SCIENCE FICTION AND SPIRITUAL POVERTY
SCIENCE FICTION AND SPIRITUAL POVERTY
In my history as a Talk show host I have interviewed scores of individuals who are authors in the sphere of Science Fiction. I have related my views on the idea that many people see science fiction as a great way to escape I see it as an clandestine way to supplant religious thought with a new spirituality. It is a spirituality that has been highly favored by the cryptocracy and a way to acclimate society to the desired futures proposed by the elite.
Now I am not saying that all science fiction has some sort of nefarious purpose, but what I am saying is that selected tales that have been embraced by the masses may very well become the new religious movements of the future if not in the present.
Now keep in mind that I am not making a judgment call on whether or not this is good or bad. I am merely pointing out that much of what we perceive as true in religious conversations is no where near as accurate now because the Christian biblical narrative does not interest people that much anymore. May people quote sayings from movies or books that appear biblical and try to give them canonized treatment as if they are valid dogma.
For example many people to this day are unaware that most of Cecil B. Demille’s Ten Commandments is not at all biblically accurate and yet people will remember passages of biblical stories about Moses that were never placed in the bible.
In the movie the Omen little Damien Thorne has won the lottery in the gene pool to be designated the son of Satan. The entire film is an eschatological fiction that is not exactly biblical. There is a moment in the third Installment of the series where and older Damien Thorne reads a scripture,
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And it shall come to pass that in the End Days, the Beast shall reign one-hundred score and thirty days and nights, as the faithful shall cry unto the Lord; wherefore art thou in the Day of Evil? And the Lord shall hear their prayers, for out of the Angel Isle he shall bring forth a deliverer. And the holy Lamb of God shall do battle with the Beast
and destroy him.
In the Stephen King Movie Carrie there is a scene where the lead Character comes home to her religious fanatic mother and explains that she has just had her period. Her mother slaps her to the floor and reads the following passage that appears biblical but it isn’t
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And God made eve, from the Rib of Adam And God made Eve from the rib of Adam,
And Eve was weak and loosed the raven upon the world,
And the raven was called sin, And the first sin was intercourse.
And Eve was weak, And the Lord visited Eve with the curse,
And the curse was the curse of blood.
The thing that is most interesting about these films is that while they are religious Horror films many of them have never seen any boycotts or derision by fanatical fundamentalist groups. No one at “focus on the family” or groups demanding family entertainment petitions that these films be crossed off the list as antireligious or religiously inaccurate films.
The mixing of religious themes in science fiction and horror has gone form the challenge of fighting Satan in movies like The Exorcist to embracing a new form of religious thought where it is okay to embrace and befriend devils and vampires. The most interesting thing about the new trend is that is more gripping and interesting than any narrative provided by religious books.
I’m not writing this to pass judgment on whether or not it is good or bad, I am merely fascinated by the observation.
I once sat on a panel discussing the idea that themes is Horror and Science fiction are reshaping our religious beliefs and I was met with hostility. I found it interesting that someone dressed as a Klingon or a Storm trooper was telling me I was wrong.
When was the last time you have seen a Christian kid dressing up like their favorite apostle? Anyone even think to dress up like their favorite biblical villain like a roman centurion or even Goliath.
But there were scores of Storm troopers and Darth Vader at the convention. Now you can argue that it was a Science fiction convention. But would there even be a market for Christ con or Biblepaloosa?
The truth is that Science fiction stories are reshaping the way we look at spirituality and religious belief. Even though Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader and he murders children and murders millions of people he still can find redemption through sacrificing his life. Many people see Darth Vader as a hero. The reality is that the metaphor that is being produced is that the Dark Lord is Our Father. The great secret is that the Father is the devil and that they are interchangeable.
It is the metaphor of Saturnalian power. That king is a good kind if he spares your life.
