I have long wanted to teach a course in which I could give Octavia Butler’s novels The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents the detailed attention they deserve. For anyone interested in the intersection of religion and science fiction, these novels are inevitably going to be fascinating. The main character, Lauren Olamina, is the daughter of a Christian minister but ends up creating her own religion called Earthseed. The text that collects her sayings and insights comes to be known as The Book of the Living. Here is just one example of how timely and prophetic this material is:
When apparent stability disintegrates,
As it must–
God is Change–
People tend to give in
To fear and depression,
To need and greed.
When no influence is strong enough
To unify people
They divide.
They struggle,
One against one,
Group against group,
For survival, position, power.
They remember old hates and generate new ones,
The create chaos and nurture it.
They kill and kill and kill,
Until they are exhausted and destroyed,
Until they are conquered by outside forces,
Or until one of them becomes
A leader
Most will follow,
Or a tyrant
Most fear.
As if that weren’t enough, the story envisages a future impacted by climate change and (decades before Donald Trump ran for president) a politician who promises to “make America great again.” I’ve mentioned this before, but until now haven’t had the opportunity to make these novels and related or comparable ones the focus of a course. I will do so in my Religion and Science Fiction class when I offer it next semester, but will probably develop this into a distinct class of its own, focused on speculative climate fiction. The course will include Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood and other novels and short stories, perhaps including Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future. Atwood’s and Robinson’s novels both envisage the creation of new religious movements in response to climate change and other issues, just as Butler’s do.
Do you have any favorite stories in the cli-fi genre that you recommend, ones that feature religion in some way? If so, please share your recommendations!
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