blog and more about the shattering secret of THE CEDAR VALLEY COVENANT!

All good things...

Well, the Philcon 2018 science fiction convention might have come to an end, but I’m still impressed by how much benefit can be gained for writers starting out in fiction, those working on staying in touch with their fans or establishing their fan base, or just networking with other writers, editors, an people in various positions in the publishing industry. As one of the panels on the marketing of one’s work – no matter how big or how small one’s publishing house is, a writer today MUST be ready to do a lot of selling – some 80% of book purchases are made by people based on the recommendation of their friends. So writers really do need to get out among the fans, make a good impression, sign autographs, and tell some good stories and give good advice on panels.

And yup, that’s yours truly, signing an autograph for someone who will hopefully become a devoted fan.

And she did say that the “dark side of conspiracism” premise of CONFIRMATION was indeed intriguing!

Sly, say it ain't so!!!

OK, despite everything on my plate today, I just need to comment on a sketchy movie rumor right now. I must do this as a film fan, action movie buff, author, and Rambo fanatic. Some of the rumors circulating on the Internet - including a sketchy and confusing voicemail to aintitcool.com by Sly Stallone himself - the plot of the next Rambo film sounds like it might take a bizarre detour into...science fiction!

And hey, don't get me wrong, I love science fiction and I love Rambo!

You can check it out at http://www.aintitcool.com/ but I think having Rambo hunting a genetically-engineered beast in the frozen northern wilderness has got to be one of the most insane ideas I've heard in a long time.

For the sake of referencing topical political issues, let me make this comparison: it's almost as insane as fearing political indoctrination during Barack Obama's speech to kids about staying in school!

Whoa!!!!

OK, you just need to check out this article...based on a study done by the Office of Naval Research. All I want to say is that perhaps from now on the best people to run things in this world, make any sort of policy, must be science fiction writers!

The possibility of battle field robots running out of control and becoming a threat? Haven't we heard this sort of thing somewhere before? Hmm...

All these crazy technological possibilities we're worrying about, science fiction writers have already warned us about a long time ago. I think from now on I will only vote for politicians who can demonstrate that they're sci fi readers.

Of course, military robots running out of control and going all Terminator on you is an easy threat to imagine. The next type of menacing robots to watch out for will be the ones that try to do a favor for you by taking over. Those are the types that want to save you from yourself and keep you from harming yourself. Sure, you might not like it too much at first - the elimination of choices, free will, all that sort of stuff - and might find it all too constricting and unpleasant. But in the long run you'll see that it's all for the best.

Check out those nasty customers in sci fi flicks like Colossus: The Forbin Project, or Will Smith's I, Robot.

But, then again, there are also a lot of humans like that running around out there right now. They're scary.

Check it out...!

A quick apology, loyal readers, for being off the blog for the last couple of days. I just got a moment for an update here, so I wanted to urge everyone of take a look at the blogs I follow and check out the piece on the Fairness Doctrine by Paul Levinson. Or just click here. Outstanding!!

Dr. Levinson, a Fordham Communication professor, author of the Phil D'Amato science fiction novels, and free speech advocate also has a couple of words about the NBC/vegetarian ad. And, most importantly, he has a link to the video of the ad!! Take a look at it, unless you're worried that it might usher in the Apocalypse before 2012.

I don't know about you, but I've been getting more and more of an urge to go to the produce aisle at my grocery store!

B.D.