The Sci Fi Catholic Yak Module
Personally, I think I'd assign a pretty stiff penance to anyone who thinks the movie of "Starship Troopers" was anything but entertaining eye candy.
Another way to spot the "Scifi Priest" is to see whose saying the Mass at Worldcon (usually me). Although I couldn't afford to go this year 8-(.
My priest is just sci-fi enough to know how much it would thrill me for him to read verbatim the prayers against alien invasion during vespers ("deliver us from earthquake, fire, flood, invasion of aliens, and civil war"), but just not sci-fi enough to not do it, lest I be too excited (he changes it to "foreign invasion"). But we just had a deacon ordained; maybe he'll do it . . .
Once, at choir rehearsal, the director was telling us that we need to enunciate the consonants, using the example of "Lord", which should sound like "Lore". I said, "We're not asking Data's brother to have mercy." The priest, the choir director, and the now-deacon groaned loudly. Everyone else looked confused. So that pretty much tells me who is adequately geeky.
Hee, Hee, Hee! That's a good one. And I'm impressed there's Mass offered at Worldcon. But it's sometimes harder to find a confessor with a traditional/medieval vocabulary--I once had to explain to a priest what "acedia" means & needless to say, he wasn't able to give me useful advice. I have my own little tricks to flush out priests who qualify.
Ah yes...Fr Erik is a gem..I utilize a different confessor (there is a parish right around the corner from where I live...DEFINITELY a non SciFi priest) but I am still struggling with typical hot-blooded Irish-type sins so most any priest will do...
Last night when I was setting up the altar for Benediction I required the key to the Sacristy to get the monstrance and charcoal, so had to obtain Fr Erik's set...as he was walking by I very reverently returned his keys to him, saying something along the lines "For you, O Keymaster." He was taken aback for a moment...but then smiled and walked off muttering lines from "Ghostbusters." I'm glad he has a sense of humor 
Oh yes--for those folks like me with a crazy work/life schedule who need to plan their weekly schedule to accomodate--in the U.S. Friday is Holy Day of Obligation--The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Speaking of ghostbusters, did you see http://www.xkcd.com/459/ ? I actually wrote a little theological meditation based on it...
LOL!
Over the years I've noticed that, among Anglican priests who have blogs (ie, the younger ones), most seem to have a few science fiction/fantasy books/movies listed amongst their favourites. My guess is that younger clergy are more likely to be Sci-Fi clergy.
And I'm reminded of Gene Wolfe's "Pirate Freedom"...
D.G.D.: "...and I snuck into my dragon's room and read some of his shoujo manga."
Priest: "That's a very common sin. I'm actually a time-travelling pirate myself."
That's right! Pirate Freedom! Seems everyone has read that before me. I knew there was some book I meant to add to my list, but books I intend to read just keep piling up. I suppose you all know how that is. I keep thinking, "When I finish this book," but there's always a "this book." Right now I gotta finish the latest Writers of the Future because I'm under obligation, and I want to read a couple of books to compare them to the next featured novel on the Blog Tour, and I gotta get through my Complete Brothers Grimm, and then I gotta explore my new sf/religion library. Yeesh.
Fr. Baker, thanks for stopping by. You say Mass at Worldcon? That's incredibly cool. I guess I better get to Worldcon next time it happens.
That's right! Pirate Freedom! Seems everyone has read that before me. I knew there was some book I meant to add to my list, but books I intend to read just keep piling up. I suppose you all know how that is. I keep thinking, "When I finish this book," but there's always a "this book." Right now I gotta finish the latest Writers of the Future because I'm under obligation, and I want to read a couple of books to compare them to the next featured novel on the Blog Tour, and I gotta get through my Complete Brothers Grimm, and then I gotta explore my new sf/religion library. Yeesh.
Fr. Baker, thanks for stopping by. You say Mass at Worldcon? That's incredibly cool. I guess I better get to Worldcon next time it happens.
That's right! Pirate Freedom! Seems everyone has read that before me
Yep.
But I can't gloat too much, because I had to take a break from reading the complete "Bone". I like it, but I was reading it in big chunks late at night, and it was giving me weird dreams.
I was reading it in big chunks late at night, and it was giving me weird dreams.
You are now the third person I know of, including me, to report dreaming about Bone while reading it. Sort of sticks in your head, doesn't it?
Actually, make that fourth.
I too have started reading Bone. So far I've only read the first book, about the winter in the valley. Last night, I dreamed I was trapped in my boyhood home with most of my current colleagues, by a raging blizzard and 15 feet of snow. Coincidence??? Now, I don't think so!
I think the best way to tell the sci-fi priest from the non-sci-fi is the miniature disrupter he keeps hidden under his maniple.
