SCIENCE FICTION GROUP PROJECT PROPOSAL

Topic: Religion in Science Fiction

Group Members:

Stacey Beaton

Jeff Gaines

Mark Rhodes

Sarah Scarcelli

Andrew Trapp

(Chris Page ??? no communication yet, is he in our group or what?)

Humans are all, by nature, extremely lazy. We are used to having all the information we want to know on any given subject all in one place. Furthermore we want to be able to access such information without ever leaving the house.

Yet at the moment, this is not possible to do, when trying to find detailed information about religious trends in science fiction.

Sure, there are websites, such as www.magicdragon.com and www.adherents.com, which feature pages dealing with the religious identity of prominent science fiction writers, or which give broad outlines about the different religious trends within science fiction.

And sure, there are encyclopedia articles that treat the topic of religion in science fiction with great precision, such as "The Science Fiction Encyclopedia" and "The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction." But one must either own or go to the library for books such as those; and even then, such sources usually do not describe the works and authors that they cite. The reader is thus left to try to figure out the content and relevance of these cited works, and whether such works are worth trying to find.

This group proposes to make a website that not only combines the best of all of these sources, but also goes above and beyond what they give us. The website will:

1) Give the reader a general overview of all major religious trends/topics within science fiction.

2) Give the reader a much more in-depth overview of four of the above religious trends/topics

3) Include in each of these subtopic overviews, short descriptions of important works so that the reader knows its relevance.

4) Include within each category, to add further interest to the site, a special emphasis on an author/work that particularly embodies the religious trend being looked at.

5) Include a list of relevant sources, on and offline, to further research the topic.

 Our goal is to create a website which serves as an excellent starting point for someone who is interested in the topic of religion in science fiction, as well as a great starting-off point for fellow college students who might want to research this topic.

Responsibilities will be divided as follows:

Chris Page.........website design/maintenance, general overview of all major religious trends (except for four below)

Andrew Trapp....anti-religious/atheistic trends within science fiction (emphasis on Asimov)

Stacey Beaton.... Adam and Eve/ creation / man as God within science fiction (emphasis undecided as of now)

Jeff Gaines and Mark Rhodes......... existing religions/religious views within science fiction

Jeff ---> emphasis on Mormonism, messianic themes (Orson Scott Card)

Mark ---> emphasis on Christianity (C. S. Lewis)

Sarah Scarcelli....new religions within/as a product of science fiction
 
 
 
 
 
 

Websites

1) http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.html#theo

(lists many of the various themes within science fiction, gives short description)

2) http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_other.html

(lists different authors and their religious backgrounds)

3) http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_rel.html

(lists important books and anthologies)

4) http://husted.com/hgsf/themes.htm#Religion

("Hitchhiker’s Guide to Science Fiction")

5) http://orion.ramapo.edu/~kfowler/sfthemes.html

(Themes/genres within science fiction)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Articles

1. "Science fiction, religion, and transcendence" by Tom Woodman; Science
Fiction: A Critical Guide by Patrick Parrinder 1979 (pages 110 - 129).

2. "Science Fiction, Morals, and Religion" by Gerald Heard; Science Fiction:
The Future by Dick Allen 1971 (pages 291 - 305).

3. Two articles in Many Futures, Many Worlds (pages 50 and 237).

4. "Childhood's End" and "Stranger in a Strange Land" in Critical Encounters

5. "Religions and Myths" in Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

6. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by John Clute and Peter Nichols
a. Scientology (page 1078)
i. L. Ron Hubbard (page 592)
b. Dianetics (page 327)
i. A. E. Van Vogt (page 1268)
c. Bokononism
i. Kurt Vonnegut (page 1289)
d. Christianity
i. C. S. Lewis (page 716)
e. Mormonism
i. Orson Scott Card (page 194) f. Asimov (p. 55)
 
 
 

Books

New Religions--

*. Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle
* L. Ron Hubbard - Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth books

* Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,

Existing Religions--

* C.S. Lewis - Space Trilogy

* Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Ender series

* James Blish - A Case of Conscience

Atheism/anti-religion--

* Asimov - Foundation books, Robot books

* Sagan - Contact

Creation/Adam and Eve/humans as God

* John Erskine – Adam and Eve

* Van Vogt – Ship of Darkness

* Robert Arthur - Evolution’s End

* Charles Harness – New Reality

Other possibilities: (from http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_rel.html)

Andre Maurois – The Weigher of Souls

Ray Bradbury – The Illustrated Man ; Something Wicked This Way Comes

Walter Miller – A Canticle for Leibowitz

Lester del Ray – The Eleventh Commandment

Heinlein – Stranger in a Strange Land

John Boyd – The Last Starship From Earth

R. Silverburg – The Masks of Time

D. G. Compton – The Missionaires

Arthur C Clarke– The Fountains of Paradise

Philip K. Dick – Valis; Radio Free Albemuth

Niven and Pournelle – The Mote in God’s Eye

Doria Russell – The Sparrow