Yesterday morning I got a chuckle out of a talk show host who was complaining about the fact that there are dystopian novels on the school reading lists, books such as The Hunger Games and The Giver. One of his complaints was that children used to read the Bible in school instead of the aforementioned “junk.” This is amusing on several accounts. First of all, quality dystopian literature, which is essentially a high form of sociological science fiction, is cautionary (and sometimes prophetic) in nature, warning society that if certain ill-advised trends continue and are extrapolated to a certain point or degree, the world will suffer for it. This is hardly what I would call junk. (If the talk show host were talking to a previous generation, I suppose he would have griped about 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and “The Lottery”—True, The Hunger Games isn’t as good as those works, but it’s a worthwhile read.) Secondly, what is the Bible if it’s not dystopian literature? The prospect of billions of people burning in hell forever (or at least being very unhappy “separated from God,” as certain modern apologists believe) while a select few live in luxury is the very epitome of a negative utopia, especially when it’s peppered with cautionary edicts. (This is assuming one takes the Bible at literal face value.) If you believe you are heaven-bound, I suppose you could say from your point of view that the future posited by the Bible is a negative utopia (as opposed to a dystopia), in which everything is wonderful and blissful except for the proverbial ants at the picnic—your knowledge that many of your dead friends, co-workers and family members are miserable. If you believe in the type of heaven in which its denizens don’t know about hell, that is still a dystopian future or a negative utopia. After all, just because the characters in the story don’t know everything that’s happening, it’s still happening. So, my theologian friends, which is it? Does the Bible posit a dystopian future, a negative utopia, or something else entirely? (True, the Bible is presented as non-fiction instead of fiction, but since it has prophecies, future cosmic realms, and events that defy known scientific laws, it has something in common with certain works of science fiction, so just humor me, okay?) What say you Jeremy Harrison, Brandon Staggs, Jay Isler, and anyone else who wants to play along?
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 02:04:48 +0000
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