Last night, I dreamed I was trapped in my boyhood home with most of my current colleagues, by a raging blizzard and 15 feet of snow. Coincidence??? Now, I don't think so!
I don't know if dreaming about Bone is common because the story is so engaging, because it deals with dreams, or because it hews so closely to the Campbellian monomyth. Not being a Jungian, I don't care much for the latter explanation.
Speaking of the Dreaming, I just recently read Ian McHugh's "Bitter Dreams," an excellent short appearing in the latest Writers of the Future anthology. Like Bone, it draws on Australian mythology, but much more heavily and in much more horrific fashion. I think it would be interesting to read it shortly after finishing Bone.
..I think the best way to tell the sci-fi priest from the non-sci-fi is the miniature disrupter he keeps hidden under his maniple.
Uh, Smiter--doesn't that kind of run along the line of what does a good Irishman wear under his kilt?? I don't believe I'll be doing maniple checks anytime soon.... I'll surely be smited if I did....
I hadn't thought about it in terms of Jungian myth stuff. HHmmm. But I might push it around my head in terms of psychomachia, a bit like the brothers in Dostoevski's Brothers K. That could take a while, 'though.
But I think it gets in my dreams because I'm reading it slowly, in the sense that I'm looking at the images while reading the text much longer than I would ordinarily look at the pictures in say, an animated piece. Dreams are so visual that looking intently at a story in pictures seems like inviting it into one's dreaming mind.
guess is that younger clergy are more likely to be Sci-Fi clergy.
Well, Elliott, I knew some Opus Dei priests in Toronto who were up there in years, and at least two of them were sf readers. One of those two considered himself a serious fan, particularly of Hal Clement.
But I might push it around my head in terms of psychomachia...
That sounds intense. But I guess it does have a sort of spirit-flesh dualism going on, as well as a nature-supernature dualism.
I'm reading it slowly, in the sense that I'm looking at the images while reading the text much longer than I would ordinarily look at the pictures in say, an animated piece.
That's probably the best way to read it, but I think Snuffles has been a bad influence on me; I tend to burn through comics rapidly like a manga reader, looking briefly at the pictures and reading the text simultaneously, at the rate I would normally read a novel, so I can flip pages quite quickly. The last time I read straight through Bone, I think it only took me seven hours or so.
Oh, and speaking of Psychomachia, I recently encountered a post on it over at Aliens in This World that is relevant to the recent argument in the combox over warrior babes:
"Also, the personified Virtues and Vices fighting each other over the fate of the human soul are both as feminine as the gender of the Latin terms for them, so you get both the Amazon and virgin saint with a big sword vibe. Marketing couldn’t possibly improve this sucker, unless you made it into an anime."
"You: Oh, I almost forgot--I also think Piers Anthony's play-on-words are clever.
Priest: Ouch. That's a latae sententiae excommunication."
Oh, yes
I was using the term psychomachia rather loosely last night. I was thinking about the way it morphed into personifications of the soul,rather than the virtues/vices, in the late Middle Ages. I need to think about this more, but there seems to be a loose correlation of Phoney to appetite (Passion, in the old sense) and Fone to emotion/will. I haven't quite figured out the 3rd one. I'm only half way through "Bone" so far.
Count me as one more guy whose read "Pirate Freedom" before you, O esteemed blogmaster! 
It really delivered on what it promised. I was particularly fascinated by Father Christopher's expositon on 17th century guns and muskets, and the different styles and types of
ships.
You can really tell it was a labour of love for Wolfe. Seeing as how it was the first book of his I've read, it took me awhile to come to grips with how Father Christopher glosses over things, leaves out some embarassing moments, and generally couldn't quite remember everything in perfect detail like most 1st person narratives I've read. The protagonist actually behaves like a real person recounting old memories, and I thought it was quite original in the way that the main character's interpretation of his own memories affect how we see and und understand the story.
I've also read "Pirate Freedom" before Deej.....AMAZING!! It was an awesome Xena recommendation..I agree with Thomas' review....in places it was a bit tedious to read, especially in the parts when he really glossed over some details....then about 3/4 of the way through it kind of started to drag (at least for me), or maybe I just started to get bored...
But it goes without saying--you just never know who'll you come across in the Confessional..imagine standing in line, watching folks leave with scared expressions, and wondering what tough guy was behind the screen--then finding out it's Padre Pio?? He KNOWS if you've made a good confession and if you've "forgotten" (inadvertently of course) anything...
I need to think about this more, but there seems to be a loose correlation of Phoney to appetite (Passion, in the old sense) and Fone to emotion/will.
Ah, I see. Another going interpretation for the three Bones is Id, Ego, and Superego. Personally, I think Mickey, Donald, and Goofy is a better interpretation.