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It is important to recognize, that the idea that is being presented to you is the negative patriarchy. It is the deeper, archetypal process that now allows for the ideas of privilege and entitlement. It most certainly will provide a way to facilitate the matriarchal aspect of spirituality, that which is earthly and influenced by the moon and not the Sun.
The metaphor is that a Dark Sun exists or the Dark Soul is to be embraced.
Think of the meme’s triggered in movie titles like Twilight “Eclipse” or “The Dark Knight.” Isn’t an eclipsed soul a dark soul? Isn’t the Latin word for Sun Solis? An Eclipse is the darkened “sol” bringing on the Dark Night? Isn’t the name Darth Vader a play on the Dutch words for Dark Father?
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Dark figures are written as the saviors now. This breeds an idea of accepting leaders and heroes with questionable origins, questionable affiliations, questionable political philosophies and loyalty conflicts that stem from spiritual poverty. The embracing of the dark characters in science fiction could be interpreted as a sign of a wounded or betrayed society.
When you see Comic book characters like those in the movie Watchmen you register and Identify with the nihilism, the utilitarianism, and existentialism that each “hero” represents. It is a world where heroes are dysfunctional in order to bridge with a world that seems to be out of control and lacking any faith in God or even the superheroes themselves.
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The final act of killing millions by Ozymandias in order to unite the world in peace was a drastic measure that many people would see as laudable. On the other hand isn’t it a hideous or frightening idea that there are people who feel that millions or even billions should die in order for planet earth for global sustainability?
This “end justifying the means” mentality displayed by Ozymandias completely outs him as being an adherent of utilitarianism. This theme was also used as a cudgel in Star Trek when Mr. Spock gave his life for the crew of the enterprise. People saw a Christ like meme in that scene, however the idea of “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one” was the same moral call that Ozymadias made. It is quite simply a moral action that consists of those actions which produce the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people.
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Christianity tell us that Jesus died and saved the world, for god so loved the world that he did not condemn it but provided a sacrifice in order for it to be saved. We embrace that form of sacrifice as sacred, however what if it happened again in our history where millions of people have to die in order to save others. Would that kind of idea of the end justifying the means be accepted today? People say they wish for a savior to return, but how would they stand to watch that Savior be nailed and hung on a cross? When Mel Gibson released “The Passion of the Christ” the frightening vision of a man who looked like Christ being tortured and murdered on the screen became a form of Christian Torture porn. There were many people who were having heart attacks, and fainting in the theaters. There were others who saw it as a sacred honor to witness the “realism” of blood flying, and the tearing of flesh. This type of Christian “snuff” filming was accepted because of the context of the story.
Quite frankly it was a film that made me sick to my stomach, and exploited the violence of Christ’s death and ignored the very reason why he died. He died in order to return and save the world. The focus on the death and torture was used as entertainment and not in the spirit of reverence. It was a depiction of a broken man, a broken god and a complete mocking of the eternal life that Christ is supposed to represent.
This Jesus saved no one. He died beaten betrayed and exploited. To this day I have nothing good to say about the film.
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When the movie “Superman Returns” was released in 2006 it flat out asked the question “Does the World Still need messiahs, saviors and supermen?” Lex Luther and Lois Lane both had determined that the idea of a personal savior destroys your independence. That to reject the idea of being saved is worthy of considering because you become self reliant and you don’t have to be spiritually let down when you find out the Superman you seek is gone.
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Superman tells Lois Lane that while she believes that the world no longer needs a savior he hears the cries of people that need something to believe in. These themes have weighed heavy in science fiction these days.
Gone are the days of geopolitical metaphor of aliens being the enemy. They are now being used to reshape our religious views. In reality they are being embraced by religions like Catholicism. A belief in aliens changes faith entirely. The church has no longer put up a barrier between you and the unknown.
The Church has embraced the science fiction meme and has given it credibility from a religious perspective. Meanwhile aliens aren’t the only creatures that mold and shape our spirituality. Vampires are also capable of teaching values and creating a compelling narrative to thousands of fans that see them as shimmering and beautiful beings.
