11/30/2006

21st Century Ethics



Back in the Technological Age, lab-coats said, “let there be tech,” and it was good. From Roe v. Wade, to pulling the plug on a loved one, to Dr. Kevorkian, we blundered through hi-tech goodness and tripped over legal rights issues. Biotech, back then, had three steps on bioethics. Then we decoded the human genome. This scared the reality of "goodness" into everyone, and the pendulum swung. Now cloning and stem-cell research are under debate—in the US.

Many have predicted that the twenty-first century will be known for its biological breakthroughs. By 2107, micro-tech submarines will zip through arteries, eliminating all diseases not legally protected by pharmaceutical lawyers brandishing the endangered species act like Greenpeace zodiacs fronting whaling vessels. DNA strands will stream binary code through computer chips, and we'll be flipping light switches and flushing toilets with brain waves.

What does this have to do with Biblical fiction? Theme. Yeah, I'm nagging about fiction message. I know we're a bunch of artists who wait on muse while plucking flower petals, chanting "She loves me, she loves me not." Authors of Bib-spec-fic, no matter how subtle, answer to the Editor-in-Chief. We have to write the tough stuff for our audiences. We wield a powerful genre that touches entire world-views: logic & emotion, idealism & reality, truth & life.

Is the subject of bioethics solely the sci-fi writers' department?

  • What of a pregnant mother, an orc woman, who'd been raped by a human, and is rejected by doctors who can afford to choose their patients? Not just racism, for-profit healthcare.
  • What if Nazi-Germany won the war and bioengineered the Aryan race? Alternate-history.
  • What if fallen angels animated soul-less clones? Horror, and Daniel Weaver's idea.

Theme does not need to be inspiration, but it can be. Those who plot first and land on theme, need to recognize rubber-meeting-road topics: bioethics.


Peace, Love, Dove


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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Frank this is an awesome piece of writing. I mean I know you're just setting the background for why we as Christian fiction writers need to pursue excellence, but look at it again. It looks the the beginning of a spec-fic book, and a fantastic one at that. A suspense/thriller with enough horror in it to draw Steven Spielberg in as the producer of the screen adaptation. Why is that? In the words of Tom Clancy when asked about the difference between real life and fiction, "Fiction has to make sense." Bang up job Frank. Awesome writing.

Daniel I Weaver said...

I've always found that our genres work really well to exploit themes, Frank. This is very well stated. There are endless possibilities, and who better to explore them than faith-minded people?

Deborah Cullins Smith said...

Wonderfully written, Frank. Bioethics and every other subject under the sun. There literally are NO limitations on what God can say through His vessels..... IF we can learn to listen and follow His lead.

Well done, my friend!

~deb

Frank Creed said...

David--
Near-future sci-fi demands vision. Looking at creation and seeing trends. That's partly why I'm so drawn to write the cyberpunk sub-genre. I think you'll enjoy Flashpoint, but as I began the novel a decade ago, all my visionary predictions have, in one way or another, come to pass. Tech is developing faster than I'd anticipated. Nice to know I guessed right, but reality has stolen Flashpoint's thunder. For my next Cyberpunk series I think I'll take your advice and set it in the next century.

Daniel--
Even though God's laws apply to everyone, He's given us free will and unbelievers apply different sets of rules to life. I agree with you; our genre is the best for world view topics. His scribes so need to convincingly, and realistically, apply law and grace to today's tough issues.

Deborah--
I really feel that our genre is about to explode into our niche bookstores. If I'm right, I have faith that the Editor-in-Chief is about to use what's been bottled-up for so long, and I know that every author reading this wants to be used for His glory. I pray Andrea's optimism about America is correct, and that He'll use our fiction to turn this country back to Him. Let's ride this Champaign cork, and challenge people with truth and meaning.
The fact that we write speculative fiction within Biblical standards, that we're wasting our time on a nearly nonexistent ministry tool, tells me we're all listening and we are following.

His will be done,
Frank Creed
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Home: http://www.frankcreed.com
Book Review Blog: http://afrankreview.blogspot.com/
Lost Genre Guild Site: http://www.lostgenreguild.com/
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Frank Creed's Biblical fiction is available through The Writer's Cafe Press. Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy, July 1st, 2006: Light at the Edge of Darkness, a speculative fiction anthology, March 1st, 2007: Flashpoint: Book one of the Underground, cyberpunk novel, April 1st, 2007.
Frank Creed is also the founder of the Lost Genre Guild, a literary home for artists, editors, agents, and promoters of Biblical speculative fiction.

Lydia Daffenberg said...

You are to Bib-spec-fic as Asimov is to Sci-fi. Influenced? Indeed. Creative genius? Indeed.

Vision continues past the horizon, one just needs the right eyes. So many rivets add up to future crafts. All in His time and place, as all is His time and place.

Wunderbar, Bruder. Iche liebe dich.