Well, I finished it today--I was farther along than I'd thought.
So I'm sticking with Fone as reason/emotion/will. And I think Phoney is appetite, dominated by avarice & envy (envy in Aquinas isn't the same as avarice, but the inability to feel happiness for the good fortune of others). But I don't think Smiley is superego; Goofy is a better call. I was thinking he was conscience, but decided toward the end that he's a personification of loyalty, which seems to be the main ethical theme. The sneaky bit is that most of the characters demonstrating loyalty are largely grim-faced, suffering, and somewhat compromised. Smiley's none of those things, which makes me think he's an abstract.
So I don't think Freud works here. And I'm not eager to see Jungian archetypes here, either. Jung might be useful for some of the characters, 'though, because I thought Phoney was a classic ENTJ, 'though with a big moral distortion.
At the end, I felt sorry for Thorn. She's got everyone she needs to help her become a great ruler, and no one she needs to learn to be a woman.
I was thinking he was conscience, but decided toward the end that he's a personification of loyalty, which seems to be the main ethical theme.
Originally, if I understand aright, Smith imagined Smiley with no conscience at all, but he changed drastically as the story developed.
The sneaky bit is that most of the characters demonstrating loyalty are largely grim-faced, suffering, and somewhat compromised.
Interesting. I never noticed that; I think Fone Bone is quite loyal, but not perpetually grim-faced.
At the end, I felt sorry for Thorn. She's got everyone she needs to help her become a great ruler, and no one she needs to learn to be a woman.
Some definite truth to that, and an interesting comment, especially since the story can be read (as I read it) primarily as her coming-of-age. You might see that idea developed somewhat in my fan fic!
can be read (as I read it) primarily as her coming-of-age
Yes and no--yes, her coming of age in terms of certain virtues and discovery of her family identity (usually for male heroes in the earlier tradition). But if she's wed to the throne, so to speak, she's not wed. And who's going to help her discover the good judgement she needs choose a spouse, and who's going to help her develop the virtues of marriage? Maybe Mermie would turn out to be that person, because Rose is the right person for the first coming of age, but not the second.
Thanks a lot for keeping this under my nose; I'd have never picked it up on my own. It's too bad we can't argue interpretation over espresso and biscotti like civilized people.
Had my first decent laugh in ages over this one DGD! Thanks mate
I even tried my own MMORPG spin off version. I'm afraid to say it flopped dramatically.
Oh, and the to person bagging StarShip Troopers, you don't see the cheesy backhand slap at Facism?
But if she's wed to the throne, so to speak, she's not wed. And who's going to help her discover the good judgement she needs choose a spouse, and who's going to help her develop the virtues of marriage
I have no idea. Like many fans, I wanted her to marry Fone Bone, but not really. Know what I mean?
at the same time, since it's basically a gigantic expanded commentary on Sleeping Beauty, I'm not sure all that marriage prep is important or necessary. Marriages are always instantaneous in fairy tales: Briar Rose, age fifteen and trapped in suspended animation, gets bussed while unconscious. Upon awakening, she and the prince whose name she doesn't even know get married immediately. Presumably, they turned out okay.
Oh, and the to person bagging StarShip Troopers, you don't see the cheesy backhand slap at Facism?
I'm going to be perfectly honest; I've read the novel, but I never saw the movie. It came out when I was younger and had my movie viewing controlled by responsible adults.
Marriages are always instantaneous in fairy tales: Briar Rose, age fifteen and trapped in suspended animation, gets bussed while unconscious. Upon awakening, she and the prince whose name she doesn't even know get married immediately. Presumably, they turned out okay.
Well, that's generally true, in that it's pretty far from the sort of prudent judgement was refering to. But in a story that's depended so much on loyalty, I think it would be really weird for Thorn to just trust the first prince who comes along to have the requisite loyaalty to her & her kindgom. I'd much rather see the vein of stories in which the prince has to prove himself virtuous--hacking through thorn hedges, walls of fire, etc. At least dragon-slaying would be out .
I'm probably influenced by the later medieval Romances, in which the suitor has to prove himself to have all sorts of virtues and skills.
Well, you've got a point there. I think, though, that you're thinking about the sequel, so to speak, and not Bone itself. In Bone, Thorn matures from girl to woman and Fone Bone finds some purpose in life. Their love, of course, is an impossible one and cannot end in marriage (I love this comic partly because I'm such a sucker for impossible love stories). If either of these two is to find a possible love, that's sometime in the future, after the present story is over. For a meditation on that matter, I suppose I should recommend my own fan fiction, a tragedy that presents possibilities for both of them that they reject in favor of impossibility.
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