> From: K. Feete <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >On Sun, Nov 24, 2002 at 09:34:11PM -0500, K. Feete wrote: > >> I'm actually preparing to write a scifi story where the government has > >> outlawed religious expression (along with any racial references > >> whatsoever). The point being that a) it doesn't work and b) they live > >> very dull, bland lives. > > > >So, banning religion doesn't work? Makes sense. People will go underground > >when told they can't do something that they want to do. > > > >But that doesn't sound dull or bland. Why dull, bland lives? > > I don't think I stated that very clearly. First off, religion et cetera
> isn't "outlawed", it's just not considered acceptable - a bit like being > a member of the KKK or something. <grin> It's difficult to impossible for > you to get a job, particularly in the government or military, and you get > passed over a lot. Some people are "closet thiests," but they live in > perpetual fear of being found out and loosing their jobs, et cetera. > > Dull and bland were definately the wrong words. The civilization as a > whole is somewhat... stodgy... compared to the other two. People are > extremely literal-minded and rational. There's not very many scientific I think this is backwards from reality. Read His _Otherness_. Then consider two societies, the free west and thought police of the middle east, like saudi arabia. Which one bans things like pokemon? Freedom from the thought control of religion allows this 'otherness' meme to be so powerful in the west. > breakthroughs compared to the other two, although once a breakthrough is > made they're a great deal more likely to turn it into something useful. > Sometimes they don't recognize a breakthrough that's occurred because > they're so fixated on empirical data, which will be rather the focus of > the story, I think, once I get the bloody time to write on it. (School, > incidentally, is evil.) > > I should emphasize that this isn't *just* an effect of the suppression of > religion, but, rather, suppression of religion is a symptom. I should > also emphasize that I don't consider this *will* happen or even that it's > particularly likely to happen, though I'll do my best to make it > plausable. It's just a thought experiment of mine. <grin> > > > >> Loose the fanatics, loose people like my roomate. I think I can live with > >> the fanatics. > > > >The first time I read that, I read "loose" as in "release", like you > >might say, "loose the hounds!" :-) > > Oops. And me an English major. <hides head in shame> It was late, okay? > And I have trouble with these things... damned effect and affect.... _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