These are the attributes for the vampires seen in the Twilight series. There have been many attempts to show Vampires has misunderstood and tortured souls. Now they are shown as saviors, with abilities to reject their blood thirsty compulsions. The fans all now find themselves in cult that inspires a collective belief in the religious values being demonstrated in these films.
Think of it, all of these films and stories I am speaking of are creating a shared world spirituality that was similarly accomplished with the bible. This screams in the face of scientists who say that religious beliefs should be backed up by factual data. It most certainly does not. They forget that our stories no matter how remarkable mold and shape the way we see the world. If all things were left to sterile scientists imagination would suffer and all things would have to be logical and joyless.
People don’t care if their myths are real. They don’t care if their stories go against everything that is logical; their legends are what keep them alive. The trend will continue to change the religious climate for the reason of creating a universal agreement about our origins and our purpose here on earth. Religion truly means “a spiritual connection that gives you life.” The mainstream religions have failed in their attempts to communicate with our souls. They focus on war, and abuses most people are beginning to tune out to it all.
.In the Newsweek article The fall of Christian America it was revealed that while 62 percent of Americans considered the U.S. a Christian nation, a staggering 68 percent say religion is losing its influence on American life. The World is ready for its deliverance from evil and simple old time religion is losing its ability to spark imagination and security.
Religion is no longer a major cultural phenomenon. The only time religious themes are mentally gripping or interesting to the public at large is when we see fanaticism. Religious fanatics are the focus of the nightly news. Fanaticism is what is responsible for terrorist attacks, and fanatics, both Christian and Muslim are targeted by homeland security.
Fanaticism is also seen as something to ridicule. From killers of Abortion doctors to Muslim suicide bombers the world would prefer that it would all go away. The very thought of these militants is a turn off for most people who would rather find self spirituality than anything found in a religion.
Religious stories especially biblical ones are suffering from the new “religious” variants in Science fiction. This may be why the Catholic Church is embracing the concept of aliens. The next step would be stating that perhaps not all Vampires want your soul and soon and I could easily see an apology to witches over the Malleus Maleficarum
Religious stories have been heard so much that they no longer interest people. Many have their faith in God and many are true to that faith, however many of these so called faithful have not read their bibles but can say that they have read all of the Harry Potter Books.
The argument from the Christian fanatic militant is that Harry Potter cleverly disguises itself as harmless fantasy when in reality it is a how to guide in casting spells, raising the dead, and divination. May argument is that Harry Potter is as relevant to witch craft as Gillgan’s Island is to being a survivalist on a desert island.
There are websites and ministries devoted to asking for the banning of these books and the boycotting of the movies. While religion has a lot to fear from these stories, witchery is not the thing to be worried about. It is how religious views have been placed in these films and that core values and mythologies have been resurrected to mold and shape minds for a new spirituality. Religions need to stop demanding boycotts and start working on ideas to make religion a cultural phenomenon again instead of a burden with militant fundamentalism.
It seems that if Christians want religion to be more interesting, maybe they should incorporate an air of mystery or even discuss other possibilities and speculate more on what may or may not have happened in the bible. Science fiction does this all of the time and they take archetypes from mythology and religion and give them a mysterious quality. They inset all kinds of hints at familiar Christian and Gnostic themes in order to create a spiritual experience in their films and books.
In the Harry Potter finale The Deathly Hallows we see much more of a nod to biblical folklore than in any other time in the history of the young witch’s adventures. Most Christians would deny the biblical overtones that are in the book but from one who has read the bible it is blatantly obvious that these themes have been inserted in the Potter ending and will more than likely find themselves in the new films.
The story has always eschewed evil, and it continually encourages the fight against corruption. The books teach loyalty to friends and to belief systems and to make sacrifices. The characters take on the Christ like attributes that many Christians have neglected in their crusade for privilege.
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Christian groups like “Focus on the family” and others can deride the Books all they want and they arguably have a good reason. Because they realize that their old cantankerous view of religious ideology is so dead that they will whine and demand that these stories be destroyed because their ways of delivering spirituality do not capture the minds of young people.
The good news is that these hard nosed religious leaders will die and the world will rejoice because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Especially the few that are just plain ignorant and don’t read about what they preach against.
It would take more courage to indicate that the names and quotes used in the last Harry Potter Book are taken directly out of the New Testament. That the idea of death, resurrection and redemption are all spoken of in the book and that even the place where it all happens is in a locale that is called Kings Cross Station in Chapter 35.
If you pick up your Bible and Read Mathew Chapter 6 you may be able to compare passages to the words and writings of a powerful wizard named Albus Dumbledore. Many young and old alike will probably never figure out that the writing on the Tombstone of Harry’s Mother and sister are from the Bible.
That is why the teachings of Harry will be a story that will be added into the cultural consciousness and it will eventually mature into its own messianic religious belief. It may not be in the same form as it is now but it will translate eventually into a religious story.
Social engineering may include the idea of religious engineering in order to insure that a group of people will eventually convert to familiar stories that are mixed with ideas of accepting that which they found to be profane or against their original dogmatic beliefs.
Cultivating the fertile soil in the mind, and imagination is an amazing thing. What we do with these stories is equally intriguing. However it seems a bit unusual to see how what is considered good or evil is being blurred. It is what it is and if a group of people wish to identify with Vampires and cheer them on what does that say about the collective consciousness. Are we truly wounded spiritually or is there something more, something deeper or even nefarious going on?
On June 29th, 2010 one day before the premiere of the movie Twilight: Eclipse a story was filed in the mainstream press that looked like it belonged on the cover of the weekly world news.
A woman in Colorado drove her SUV into a canal. Police say that the woman had backed the vehicle into the canal to avoid hitting what she claimed was a Vampire.
The woman knew what she saw and was not on any drugs of alcohol.
Now the media did their duty to tell people that the chances are slim it was a real Vampire and that it was highly probable that the woman had not taken her medications. However that is an all too convenient explanation for something that is unknown or seen in the shadows of the night. Besides if the woman was taking a medication that if missed would cause hallucinations she would have had to not take it for a long period of time.
The question is what did she really see?
The area where she crashed her car was a rural road in the middle of nowhere. Did she see a night hallucination? Was there some shadowy figure in the road, was it fatigue?
Here is a more outrageous explanation.
What if this is all about mental engineering or even high magic creating an atmosphere that would breed the idea of Vampires existing among us.
Farfetched??
Not quite.
Kenneth Anger a Satanist, author and director of the film Lucifer Rising has said that films are quite effective in ritual magic. He has said that some movies that are made are invocations or evocations to cast a spell on the audience.
The purpose for some films is to stir the primal forces and are used as magical weapons to stir the soul out of conformity. The flickering image according to Anger creates a thought form and even if the image flickers for no one, it is still a causal engine that sends the image into the ether. If someone picks up on the meme and it is successfully implanted in the zeitgeist it is theorized that the very nightmare could easily transpire in the real world.
Now this may sound crazy but you must consider how films and books that are produced as science fiction or horror fiction can sometimes mimic or predict the future or even influence the present.
What if some movies are ceremonies to invoke certain demons in order to unleash a viral idea or meme on society intentionally or unintentionally? Could the idea leap out of the screen into reality?
There are many instances where this crazy idea has been proven to be true.
In 1984 there were worries that perhaps the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” inspired the real life “night stalker” Richard Ramirez. 10 years later Wes Craven explored the possibility of the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger Leaping out of the screen into reality in “The new Nightmare.” The film was laughable and it was two years later that Craven had to face the possibility that his films that featured complex killers were creating some sort of force that possessed people into murdering others.
Wes Craven directed the movie, Scream. The movie featured a character wearing white face mask that looked very much like the character that screams in the famous Munch painting “The Scream.” However the killer wore had a ghostly face mask, hollow eyes and a black cowl. Craven seemed to satirize himself with this film but the imagery and the feel was enough to inspire real killers.
