Wayfarer's Journal--conclusion

So what have we learned?

1. Don't accept rides from aliens. Even if the candy's good, the probes aren't.
2. 186,000 miles per second: It's not just a good idea, it's the law.
3. Only a simpleton judges a magazine based on its first two issues, especially when it isn't some kind of professional start-up.

This isn't to put Wayfarer's Journal down. If it were a Double-Edged project or an offshoot of Analog, I'd set the bar higher. As it is, its first two issues have been good, but it's really too early to review it. I'll check back in another year, perhaps.

It is not too early to get involved by reading and writing. That can begin now. I hope I haven't scared anyone off--I doubt I could if I tried. Keep your brain on, even though it's fiction, because ideas have consequences, and some are serious. Provide feedback and be specific: what was good or bad--and why?

Of course, this requires more than just reading WJ intelligently. You also need to read your Bible intelligently. You are doing that already, aren't you? Broaden your world by picking one of your trivial hobby-horses--something that doesn't matter to salvation, but which you go ballistic over anyway--and do your level best to understand what people on the other side say. If you're a premill, check out amills and postmills. If you baptize by immersion, find out why some sprinkle or pour. There are alien creatures and cultures all around us right here on earth, even in the family of God. You might as well get acquainted.

You might even get an idea for a story. Send it to WJ and see what happens.

Other Blog Links:
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir’s Here
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Hanna Sandvig
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

Understand first...

I had a friend once, which in itself will amaze many people. He got a bit wired about the danger of postmillennialism (actually about "dominion theology"). Unfortunately, it soon became clear that he didn't know the difference between postmillennialism and posttribulationism. I told him, "First you make sure you understand someone's views. Then, if necessary, you rip their head off."

I'm not interested in ripping off heads, but I do try to understand ideas before jumping in. And I'm not trying to be the CSFF version of Simon Cowell. Wayfarer's Journal is a promising e-zine. I may even send a story their way to see how good their perimeter defenses are. But there's a need to check matters carefully, even in the non-fiction section.

For example, the current essay is "Are you Ready for Science Fiction Clergy?" From what writer Tom Hohstadt says, probably not. But it is just science fiction. The types of clergy he lists (both good and bad) aren't really types of clergy so much as types of people. You can find them all in the pews or even at an atheists' convention, if you look carefully. From what I read, I gathered that the pastor merely helps the congregation, which does all the major ministry--the equipping model. This is assumed to be the right way to do things, even though it would be far easier to argue scripturally for the more traditional "Pastor = Shepherd, Congregation = Flock" model. ("Pastor" means "shepherd," after all.)

Unfortunately, most readers wouldn't have the patience to sit through an exposition of different views of the clergy/laity relationship, so instead we get a fairly standard bit of Christianized futurism. It's a good playing field for Buzzword Bingo, but it assumes that major changes are ahead for clergy roles.

Quoth Qoheleth, "There is nothing new under the sun." Technology changes a lot, but people and social realities don't vary much. What will future clergy look like? Pretty much like the past variety, unless mankind changes so thoroughly that we turn into another species. Modern clergy and laity as people look a lot like the ones we read about in the first few centuries of the Church. Why should that change now? Well, because this is Now. It's Different. No one has ever gone through what I'm going through right now. In other words, because we're all teenagers at heart, and no old fogies could possibly understand.

Take the time to understand what already is and has been. The Future probably won't arise from nothing; understanding its past will give you a better mirror for things to come. Not a faddish, buzzword-heavy analysis, but true perspective. Who knows? You might not even have to rip anyone's head off.

Other Blog Links:
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir’s Here
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Hanna Sandvig
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

Sci-fi With a Difference?

Wayfarer's Journal is only has a new edition twice a year, so don't let any old items on the site fool you: it is alive and updates between editions. It's also very new, so it could change markedly for better or worse, and the readers and writers can influence that.

WJ is dedicated to sci-fi (and only sci-fi: sorry, fantasy fans) with a spiritual, i.e., Christian, dimension. Like most modern projects, it goes out of its way to avoid being "preachy." While I still have problems with that, WJ is somewhat more open to a Christian message than some other putatively "Christian" e-zines.

But there are also problems. Consider "The Soulless," by Donna Sundblad, for example. Ignoring the numerous errors of grammar and punctuation--they really do need editing at WJ--there is preachiness. The topic is cloning, and if you can't predict the ending at least generally before you're halfway through, you're not trying. But the larger point is that it is preachy.

Really: just look at it. We have a rabble-rousing preacher, who is clearly of the same kind as those who preached against civil rights for minorities decades back, and he is the Bad Guy. (This is a Christian e-zine, too: count your blessings. Who knows what an atheist magazine might do? Oh, yeah: about the same thing.) So, since he is obviously a jerk, the Other View is just as obviously the Right One. There is no actual argument to sustain the viewpoint presented; it is supported by emotion and (let us be candid) prejudice alone. For the preacher evokes prejudice, and it is that which argues against his views. The result is propaganda: an uncritical reader will come away knowing less than he did going in.

Christians can do better than this.

(Part of the problem is the naive assumption that Greek and Hebrew had the modern English concept of the soul. They didn't. In fact, although a hundred years ago the word "soul" was vaguely like Hebrew nephesh and Greek psyche, it has changed markedly since then. The same problem occurred in early Latin theology: the whole argument over "ensoulment" derived from trying to make the Bible languages have the same semantics as Latin.)

"Changed Minds," by Alice Roelke, is better, though it ends without hope, which is a cardinal sin for Christian fiction in my view. I'd still consider it the second-best current story. As for "Immunity Project," by Ann Wilkes, I don't see the Christian/spiritual angle, for the most part. There's a passing reference to angels, but the actions of the characters belie whatever faith they might profess. This could've been published in a completely secular magazine.

On the other hand, "Phobos," by Stoney M. Setzer, represents the direction I hope WJ takes. It is definitely sci-fi and definitely Christian--and I'm no fan of telepathy in Christian fiction. Imagine an episode of The Outer Limits written by a Christian.

I couldn't get Colleen Drippe's "Memories" to load, so I can't comment on it. I was surprised to find Grace Bridges' "Invasion" in the archive. It's a good story, but not regular sci-fi. Perhaps WJ will be more inclusive of other genres after all.

Other Blog Links:
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir’s Here
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Hanna Sandvig
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise