philnic:

Writer James Blish was an atheist. For what I understand, he was buried in an Anglican cemetery, or some such, tho he professed atheism during his writing career. A writer can 'splatter-chatter' words across some room full of reading guests, and make such a noise as well as colorful arrangements in the reader's imagination, yet bring little truth about the hereafter.

As to Mark Twain, he too took a dim view of God. And you must remember he was America's greatest satirst. Sort of an ancestral Dan Brown. It's Twain that wrote, "Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion".

Harlan Ellison is Jewish, and not a practicing Jew, as far as I know. I think it was in his book, 'Strange Wine', that he talks about his utter dislike of the Southern Baptists, for instance.

The point is... what sort of weight am I giving to the words of such writers? If they have not visited the land of which I am familiar, what do they bring to it except unfamiliarity?

Sometimes it is not logical to assume that a writer's work is always associated with the church he attends (or doesn't attend) or by what name he calls God...

Unless the writer brings obvious references to his personal religious (or athiestic) beliefs into his writing, does it really matter?
Think of it as the separation of church and state, perhaps.

Mark Twain (perhaps Sam Clemens also) had very strong views about Heaven. He once said that California was like Heaven but without the boring music.

The above view is not necessarily that of the writer who thinks that California is more like Schenectady.

Robert M
Bevins

Everything matters!

Bradbury works wonders, doesn't he, with his words? He has learned to fashion them to get across things deep inside his soul. He says that ability was put there by God. "God thumbprints thee, be not another," he writes. But lately he says 'we' are all 'gods'!

Mark Twain once made the comment that India has "...two million gods, and worships them all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire."

Saying one is 'a god' is not new! But when Christ said he was the "I AM", that is to say ...GOD...then that mattered a lot and threw heaps of kindle on the fire of controversy. Betwixt all the spoken and written words, a profound importance dwells with effects on both mind and soul. Do the very curves of shapes and colors we see at first daybreak say something 'subconsciously' to our soul and spirit? The artist waves his brush to bring out an emotion as his paints speak silently. Oh, it does matter how he strikes that brush on canvas!

Do you ever slow movie frames to that moment of stillness? I love to! Now peer deep into the soul of the actors on screen! In older movies, look at those faces and discover what can be learned about their life. Do you find there the luxury of youth while the fact is that all are likely long gone to dust. In our techo-world of today, the rush of the motion picture is brought to a halt and careful observation ponders. And I consider... that all I see ... matters!

...and all that I read...matters!

Robert, I agree with what you say but have to agree with Nard also. Some of us come to a place in life were we need to continually raise the bar. We decide to become very selective in all that we do. It’s a need to be able to feel that “that was time well spent.” I don’t mean that one becomes intolerant but things seem to “matter” more. I’m sure that there are many who never experience this, and that’s fine. The world would be a boring place if everyone approached it in exactly the same way. --Best to both of you.

The beauty of science fiction is that we can consider "what if". So it doesn't matter what the author's beliefs are if s/he is able to consider the hypothetical and explore the consequences. I don't mind -in fiction - being taken places I would ordinarily not choose to go, because I know when the story's over, I'm back in the real world.

So, Nard, I'm surprised that you react so strongly against Blish, Twain and Ellison. I love all three of them, plus Bradbury of course. But then I'm an atheist.

The Orthodox fathers teach that the question has never been about belief in the existence of God, but rather, belief in the True God versus belief in false gods. The first question to be asked, (again, from the Orthodox Tradition), is that which is asked by the Lord Himself: "Who do you say that I am?" (See the C.S. Lewis "trilemma" reference somewhere in these archives).

To you all, my friends, I re-reiterate my favourite quote:
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." - St. Philo of Alexandria

I know I have said this before, but it seems to fit here:

L earn
O observe
V alue
E verything

Love is all you really need - J. Lennon

Another thought entered my mind:

Man is not given to Know God,
Man may choose to seek God,
that search can take many paths,
each path is equally valuable in its sincerety.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: patrask,

I agree with Braling II when he asks, what sort of God are we talking about?

patrask. If what you say were true, then it totally would change things about Christ. He said that if you love me, keep my commandments. And what was that greatest commandment? You are to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And then there is a second command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But the first one comes first.
For instance, just reading an interview with Hugh Hefner. He said he loves God, but not the biblical one. And he said that love is most important, that we harm no one else.

What say you, then?

Forgive my stepping in again, but I'm reminded of something Fr. Thomas Hopko often says, "...I ask them [college kids] to tell me about this "God" you don't believe in, and 10 times out of 10 I don't believe in him either!"

Excellent point!

As always, an interesting thread on the issue of Bradbury and Religion, and then beyond.

Bradbury definitely has a rather unorthodox view of God. When we calls us gods, he seems to be associating us with the aspect of God that defines God (in part) as the creator God. Bradbury talks about man as a creator of ideas and stories and myths all the time.

I've just finished reading "Conversations with Ray Bradbury" where you can find him saying different things about the same topics all the time. Bradbury doesn't seem to value consistency as much as he values honesty in the moment.

In his essay, "Self-Reliance" Emersons warns us that an unwillingness to be inconsistent with what we've said or thought in the past is to make us unable to change and learn.

Yet, we seem to require some consistency in order to make sense of life.

How does this apply to religion in Bradbury? I don't think Bradbury worries about an orthodox constency as much as he worries about a religious feeling or sentiment that is vibrant and alive.

Mr Dark,

Walt Whitman:
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

Philnic: Great Quote. I gotta go back and read him more. What a great period of literature. One of my fantasy vacations is to go to the Concord/Boston area and see the homes of Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, Hawthorne, and Melville.

Mr. Dark--Where have you been?