Years after the Scream series was released a boy and his cousin obsessed with the film murdered his mother by stabbing her 45 times in Los Angeles California. In Florida a man wearing the mask shot and killed a woman ; a boy in France killed his parents while acting out as the Ghostly faced killer; and in England, a pair of boys repeatedly stabbed a third one, claiming the film had prompted them to do it.
Another film that has socially engineered the populace into what is being called an “awakening” to reality or the false sense of it is “The Matrix.”
The Matrix was released just weeks before the Columbine massacre. Like suspects Dylan Kliebold and Eric Harris The character of Neo had no friends and was trained to be a killing machine for a group of outcasts that believed the world was a computer construct.
The Matrix was so effective that it created a mental disorder in people called “Matrix delusion” where people actually thought they are living in a computer program. The movie “The Truman Show” also was effective in creating a disorder where people believed that they are living in a reality TV show.
Lee Boyd Malvo, one half of the Beltway sniper killers was devoted to the movie. The FBI had investigated motive for the crimes he committed and he told the m to watch the Matrix in order understand how he felt and what he believed.
These stories and films have had their part in socially engineering people. Some are more receptive than others and some even are prompted to act out , this leads to unfortunate events.
One of the most intriguing characters that has garnered a bit of adoration is the Joker Character form Batman. The Heath ledger portrayal has been the subject of many discussions about the effectiveness of parable within the realms of Science fiction. The Dark Knight series explores deeply troubled characters that many people identify with, mimic, and quote as if they have been in our collective myths for thousands of years.
The thing most interesting is that the archetypes have been around forever and the Joker is simply a glamorized and romanticized portrayal of Satan. The creepiness of the surrounding story of Heath Ledger, his association with clowns, death masks, and satanic influences are peculiar and interesting as we peel away coincidences that have important repercussions.
During the buildup of a massive viral marketing campaign for the Dark Knight images of Heath Ledger as the Joker started popping up everywhere. One of the most disturbing images was Ledger in joker make-up with puffy scars on his lips. While most clowns wear a full white paint, and use colorful accents to their image, Ledger chose to wear “corpse paint” a term coined by death metal bands to invoke an image of death and decay. The colors they use are limited to black white and red.
Ledger’s Joker was the image of the classic “dead clown” and was even more ghoulish when you consider that after playing the Joker Ledger died of a drug overdose.
Ledger’s first film was film where he played a clown. Clowning Around” was an Australian film produced in 1992. It follows the story of 14-year old Simon Gunner, who has been in and out of foster homes all his life and dreams of becoming a professional circus clown. He also played Bob Dylan in the film “I’m Not There.” Coincidentally in Don McLean’s hit song American Pie he refers to Bob Dylan as the Jester. Ledger’s last role was actually another clown. He was in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as Pierrot, the sad clown and fool. It was believed that when the character was played anciently the actor would slash the sides of his mouth to give him a permanent sad grin.
As the Viral campaign of the Dark Knight took hold and the internet was buzzing about the film, Ledger’s Death and The Joker. More sneak peeks were released and soon you could not escape the hype. Image after image, poster after poster showing the Joker with the words “Why so serious” written in blood and Heath Ledger in corpse paint everywhere. There seemed to be more Joker pictures than those of Batman and occasionally you would see Aaron Eckhart in publicity stills as Harvey Dent.
A year before the film was in theaters, there were also pictures released of the Joker holding up his “Joker” calling Card. The card featured a clown with a lance. At the end of the lance was a head and a trail of blood. The card was used in promotional lobby cards and in the film was offered to the criminal mob upside down cleverly hiding the joker depicting a beheading.
In a creepy coincidence, a month prior to the “Dark Knight’s” debut an unfortunate accident took place at Six Flags over Georgia. Asia Leeshawn Ferguson of Springfield, South Carolina scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors in order to retrieve a hat that had flew off of his head while riding the Batman roller coaster. He was struck by the coaster and was decapitated.
