Orson Scott Card (was SF and Christians)

R. Joel Duff (crinoid@midwest.net)
Mon, 12 Apr 1999 20:58:07 -0700

In a previous discussion it was noted:
> Not everyone does reject the link. Orson Scott Card is a christian,
> that's very obvious from his writings and he has written a thing or
> two re. sf and christian faith. I think people interested in sf and
> space exploration have a lot in common with christians, but if you
> combine the two you are kinda odd. We share the sense of
> wonder, adventure, exploration, that life is exciting and that you
> can make a different, for instance.

While Orson Scott Card is my favorite SF writer and I have read nearly
everything he has written, I would hesitate to label him Christian though I
am sure than some here would disagree with me. Card is a devout Morman
having gone on missions and written (and still writes) for morman magazines
under various names. He does a masterful job of addressing religious
issues within a SF context but I always keep in the back of my mind that he
comes with a very strong agenda (not unlike Asminov and Clarke in their own
way) in which morman theology plays a very important role in most of his
serious SF. Sometimes it is not that apparent but that is his genius. No
where is it more evident than in "The Worthing Saga." To find out exactly
what he thinks about the conection between his faith and writing read the
intro to "Enders Game" and the afterward to the conclusion of the Ender
Quartet "Children of the Mind." "Enders Game" by the way was a Hugo and
Nubula award winner and a must read SF. Again I would agree that Card is
one of the more provocative writers with respect to religion and science
issues within the SF community. It is not often you get have characters
that routinely argue about the relative merits of calvinistic theology
("Speaker for the Dead") though he does so clearly in an attempt to place
morman theology in a better light.

Just some thoughts,

Joel