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Another sick coincidence is that in the film there is a moment where the Joker is seen in a semi truck trailer with the words “HYAMS AMUSEMENT RIDES” and then the words “LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE.” Spray painted on the truck, is a big letter “S” changing the word LAUGHTER to SLAUGHTER. To the left of the word SLAUGHTER is a Ferris wheel and a rollercoaster.
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I often wonder if something strange and demonic was being evoked by the image of a dead clown being portrayed by a dead actor. It is chilling if not a dance macabre being witnessed ad ledger disappeared behind the make up of the trickster and fate plays a trick on him. The calling card of the clown holding the head on a lance and the synchronistic beheading at the Batman ride.
It can be written off as some sort of one time coincidence, and yet there was still more strangeness that make you wonder what was being evoked, and whether or not some evil may have leapt from the screen in some ritualistic way.
During the time that The Dark Knight was popularized in the zeitgeist and the Joker had our imaginations in its grip, there was an incident on a cross country bus in Canada that also needs to be listed as a meaningful event with connections to the joker or trickster.
While on the bus Vince Weiguang Li, of Edmonton Alberta calmly attacked his seat mate Tim McLean without provocation. He stabbed him several times and then cut the victims head off. He marched around the Bus with the severed head eating pieces of flesh from the body.
Police radio transmissions were recorded and released to the public. In the recordings of the police radio transmissions, officers refer to the attacker, as “Badger.” They said he was armed with a knife and scissors and was “defiling the body.
The Badger is another name for the Trickster in Asian cultures and again another unfortunate coincidence that the police used that term to describe the suspect.
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When the suspect was taken from the bus he had in his pocket the Nose and ear of Victim Tim McLean.
Consider again the Joker’s death card and how it shows a clown holding a severed head, the beheading of the boy at the Six Flags Batman ride, and the words “Slaughter is the best medicine” on the side of a truck that advertises carnival rides.
Tim McLean worked as a “carnie” and was coming back from working at a carnival when he was beheaded on the bus.
McLean was a “juggalo” or a fan of the hip hop group “The Insane Clown Posse” he called himself Jokawild on his Myspace page. He would often wear “cannibal clown” make up at the carnival consisting of black and white “corpse paint” and on his back he had a huge evil Joker Tattoo.
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The question here is whether or not this was some sort of provocation or a causal incident. It most certainly is a compelling coincidence.
The imagery and narratives that we see in Science fiction and horror my not be simply an influential tool but a social engineering phenomenon that needs to be considered. People have free will, and they can choose to do whatever they wish. They must know of consequences before they act. Literature has inspired many great things and movies now have a more powerful way of conveying inspiring messages.
The phenomenon of embracing a villain or a darker character and sympathizing with that character is somewhat troubling. It can be seen as identifying with the wrong crowd and not taking into consideration that there are reasons why these characters should not be imitated or revered.
We see spiritual poverty as a missing piece of the puzzle that makes a person whole. Whatever is used to fill that void is what we are seeing before us today. The imbalance of heart and mind needs to be discovered and then the healing needs to take place. The reclaiming of greatness and the feeling of belonging is what we are seeing now in pop culture. That is why films and books all have us in a collective fascination and we find ourselves sharing common interest in archetypes apart from those we have been told to believe in by organized religion.
Religion is losing its appeal.
Good and evil are safely acted out in the darkness of a theater and absorbed in the unconscious mind. Hyper-reality is the new Holy Spirit and the predictive programming is the new oracle to be used to define and measure the credibility of revelation.
The power of the flickering screen can affect people in reality. We may see the new religion thrust itself out of the comic book pages and into the theaters to shape and mold society into believers of super heroes with super features.
The gods in spandex just might be the replacements for the Gods in robes. And the devils with horns will be replaced with devils in grease paint.
